My best and favorite camera was an FA, through most of the 80s.
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After playing around Mirrorless some more I think i’m going to stick with DSLR a little longer…at least until the used mirrorless market becomes cheaper. I’m leaning towards getting a D780 to replace my D750 which has intermittent focusing issues and lockups ever since I had the rubber replaced by a local camera repair shop. I will then get either a used Tamron 35-150mm F2.8-4 or a Sigma 24-105 F4 to replace my beaten up and well-used 24-120mm F4 which I can no longer manually focus.
The selection of 3rd party lenses compared to the DSLR era is very slim and turns me off to moving to mirrorless which to take full advantage you need native glass not adapted. I don’t understand locking down the mount if your not going to produce glass for it…seems like a waste of time and materials.
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The article kind of brushes off X-Mount, but the list of third party options is actually quite long:
Fuji only opened its mount to third parties a few years ago. In my opinion, the lens situation has improved massively since then. Not just in terms of variety, but also in pushing Fuji through competition!
Tamron built the super zooms Fuji shied away from. Sigma built the compsct zooms, Viltrox built both less expensive and brighter lenses, TTArtisan built the really cheap lenses… It’s quite a vibrant selection now, often supported with new lenses before even Sony.
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I think that talking about OOC JPEG colors in reviews is simply a tradition that is being carried on for no rational reason. The very same reviews talk about dynamic range in the next paragraph, it is very clear that anyone taking photography seriously shoots raw these days. (Even the YT influencers who make videos about how you should be shooting JPEG, because it is good for your soul or something.)
In any case, for those who don’t want to “develop” raws, I think that the Sony A6700, like almost all cameras these days, allows custom LUTs in camera. Literally every camera these days allows the user to dial in the exact look they want, with LUTs or another way. “OOC camera colors” are like the default ringtone on your mobile phone, I don’t get why this is still a big deal.
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Is this from the presumption “taking photography seriously” = “shoots raw”?
In my experience from a fairly large photo club, there is still a lot of engaged and skilled photographers who prefer to be outside with the camera, rather than sit in front of a PC inn house.
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I am curious, what to they do their JPEGs then that does not involve a computer?
(Also, my point is not that everyone should shoot raw, but even if they don’t, they can customize OOC JPEGs to whatever they like on basically all cameras currently available one way or another, so “camera colors” are an increasingly irrelevant concept.)
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I agree with almost all of your post, but don’t understand this bit:
Why do you need to “take full advantage”? Mirrorless bodies do a good enough job (perhaps just as good as the DLSR did) on older lenses and also lets you buy newer lenses with more capabilities where needed.
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They prefer to be out rather than in front of a computer. RAW processing adds extra computer time. A lot of computer time is worse for them than a little. Make sense?
It feels like if you don’t have a native Z-mount zoom lenses are not taking full advantage of what the Z cameras can produce if that makes sense. Primes it doesn’t seem to matter, but I think that’s due to less glass.
I am once again considering a standard zoom for Fuji.
Fuji 16-55 f2.8 mk2
Fuji 16-80 f4
Tamron 17-70 f2.8
Sigma 17-40 f1.7
Currently leaning towards the Tamron but bastibe’s feedback in this forum about the 16-80 is encouraging. The Sigma looks good but its 300€ more expensive than the Tamron for not enough benefits in my opinion as its quite softer close up. The 16-55 would probably be my top pick, but it’s too expensive.
A Z-mount-designed lens will have elements constrained to the 55mm throat diameter, not, say, the F mount’s 44mm. It’s not so much less glass as it is the decrease in deflection gymnastics required to bend the light to splay over the sensor with a minimum amount of distortion.
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I went through similar musings myself, before I decided to stick with my XF16-80mm F4 for longer. @bastibe really likes this lens (mainly for its rendering I believe), whereas I’m a bit more “meh” about it. I don’t know if it’s my copy, the X-Trans sensor, or my skills, but I find it lacking a bit in terms of sharpness and detail. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t obsess over sharpness.
