MrSMW

Never knew this existed! I get clients all the time wanting me to use more mainstream or specific tracks and whilst I am sure not ‘everything’ is available with this, it will open up options for sure. Going to explore over the coming months.

Do they take preorders?

That’s an area I never had a problem. OK, early days with the first models but not the later one’s which for me culminated in the XT3. I really fancy the FX30 form factor and some of the lens options, but the reality is, that for me/my needs the Fuji option is just better.

Actually, in the brief time I had the XT2 myself, ditto the battery grip with the 16-55mm zoom. That is probably the route I am going to take again this time for my primary stills unit, ie, the XH2 + battery grip + 16-55. As my primary video, looking at the XH2-S + Tamron 17-70 and secondary video/gimbal, a second XH2-S with the 18-55 f2.8/4…unless Tamron release that new 20-40mm f2.8 in F Mount in which case I would definitely go that route. No battery grips for video units but probably the L brackets for that little finger. I am still considering a prime based solution but it keeps coming back to the same thing and that is does the increase in quality and low light capability, compensate for the sheer amount of ‘fannying about’ switching primes to suit certain situations… My final job of the year, I just went 24-105 f4 for stills on the S1R and Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 on the S1H for video (in 4K 50p giving me a focal range equiv to 42-105) and there was a lot to be said for this most ‘minimalist’ approach to date (for me) with the L Mount system. I started the season with 5 bodies and 7 primes and ended it with 2 bodies and 2 zooms. The reality is I need 3x bodies and ideally 3 lenses welded on. That reality can only be zooms.

The standard battery grip for me as the other one is about 1000 euros (3x the price!) and serves no purpose that I would ever use. And weirdly, despite 3x batteries, Fuji officially quote 2.4x battery life. Where does that .6 go? It’s a pretty hefty chunk!

XH2 first impressions vs Lumix S1R Nice semi matte paint job and build quality initially seems around comparable. Not that much smaller but considerably lighter with equivalent lens. I weighed them both with battery, cards and 24-105mm f4 Lumix and Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 (25-105 equiv) and the difference was exactly 505g, ie, 1/2 kilo or basically 1lb difference. Handling/ergo-wise, the S1R takes all my fingers around the grip but the XH2, just 3 so for me needs either something like a Smallrig L bracket or battery grip. As things stand, I still have to test the thing for photo & video but all things being well, this would become my prime stills workhorse and I think I’d go for the battery grip as it would bring the weight up to more or less the the same as the S1R, albeit physically bigger but with at least double the battery life. I was looking at the Nikon Z9 so the battery gripped XH2 could be looked at as the poor man’s Z9. And actually available to buy! I will do some video (and stills) tests over the coming weeks but looking good so far…

The LUT support wasn’t previously of interest to me until I saw a review regarding how it works…and it became more interesting…but still going to carry on shooting my profiles/film sims. The AF will be of more interest to me because I thought the XT3 was ‘OK’ for my needs and the S5/S1H/S1R I have made work to a level almost comparable. Pretty sure the XH2 will meet my needs as it can’t be worse than Lumix and though criticise Fuji, just as many praise it, so we’ll see…

It would, but sometimes irrationally takes over! I cannot realistically do either so I’m not going to worry about it!

Would love to and 20 years ago, I think I would have. My kind of country. When the FX30 was first rumored it went in the list. I reckon not only would it work, but work well, but the Fuji option just edges it for me on the stills/hybrid side.

33 weddings/couples, spread over 70 days (as most of my events are multi-day coverage. In fact, only 4 single day out of those 33) and all except one single photo only coverage, full photo and video. Only 11 weddings behind on my editing 🤪 Thanks for the offer of help but I’m a one man band in house ‘everything’ kind of guy. One of the reasons I am moving away from L Mount. The quality is arguably marginally higher, but it’s the rest of the equation after 2 years and approx 40 jobs has confirmed I haven’t quite had the right tools for the job. Just had a long 4 hour drive over to this last 3 day event of the season and have pretty much decided to simplify things further by going all zoom despite being a prime guy at heart. There’s a fine line between the ‘artistry’ and the logistics of it and I think my tool plan is a good one for me: XH2 primary stills (but some limited video use) with Tamron 17-70. XH2S primary video with Fuji 16-55. XH2S secondary video + gimbal with Fuji 18-55. Had both of those Fuji lenses previously and they were great. Slightly less keen on the 18-55 being variable aperture but I think Sigma are going to be making their 18-50 f2.8 (currently Sony & E Mount) for Fuji so that may be an option… I am going to Winter with just the XH2 and Tamron and not fully commit until the Spring but right now this Fuji route us my best option. We’ll see but once I have committed, I’m aiming for 3 years unchanged after 3 highly disruptive and complicated years!

