5 REASONS WHY I BOUGHT THE FUJIFILM X T2 AND NOT CANON 6D MARK 2, SONY A6500, OR THE PANNY G85

I am slowly moving away from Canon. Here are the reasons I chose Fuji over my existing Canon setup

If you want to buy the Fuji X T2 click here and support me. I get a little cut

Link to the Fuji shoutout

Link to the vintage lens video

Link to the more detailed Blog post on my website:

Why Fuji and not the other guys

A shout out to all your comments and suggestions on my video where I ask your suggestions as to my photographic move from Canon to Fuji. It is much appreciated

I have, as of late, been toddling around with the idea of getting a Fujifilm camera. Their approach to photography is one that I personally share to a great extent. This post is a lot about why I think that this move will enhance my personal workflow. Now here are the primary reasons why I decided to make this purchase.

Price (Fuji summer deal that is super attractive)

The reasoning here is simple. The latest price on the Fuji XT-2 is quite amazing. I took advantage of the deal where they offer the camera, a fantastic kit 18-55 2.8-4 kit lens and the battery grip for $2400 Canadian (roughly 1851$). Therefore, it would be foolish of me to to say that price wasn't a factor. But it is a truly aggressive price.

I love the Fuji philosophy

I am from the old school of photography. You might want to call it me longing for the good old days but I like the idea that the camera has external dials and an overall old school approach to taking photos. It is how I learned to take photos and how I feel at ease taking photos.

Hearsay (The word is out Fuji kicks ass!)

Yup! What I have heard in internet land and what many people are saying about the general impressions of this camera all around. It is only good. Now, you all know as well as I, that sometimes people tend to want to reinforce their purchase so when they speak of how amazing a camera is it could be just a bunch of rationalization.

Short flange distance on an APS-C camera

This reason weighs heavily in the balance. Due to my increasing collection of vintage lenses, I really want to take advantage of that glass and do not like using my Canon DSLRs to do this. Because of the relatively similar flange distances of Canons to other brands of cameras, adapting to the Canon platform is not easy. Therefore, I am sort of restricted to getting a mirrorless interchangeable system to get to use the vintage lenses I have. I have ruled out Panasonic. Although, I generally like the company, they slap all of their tech on a four thirds system. Arguments are strong for the capabilities of this system but I do not believe in them. I have ruled out Sony because I truly cannot stand their menu system and think that they have a crap load of overheating issues to still resolve before they can ever be considered.

If you want to know how I feel about vintage lenses, check this video out

Fuji's existing lens offerings are reasonably priced and of excellent quality

I think that the offerings that Fuji do give are quite attractive. Although nothing like Nikon and Canon, what they do offer is great. I have never been a fan of kit lenses but, for now, I will be using this camera with the kit lens and be buying the

FUJI to Canon FD adapter
Fuji to Nikon adapter
Fuji to Canon EF adapter

I will, all of a sudden, have a great old school digital camera with all the bells and whistles of the new world mixed in with the fun and attractiveness of the old

To follow me:

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Please watch: "Behind Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” Speech. Why was it powereful?"
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[SimCurves]

I agree wholeheartedly with you on all the benefits of the Fuji X system. I am a professional photographer myself and I switched from two Canon 5DmkIII to two Fuji X-T1's a couple of years ago. One thing though: You are contradicting yourself when you say you don't want to use Panasonic with their small micro 4/3 sensor because sensor size matters, yet about Fuji you sort of say "as long as the image quality is up there"...

[Nscalemike]

So glad to see your video...I've been a life long Canon shooter...I'm seriously considering switching to the Fuji system...thanks again for sharing...I'm looking forward to seeing images either here or on IG...using the Fuji Xt2...and your vintage lenses

[btedd]

I too came from film, my first was Yashica-Mat, then all Canon starting with AE-1 up to 5D mark III. That was fine until I got my hands on the simple X100T. It has dials! just like I loved, and it is fun to shoot. Now, all digital Canon gear is gone and I've picked up an XPro2 and a few lenses. Image quality is superb on both, and for what I do now...one camera bag fits all my gear. This may sound strange, but instead of being a fanboy, I feel like others...it's like a fuji family...with tons of support. Love it.

[jfls]

The X-T2 is such an enjoyable camera to use though. It feels great in the hand and it makes you want to go out and use it. That's a big part of photography. If a camera system can get you excited to go out and shoot, then I think that's worth more than a few extra MP here or slightly better EVF there. (as compared to other camera systems i.e Sony)

[timskinnercanada]

I'm with you all the way regarding vintage glass on Fuji mirrorless bodies. I have over a hundred vintage specimens and it's so rewarding to press those gorgeous full-metal optics back into service after decades of neglect. Especially nice to mount 70's Fujinon glass on the modern Fuji body. Enjoy your Fuji Jacques. Great choice. Great video as usual. Following on IG too.

[mrsusan]

I love how the Fuji X-T2 is constantly being compared to all the big branded full frame cameras. Is there another crop sensor camera that's intimidating full frame like the x-t2 is ? I don't think so.

[dropyvisuals]

The image quality is enough to switch. :) love my XT10 till now !

