From the mailbag:
Been reading your experiments with the Fuji with fascination. I’ve been looking for a camera to supplement my Leica Q. Just can’t see spending $2k upgrading my Oly OMD for the new one. I always like traveling light but the Fuji and the Hasselblad got my attention. The question I have for you is, do you love yours. Will you be using it all the time? When you travel or want to travel light, will you use it or grab your Sony? Also, you plan to test the Hasselblad, and if not, why do you prefer the Fuji?
It’s early days, but I can say with assurance that I will not be using be using the GFX all the time. It’s a bigger, heavier system than an a7x, so not as suited for travel. It’s nowhere near as fast and fluid as a D5, so not as good for events, and particularly sports. The native lens line is quite limited at present, and many situations demand autofocus, which is not available with adapted lenses.
I have no plans to test the X1D. The lack of a focal plane shutter means that about the only lenses that it’s practical to adapt are the heavy, bulky H-series lenses, and my testing of those lenses with the GFX indicates that they can barely keep up with the sensor when opened up. Also, to this date, auto focus is not available with those lenses, although Hasselblad says they’ll have that RSN. The X1D is swelt, and I think the H-series lenses are a size and weight mismatch. I also have concerns about Hasselblad’s management of their development process; the huge gap between promised and actual deliveries of the X1D and some other recent ‘blads gives me pause.
I don’t like minimalist cameras like the X1D. I prefer LCD screens on top, lots of buttons, dials on top of the camera, multi-function controls, and aperture controls on the lens where God intended them to be (though I’m beginning to bend on that last point). The Fuji interface was totally foreign to me a couple of weeks ago, coming mostly from Nikons and Sonys. However, the more I use it and figure it out, the better I like it. There is a logical consistency to it that is missing entirely from the a7x, and not as well executed in the Nikons. I wish it had more mode buttons that work with the front and back wheels, like the D5.
You presumably like the Q, so you probably would like the X1D user interface. If you can get your head around the limited native lens selection and trust hasselblad to keep developing and supporting the X camera line, then it could be a good camera for you.
Thanks so much Jim. There’s a lot to consider in your comment. I think I will pause, hopefully, briefly to see Sony’s predicted upcoming announcements on a potential A7R3.
Two big pauses I have on Sony though, first, I owned the RX1r, which I liked, but in the three years I owned it, not one firmware upgrade to the camera. Like they shipped and forgot about us.
And as you said, the button and manual controls on the Leica are wonderful. Hate the menu system with the Sony.
But I want light and fast so much to think about.
Thanks so much for all your fun experimenting on this. Kinda of amazing from a non-tech photographer and so much appreciated.
Best, Steve
I didn’t mean to say they were wonderful. (I’ve never used them.) I meant to say they were minimalist. Not a minimalist as the TL, though.