It was after yet another back-breaking trip with my Nikon DSLR setup in the fall of 2019 that I decided to reevaluate some of my gear choices. While I was certainly not ready to completely ditch all of my Nikon gear, I felt that there might be better options specifically for lightweight travel and backcountry landscape photography. Carrying less weight and bulk simply means being able to go that extra distance, climb another peak, or go and extra block or two to explore yet another city street, or alley.
It did not take long for me to converge on the Fuji X-system. After only a little bit of internet research I quickly found a growing community of Fuji users. A community of dedicated photographers, many of whom had made the switch from bulky DSLR systems only to never look back. The common themes amongst virtually all of them was that they loved the Fuji system for its compactness and great image quality. There are even a number of online magazines dedicated to the almost cult-like following of Fuji.
All of that made me all the more curious about trying out the Fuji system. So, after only a small amount of deliberation, I decided to go ahead and pick up a Fuji X-T3 with an 18-55mm f/2.8-4 Fujinon lens. After a fairly quick evaluation, I concluded that pretty much all that has been said about the Fuji system was was spot on. The X-T3 handled great and took amazing images. Colors, dynamic range, high ISO performance, and pretty much any other performance criteria I could possibly want was there.
Shortly thereafter, I decided to start expanding things with some additional lenses. The Fuji 10-24mm f/4 and Fuji 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 zoom lenses seemed like obvious first choices to add ultra-wide angle and telephoto coverage. After a time, I also decided to add in some selected Fuji prime lenses for better low light capability and some additional creative options.
Overall, I am very happy with my current Fuji camera and lens setup, which is here in My Fuji Gear. For travel and landscape photography where I want to travel light, the Fuji system is nearly perfect. I don’t feel that I am giving up anything in terms of image quality for these specific areas of my photography. Am I completely giving up on Nikon? Definitely not. When it comes to fast action and low-light photography like wildlife, nightscape, and deep-sky astrophotography I feel Nikon full-frame with fast wide-angle and telephoto lenses is a better choice.
Below are some of my more detailed thoughts on the Fuji X-system from an adventure travel and landscape photography perspective.
Size and Weight –
This was, of course, one of my main considerations for going with Fuji. Whether carrying a camera and a single lens or a full setup, the Fuji system is definitely smaller and lighter than any variation of my previous DSLR system. The table below shows a comparison of my typical three lens setups for Nikon and Fuji. Both offer virtually identical coverage at 17mm to 300mm for Nikon vs. 15mm to 300mm full-frame equivalent for Fuji.
Nikon vs. Fuji Travel and Landscape Setups:
Nikon
Nikon D750 26.4 oz.
Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8 25.9 oz.
Nikon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 16.2 oz.
Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 24.0 oz.
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Total: 5.8 lbs.
Fuji
Fuji X-T3 19.0 oz.
Fuji 10-24mm f/4 14.5 oz.
Fuji 18-55mm f/2.8-3.5 10.9 oz.
Fuji 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 20.5 oz.
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Total: 4.1 lbs.
The weight savings of the Fuji combination is obvious, coming in at nearly a full 1.7 lbs. (0.8 kg) lighter than the Nikon DSLR combination. Going with Nikon’s newer and even larger 16-35mm f/4 does not help matters a whole lot either. That combination only shaves off a rather insignificant 2 oz. (55 grams).
The savings, however, don’t just stop there. There is also a significant difference in the relative sizes of each of the camera and lens combinations. Figures 1 – 3 show the Nikon D750 and Fuji X-T3 with the various wide-angle, normal, and telephoto zoom lens combinations. Smaller gear also means that I can go with a smaller camera bag and even a lighter tripod.
There have been a number of occasions in the past where I left my DLSR back at the hotel when on travel. Unless I was sure about taking pictures, I just did not want to deal with the extra bulk. With Fuji, I rarely feel that way. On top of that, I also feel that carrying my Fuji gear is less conspicuous in museums, restaurants or just walking down busy streets.
A valid argument can certainly be made that the latest full-frame mirrorless Nikon and Sony camera bodies are now comparable in size to that of the Fuji X-T3. While that may very well be true for the camera bodies themselves, it is not true of their respective full-frame lenses. They are still necessarily larger to accommodate the greater full-frame sensor area and typically no different than their DSLR counterparts.
It is also true that Canon, Nikon, and Sony each have have their own respective APS-C mirrorless camera lines. Unfortunately, except for possibly Nikon, neither Canon nor Sony have put a whole lot of effort into them for some time. Further, they generally treat APS-C as a more entry level product line. Lens selections are limited and generally not of the performance and quality of those of Fuji.
Going to APS-C from Full-Frame –
I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about going to an APS-C sensor from full-frame. I wondered how things like resolution, dynamic range and high ISO performance would compare.
