What camera do I buy? / general gear talk

overkill for almost any use, save your back and wallet and get the 50 f2.5 FE which is small and mighty

Disagree, it will see about 1,700 hours of use per year for video, and it will take about 10K photos per year - it is an absolute steal, especially with the price achieved.

That's a lot of video, onlyfans link pls.

It's going to be my webcam lens, I do about 7-8h of video per day every day... in addition to being the daily carry and travel lens.

And yeah yeah, if you want a travel lens get a zoom lens, etc — I have a zoom (SEL2470GM2) and I still find a good 50mm is great, a lot of my street and travel photography is evening, dusk, and night so yeah I went for the silly fast lens.

It amortises so ridiculously because of the crazy use that this is all fine. That zoom I consider far more crazy a purchase as there's no way it amortises similarly. Because I have it I've been using it as a cat cam.

;)

These are my usual suspects:

https://www.youtube.com/@ogonzilla

https://www.youtube.com/@AndyMumford

https://www.youtube.com/@kathodosdotcom (likes to brag about his lens collection but seems honest)

https://www.kenrockwell.com/

What are you comparing? Maybe I can share my opinion on some lenses, I've had quite a few by now.

Amazing lens if you've got the cash and use for it though

Not specializing in fuji, but I enjoy cameralabs, Kai, Christopher Frost, Jared Polin, Justin Abbot, Art of Photography, Gerald Undone, Matt Osborne, James Popsys… to be clear, some of (most of) them for entertainment purposes.

Thank for the suggestions, and yours @withered_preacher

I've got a pretty good idea of your lenses from searching the sub-forum, I guess I'm looking for comparisons between the 33mm 1.4 Vs 35mm F2, the 16-55mm f2.8 Vs 16-80 F4 which is quite a bit cheaper and has OIS, and 23mm f2 Vs 35mm f2.

I haz the 100-400 tele and the 56mm f1.2 on an X-T3 but would like something small and wider (23/35) and something all rounder with a mid zoom. The 33/35 primes are just kinda daydreaming possibilities which require a tax rebate.

But why? When I already have the cameras and everything to use a DSLR as a webcam for the time when I'm not actively using them for photography.

That's the key part, I don't buy this stuff for this ridiculous usage of it but as I do buy it anyway because I love photography then yielding additional value from it is a no-brainer.

Plus, no iPhone or Mac - so that would be an outlay of £2.5K for a worse solution. But your point is right, if I did happen to own both then making use of it makes sense. Which is the same point I'm making, I happen to be buying this lens and will make use of it as a webcam lens too!

dont take my bait!

But why? It's great fun slowly dismantling your argument or slowly perverting it to justify my own 😁

I am very jealous of my PM who uses a proper cam setup like yours, always looks so pro!

I've had all of the lenses you mention so here goes;

33mm 1.4

I'm using this on the X-H2 and have used it on the X-H1 in the past. Even on those camera's it's quite present. Beautiful lens, excellent build quality and equally impressive in terms of output. I wouldn't get it as a daily lens due to the size / weight.

Shot on X-H1 / 33mm 1.4

35mm F2

I've used this on both the X-T2 and the X-H1. Really enjoyed this lens and at F2 WR, in my opinion really a steal. Focal length wise probably my go-to allrounder in the Fuji line-up together with the 33mm. It's a small lens and therefore really good for everyday use imo.

Not wide enough for landscape imo.

Shot on X-T2 and 35mm F2

16-55 2.8

I've used this on the X-H1 and X-T2. Image quality is impressive but so is the weight and size of the lens. It's heavy and I prefer internal zoom instead of external. Performance wise one of the best zoom lenses you can get. I prefer my 50-140 though in terms of focal length and overall performance. Can't compare to the 16-80 in terms of sharpness and overall build quality imo.

Shot on X-H1 & 16-55

16-80 F4

Got this lens together with my X-H2. Tried it for a few hours but similar to the 16-55, I didn't like the external zoom and I'm not a fan of any F number exceeding 2.8. The 16-55 is sharper but also heavier / more expensive etc.

As an all-purpose lens that's mostly used outdoors, I'd recommend based on the price. For indoor use I wouldn't go for this lens.

No sample shot available as I sold it after a few hours of use.

23mm F2

I've not actually owned this lens but have used it for a few weeks on my X-T2. Very similar to the 35mm F2 in overall experience, great bang for your buck if the focal length is for you. For me it's fine for landscape but too wide for overall use. In that case I prefer the 33 / 35mm on the Fuji or even better, the 28mm on the Leica.

Small, super easy as an everyday lens.

Hope this helps!

I would be surprised if the bulk and weight is not offputting for carrying daily.
For webcam use, some high TLCI/SSI lighting set up well is going to be far more important.
you won't be getting much in focus at f1.2 unless you have a focus puller working 7-8h a day as well!

I have lighting too!

a lot of people "have lighting"

Amazing reply, totally above and beyond, thank you.

I’m leaning towards the 16-55 and will read a few more of the recommended reviews. Thanks 🙏🏻

No worries at all, happy to help.

It's always a lot of money so worth some consideration.

My x-t3 and 55-200 had an unscheduled touch down after a family day out today. The lens mount sheared off and remained attached to the body.

Any idea if this can be repaired and who might do it ? Thanks.

Oof. That’s rough. The lens mounts are usually metal screwed into plastic or PA66-GF30. Should be totally repairable, Fuji would be the best option but depending on where you bought it, give Wex a bell and see what they recommend.

Have seen Nikon telephotos get royally fucked up and put pack together again.

Hopefully the camera body isn’t deformed or cracked.

This happened with my 90mm. For a flat fee, Fuji send you a box to send it back in, and they did an excellent job with the lens - when I later sold it to MBP they classed it as ‘As New’.

You can see the price list here: https://repairs.fujifilm.eu/en/pricing/?prodgroup=2

So I've spent a fair bit of a time as a videographer, and subsequently lost all passion or care for video.

Also, people keep going "bUt wHy dO yOuR pHoToS lOoK lIkE sHiT" presuming... I can also do photo.

I've got a Panasonic Lumix g7, base lens and a horrible f1.7 yongnuo 20mm (yep, 20 not 25, ebay find and was good for low light, far distance gig videography)

I've been thinking of ebaying/selling on MPB the g7 and getting something to learn to take nicer photos, with semi-decent auto, with mediocre video capabilities.

The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II seems like an attractive offering - anyone got any recs? probs looking for secondhand market, 400 with an aight lens range idk

I have a Panasonic GX7 and I love it - Panasonic 20mm f1.7 in aperture priority is a great "semi auto" workflow.
I'd probably get one of the newer models with easier wifi-transfer til mobile.
I've found the greatest improvement to the stock jpeg-files has been tweaking the contrast and colour profile, which was really easy to do, if you know how to work curve adjustments in the adobe suite.

I've had both full and crop sensor DSLRs and this is by far my favourite.