Decision Time; My Journey To Decide Whether to Keep The Olympus of Fujifilm System; Answer: The Fujifilm Gear!

Portrait of the Peggy Jean (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T1, 18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens @ 52.7mm; 1/420th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

If you have been reading my blog over many months, you know that, first, I own two mirrorless camera systems (and a complete Nikon D810-based system) and, second, I have been struggling over which to choose to keep and which to sell.  This has not been easy as I really like and immensely enjoy using both systems.  Several times, I thought I had chosen, only to reconsider.  I've wavered back and forth many times.  First, one would go, then the other.  My indecision tells me that, in so many ways, both systems are wonderful photographic tools.

The process of choosing has not been an enjoyable one, but I really need to divest myself of one of the two systems.  Frankly, I have too much gear.  As a friend of mine says, a "first world" problem.  Too much causes me to have to make choices that are, in reality, unnecessary.  As we all know, simplification can bring satisfaction.  Which one goes?

I have finally made my decision.  In the end, it came to me in a moment of clarity.  While contemplating the conundrum the other day, and thinking about the pros and cons, attributes and liabilities, features, frustrations, good things and bad things about each of these two systems, spontaneously I asked myself the question, "What is my photography all about?"  If I could answer that, I could then decide.  My decision then became clear and the answer to that question will follow.

For several years, I had been looking to pare down my big full-frame Nikon gear to go smaller, lighter, less bulky and less expensive but keeping the image quality high.  The first thing I had done was to sell my three big Nikon "trinity" f2.8 zoom lenses and replaced them with smaller, lighter and less expensive, but equally high quality f/4 Nikon zooms.  That was a good start, but, except for specialized uses, still too big and bulky for my older bones.  Back to the drawing board.

I then bought into the mirrorless philosophy when the Olympus E-M5 was first introduced in 2012 to see if the M4/3 could fully replace my full frame Nikon gear.  Immediately, I fell in love with using it.  Using the M4/3 gear was energizing.  I loved the EVF and the ability to "pre-chimp" my images.  I could see my final image before I pressed the shutter!  Wow!  I went through a variety of lens combinations but, in general, I loved the images I was producing with my M4/3 system.  Yes, I had many frustrations with figuring out the menu system on the E-M5 and the smallish sensor failed my image quality test on occasion, but all in all, it was a wonderful camera to use.  I realized I couldn't fully replace my Nikon gear (focusing speed, sophisticated flash, very high ISO use, etc.), but I decided to keep the M4/3 gear.

With the introduction of the Olympus E-M1, Olympus made some improvements.  After studying the changes from the E-M5, I bought one.  The E-M1's menu system was greatly improved. The body was a bit larger, which better fit my hand.  Olympus increased the number of features included in the camera.  In fact, they provided an unbelievable number of controls and features on the E-M1 which, as a photographer, provided me with so many options that I couldn't even remember everything of which the camera was capable!  I carried my M4/3 gear as my only gear on several long cross-country road trips with no regrets.  A nice bonus was that my stock agency loved the images as well!  No concerns about quality with the M4/3 system.

My complaints with M4/3 and the Olympus system were few and far between.  I can remember getting frustrated with not being able to extract detail out of some of my "tough light" images; those that were made in conditions much far less than optimum. Also, I got frustrated when out making images and I couldn't get the camera to do what I wanted it to do because some engaged functions disengaged other functions and I couldn't figure out why, at the time, I couldn't turn an option on.  In those cases, I missed the photograph I wanted to take.  In other words, too many options and too complicated, even though I thought I had thoroughly memorized the extensive menu system.  But, it didn't happen often.

Being interested in all aspects of the photography world for the past 45 years, I read several blogs and photographic news feeds each day as well as subscribe to several photographic You Tube channels.  Also, I still love looking at good images and collect monographs by photographers that interest me.  Five years ago, with great interest, I read about Fujifilm's introduction of their X-Pro 1 and initial three lenses; then the X100 and XE-1, X-E2, and finally the X-T1.  I was intrigued.  I read good things about how much photographers loved using the cameras, the "old-style" dials and controls on the X-T1 the esoteric qualities of the images.

When Fujifilm introduced the X-T1, I thought it was time to try one to find out for myself what all the fuss was about as well as give me an opportunity to write about it for this blog.  However, within a short time, I sold the X-T1 and lenses as I just didn't like using them as much as my Olympus M4/3 gear. The "continuous focus" feature made the image "jump" around and I couldn't tell if the camera had or had not locked onto my subject, the 4-way dial was recessed to the point where I couldn't easily find it without taking my eye away from the viewfinder and looking and I didn't think the viewfinder, overall, was as good as the one in the E-M1—especially the in-viewfinder histogram.  Additionally, the raw converters available at the time were just not doing a very good job in converting the X-Trans files.

Jump ahead about a year...

