Tag: XH2

Nikon Z6 III Announcement Feelings

Well THAT snuck right up on me!

Courtesy of Nikon

Prior to my two Apple posts last Thursday and Friday, the last one was way back at the end of January. Boldly proclaiming that my internal struggle between Fuji X and Nikon Z had settled in favor of the Fuji X-H2 for a variety of obvious (to me) reasons. However, I ended up returning it and just going with the “good enough” Nikon Z6 II to tide myself over until the rumored, soon-to-be-released Z6 III that would allow me to keep my amazing Nikon glass (specifically, the Z 24-120S) – until reversing course yet again and picking up a mint condition Fuji X-H2S (even badder asser than the X-H2 that I had for a week or two), reasoning that whenever the Z6 III did come out, it likely would not be that much better than the Z6 II, at least not enough of an improvement to justify its likely $2500 cost, which would only be offset by a mere sub-$1000 return that I could get for my Z6 II.

Soon after falling in love with the new used Fooj, I landed a 2-3 month contract gig (I’m a corporate finance guy for income-generating purposes, as I never have nor never will make money from photography). Consequently, it’s been gathering dust up in my study since taking it to the lake for a family birthday celebration back in late March, where I stuck my new prime on it (the Fujifilm XF 50 f2, a 75mm full-frame equivalent that I had always feared would be too close to my subjects and was on sale at Amazon) for the entire day and got amazing shot after amazing shot, never missing a single one throughout the course of the day and evening, indoors and out. There is just something very, very special about that focal length that makes everything infinitely more intimate when going back to review the captured moments, and had I not been inspired to take the plunge due to its affordability and size on the Fuji X system (unlike the comparable Nikkor Z glass), I never would have known it.

Back to the task at hand. Why did I title this post “feelings” rather than “thoughts” or “impressions?” Well, simply put, I don’t have any thoughts or impressions yet. I was caught completely off guard by yesterday’s announcement (that’s how unplugged from photography I’ve become since getting back to consulting for a few months). But having been back off now for the past few weeks, I was still wholly uninspired to grab a camera and get out to take pictures. Life has just been too busy with the start of the summer to afford myself that luxury. But popping YouTube onto the big screen yesterday for lunch, lo and behold – the Z6 III announcement, everywhere! Which brings us to this: feelings.

The first thing that was felt was, for lack of a better word, shock. The shock of it finally arriving, the shock of my instantaneous awareness of how far away I felt from that world after just a few months of neglect, and the shock of the realization that I just didn’t care about it. Yes, the price was exactly in line with my expectations. Yes, it can do more amazing things than its predecessor, which is still in my possession. No, it would not supplant my X-H2S.

After the shock wore off, I found myself several minutes into an official Nikon video of all of its impressive capabilities in the hands of incredibly talented professionals. A feeling of, dare I say, boredom crept in. I ended the video not yet halfway through. Then, faced with a sea of familiar YouTubers who cover Nikon, rather than binge them all as I used to, I just kind of internally shrugged my shoulders. It was a mixture of feelings – “nah, I’m good” and “I just don’t have the time to go consume all of that info right now” and finally, “man, I REALLY need to get out with the X-H2S and shoot some pictures!”

So, to Nikon and the Z6 III team and all those who cover it, I say thank you. Thank you for pushing forward, thank you for keeping the pressure on Fujifilm, thank you for your joy and passion. And also, thank you for putting your amazing work on YouTube, where I can and no doubt will come back to it when I’m ready, to gobble every tidbit and morsel of what this thing can do. I love technology!

It Has To Be Fuji

Well folks, I have finally made up my mind. Fuji or Nikon, there can be only one (not really; I have done both for the past 8 months, but we need to make this as dramatic as possible to retain your interest for a few more minutes).

Having the X-H2 in my grubby little paws for the past week and half, all I can say is, wow! Did NOT expect to love it as much as I do, but here we are. The thing I thought I loved about the Fuji X system was the retro styling, and as a side benefit, the dials on top were / are an excellent learning tool for someone attempting to master the craft of camera photography at a more involved level.

