onward and upward

So, I accidentally sold my Fujifilm X-T20. To be frank, I loved that camera. It was svelte yet managed to fit all of the requisite dials on the top plate for manual shooting with all the familiarity of a film camera, not unlike the Canon AE-1. However, after adding the grip plate to better balance the body while using lenses like the 16-55mm or 50-140mm, that compact size was mostly lost. Add to that the increased chances of being caught out in rainy weather due to living in Seattle and I began to worry if I had made a wise decision. Purely out of curiosity, I listed the X-T20 on craigslist just to see if it’d get any bites, and despite being a week before xmas, someone came to take it away for my asking price. So there I was, 4 days before Xmas with no camera to use over the holiday.

Off to Glazer’s I went as they had the X-T2 Graphite Silver Edition in stock for $200 off: $100 rebate from Fujifilm, another $100 off for the holidays and a SanDisk memory card to top it off. Immediately the differences made themselves known; the extra purchase of the grip making it easier to carry the 16-55mm around. The buttons less clicky but well dampened, attributes of a weather sealed body. A dedicated ISO dial, photometry lever and additional function button all adding to improved functionality for me. The lack of a touchscreen plus an extra degree of movement in its articulation, though, mean very little in my usage. The eye relief, larger EVF and interchangeable eyecups are a boon as I normally wear eyeglasses; I purchased a large eyecup with the camera and it all works beautifully with my glasses.

Maybe the color combination isn’t worth a $200 premium over the base model to you, but to me it’s everything. Like with my X-T20, it adds to the resemblance of classic film bodies I grew up with. Seeing it from a distance is lust worthy but once you get it into your hands and feel the improved quality of a Japanese assembled product, that lust turns to love. The knurling of the knobs on the top plate and the clickiness of the locking buttons are as close to perfect as one can expect, glistening as the light hits them. Even the front and rear control dials are differentiated from the X-T20’s, being made of finely cut aluminum rather than molded plastic. The X-T20 isn’t made poorly… it’s just that the X-T2 is on a whole other level.

What originally steered me toward the X-T20 ended up being inconsequential. I liked it for it’s size, being just large enough to do what i needed it to do yet small enough to be discreet. However, the X-T2 really is not much larger than the X-T20 with the grip plate. I originally believed I would operate mostly without the grip and only add it when I wanted to use my larger, Pro lenses. What I discovered is that I became addicted to the 16-55mm and thus the grip was never removed. The extra size of the X-T2 isn’t the burden I once believed it would be and I sorta wish I’d have gone with it in the first place. Regardless, I’m right where I need to be no matter how I got here.

Because of how much I loved my X-T20, with these differences in the X-T2, I know I’m going to love this camera even more.