The Fuji X70 is coming out next month and its about to make your travel life a whole lot more Zen. It will save you tons of space in your pack. In fact, if your pack is as lean as mine, it is the last big weight saver you will make for awhile. Life is a journey of understanding so indulge me here mate, and you'll see why the X70 should be in your pack.
Fuji has been my mainstay for years as a no-compromise system that I can carry all day. But to carry all month has been another story. I've been down that dark and difficult road: the Olympus EP-1 and Sony Nex 5n. Despite their lovely size the image quality was just too much of a compromise for me. Sensor size...lack of lens choice... worse yet - no warm fuzzy feeling. No love.
I now have a Fuji X-T1 and about every lens they make. Its true the Fuji X cameras have that personality: the full manual design going on, the quality build, the kaizen personality. Fuji X cameras just have that intuitive feel that connects with us who have been in the game since black and white film.
I now have a Fuji X-T1 and about every lens they make. Its true the Fuji X cameras have that personality: the full manual design going on, the quality build, the kaizen personality. Fuji X cameras just have that intuitive feel that connects with us who have been in the game since black and white film.
But as beautiful as the X-T1 is, it's till too heavy for extended travelling. I was starting to lose faith... Sony had the NEX 5n down to pocket size years ago but just didn't have the lenses to match. Fuji's X-M1 and X-A1 were an honest try to compete in the size market but just weren't appreciably smaller. I wondered if Fuji may have lost its way... Sad days brother.
So I drowned myself in Fuji glass like the 16mm and 90mm to ease the pain...
So I drowned myself in Fuji glass like the 16mm and 90mm to ease the pain...
But then came Fuji Rumors confirmation of the Fuji X-70!
Followed by an excellent review by Jonas Rask (the pictures here are his and linked to his awesome site) and The Fuji Guys review on YouTube (IMO The best breakdown of the X70 out there).
In no time I ordered the little bugger from B&H (using the link off Fuji Rumors out of respect for Patrick of course)
In no time I ordered the little bugger from B&H (using the link off Fuji Rumors out of respect for Patrick of course)
Before I get down to why I pulled the trigger so fast, let me admit something just a bit personal. I'm...a... former Canon-holic. I used to live for the next "L" lens. My obsessive dreams of Indiana Jones like adventures were always complete with a holy grail, and that grail had a conspicuous red ring around it. By the way the original Indiana Jones (Roy Chapman Andrews) made his name searching for dinosaur bones in the remote steppes of Mongolia. Somehow I doubt he could have fought off Mongolian brigands with a 5D MarkIII and 70-200mm 2.8L hanging around his neck. But I digress...
The X70 uses the Fuji X-Trans II APS-C sensor which has been compared with full frame sensors in quality. Though Fuji marketing says the X70 is a step up from your smartphone, don't be fooled. The X70 is far more than that. The X70 has all of the quality and usability of the critically acclaimed X100 (less the IVF) but comes in a much smaller, updated package with a wider lens (28mm eq FOV). The sensor is also the same as used in the X-T1.
The photography world has changed. Camera technology has put serious picture quality in the hands of anyone with a modest budget with digital manipulation to boot. Websites are springing up everywhere flooding the internet with images that were one in a million a decade or two ago. What will now stand out in the pack? I argue that it is the soul who packs their way into remote places where heavy gear, Photoshop and imagination alone cannot go. There are photographers who go on a journey to take pictures and photographers who go on a journey and take pictures. The X 70 is for the latter, and I argue that that market (putting the journey first) will produce critical work in the coming years.
Its time be a lean backpacking machine. Don't let your girlfriend fool you, size matters. That's why she will be carrying your X70 on that next trip to Indonesia, and you will be stuck with her DSLR. -Joe
Its time be a lean backpacking machine. Don't let your girlfriend fool you, size matters. That's why she will be carrying your X70 on that next trip to Indonesia, and you will be stuck with her DSLR. -Joe