The focal range is excellent, and the constant F4 is certainly nice for this focal range. I do wish sometimes I had F2.8 though for my main standard zoom, which is maybe why I don’t love this lens.
Wanting F2.8, I was debating between the Tamron 17-70 and Sigma 18-50 for a while. I decided the Tamron was too big, and I wasn’t convinced I was gaining much by choosing the Sigma over my current 16-80. My paralysis eventually gave way to looking at FF and M43, so I’m sticking with my current Fuji kit for now.
I certainly wouldn’t want to put you off getting the XF16-80 as it’s not a bad lens at all. I just find it a bit too much of a jack-of-all-trades, whereas I want it to be either super compact or stellar image quality. If you have the 40MP sensor, just be aware that it’s not on Fuji’s list of lenses that gets the most out of this sensor.
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I had the 16-80mm fuji and had similar misgivings about it. I eventually traded it in for the Fuji 16-55 f2.8 mk2 and am very happy with it. It’s expensive but (IMO) worth it.
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I disagree. The 50mm f1.8s is amazing. The only zoom I have is the 100-400, and its OK, def. not sharp at the long end.
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I don’t think it’s the sensor, every time I start thinking this I look at pictures taken with my sharpest lenses like the Laowa 65, 70-300, 150-600, and I quickly change my mind. And most of these edits were before capture sharpening, which improved the baseline a lot.
Thanks for letting me know your experience with the 16-80. It definitely doesn’t change my mind about it since I am already more turned towards the Tamron as it is not that much more expensive and seems better.
I have used the Fuji 70-300 for hundreds of hours and never had issues with the weight and size, so I am not too bothered now. My only GAS really is for versatility when going to certain places. Two zooms and I’m set.
At the end of the day what reading this thread and other’s on this forum taught me is that size and weight is almost equal across all sensor sizes if we take SNR/focal length/bokeh into consideration, so changing systems doesn’t really make sense in my opinion as there will always be a tradeoff at the end of the day.
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I think it’s important to define what you’re looking for in a lens. I do indeed like the 16-80 a lot, but not for its sharpness. If you want bitingly sharp photos, especially off-center, the 16-80 is probably not a great fit.
Over the years, I’ve realized that I want a smooth, uniform bokeh, a smooth focus transition, and good versatility, while keeping the system’s weight centered in the body. I’ve learned that I don’t care about sharpness (much) beyond my 4K screen or my A3 printer. That’s a measly 8 MP! But what’s the use in megapixels I can’t see? As you might imagine, I don’t tend to zoom to 100% much, abd don’t care much about noise. But those are my preferences, not yours. It’s perfectly understandable if you do want pixel-sharp corners!
I’d prefer a lens with better contrast, and less distortion at 16mm. Of course I’d prefer a wider focal range. The 16-80 is just about the upper bound of what I’ll comfortably carry on my X-T5 in terms of weight and size. A longer or heavier lens would hang down on my strap, and uncomfortably bite into my side. Of course I know that alternative carrying systems don’t have this problem, but I’ve tried them, and they result in fewer photos. It’s a balancing act. And once again, very particular to how I like to use my camera.
Which is all just to say: lens choices are very personal. Don’t let yourself be influenced by my preferences.
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The smug feeling of superiority, clearly.
And 50mpix panoramas.
But mostly the smugness.
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If I were going to print, I’d get a 50MP-class camera.
I sometimes wonder, the way I crop, if it wouldn’t support that addiction… 
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Yes, it’s really just a matter of which system you feel most at home with.
A while ago, I realized that I couldn’t have much of an opinion on different systems until I’d tried them all. So it’s somewhat of a long-term aim of mine to try them all and decide which I like best.
It’s a silly aim really because it will probably cost a lot of money to come to the conclusion that they are all quite similar 
But I happen to enjoy the process anyway, so it’s not really a problem. And I’m shopping the used market to keep costs down.
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