Same gear as above; JPEG with red filter setting out of the camera (click to enlarge)

Fujifilm continued to improve their cameras by introducing updated firmware and kept introducing additional lenses.  Lightroom (my main image editing program) was getting better at handling the X-Trans II files and, from my reading, other RAW converters also did a good job at converting the X-Trans files (Photo Ninja, Phase One, Iridient).  So January 2015 I thought I would give Fujifilm another shot and purchased another X-T1 and a few lenses.  This time I vowed to use it for a full year to see if I liked it any better and to give me an opportunity to judge the images I made with it.  That brings us to today.

For the past 14 months, I have had two sets of mirrorless gear, almost completely duplicating capabilities and have extensively used both.  As I mentioned earlier, I need to sell one and keep the other but the decision has been very difficult as I really like both systems.  I have really struggled with the decision.  That, in and of itself, surprised me. I'm usually very decisive.

The Olympus E-M1 provides so many more capabilities than the Fujifilm X-T1.  Whether you are looking at burst speeds up to 11 fps, straightening verticals in-camera, more bracketing capabilities than you probably will ever need or settings for anti-shock mode to minimize vibration, Fn buttons on the high end lenses, there is not much you can't do with the camera.  One of my all-time favorite features is the in-body-image-stabilization. With the latest firmware upgrade, I was able to handhold the camera and make very sharp images at 1/2 second!  

Olympus (and Panasonic) has some first class lenses as well.  Their 7-14mm f/2.8, 12-40 f/2.8 and 40-150 f/2.8 PRO zoom lenses (which are superb) give excellent sharpness, good contrast and great color.  The "slide the focusing ring back to change to manual focus" fits my style perfectly.  All-in-all, the Olympus gear gives a photographer extraordinary flexibility. But do I need that extraordinary flexibility or does it kind of get in the way.  I didn't use even half of the E-M1's capabilities.  As I've gotten older, I've gotten into simplifying everything about my life to increase satisfaction.  Too many choices....degrade the experience...as the experts say.

On the other hand, the Fujifilm X-T1 is simpler to use and has far fewer options and capabilities.  There are a lot of things I can do with the Olympus that I can't do with the Fujifilm.  Everything is somewhat manual and old-school, which I like very much.  For example, the X-T1 can only bracket three exposures at a maximum 1 stop apart.  I still don't understand, with all of the firmware updates, why Fujifilm has not rectified that. (It must have to do with them allowing a photographer to bracket film-type simulations, dynamic range, etc. and that may limit the capabilities, otherwise it should be easy to change in firmware.) The X-T1 does have the in-camera RAW to JPEG converter, which I like, but that is more of a novelty than a needed feature.  (I wish the camera was able to batch convert, however.  Maybe sometime in the future.)  I like the way the Olympus feels in my hand a bit better than the X-T1, as Fujifilm places the shutter button on top of the camera body, which makes one shift one's hand backward which is less comfortable.  Fujifilm's lenses are equally excellent and they have been furiously designing, introducing and providing a plethora of really nice lenses over the past 5 years. Much more than any other manufacturer, in my opinion.

As I said, this has been a long, drawn out process to choose between the two systems. So, how did I come to my decision?  Well, it comes back to "what is most important to me in my photography?"  That most important aspect of my photography is the look and quality of the images I make.  After using both systems extensively over the past 14 months, it became crystal clear to me that I (and this only applies to me) like the "look and quality" of my Fujifilm X-T1 images better than the "look and quality" of my Olympus E-M1 images.  It turned out to be as simple as that.  In the final analysis, the photographs are what it is all about to me.  And you may come to the opposite conclusion.  The look and quality of images is very personal to each of us.

Why did it take so long?  I got caught up in hyperbole, buzz, emotion, features, sensor sizes, lenses, capabilities, haptics, controls, etc., of both camera systems but only recently realized that all that really doesn't matter to this old guy who has been passionately photographing for 46 years.  It is all about the final image.  It always has been and always will be for me.

For example, I have used all types of film and digital cameras, from the very best 35mm Canon and Nikon film cameras, to three or four different types and brands of medium format film cameras, to 4" X 5" (5 X 4 for my European friends) view cameras.  After using just about everything out there over the years, in my film days, I settled on a Pentax 6 X 7 camera system, because of the look and quality of the images that camera/lens system along with specific film, gave me.  Nothing about that has changed today.

If you are struggling with a decision on which gear to use, figure out for yourself what is the most important thing about photography for you.  For me, it is indescribable quality of the photograph that I hang on the wall in my home.  It is not about a brand, a format, a lens or technique, it comes down to the matted and framed enlargement that hangs on my wall and the enjoyment and the satisfaction I got making it.

So...at this time, I have to report all of the Olympus gear is now gone.  However, you M4/3 and Olympus readers, please don't abandon my blog.  Please continue visiting and reading as I'm sure I have something of interest to say about photography that is not gear related!

More on this in my next blog post.  Stay tuned...

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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