 |
| Chairs, Limon, Colorado. All images in this post were made with a Fujifilm X100VI camera. (click any image to enlarge) |
This post was born from a recent conversation I had with a photographer friend of mine. During the conversation he asked me what was the best photographic purchase I made during 2025. I told him, coincidentally, I had spent some time over the past weeks thinking about just that. I don’t know if the piece of gear I chose was the best purchase but I certainly think it was the most significant acquisition in the fact that it changed the way I think about my photography.
As many of you long time readers know, my wife bought a Fujifilm X100VI for me for my birthday. Not a purchase I made but an important acquisition. It was ordered in January but arrived in the middle of April. Turns out, it was worth the wait. She knew I was curious about the camera so she wanted to buy one for me to give me something new to try and something additional about which to write. Well, it worked. That camera, much to my surprise, morphed from a curiosity to 'almost' being my all time favorite digital camera (the X-T5 still holds that position mainly because it has the same basic controls, dials and buttons but also has some additional capabilities as well as being able to interchange lenses).
 |
| Minisdah Presbyterian Church (abandoned) and adjacent graveyard in Chelsea, Montana. |
I had to ask myself why this camera unexpectedly took me by storm? I identified a few reasons. Because I thought of this camera as a ‘curiosity’ and not a tool that I could use to practice my ‘serious’ photography, my attitude when using it became one of using it for casual photography. Not a toy by any means, but there was no way I thought I could use it seriously for all of the genres of photography I practice. But what happened was that my newly discovered casual attitude toward photographing turned out to be a wonderful ‘freeing’ experience. The X100VI allowed me to give myself permission to just enjoy myself once again. I’ll explain.
For decades because I have always taken my photographic endeavors very seriously, inevitably every time I went out to photograph, I put pressure on myself to find meaningful or interesting compositions worth capturing and then bringing those home. I always put pressure on myself to make images that evoked some emotion in me. From the start I desperately wanted to be a ‘good’ photographer. That’s what passion is about and that’s how important my photography has been to me over the decades.
That pressure, I had come to realize, was an 800 lb. gorilla that rode my back for years. That pressure was self-imposed because I always strived to do my best, to find excellent subjects and to capture them in an interesting way. However, when using the X100VI, because it has a non-interchangeable lens with only one focal length, I found myself relieved of the burden of pressuring myself to find photographs everywhere I went. The camera is limited in its versatility (fixed lens, one focal length) and I quickly found that I no longer had to consider everything I saw as a potential photographic subject. I found that to be amazingly refreshing— stress relieving. I found that I could go out with this camera, casually, and just record the things that I unexpectedly found that fit that 35mm (full frame) field of view. No pressure at all. If I see something that tickled my fancy, I capture it. If I don’t, so what. There will be another day.
In the past I was disappointed after I would return from a day or more of photography when I didn’t find and make photographs that I had hoped to capture. When I have the X100VI, I’m okay if I don’t see anything interesting. I’m okay if I never press the shutter button. I’m having fun with a camera again. Yes, fun. (I consider the term ‘fun’ different from garnering satisfaction or fulfillment) I find I no longer have to be serious all of the time. I’m enjoying just walking around and serendipitously finding things to photograph—things like I had photographed in the past but also novel things just for the fun of it.
Let’s delve deeper into this change in how I think about my photography when using this camera.
First, I don’t have to choose which lenses to take with me when I go out (or even take all of my lenses). That is a big deal sometimes. Limiting choices can enhance an experience. I didn't think I would like shooting with only one prime focal length, but I do. Doing so is not having to choose which gear to take on any particular outing. Fewer choices bring greater satisfaction for me. But that can work the opposite way as well so beware. The key when buying a camera with non-interchangeable lenses is buying one with a a focal length that matches your vision and matches the kinds of photography you enjoy. The 35mm field of view works pretty well for me. Not perfect, but close enough that I just have to move forward or backward a few steps to properly compose. Uncomplicated.
