Fuji X Series

olv · 23 Jan 2020 at 13:43

I need the collective wisdom of this thread to steer me. A little over a month until I go on holiday to HK and Australia and I want to upgrade my X-T10 for the trip. I love my X-T10 but would like improvements in EVF speed, AF speed and resolution. Budget is £500.

Annoyed I missed the X-T30 at Black Friday as it would have been £480 with cash back and is my preferred option. UK stock is currently back at RRP and it is unlikely they will launch another cash back deal before the end of Feb, although with the launch of the X-T4 on Feb 4 maybe they will?

The X-T20 and X-E3 are both £420 new now which seems ok but both a little old and worried they wont feel that much newer/faster than my X-T10. Closer to £300 second hand which is an option.
Grey market X-T30 is £500 in HK camera shops from what I can see but not 100% comfortable buying there as I've never been before.

What would you do?

LiE · 23 Jan 2020 at 13:46

Can you stretch another £99?

https://shop.fujifilm.co.uk/digital...-cameras/fujifilm-x-t30-body-only-refurbished

Otherwise £49 extra for a grey import, my experience with them has been good when I ordered my 35 above.

https://www.e-infin.com/uk/item/395...s_digital_camera_body_only_(charcoal_silver)_

Buddy · 23 Jan 2020 at 13:50

Nothing wrong with grey import. Just check the have uk based repair shops for the warranty and you'll be fine.

Panam-oz has been recommended to me before. I've used HDEW in the past.

olv · 23 Jan 2020 at 15:14

I'm fine with grey imports but just thought if I were going to go that way I may as well go the whole hog and buy in HK https://www.price.com.hk/product.php?p=392374 that site puts grey imports at less than £500.

LiE · 23 Jan 2020 at 15:15

olv said:
I'm fine with grey imports but just thought if I were going to go that way I may as well go the whole hog and buy in HK https://www.price.com.hk/product.php?p=392374 that site puts grey imports at less than £500.

Most of the grey imports who sell in the UK will offer a warranty through themselves which can't be sniffed at. Presumably under £500 from that link will mean zero warranty?

olv · 23 Jan 2020 at 15:23

LiE said:
Most of the grey imports who sell in the UK will offer a warranty through themselves which can't be sniffed at. Presumably under £500 from that link will mean zero warranty?

Yeah I think you'd be on your own warranty wise. How do places like e-infin ensure you don't get clobbered with import TAX?

LiE · 23 Jan 2020 at 15:28

olv said:
Yeah I think you'd be on your own warranty wise. How do places like e-infin ensure you don't get clobbered with import TAX?

Not sure, I think some send from within the UK.

E-infinity say on their website:

United Kingdom - We expedite our orders from our UK warehouse via DPD, Hermes, Royal Mail or UPS. The handling time for an order takes around 2-3 working days typically. You will receive your purchase usually on the 4th - 7th working day after your payment is credited to our account. We assure the prices you see on our site are final and there won't be any taxes or duties to pay when the product arrives.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 23 Jan 2020 at 18:45

The XT200 has been released:
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilm-x-t200-review-in-progress

Also,an XC 35MM F2 for $199:
https://www.dpreview.com/news/4262945623/fujifilm-announces-more-affordable-xc-35mm-f2-prime-lens

It is basically the XF 35MM F2 with a plastic body:
https://jonasraskphotography.com/2020/01/23/fujifilm-xc-35mm-f-2-first-look-preview/

a1ex2001 · 24 Jan 2020 at 21:43

Could they not do an XC 22mm f2

CGrieves · 24 Jan 2020 at 21:56

Bit close to the 18mm f2, which is probably the least technically impressive XF, but cheap (I like mine though)

a1ex2001 · 25 Jan 2020 at 20:12

CGrieves said:
Bit close to the 18mm f2, which is probably the least technically impressive XF, but cheap (I like mine though)

What I would really like is a 22mm f2 pancake I have the 27mm and it is just a little to long but I’d take a cheap 22mm non pancake. The 18mm is just too wide for me for a genera use prime a couple of mm makes such a massive difference at the wide end of things!

Spleen Sauce · 26 Jan 2020 at 01:40

I’m not sure if it’s already been posted or not, but Fujifilm have posted a super interesting movie about the background/concept/productions of the X-Pro3 and x-series cameras. It’s pretty long and you’re going to want to enable subtitles for some sections, but I found it absolutely fascinating.
https://youtu.be/ca1rri6VKQM

Angst · 26 Jan 2020 at 19:52

Spleen Sauce said:
I’m not sure if it’s already been posted or not, but Fujifilm have posted a super interesting movie about the background/concept/productions of the X-Pro3 and x-series cameras. It’s pretty long and you’re going to want to enable subtitles for some sections, but I found it absolutely fascinating.
https://youtu.be/ca1rri6VKQM

Wish it had less interviews and more showing of concept work and design and technical stuff etc. Mostly seems a big puff piece for fujifilm and the "X-photographers" at least thats how it came across to me.

olv · 28 Jan 2020 at 10:31

So I have plumped for a refurbished X-E3 from the Fuji shop. I have not had a rangefinder style camera and did not realise that the X-E3 was a good chunk smaller than the X-E2. Looking forward to seeing what it is like.

LiE · 28 Jan 2020 at 10:40

olv said:
did not realise that the X-E3 was a good chunk smaller than the X-E2.

is it? looks like a few mm here and there.

It is lighter and slightly smaller in the length and height, but appears to be deeper.

olv · 28 Jan 2020 at 11:31

Ha, looks like I've been drawn in by the reviewers' hyperbole

CGrieves · 28 Jan 2020 at 12:16

Wow, that's a 7.5% increase in volume!

Really doesn't feel bigger in the hand though.

olv · 28 Jan 2020 at 12:31

It's probably just a bit simplistic taking maximum thickness as it will include the front and rear grips which are really indicative of the whole body. That's true for everything though.

The reasons I went for the X-E3 in the end was that gave me the resolution increase that I wanted, along with a stepped improvement in AF from my X-T10 and has some of what I see as the more modern Fuji features like a joystick, touchscreen and bluetooth so should feel appreciably newer than a X-T20 would have. And it was £200 less than a grey import X-T30 so felt like the pragmatic solution. I can return or resell it if it turns out to be the wrong choice but I think it will make a good camera for me.

CGrieves · 28 Jan 2020 at 17:07

Nothing wrong the with the X-T3. For me it felt better than the 2 in the hand, precisely because of the extra depth. I only ended up with the X-T3 because I fancied trying a different form factor altogether.

Mekrel · 28 Jan 2020 at 22:39

Was the additional noise in raw files of the X-T3 vs the X-T2 ever addressed? I use the term addressed rather than fixed because I don't know if was truly an issue.

From what I've read there were some saying it was due to additional sharpening being applied by default.