The Micro Four Threads Third

So... Pam eventually went for the GX7 + 20/1.7. As we always knew she would ;)

The staff in Park Cameras on Rathbone Place were happy to let us play with a whole bunch of things for what seemed like hours (with a lunch break in the middle). While we knew the APS-C sensors of the Sony a6000 and Fuji X-E2 / X100T were going to offer better quality at the extreme end of things, the former was rejected on aesthetic grounds and the latter were just a bit too pricey*. Also, Pam was coming at this from the "better than a smartphone" angle rather than "lighter than my DSLR" angle that Fuji are really going for, so I think she's not that fussed about Fuji's superior EVFs but was concerned about their lack of touchscreens.

(* - there is an extraordinary deal going on at the moment, available in most UK outlets, where you can get the Fuji X-Pro1 with 17mm and 28mm pancake primes for £650. That's basically a free camera if you're only after the lenses (or vice versa). X-Pro1 has been pretty well outstripped by Fuji's later X-mount models (no wi-fi, not great AF, etc) but I imagine you could flog it on eBay as mint/as-new for £300ish and put that towards an X-E2 or an X-T1. And when I say "you", I mean "me". NO, NO, do not need.)

Oh, look - it's me 10 weeks ago telling myself I wouldn't buy a Fuji.

So...I got the X-M1 on a deal with the 27mm prime and the basic 16-50mm OIS zoom. It's cute, it's a bit cheap-feeling, but it has terrific dynamic range and colours straight off the bat. I was ready to be disappointed with how Adobe's Raw engine would deal with demosaicing files from the Fuji's unconventional sensor (everyone seems to complain about Lightroom + Fuji), but I like the default results and I've made a couple of sharpening presets following advice I read on a blog which improve things.

It does seem like the X-M1 is the runt of the litter; Fuji are very good at rolling out substantial firmware updates but the M hasn't had one for a while and it's pretty much disappeared from the shops. I guess it's about to be discontinued. But that's why I got such a deal on it.

And now Fuji are offering accumulative cashback on certain XF lenses. Oh stop it.

just saw that fuji cashback deal myself, trying very hard not to think about picking up the 16-55 f/2.8 for the £75 discount ahead of a trip to the US next month :(

Can you remind me which lenses you own for the Fuji X?

I'm lobbying LFH to start stocking Fuji gear (there are lens hire companies which rent out Fuji, but, unlike the LFH model, they require deposits, extensive ID for couriering to the workplace, etc). I can't really justify a 56/1.2 but it would be a nice thing to have in my bag at a wedding, supporting the Canon 135L/24-105L workhorses.

£225 off if you buy two lenses, BG. Just sayin'.

gah, stoppit! i already have lenses which cover the 16-55 range so really i'd be paying £700 for the privilege of not having to switch lenses occasionally, which is insane. yet somehow still tempting :(

i've got the 10-24mm, 23mm, 35mm, 56mm and 50-140mm. they're all among the sharpest lenses i've ever used, and the 56mm really is amazing - it would be great for weddings. everything i've read about the forthcoming 90mm f/2 seems to suggest it's optically even more impressive than the 56mm.

Yeah, I'm telling myself I really would never need the 90/2.0, as glorious as it sounds, as it's the same as my 135L on full-frame, and that is all I've ever wanted from a portrait prime. (Also not included in the cashback deal). OTOH, if I followed your lead and switched systems, it would be top of the list ;)

I guess if I was going for a twofer, it would be 35 + 56, though the former is really very close to my little pancake, if two stops faster. But if I'm applying my don't-replicate-what-I-can-do-with-a-FF-Canon logic, the 35 is also redundant. Really pretty impressed with the 16-50 at the wide end, so not hankering after any fast wide primes. Well, no more than usual.