Fuji’s 26.1 MP X-trans sensor has proven to be more than enough for most any travel and landscape photography that I care to do. Sure, if I were into heavily cropping images or making prints larger than 1 meter wide, I might think differently. Even then, when printing that large, the extra resolution is only appreciated under careful inspection at close distances. At more reasonable viewing distances, they again look largely the same.
When it comes to dynamic range, specifically for dealing with highlights and shadows in landscape photography, I find the performance of the Fuji X-T3 sensor to be excellent. Sure, if I push harder and look close enough, Nikon full-frame is possibly better. My experiences thus far, though, are that and differences seem to be largely insignificant and of no real practical importance.
In terms of ISO performance, I find the image quality of the Fuji X-Trans sensor to be excellent up to ISO 1600. At ISO 3200, image quality is still holds up quite well but is about as high as I like to go for normal shooting. ISO 6400 is usable in a pinch but is definitely the upper limit as color and detail start really falling apart for anything above that. For virtually everything I like to do with my my Fuji gear, this is really all I need in terms of usable ISO. If anything, it is the lower end at ISO 160 where I like to be most of the time.
Color –
I always shoot in raw for my work, so the straight out of camera jpeg film simulations are not all that important to me. They do, however, serve as a great starting point for raw editing in Capture One, my preferred post processor for Fuji images. I usually start with the Film Standard or Provia (Standard) curves as they are neutral and generally color accurate. From there I can pretty much go anywhere without a whole lot of work. Whether I am looking for a colorful and saturated scene with spring flowers or a more gritty “filmic” look, Fuji just seems to make it easy.
Fuji images also seem to have a particular look to them. Certainly they have amazing colors but there is a characteristic texture to them that I would best describe as smooth. Not smooth in a way that overtly affects sharpness, but something that tends to make images look a bit more natural and less clinical.
Control Layout –
One of the things that really intrigued me was the retro-style control layout of the Fuji X-T3. Coming from a film camera background, I rather like it as it is immediately familiar and intuitive. Most other modern cameras take a little familiarization to get to know where everything is. Every brand does things a little differently either through menus or a combination of buttons and control wheels. The Fuji X-T3, on the other hand, only needs some basic initial setup via the menu system. After that, everything is pretty straightforward with shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, and aperture all right there in plain view.
Lens Quality and Selection –All of the Fuji lenses I have tried so far have been optically excellent with all the sharpness I could reasonably ask for. They are also mechanically well constructed, being made mostly of metal. The focusing, zoom, and aperture rings are all solid and operate smoothly. About my only complaint would be with the aperture rings. I feel on most lenses they tend to turn a little too easily.
As far as lens selection goes, Fuji has a pretty broad lineup. Notably missing, though, are fast ultra-wide-angle primes. All Fuji currently has is the 14mm f/2.8. Anything wider has to be a third party offering. It would be nice if Fuji had its own 10mm or 12mm lenses with maximum apertures of f/2 or faster.
Autofocus on the Fuji X-T3 is fast and accurate. As I am usually focusing on fixed subjects, things like tracking and eye detect AF are not all that important to me. They work fine but I would say that the systems from Canon, Sony, and Nikon are more advanced and capable. About the only other thing that I have noticed is that the X-T3 does not focus as well in low light as I think it should. It is not been a real major issue for me though.
Mirrorless Design –
A lot has already been written about the advantages of mirrorless cameras so I don’t need to go into a whole lot of that here. There are, however, a few things that I have found to be of particular advantage for me.
I like the quieter operation of mirrorless cameras compared to DSLRs. When using a DSLR, I often felt a little self-conscious about the mirror noise especially in quieter indoor places. With a mirrorless camera I can be much more discrete. While I don’t necessarily feel I have to hide the fact that I am taking pictures, it is just nice to know that my camera is not bothering anyone.
I also like the nice, bright viewfinders in mirrorless cameras. I never appreciated it as much as when I recently used a DSLR with a slow lens and noticed just how dark the viewfinder was.
Another really big advantage of mirrorless cameras is AF accuracy and reliability. I find that as long as I am focused on the right spot, I rarely miss focus. By comparison, every DLSR I had in the past required at least some calibration for each lens. Even then, it was not uncommon to randomly miss focus on the same exact subject.
There’s Something About Fuji –
Finally, I do have to say that there is just something about Fuji. They are interesting cameras that somehow inspire me. They bring out creativity and have energized many areas of my photography. Fuji cameras just seem to get out of the way and allow me to take pictures. Whether that is due to their look, smaller size, retro control layout, or something else, I am not sure. I can say for certain, however, that I find myself bringing a camera along far more often and to more places that I ever did with a DSLR.