1 year on with the Fuji XT-1 and a myriad of other FujiFilm gear.
Honestly, I pondered this post today, started collating some of my favourite photos, and then realised that today is my 1 year anniversary with the FujiFilm XT-1. Spooky?!
Nah. Just math.

Well, I must say, it has been a fantastic 12 months using Fuji's X-series 100%. I have traveled a fair bit of the world with my kit and put it through a heck of a lot of varied circumstances. On the streets, through weddings, in the sweat of live music, the pace of MMA, and through various nations, it's been a fantastic journey developing as a photographer, and as a person, refining my creative path through the medium. Not only that, but my hipster factor has grown exponentially with the XT-1's retro dials, coupled with my hair.

What started with just the XT-1 and XF56 (added to my X100s, which I later parted with for an XT-10) soon grew. At year's end my Fuji kit contains an XT-1 & XT-10, Xf16, XF27, XF35F2, XF56, XF90, and the underrated XC 50-230, along with my Instax printer for sharing the love. With various combinations of this gear I explored regions of my home country Australia like never before, shot weddings in Ireland and Vietnam, and most importantly, met so many incredible new people and took part in many great stories.

This post is my first retrospective and quite significant to me personally. I'm not going to say how long I've been shooting for but it's not that long. Happy for you to have a guess!
More importantly, I just want to send a massive thanks to all you curious folk out there. It's been awesome hearing from so many of you over the 12 months and I hope I can help you more and more and perhaps even connect with you too! Enjoy!

Well not quite 2 weeks....

But there was a lot packed into those 11 days - a crazy big Irish wedding, amazing ancient sights and scenery, and a heck of a lot of good food, people, and beer. Oh yeah... and the XT-10 & XT-1 with the new Firmware 4.0 plus a few rather nice pieces of FujiFilm glass.

After many months of dreaming about this big trip and even bigger wedding in Ireland, the time finally came. The lead up to the trip and shooting said wedding was made even better with the arrival of the XT-10 and the new firmware 4.0 update that proved the XT-10 to be a formidable force in 'budget' mirrorless cameras, and breathed new life into the XT-1, even though it didn't really need it.

For this trip, my wife and I were primarily hired to shoot a wedding on the west coast of Ireland in the incredibly picturesque town of Dingle. Jaw-dropping would be an understatement. Of course, it would be a pity to not see more of a country than just one place and Ireland is a place of wonder and awe. We packed a rather nice bit of kit for this one, including the fresh and sharp Fujinon XF16 and XT-10.

So how about that XT-10?

Well, what can I say? It's a damn fine camera and a perfect match for the XT-1 for shooting weddings in a discrete and professional manner. I actually ended up using the XT-10 for most of the trip because of its compact size and to give it a fair run for its money. Did it impress me just like almost every Fuji product I've used before it? Absolutely!

For the wedding I shot with the XT-1 over my shoulder with the XF56 and had the XT-10 on a holster with the XF16. A light-weight combo that after 16 hours of shooting did not leave me sore, fatigued or in any state of pain. The only ailment was the tiredness that was to be expected from shooting a day that long! I also got to experience the true value of the SP-1 Instax printer and how integral it is for creating a truly memorable wedding photography service that leave clients overjoyed on their big day! Alas, I cannot share their photos just yet.

XT-10 or X100?

Something that's fairly obvious and should be considered by anyone buying into the Fujifilm X-series is the power in a small package with the XT-10. Shortly after the announcement of the XT-10, I did the usual level of research regarding its specs, size and reported performance, and well, it's almost the same size as the X100 series but does a heck of a lot more! So, I sold off my X100s and jumped on the XT-10 the day after it was available in Australia. I also made a point of picking up the XF27 so I had a very pocketable and discrete option for shooting streets and other settings. Do I miss the X100? Absolutely! Does the XT-10 rock! Yes! I will probably get back into the X100 game when they announce their next model. Until then, the equally discrete and lightweight XT-10 paired with the XT-1 will continue to suit my needs appropriately. More on the XT-10 down the page.

And what about the XF16? It's fair to say that it got a good work out, and yet again, the weather sealing was tested and passed wonderfully when paired with the XT-1. Irish summers aren't particularly summery at times, so long exposure shots with the XT-1 and XF16 on a tripod often meant it got rather wet. Well, quite wet. It really is a sensational combo and the close focusing ability of the XF16 (10cm) is rather useful in a country full of beautiful flowers and other majestic scenery.

Let's get to the burning question - XT-1 VS XT-10

At the time of purchasing the XT-10 there were great end of financial year sales going on and the lovely folks at DigiDirect offered me a killer deal on a second XT-1 rather than the XT-10 (think $100 price difference). Sure, it was tempting but I took the XT-10 instead. Why? As I said before, it's almost the same size as the X100 series (it's actually shorter) and when paired with the XF27 is only slightly deeper in size, which makes it 'pocketable' for me. I also liked some of the new features not present on the XT-1, most notably the full-auto switch that can be useful when handing over your camera to someone who doesn't know what to do, or when teaching a friend casually about composition or something similar. The buttons and dials also feel a bit firmer too, and the d-pad buttons are far more pronounced making it just a little better than the XT-1. Reality is, I simply didn't want a copy of another camera body that's going to sit in storage frequently. I wanted a different option when weather sealing wasn't required and when I wanted the tidiest and most discrete camera option.
The XT-10 performs just as well as the XT-1 on most fronts. Obviously it can't handle burst shooting anywhere near as good but I have found it to be adequate in JPEG only mode when shooting kids playing sports. I'll be honest in saying that I do miss the metering switch that sits atop the XT-1, since I do like to switch between 'average' and 'spot' metering a fair bit. Other than these points they're very similar cameras with enough subtle differences to warrant their individual existence and purpose.

Ireland is a truly magical country. Whether it's the rolling green hills and mountains, decaying ancient ruins along roadsides, or incredible calorie filled Irish breakfasts, it is always a welcoming and inspiring place. My wife and I can't thank the couple who made it all happen enough (wedding blog to come soon) and the wonderful people who took care of us, fed us, gave us beds to sleep in, and most importantly, took me to the pub. A truly hospitable and generous bunch! I can only hope it doesn't take us another life-time to get back there and explore it even further.

#discoverireland

Cheers!

Mathieu