[Briansvlee]

Hi, another reason would be the XT2 awesome manual focus assist/peeking for the vintage manual lenses. I just love my Nikkor 135mm f3.5 Ai using the K&F concept Nikon(G) to FX. That silver ring double up as another bitterly smooth aperture ring. I actually reusing all the Nikon awesome lenses.

[Bkellyusa]

I am a Sony shooter but I like the Fuji cameras in a big way. When I hear people talk about Sony's rise to prominence in the camera business I remind them that it's not just Sony but Fuji as well along with Panasonic and Olympus.

[FotosyMas.]

In my personal experience with both Fuji and Sony no adapted lens performs better than native glass. I think it's a nice feature to have on a camera but real world application is a no go.

[rsegedahl]

Former Canon user myself. The Fuji jpg's are one reason to buy it. Fun camera to shoot with and the feeling is just right!

[longrider]

I am the biggest Sony fan in the world but no one can you cannot go wrong with any of the Fuji products!!!

[Reno_T]

You gonna love it 👌🏻Regarding lens I have the kit lens and the 35 F2. Next will be the 56 and 50-140 but it’s hard to choose which one to buy first...

[bennylamera]

K&F Concept adaptor on ebay. And well done on choosing the vintage lenses. Ken is awesome and don't forget to give him a buck or two and tell him to jump off a bridge... I do own some of this vintage lenses and I was very happy with withe photo result until I started using them in video... I'm not into videography but WOW WOW it makes a difference shooting vintage lens. Also just bought the Samyang 12mm for this XT-2 and it is superb for $357 AUD

[meta]

Fine review ...

Re legacy lenses -- I own way too many, but I love them as you do.

a. Focal Reducers work quite well and are a huge win, especially for wide angle lenses. I own the Lens Turbo 2 for both MD to NEX and FD to NEX. Of course, the metabones adapter is known to be excellent too (but expensive). My own testing indicates that limitations of these focal reducers are simply the inherent weakness of corners of the legacy lens and I have found no noticeable additional degradation in IQ. Coupled with a 50mm f1.4 lens for a 24mm f2 lens, these focal reducers give you bokeh and light gathering that only 1/3 of a stop less than what would be achieved if these lenses were mounted on a full frame. Note that legacy lenses are best for portrait and street. Not so good for high resolution landscape work since the coatings from back in the day have noticeably less micro-contrast that modern lenses.
b. Legacy lenses (where the subject is stationary) are one area where the a6500 with IBIS has s significant advantage over the XT-2 which doesn't have that capability. For that reason alone, I did not consider the XT-2. (i own an a6500).
c. The lack of IBIS on the XT-2 is a weakness as many of Fuji's otherwise superb lenses lack IS in the lens including many of the primes and the Fuji 16-55 f2.8.
d. Unless, the AF is going to work with your Fuji -- I would recommend manual legacy lenses like Canon FD, Minolta MD, M42, etc. There are several reasons, but the one that you'll appreciate most is user experience. Legacy AF lenses (till about 2000) typically do not have the perfectly damped handling of MF-only lenses. Maybe your Nikon is an exception as I've no experience with it ... And the older MF lenses have gorgeous build quality.

Still, Fuji owners love their cameras and that says a lot. And, if you love the Fuji approach, you'll just hate Sony. Their customer support, I can confirm, is, at best, indifferent. A Sony a6xxx is probably much slower to get the hang of. but in the right hands it hums.

A major advantage of Fuji which you did not mention is firmware updates, which are frequent and often significantly enhance the bodies capabilities. Sony's firmware upgrades are, by contrast, rare and minimal. The only way to get a major firmware upgrade for Sony is to buy the next model when it comes out. But, that's Sony and you either accept that or don't buy from them.

Overall, the a6500 is more like a computer attached to a sensor, but for me that's just fine. However, the a6500 is a better fit for my needs--IBIS, huge buffer, a bit smaller and lighter, plus the availability of dirt cheap alpha lenses which are generally excellent IQ such as the Sony SAL 16-50 f2.8 which is comparable to the Fuji 16=55 and is able to take advantage of the a6500's IBIS. Great landscape lens and o tripod needed which, for me, is huge differentiator over the XT-2.

The a6500 also has a highlight metering mode which though rarely discussed in forum, is invaluable.

Although, I shoot manually or aperture priority, I just don't seem to miss the knobs of the XT-2 and I am one of the few people who--after lots and lots of practice--love the shooting experience of the a6500.

But that just me ....

[USFreedom]

The dials are the best. It' just faster and easier to turn dials rather than dig through e-menus looking for something that usually isn't labeled correctly to make sense to users.

[PrasadKannansaivam]

Great choice please go ahead I heard very good reviews about X-T2, u didn't mention one very important thing which is the X-T2 video department is super strong compared to 6d-ii. when you go to buy your camera please do very nice log... happy to see that...

[greysuit]

I use vintage glass in my a6300 and it's great! Congrats on the XT-2. That's a camera I'm definitely keeping an eye on.

[yitzchallevi]

Ask Ken Wheeler the fanboy... but I will wait and see what you're going to say about the Fuji Xt2 after using it for a year or so...

[opwave]

Good explanation. I still shoot Canon DSLR, but I'm looking to supplement with a mirrorless. Not going to sell my Canon though. I like the colors.