Friday, 12th August, 2022
Got the new camera. It’s lovely…but…is it what I was really looking for or is it just something to buy! My first reaction is to send it back right away, but I’ve not even used it. Maybe it was the honest fact that I don’t need it, the XT2 is fine, also getting the 27mm is now just another decision to make when picking a lens. It’s made me think “why didn’t I just get the X100V instead?”. I like the 23mm f/2. Although I never use the OVF, so that seems like a waste. Anyway, technically I have about 2 weeks before I have to decide and can send the camera back - as long as I keep it in mint condition… I’ll set it up tonight and use it at the family party. I had been excited to use the XE4 with M mount glass and the extra colour settings on it. A pseudo film camera.
Oh I’m insufferable. Please don’t read this 😅
Think I just ruined some film photo portraits by opening the back as I’d forgotten I hadn’t rewound the film already.
I think the question is, do I want the XE4 to replace my XT2. Because if so then that’s fine. I want a digital ICL camera. I might need to buy a grip if so for when I want to use tele-lenses.
It was lovely and sunny this morning, so I loaded some ISO 50 for this afternoon. Now it’s clouded over and I’m messing about between f2.8-4 and 1/60-1/125 try to get something decent and it’s annoying.
After my initial panic over the camera, I’m starting to calm down a bit. Been setting it up and handling it more with different lenses. Even the 23mm f/1.4 isn’t that bad. Although the weight of it does make me think a grip, either thumb or from or both, would make it much nicer in the hand. I’m always conflicted about grips. It seems silly to buy a camera that you then have to buy a grip for. The camera should have it by default. However, maybe it’s a small compromise given everything else.
And now I end the day loving the camera! The custom settings extend to pretty much every setting on the camera! So now I can also save ISO ranges, focusing, all sorts with all the colour settings. I don’t remember that on the X100V, and it means I don’t need all the dials.
I’m going to order a thumb grip as that seems to be the one that people like having the most vs. the body grip. I mounted all my lenses on it to see how it was. The surprising one was the 50-230mm lens - it’s a light lens which is nice. It’s a little slow (f/4.5-6.7), but the 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 weighs a lot more. As the X-E4 is so light, it balances really well and I can hold the camera by the lens in my left hand and it’s easy to use. All the f/2+ primes sit nicely on it. The 23mm f/1.4 is fine but, as I said before, a bit heavy. Wondering what I do with this. The 27mm is nice, and very close in focal length but slower. The 23mm f/2 seems a silly purchase, and probably one I’d actually never use. The old 35mm f/1.4 stands out as being the fast lens option for the X-E4. It’s about the same length as the f/2 lenses, but only weighs 187g. The 35mm f/2 is 170g and then 23mm f/1.4 is 300g. It’s narrower than I’ve been using, but for dark evenings in winter maybe it’s a nice choice. Tempted to buy it regardless. It’s always been on my wishlist, but with the 35mm f/2 I couldn’t justify it…I means, I still can’t really but I could swap 35mm f/2 → f1.4 and then the 23mm from f/1.4 → f/2…if I didn’t want to duplicate focal lengths.
Also need to find a suitable strap. The fuji one is fine but too many buckles near the camera which are annoying. The X-E4 has wide strap holes, so that rules out a lot of straps - at least I think so as then the connector slides up and down and scratches the body too much. I suppose the Peak Design or equivalent ones are maybe more suitable given the thread like connection. I just don’t like the bulk of the connectors. Anyway, will see. I’ll take some real photos with it tomorrow and see how I get on.