The price of the X-T10 at launch is really low too - no more than the X-E2 currently is. Have they learned nothing from the big boys? Always ratchet up the RRP every model! And the firmware thing is remarkable - X-T1 w/FW 4.0 is a completely different camera to the one at launch, for no additional cost. They just get this stuff right, it seems.

yeah, their commitment to continuous improvement is pretty amazing - when i came to sell my x100 to upgrade to the x100s it was a much, much more responsive camera than it was when i bought it thanks to the firmware updates. can't wait to give the new x-t1 firmware a try next month.

i can't work quite out their thinking with the x-t10, though, because it seems so close in form and function to the x-t1 that i don't know why most people would choose the more expensive camera. the x-t10 has a slightly smaller viewfinder, a couple less physical dials and a smaller frame buffer but is basically the same camera at £500 instead of £800 afaict.

if i had to choose a two-lens kit i think i'd go 23mm and 56mm - those are the lenses i seem to use most on the x-t1. the 35mm is really a phenomenal lens, though, especially considering the price.

X-T1 is weather-sealed too, I guess. If you look at the price diff between, say, Canon 5D3 and 1DX, it seems to mostly come down to build quality (shutter that will last 3x longer, tank-like body, huge capacity battery), but what the cameras can actually do is very similar. Perhaps that's the thinking here.

Quite what Fuji are going to do with the "flagship" X-Pro will be interesting.

My OM-D E-M10 crapped out - in order to get the back LCD to work I have to hard reset the device on startup.

Should I ...

(1) get this repaired
(2) buy an OM-D E-M10 Mk III
(3) something else

I miss my GF1.

Maybe look for sales? The E-M10 series can usually be had for a bargain somewhere. The Mk. III and IV are both pretty nice. Maybe consider a GX85 or GX9?

of course beating in mind that Olympus have discontinued all their cameras grrr (OM-D E-M10 mk 2 owner with some $ in glass here)

*bearing

OM Digital is still selling everything. Jury's still out on how the new company will fare long-term, but cautious optimism seems warranted. There are a couple lenses and at least a new camera body in the pipeline for 2021.

Yeah, certainly don't jump ship if you've got some glass. Panasonic released another m43 body last year, I think, even though they seem to be going all in on the FF line. Still lots of nice third-party primes out there.

Repair ££ likely = finding a good E-M10 on eBay.

Thanks, eBay it is!

also you can sell yr old one to someone who wants a crack at fixing it, or for parts.
I just watched an E-M5 mk II with case, accessories but no lenses finish up for $US370 equivalent here.

Yeah, good call.

What is the average lifespan of a (theoretically quality) digital camera, anyway? A bit bummed that they seem to be disposable, although I guess I should have expected it.

Maybe I'm lucky, but my 12-year-old LX3 is still used by my parents, and my original E-M5 is still ticking. Some bits age more poorly than others...rubber grip material deteriorates, mechanical connections and motors wear out. I think lack of suitable batteries will eventually be the showstopper, but there's no reason a digital camera shouldn't last a decade or more.

Yeah tbf I could have treated mine better, will try not to make that mistake with the next child.

My kids have fully functional DSLRs from 2003-05. Granted, they don't actually care to use them much (I bought the eldest an EF-S 24/2.8 four years ago and that's a great lens! Pah), but I picked up a couple of third-party batteries, so they should keep going for a bit.

The received wisdom I'd heard was that something else would give out on a camera before the shutter mech reached the end of its natural life, regardless of what it was rated for, but that hasn't been my experience. My 300D shutter packed in around the five-year mark (still in a drawer, dead), and my 40D started misfiring around the same age (replaced the mech, later sold). Fine in other regards. My 6D is still going strong after 107k actuations (nearly 8 years old), but top dial is a bit sticky now.

(I bought an absolutely battered X-T1 secondhand in 2018 too... that occasionally has card errors, but it does look like it was dragged across concrete at some point in its life. More disappointing was having to get the 27/2.8 pancake repaired; focus motor gear issue. Only three years old. You kind of hope the lenses at least last decades).

Haven't had a shutter mechanism fail yet, but I'm sure it will happen eventually with all the use I get from my bodies. An underrated benefit of modern bodies with usable electronic shutter — prolonged mechanical shutter life.