This and all images in this post shot with iPhone 14 Pro Max unless otherwise attributed

Now that I get it though, I don’t need to be able to see and rotate the dials on the top to achieve my desired results. And something else that I knew but didn’t fully realize about the X-H2 was how incredibly useful the LCD on the top is.

It is always on (pretty sure you can turn it off in settings, but I love that is always on and it doesn’t affect the battery to an extent that affects my usage), and it is actually easier to check everything at an effortless glance than studying the teeny tiny numbers on top of the dials of the X-T-whatever (I have the X-T20 and the X-T3). And if I want to change any of them, then yes, the dials take less thought, but it is quite easy on the X-H2 as well. You can either roll the front or rear dial, depending on which setting you are changing, or just quickly hit the Menu and do something like this: go to the Camera icon, scroll down to ISO (I often have ISO set automatically) and change it there to whatever you like – OR, you can set the ISO to Auto1, Auto2, or Auto3, where you can have presets (for instance, Default Sensitivity of 125, Max . Sensitivity of 3200, and Min. Shutter Speed of Auto). You can set those 3 Autos to whatever you like, then quickly select whichever one suits your current purpose.

This is not to convince you, dear reader, of the merits of modern or retro styling. To each their own. It is simply to say that for me, with two feet already in Camp Fuji from May 2018 through May 2023, then one (maybe one and a half) in Fort Nikon for the past 8 months, the time has come to fully commit. And with Nikon gear-selling quote from MPB firmly in hand, I will be selling off the Z6 II, the 24-120 S f/4, and the Tamron 70-300.

Surprisingly, going off of strictly memory of past quotes from MPB, I’m pretty sure the Z6 II has gone down by a hundred bucks or so, while the 24-120 lens has actually gone up from last time I checked. This does make logical sense though, if one were to ascribe it to the new Nikon ZF’s arrival on the scene last year driving down the price of older cameras while increasing demand for better glass by those who have purchased the latest and greatest camera offering. It is Nikon’s attempt to more fully engage with the retro phenomenon so thoroughly dominated by Fuji, complete with top dials, and is by all accounts a major success for them, both in terms of sales as well as being a winner of a photo and video maker.

Courtesy of DP Review

Don’t think I haven’t been tempted! Indeed I have, particularly for the much-improved autofocusing capabilities that vault it not only beyond the Z6 II (which is not the greatest, but plenty good for my usage) but also beyond the Fujifilm X-H2 that I have added to the stable. I had been even more tempted by the soon-to-be-announced Z6 III though, whose ergonomics I would prefer over the new ZF; additionally, the Z6 III should be a purely technological advancement, rather than a styling + [some] technology leap forward, but I know that it will cost a fair bit more than what I am looking at spending, and that I would likely not be able to justify that kind of pricey upgrade from the Z6 II for quite some time.

That’s not what made my decision though; in fact, it really wasn’t much of a consideration at all. The simple fact of the matter is something that I have known about myself for going on 6 years now: I am a Fuji man. I just love their stuff. I love how metal and solid it feels. I love how much image quality they pack into their bodies and (I suppose more importantly for me) lenses. I love their kaizen philosophy and practice, literally improving products that you already own via free software updates that actually make a difference in the thing. And the familiarity that I have with operating their system means something, has value. I’m all in.

Listen, you can’t go wrong with Nikon. You can’t go wrong with Sony, or Canon, or Panasonic. These cameras and lenses take impossibly fantastic images with incredibly little effort, and if you are inclined to really work on your craft, learn about light, composition, focal lengths, compression; familiarize yourself with all of the buttons and dials and switches and menus; get out to amazing places, or simply out on the street or over to the park – it just levels up from there. I am still on that path, taking that journey, and enjoying it beyond any reasonable right to such things. Fortunately, Fujifilm is right there with me, every step of the way.

Courtesy of Fujifilm / Tom Hegen