Let’s talk about the Fuji X-S20. We’re not expressly looking to do gear reviews here. If we do talk about stuff it’s from our experiences using it, or perspective of having to pay for it and whether that cost appears worth it…and, ultimately, if that perception holds true in the light of cold, hard usage…
It’s been a good few months now since we put our hands into our pockets and, after much deliberation, handed over our hard earned for a new camera. As much as i’d love a Hasselblad, i haven’t won the lottery yet and neither have Hasselblad reached out to me offering one of those X2D models to try (cough, keep). Especially that earth explorer model….mmmmmmmm. Gotta say i really like the look of that, both specs and aesthetics, not to mention the images i have seen produced.
Our Thought Process
So, back in the real world, MrsFaceless and i had been discussing on and off what to do. As our current setup was still working fine there was no rush, but it always pays to be prepared. So we keep an eye on what’s around and what the transition would entail, especially in cost of physical bodies and lenses. But that’s not the only factor. Other considerations would be that we have an older version of Photoshop which is, mostly, fine for now. We are both reticent to ‘rent’ anything, be that a property, car or software. It’s just not the way we like to do things. But we occasionally hit limitations with PS, notably file size…occasionally features.
(Storage) Room To Spare?
Similarly, shooting with a Hasselblad or Fuji GFX at 100 megapixels of glorious detail would eat up quiet a bit of storage over the course of a year. As it is, we’re already on target to add an extra 2+ terabytes of data in 2024. Maybe with a couple of trips still to go that could break 3TB! Probably worthy of dicsussion in another article, our current solution is a pair of lower end enterprise level storage arrays; one for nearline usage with local backup and one offsite for disaster scenario backup.
There is no cloud……it’s just someone else’s computer
Safe, Secure and Accessible
Again, the practicality of using a paid for service doesn’t work for the volume of data we have. Nor do we trust that data to remain safe, secure AND accessible. Now, not everyone will want to dip their toes into the world of data warehousing and management, even though there is no practical need to become an expert at it. For some, the cost/benefit will clearly fall to placing data on someone else’s server. Either way and everything in between..there’s a cost…and the more data generated, the greater that cost becomes. It’s very much about the bigger picture and working all the variables to get the best solution…..
Then at the end of last year our ‘pocket’ cameras finally gave out. They were glorified point and shoots with manual modes to give us just that bit more control. I know what people are saying – ‘use your phone’. Well, if that works for you then fine, but not for me in anything other than taking a snapshot. So we started whittling down the options. We wanted to tick as many boxes as possible on the following list of needs…
- go anywhere
- light weight
- unobtrsive
- manual mode
- excellent image quality
- reliable if pushed hard
…and maybes…
- good array of lens options
- substitute for the main camera on a long hike
bonus info:
I mentioned before we are canon users (both have 5dsr) but having tried the R5 in the field, not overly enthralled. So maybe the move to mirrorless/next leap we’d consider a change to another brand…
The Answer to Our Needs?
We did quite a bit of research and ultimately settled on….the Fuji X-S20. We got a great deal on the camera with the 15-45mm lens which we shot for a while before looking into and reviewing other lenses (namely 55-200, 70-300 and 16-80).
We went with this camera for a few very specific reasons – reasons that fill our requirements. Firstly, it’s small and light. Like for like with a lens it’s less than half the weight of the 5DSRs we normally carry. The prices of a manually featured point and shoot are only marginally less than the X-S20…we certainly could have got away with a higher end point and shoot…but without some testing and empirical data (or images) it’s not something we would expect to take on a serious photo trip.
Homework – Reading…Lots Of..
Reviews we read, lots of them, noted that the image quality of the X-S20 is good – and we have found exactly that. Once we got used to it! The detail that can be pulled from shadows is amazing.
Also, the learning curve is not horrible for anyone that knows their current camera quite well. Yes, the names of features may change a bit and some quirks are there (like not keeping setting when powering down until that SEPARATE setting is configured). But overall, it’s been a pretty smooth transition. The hardest part had been getting out of the habit of immediately turning to our existing setups when preparing to take a shot.
Finally, the X-S20 allows us to experiment with X-mount lenses, should we later decide to go to something like the X-T5 (or 6 or 7….).
For The Future..
We’ve not decided what we’re going to change to, or indeed even when, but in the meantime we have a super capable little camera which we can take out with us on a stroll, pack in a bag for a hike, take on an evening out, or place on a tripod on a photo trip and know that it won’t let us down…
Until I get that call from Hasselblad….if only.