It took a lot of research and thinking to arrive at the camera which I felt was perfect for me. That camera ended up being the Fujifilm X-T1.
At the time of writing this, Fujifilm have since announced and realised the next model in the X-T line up ( the Fujifilm X-T2). However given the option I personally would still purchase the X-T1.
The Fujifilm X-T1 is a APSC ( Crop factor of 1.5x compared to Full-frame 35mm) mirrorless camera which was first released in 2014, at the time becoming Fujifilm’s flagship camera.
This camera brought a SLR style design with rugged mirrorless performance, with the new integrated EVF (electronic view finder) being one of the most impressive features.
Ultimately it came down to three very important points that points that made me decide this was the camera for me.
Image Quality
Argumentally the most imporant aspect to any camera is the image quality, having said this I think it is blown out of preportion what people need from digtal files. If you are posting images to the web exclusivly, why do you need a 36 megapixel full frame sensor?
Fuji have taken great pride in being known as one of the brands leading the charge in fantastic Jpeg* quilaty. Colours are bright and inviting, whilst still maintaining a level of realism and the high ISO performance is impressive but not industry leading.
*-Sidenote- Jpeg is the standard compression format for digital cameras, I often shoot in Jpeg plus RAW which gives me both a quick compressed image and an uncompressed file ready for editing.
The X-T1 has a megapixel sensor, which is more than enough for most people’s standards allowing cropping and printing up to a large size whilst maintaining quality.
I have been using the XT-1 for a about 10 months and am extremely happy with the images I get from it.
Rugged Quality
I am not saying this camera is able to go swimming down to the depths of the ocean, but there is a great piece of mind knowing that it has been designed to take a bit of a beating. The X-T1 camera body is dust and water-resistant and also freeze proof down to −10 °C (14 °F). South-East Asia is known for being an extremely humid and hot country, normally a killer for electronics, whilst I am not putting my trust in cameras ability completely I feel with some smart precautions the likeness that I will have a issuein my camera should be reduced ( fingers crossed).
Weight
440 Grams, with battery. Enough said!
But seriously weight whilst traveling is going to be a huge issue, ultimately we need to get as close to a comfortable weight as possible, this is a perfectly reasonable weight. Yes their are smaller cameras that are just as capable but this brings me to another bonus points.
Price Point
I bought the X-T1 second hand ( hardly used ) on eBay for around £500 as far as I can remember.When compared to something like the sony A7 It would have been closer to £1000. This saving meant I could get more Lenses or different accessories that I would be able to afford otherwise
Next time I will write about Lens Selection.
Comments