I Use Three Camera Systems; When Do I Use Each And What Do I Use Them For?

Vape Trail. (click to enlarge)
Nikon Zf; 24-120mm lens @ 58mm; 1/125th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 20,000

Recently I wrote about the Paradox of Choice.  The crux of the paradox of choice is too many choices degrade the experience and cause unnecessary stress.  You can read more about that at this post, here.  For me, that paradox holds true for when I need to decide which of my three kits I want to grab and take out with me to photograph.  

I know, it’s a first world problem and I also remember every day that I'm very fortunate to afford three kits.  But after working 45 years (many of those with a part-time job as well as my full time job) and carefully planning for retirement starting in my early 20s, rewards finally can be realized.  Nevertheless I'm still grateful and thankful.  But I digress.

As many of you know, my three kits are 1) a Micro4/3 kit revolving around the OM Systems OM-1 and a few Olympus and OM lenses, 2) an APS-C Fujifilm kit which includes an X-T5 and a few Fujifilm lenses and 3), A full frame Nikon system which has me using both a Nikon Z8 as well as a Nikon Zf and several old F Mount and new Z Mount lenses.

Here is how I primarily choose and use each kit:

Micro4/3 OM Kit 

I'll take the Micro4/3 kit when I travel when photography is not the primary reason for the travel.  The OM-1 and 12-100mm f/4, along an extra battery, charger, a couple of extra memory cards, lens cleaning cloth and a polarizing filter make the perfect small, lightweight travel kit for me that will handle almost everything I would want to photograph when, as I said, photography is not the primary objective.  This is not to say that I don't occasionally pick up this kit when just going out of the door without the intention to photograph.  You never know if you will see something that may make an interesting or visually striking photograph.  This kit is no trouble and easy to take along anywhere.  Also, there is no compromise on image quality for general photography.

Standing Watch.  Jacksonville Beach, Florida. (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II; 12-100mm f/4 lens @ 61mm; 1/400th sec. @ f/11; ISO 200

APS-C Fujifilm Kit 

I take the Fujifilm kit when I go out locally to purposefully photograph a wide variety of subjects—when I go out and just wander looking for interesting things that attract my eye.  In other words, general photography.  I prefer using my Fujifilm gear for landscapes, Americana, cityscapes, rural scenes, small intimate subjects, old dilapidated farmhouses and barns, small rural churches and the like.  

I don’t use this kit for photographing people as the emails and comments I regularly receive as well as many videos I've watched by photographers tell me Fujifilm’s face/eye detect AF is not as reliable as it is in my other two kits.  Fujifilm continues to have issues with their AF system, especially with wide angle lenses stopped down and, even though I’ve not experienced any specific issues for general photography, I remain suspicious.  I still receive too many comments and emails from Fujifilm users complaining about the AF system’s accuracy (Fujifilm just announced yesterday an AF firmware update for November).  Additionally, just recently, I’ve experienced two instances where my X-T5 completely locked up when shooting in Continuous High.  You can read about the details of camera settings and circumstances when the camera locked up in this post here.  But, luckily for me, I have two other systems to use for people photography as well as high speed photography.  That said, my X-T5 remains my all time favorite digital camera and I continue to love the controls, button and dial placement, simplicity of use, film simulations as well as image quality.

Shiloh School.  One room schoolhouse, Northumberland County, Virginia. (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T1; 18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens @ 1/320th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200; Black & White conversion.

Full Frame Nikon Kit 

The Nikon Z8 kit is what I use when I want to photograph in low light/high ISO conditions, wildlife, birds, birds-in-flight or fast moving subjects using subject detect.  The AF system is superb, especially the 3D tracking, which is my primary AF setting when not using subject detect.  I'll also use the Nikon Zf for street photography and for photographing people since the face/eye detect works perfectly.  The full frame image quality is superb and the subject detect is the best I’ve ever used.  The cameras and lenses are larger and heavier than my other two kits but I'm willing to put up with that as these cameras and lenses allow me to capture subjects in poor light or high speed conditions much better than my other two cameras.

So there you have it.  One of my ways to counteract the paradox of choice is to lay out a plan or system to more easily make my choices.  It works.

Do you have more than one kit?  If so, how do you use them?

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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