It's all a matter of taste of course but I love Fuji colour. I moved from shooting Natural to Flat on my Panny's but was a big fan of Eterna on the XT3. Going back to that as my standard but this time around, with a very light Film Convert Nitrate grade. Also interested in going back to shooting Jpeg and one of the film sims. I used to to shoot mainly Classic Chrome, but am interested in Classic Neg and Nostalgic Neg, all with some personal in camera tweaks to see if I can achieve a SOOC near finished result. Along with drastically cutting back my number of jobs (33 this year) and capping at max 20 per annum, I'd like to get my workflow reduced so I can spend a little more time on marketing. No issues with bookings but I think you need to remain on top of these things regardless and even do a little more than is needed, simply to hold station. Also, I'd just like a little more life back May-Sep which is something I haven't had much of for the last 20 or so years...

Had/tried that 16-80 f4 Fuji and did not like it. The Oly 14-40 kills it IMO. I'm not sure how big the Tamron 17-70 arriving today with the XH2 is, but smaller than Fuji's 16-55 I think? I'll find out next week as I'm away in a few minutes 🤪

That actually is one factor that suits me very well as I don’t need a viewfinder, stills or video, and have used nothing but the LCD for years now. It just made more sense for me constantly flipping all day long between stills and video to do so. Still prefer a tilt though… Still banging that gong 😬

Well my XH2 arrives tomorrow. Yay 😀 Between 11am and 2pm. I’m leaving 8.30am latest for my last job of the year. Boo 😒 I preordered with the hope of testing on at least this last real world job, but was resigned over the last few days to it not arriving in time. Hey ho, would have been good and I’ll just have to run some post-season tests against my S1R’s to see how it stacks up in non-wedding environments.

Probably right…but I like to consider all the options! I’m still drooling over the new Hassie and whether it’s even remotely possible…and if it is, having zero video capability, would need a dedicated video sidekick. Right now, based on all factors for my needs, I’d probably pair this new Sony with either the Sigma 28-70mm or the Tamron 17-70mm (for a bit of extra width) and I’d be good to go! I’d still need 2 dedicated static units though and would maybe go with the ZV-e10’s which would do the job. Ah decisions decisions decisions… 🤔🤪🫣

I like it, especially the form factor which reminds me of the Sigma FP, just with a grip, but do I like it more than the XH2-S? Not quite…

Yes indeed. I had forgotten just how compact. Now I know some will day, "ha, they are not compact!" but actually, compared with an S1 line camera, they are! Compared with the D3's I used to use, with their built in battery grips, massively so. When I used to use the XH1, I thought it was the perfect size, weight and ergos. Or close enough. I just wished it had the guts of the XT3 and had that been the case, pretty sure I'd still be using them today. Today I simply wish the XH2 had the tilt screen of the XH1 as that is pretty much my only gripe. But I did that camera size comparison thing and was pleasantly reminded how relatively compact the XH2 is and barely any bigger or heavier than the OM-1 which as I said above, I thought was/is an absolute gem. It's when you put say the 16-55mm f2.8 on the Fuji compared with the 12-40mm f2.8 on the Oly the gap begins to widen...

I never have the right words for these situations so simply echo all of the sentiment above Andrew.

Yes. I found this to be very much the case when I switched from using big bulky DSLR's with zoom lenses at weddings, to hipster X Pro1's and X100's. I didn't become 'invisible', but definitely experienced a much lower visual profile at events to the extent most people did not realise the couple had booked a pro. These days, I'm less bothered about it and ultimately the priority for me is the right tool for the job over what anyone may or may not perceive. This is why I was so drawn to the OM-1 when it was announced, bought one, loved it...but ultimately decided I could not use it as one of my principle tools. Fantastic size, weight and form factor which I would describe as being 'near perfect'. I have however considerable experience with Fuji and when I then looked at the XH2s and XH2, came to the conclusion that APSC offered more for a still very compact package with the bodies being barely bigger or heavier. The lenses add a bit more but as above, for me, all factors are important but the overall combo is the most important of all. It's apparent now that the XH2 I preordered will not now arrive in time for my final gig of the season because it would have to arrive by tomorrow latest and here in France, availability is 'before 31st October' rather than 'end of September' as it is in more advanced countries. This is both a good thing and a bad thing... It's a bad thing because despite extensive (9 years stills and 2 years video) experience with Fuji X cameras, it's both 2 years since I used them and it would have been good to test the current gen with my current shooting style. It's a good thing as it means I can sit on the L Mount fence a while longer... When the XH2 does finally arrive, I will probably make a final decision then whether to hold out until the end of the year regarding L Mount, or trade the lot and go all in again with Fuji. I actually don't mind which option becomes reality because as I always say, it's just the right tools for the job and there are pros and cons and compromises in every direction, but the current gen of Fuji and APSC, is probably the sweet spot for my needs right now.

