If you missed My Photography Conundrum – Part 1, I invite you to read that first part as this post is a continuation.
…And then came a trip we planned to Yosemite National Park. My wife and I are trying to hike as many of the National Parks as we can while our knees are s till in relatively good shape and everything else seems to be functioning properly – more or less!
We had planned this trip more than a year in advance because, through prior experience, we found that accommodations get snapped up pretty fast during most of the good hiking months. In my opinion this may be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure and I wanted a camera that had a better lens and rendered more detail than any of the cameras that I currently owned.
So which camera had my attention? Drum roll please…I am now focusing (no pun) my efforts on acquiring a Fuji mirrorless camera. I was hoping to get a Fuji X-T2 but unfortunately that doesn’t exist yet. I was anticipating that Fuji would have delivered an update to that model ahead of the X-Pro2, but that was not to be.
Why a Fuji? I am glad you asked. I have been studying the following resources for a very long time.
- The We Shoot Fuji blog with Scott Bourne and Marco LaRousse via the WeShootFuji Podcasts.
- The great Fuji pictures and work of Karen Hutton – (Postcards from Rome/Germany posts are all Fuji)
- The Photofocus Mirrorless Podcast
- As well as Marco LaRousse photography
I have learned as much as I could from these resources before deciding to invest in the Fuji ecosystem.
Almost everyone I “follow” who is using Fuji gear has praised the company’s attention to detail and their willingness to “listen” to their users and to make improvements in their products. More than any other company, Fuji seems to provide more camera upgrades via new software (firmware) releases.
Users also remark about the great Image Quality (IQ) and filter options Fuji offers. Another factor in my decision is the strong user-base and sense of community that has developed along the Fuji line such as Fujiholics and Fujilove: All Things Fuji.
One last consideration is what I like to refer to as the cost-benefit ratio. It seems to me that Fuji offers users “more for the money” when all things are considered. I am not going to be a professional photographer. My goal is to be an accomplished hobbyist/enthusiast and I think Fuji will give me the best opportunity at achieving that goal for the investments in time and money that I want to make. Of course, your opinion might be quite different for a great variety of reasons.
With that decision made, my conundrum became evident. The Fuji I wanted, the X-T2, was nothing but a dream at this point. The one current model, X-Pro2, wasn’t of interest to me. What should I do?
“Fuji X-Pro2” Via
It suddenly appeared that fortune was smiling in my direction as an announcement was made that a particular company was hoping to become the Netflix of Camera Gear and the program was going to offer…
I am paraphrasing my understanding as follows:
Rent the gear you need for a flat fee of $150 a month for as long as desired and the first month for every customer would be only $99.
This sounded like a great opportunity for me to use the Fuji X-T1 and become familiar with the Fuji system before the new model comes out. I could then have my cake and eat it too; in a manner of speaking.
My plan was to rent the gear for two months, i.e. $249 plus additional fee for insurance. This would give me a couple of weeks prior to my trip to become familiar with the gear. This is what I asked to reserve:
A Fuji X-T1 w/ the Fuji 16-55mm f/2.8 XF R LM WR lens and a compatible lens hood.
“Fuji X-T1 Image Via“
Other companies that rent camera gear wanted way more than $249 +/- for the same rental so I was feeling very smug about this!
Fortune then turned her smile in another direction and my hopes were just as quickly shattered. I found out that the company would not be open for general business until after my target date. Obviously I needed the camera for a couple of weeks prior to the excursions so I could learn the system, but that was not going to happen!
Now I was back to square one. I still had my two Canon PowerShot cameras and my iPhone, but I was hoping for a step up from the quality I would most likely derive from these alternatives and I still wanted to await the Fuji X-T2. What was I to do?
Read additional posts in My Photography Conundrum series
My Photography Conundrum – Part 3
My Photography Conundrum – Part 4
See previous Photography posts HERE