I feel like trying digital at last.

[yerba]

I feel like trying digital at last. Leaning towards Fuji XE2 or X100s but considering Olympus OMD E1 as well. I'm mainly into primes 35-50mm equivalent focal length in 35 mm terms, little or no flash. Have handled them in the shop but cant decide which one yet. Any advice anybody ?

 

[Godfrey]

I feel like trying digital at last. Leaning towards Fuji XE2 or X100s but considering Olympus OMD E1 as well. I'm mainly into primes 35-50mm equivalent focal length in 35 mm terms, little or no flash. Have handled them in the shop but cant decide which one yet. Any advice anybody ?

I presume you mean Olympus E-M1 ... OM-D indicates the product line, not the model.

Lessee: For the E-M1 in the prime lens 35-50 mm EFoV range you have at least the following in dedicated Micro-FourThirds mount lenses:

- Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/2.8
- Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
- Voigtländer 17mm f/0.95 (manual focus only)
- Sigma 19mm f/2.8 DN
- Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7
- Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8
- Panasonic-Leica Summilux-DG 25mm f/1.4 ASPH
- Voigtländer 25mm f/0.95 (manual focus only)

I use the Summilux 25 on the E-M1 in this FoV range. It's a very fine performing lens on a very responsive body with an excellent sensor and excellent viewfinder. The control ergonomics are very very good, and its controls are very customizable to make it into exactly the camera I want to use. The image stabilization is the best in the business.

The E-M1 is a more responsive and satisfying camera for me than any of the Fujis I've tried to the present date.

G

 

[GaryLH]

There is a version 1 and 2 now for the pany 20f1.7. The main difference is suppose to af speed. The sigma 19 newest version is now an Art series for the m43 line. Godfrey has got it covered though.

Gary

 

[yerba]

Thank you, guys.
@Godfrey,
you are right, of course, I meant Olympus E-M1, just got confused a bit. Might need to take a look at the budget side of this as well but IQ and the right feel of the camera are the main factors. For now, at least.

 

[Godfrey]

Thank you, guys.
@Godfrey,
you are right, of course, I meant Olympus E-M1, just got confused a bit. Might need to take a look at the budget side of this as well but IQ and the right feel of the camera are the main factors. For now, at least.

Honestly, you can't go wrong with nearly any of today's cameras. The E-M1 produces superb quality photographs, as do the Fuji X series. In the end, that which suits your hands, your eye, and your budget is really the most important consideration.

G

 

[ktmrider]

I bought an X100 a couple years ago as my first foray into digital and am amazed at how easy it is and how great the photos look. However, I only used it for jpegs.

Well, I bought an M9 about two months ago and took it to SE Asia and shot a lot of stuff RAW. My first attempt at using lightroom was two weeks ago and I am blown away at how easy the manipulation is and how you can correct things like exposure compared to film.

Now, I love my M2 and TriX and will probably never totally get rid of film cameras but for travel, my heart now belongs to digital. Give it a shot, you can always shoot both film and digital. And the X100 makes a great way to start with used prices being about $500-600.

 

[Chris Bail]

I can't speak to the XE2 or Oly, as I've not used either. The X100 I have is an awesome camera.

 

[DKimg]

I had the X100 and it's a fantastic little camera. Funny part is that the X100 transitioned me over to 35mm film (Leica M4P&35cron), only because I didn't use the camera as much. This was me thinking, if I didn't shoot as much, then why not try film all over again.

Well All I can say is that it produces wonderful images. You can flash sync pass 125th of a second which is great for some shooters. Though at the time when the firmware wasn't updated, the autofocus was okay. I have to say that the focus success rate was better while it was on the EVF, so it was on 90% of the time, especially during macro/closeup shots.

Here are two occassions which I had to use it for my photo sessions because my 5Dc Mirror fell off 🙄

 

[GaryLH]

Honestly, you can't go wrong with nearly any of today's cameras. The E-M1 produces superb quality photographs, as do the Fuji X series. In the end, that which suits your hands, your eye, and your budget is really the most important consideration.

G

Agreed.

To OP
If u can borrow or rent one for a bit.. That would be the best. No matter what u read or what u think u want, once u have it in your hands things can turn out different.. Handling in the store sometimes is really not enough to really know. There are can be too many distractions at the store or not enough time. Given the potential cost of the investment..just a thought. The three cameras u have come down to, u really can't go wrong, but their handling and user interface are very different between the Fuji and Olympus.

A Fuji counter to em1 is the new xt1. They are both pseudo dslr form factors. The em1 is a m43 camera while the Fuji's u are looking at are apsc size sensors..just as an FYI. In m43 there is also the Panasonic gx7. There is a kit available that includes the 20f1.7 (40 fov). Godfrey has already mentioned all the m43 lenses.

For the Fuji xe2 or xt1
- 23f1.4 (35 fov)
- 27f2.8 pancake (40ish fov)
- 35f1.4 (50ish fov)

Both Fuji and m43 have some really good prime lenses. The ovf/evf/LCD setup on the x100, x100s and xpro-1 are a joy to use.

Of the three cameras, the x100s w/ left shutter is the absolute quietest and can flash synch at all shutter speeds. One thing to be aware of for x100s, since it is a leaf shutter, u cannot use max shutter speed and wide open at the same time..just nature of leaf shutter

Good luck
Gary

 

[Chris101]

...
Here are two occassions which I had to use it for my photo sessions because my 5Dc Mirror fell off 🙄

🙂 I can see why it would! 😱

 

[tsiklonaut]

Or if you're willing to go more adventurous road and be different from the rest of the bunch - why not the Sigma DP series. They all come with superb prime lenses. Ironically Sigma started the large-sensor compact trend and they never got the credit for it. The payoff for the bliss is some well documented annoyances that come with this camera (slow write-speeds when using RAW, relatively slow AF, not the best color high-ISO performance [while bloody excellent for B&W - beats Leica Monochrom IMO!]) but from ASA100-400 the IQ clearly edges out any of the previously mentioned cameras here, not just better quality wise but in today's digital boredom days where everything looks alike (they're all interpolating sensors with mathematically cheated details and colors) the non-interpolating Foveon X3 sensors bring forth this very refeshingly different overall image rendering IMHO, technology wise the Sigma Merrill's sensors are the closest thing to a color film. You don't need to spend hours on PPing your interpolated images to find unique tonality out of your work and I find with the shortcomings of the camera can be easy to live with - I took mine on a motorcycle trip covering 6 continents, never missed a beat and never thought it's too slow, in fact this little DP2s grew like a part of my own body and did everything I expected and once used to - much better than I expected.

I was on the same crossroads some years ago - I needed a capable digital camera for my overland travels (now 95+% of my shots are back on film, but keeping the Sigma - the only digital camera worth keeping for me anyways).

Anyways, just a food for thought for you...

Good luck,
Margus

 

[GaryLH]

Plus one..

Check out the shots Margus has posted on the dp image threads over on 'the advance compact others sub forum'. I don't think I have ever seen a shot of his I did not like.

They are great cameras. The DP and SD1 Merrill cameras are my most used cameras. I use other cameras for situations where I need higher iso or faster af response. One of the things I like in the pre-Merrill cameras was the external mf focus dial on top of the camera body. It can be used to setup zone focus. The newer cameras u need to turn on the camera and look at the distance info n the LCD. I use a brightline optical viewfinder from my 35mm film cameras as a FYI.

Gary