As an offshoot of having only one prime lens, I've rediscovered using prime lenses instead of zoom lenses. I used primes almost exclusively from 1971 until the mid-1980s. Only when zoom lenses reached a point of having a certain sharpness, resolution, contrast and color transmission levels that 'almost' equaled primes, did I start using zoom lenses regularly. (Remember in the film days, we didn’t have all of today’s editing tools. Your film and lenses dictated how your photos would look.). The end result is that, in the past thirty-five years or so I've almost never used primes. Well, that mindset has changed and I find pleasure (a psychological throwback to my younger days, no doubt) in using primes, changing lenses and carrying a camera with a small prime instead of a large zoom. It isn’t as convenient, but a walk down memory lane that brings a certain satisfaction..
 |
| A 19th century historic African-American church. |
Second, the X100VI is small, lightweight, well-engineered and produces the quality of images I demand. I really can't fault the AF in this camera, despite the AF issues that have plagued Fujifilm over the past few years. Nor can I fault the resolution, color, controls, menus, features, etc. There are no technical aspects of this camera that don't meet my preferences or more importantly, my needs. More importantly, I like how the camera feels in my hand and everything about the camera just ‘works’ for me. I don’t think many photographers realize just how important feel and haptics are to photographic satisfaction and enjoyment.
Third, when using this camera my mindset is completely different than when using either my Nikon gear or my OM/Olympus gear. When I take this camera out, my mind shifts gears from working hard to find and make interesting photographs — searching diligently — to allowing the compositions come to me. No stress. No worry. No disappointment if I come home with nothing for the day. As I mentioned, it is freeing myself of the pressure to produce. Joy!
 |
| Old Texaco service station, Winslow, Arizona. |
Finally, the camera allowed me to look at my Fujifilm gear in a different light (pun intended!). I’ve been a Fujifilm user since I bought an X-T1 in 2013. I used to use many of the film simulations for different situations, switch back and forth, one to another, which I have come to realize is unnecessarily complicated. I've now crafted two film simulations which I use regularly. One for color and one for black & white. I’ve simplified this aspect of using the camera as well. I’ve found I need only a couple. I use the color one shooting raw files and the black & white using raw + JPEG. I developed (darn, another pun!) two simulations that really please me. Two is now enough as I continue to strive to simplify my life and photography, not add unnecessary complications.
 |
| An outdoor summer wedding reception ‘soon to be.’ |
 |
| Calumet, Upper Peninsula, Michigan |
Today, I find myself almost always picking up the X100VI when I go out. But then there is that nagging fear of missing out (FOMO) about seeing too many compositions that just will not work at all with a 35mm full frame equivalent lens. What to do? Noithing. Ignore those fears and just enjoy my photography. Have fun, I tell myself.
The X100VI has completely changed the way I think about my photography. I find myself actually looking for a reason to NOT take out an interchangeable lens camera and a few lenses. I find myself, after decades of passionately photographing, that I want simple, easy, satisfying, uncomplicated and convenience more than I want to struggle, stress and worry about a photo getting away. Maybe its because I have almost 275,000 digital image files and literally thousands of slides and negatives that missing a photo or two has less meaning than when I was younger and trying to prove to myself that I was a decent photographer.
One final point I want to make so you don’t go away with any misconceptions. For those times I go out alone or with friends, either locally, a specific place or on a road trip with the specific intent of photographing, I will take my other gear, all the lenses I think I will need as well as any accessories. That aspect of my photography and photographic aspirations has not changed. I’ll always take those occasions seriously, put some pressure on myself to perform and, hopefully, bring home some meaningful or at least interesting images. Those times are not casual photography times. Those are the times that I harken back to the passion and drive that has dominated my photographic efforts for as long as long as I can remember. So, there is a mental shift between using all the gear I’ll think I’ll need to a casual attitude of just carrying a camera and enjoying myself.
In any case, the Fujifilm X100VI was the most significant acquisition I made last year. I was as surprised as anyone but I’m really pleased to have that camera. For those of you who have not experienced a camera like the X100VI I hope I was able to provide a little insight into how and why the way I think about my photography has changed.
What was your most significant photographic purchase or acquisition last year? Leave a comment below. I think many of us would like to know and know why you chose what you chose.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
All content on this blog is © 2013-2026 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.
No comments:
Post a Comment