I know... just look at America. Or the Brits... 😜 It's what makes the world both interesting a frustrating in equal measures!

Lucky the camera industry is not French… The cameras would have a styling circa 1950’s (not necessarily a bad thing) but would randomly go on strike, the manual could only be provided as a (thick) paper document (and you would have to apply in person 2 hours from your home and wait at least 6 weeks for it to arrive) plus would have a permanent whiff of garlic/gauloises in the hard bakerlite shell. And only shoot B&W. All models would be called ‘Le De Gaulle’ and we would currently be on the LDG7, the 7th model since the first as new models are released with marginal ‘upgrades’ every decade.

Good read Marcio so thanks for taking the time.

They only needed to do it 2 years ago with the S5…but even if possible, that would have severely compromised the S1 line for sure. S1 probably too big/heavy to be a YouTubers fave I suspect… It does keep coming back to the same old thing for me and that they are ALL good enough and ALL of them are compromised in one way or another be it price or size or weight or some ‘missing’ feature etc. For me, the new Hassleblad is the king for stills…but it lacks any video capability and for me, that’s a dealbreaker. The Z9 is the best hybrid (all of these my opinion for my needs BTW) but the size & weight… R5? Questionable potential overheating… A7iv? Cropped 4K 50p. Lumix S bodies? Cropped 4K 50p and a bit of a size & weight issue S1 line. Lumix GH6? M4/3 for my stills needs is an issue as is the AF. OM-1? Just the stills and flip out screen actually but for me, beats GH6. XH2/S? Closest to my needs…but as a pairing with my sole ‘issue’ being flip out side screen. Indeed. Preorder went in on the off-chance I could get an XH2 and lens prior to my final job until March next year as nothing beats a real wedding when it comes to…well wedding capture 😜 There are still 4 working days left but with zero notification, it’s looking unlikely but yes, that ball is in Panasonics hands entirely. Well Panny plus Sigma and Leica actually because it would only take one of them to produce a body that meets my minimum requirement. Panny is most likely, but I’d go and will go whatever direction, whatever brand, zero loyalty, who can produce the closest to my needs by the end of next Feb absolute latest.

Ditto, the perception of their AF, particularly on social media, especially YouTube. There are ‘Why I switched to Panny’ posts for sure, but for every one and every positive comment, there are 9 negatives and those 9 negatives based on limited or zero use, ie, most just repeating a myth/perception. The reality is in most situations for my use case it’s more than good enough, but the fact remains it is the weakest (by far) of the main manufacturers who produce ‘hybrid’ cameras, principally; Fuji, Nikon, Canon and Sony. They do not need to do too much to retain my business as my move to Nikon is not yet a done deal. As things stand, there is nothing else available that can equal my 3 body/4 lens planned Nikon future… …unless Panny can spring something soon that ticks the same boxes. Unlike Kye’s opinion, I don’t think there is anything wrong with wishing for better things from a system you are heavily invested in but everyone is entitled to an opinion! I’m also a fan of the underdog and the unorthodox. Part of my attraction to Fuji and for the decade I used them was because they were the underdog that overachieved. I would not invest in a system just because they were the underdog, - I still have certain requirements that have to be checked off and one reason I did not go down the Sigma FP/L route, - just a few too many dealbreakers and even a single one is enough to say no. But L Mount as a whole has now reached a point…or rather I have reached a conclusion, does so many things so well, but it turns out has a couple of chinks in it’s armour I have not been able to overcome. AF is not actually one of those chinks. At least not at dealbreaker level. For me. It’s turned out to be the 1.5x crop for 4K 50p and recording limits on the S1R’s. There’s still a chance for me with L Mount but they need to come up with ‘my’ spec camera really soon or I cannot see any other future than the one I am currently headed for.

There’s another fella on here with 30+ items for sale. Andrew something…