Top five Fujifilm mirrorless cameras

The camera world has been completely turned upside down in the last few years and though about 90% of the content we create is written to prospective brides or clients, every once in a while I feel like it’s really valuable to drop a little bit of info direct to the photographers and industry people who check in on my blog and follow along. It’s no secret that I was inducted into a pretty elite group of photographers this year, and though I humbly accepted that X Photographer position from Fujifilm, I’ll fully admit that I’m still not entirely sure what it all means. I do know this, that along with being alongside a few of the best photographers in the world and being able to now call them friends, I’ve had the opportunity over the last two or three years now to shoot the absolute most advanced cameras on the market. Secret time: I’m a little bit of a dork. Not a huge techie per se, but a definite dork and though I’ll dig in below on why I don’t get so caught up in the marketing ploys of megapixels and frames per second garbage I am a nut about shooting the best cameras I can get ahold of.

So – without stretching this out any further, here are the top five cameras that I use personally to create work with in order of how often I use them. Every one of these cameras is obviously from the same manufacturer but let me be super clear, I found a Fujifilm camera in my hands long before they ever even knew who I was and to be blunt – this isn’t a paid relationship. In fact, nobody from the Fujifilm US team even knows I’m writing this post. It’s just a response to the fact that I am asked fairly often these days about my favorite cameras, specs, and reasons behind those opinions and I figured instead of being the photographer who calls everything a trade secret, I’d rather be the professional who shares what I know with people who are like-minded so that we can all grow together.

SPOILER ALERT: Here they are in order AND if you order any of them from (BEDFORDS) use “mwb” for a discount.
1. GFX100
2. GFX50R
3. X-T4
4. X100V
5. XPRO3

Number One: The Fujifilm GFX100

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You guys I’ll just be honest. This camera is the most advanced piece of camera equipment I’ve ever touched. In fact when I realized that it was even possible to have a large format digital camera, with autofocus that rivaled any of the full-frame (smaller sensored) cameras out there and then to have 102 megapixels I was totally floored. This camera is a bit like stepping out of a Ferrari (see the next camera in the line up) and into a Formula1 car though. There is a learning curve. It’s brilliant. It’s snappy. It wants to be driven fast and hard and honestly you guys this camera just makes you feel like a rockstar. This is my lead camera in nearly any situation these days however it pairs REALLY well with the XT-4 and even X100V as a second camera. (See both below, I love having a camera handy that is super light and attracts less attention because this thing is absolutely huge).

Favorite specs: The color science in EVERY Fujifilm camera is remarkable but this sensor is absolutely unreal. Beautiful, filmic skin tones, soft large-format fall off, remarkable flexibility in the RAW files and large enough JPEG’s to make shooting fully JPEG a reality. The number one thing that sold me though was the autofocus speed. It’s the only “auto” setting I use on my cameras and I want my focus to lock, to be consistent, and to think quickly and this camera outperforms in that area anything else I have ever shot. I’ve seen photographers scoff a bit at the price however I firmly believe the CLOSEST competition to this camera is over $30,000. I’d gladly pay the going rate for this camera simply because it’s worth it and then some.

Favorite Lenses: GF 63mm F2.8 // GF 110mm F2.0

Number Two: The Fujifilm GFX50R

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This camera changed my entire career. I spoke at a few conferences last year where I made that statement and I watched the eyes roll but I’m serious. This was the first camera I ever shot that prioritized quality in image and in image taking over speed. It forced me to be more intentional, more present, and more aware of things around me and frankly it made me miss a lot of great moments until I really learned how to speak its language. The 50R is a beast of a camera with a large format digital sensor 1.7X larger than the “full-frame” guys’ cameras (don’t even get me started about that con) and 50 incredible megapixels. I’ve had a number of friends purchase this camera and hate it for the first few days because it exposes just how much we’ve all come to rely on the “spray and pray” method of shooting. The GFX50R is a total no BullSh*t camera and in every single scenario, the same photographers that initially called me complaining have called me back to say the same thing I did when I got a little used to it… This camera changes everything.

Favorite specs: This camera is a portrait shooter’s dream. The file sizes are large because it’s such a robust system however they’re not AS large as the GFX100. The fall-off is smooth and the transition feels as reminiscent of a medium format film camera as is possible. Bokeh and color and light just sing inside the lens on this thing and to top it all off the battery life is remarkable. It’s small, easily handheld with one hand, and it doesn’t command a lot of attention with a rangefinder-style bode (there is no OVF though) that gets non stop compliments. I’ve never held a camera that gets as many questions as this thing, and I can sincerely say that this camera helped really shape my work into what it is today not only on the image level, but perhaps more the experience I provide to my clients.

Favorite Lenses: GF 45mm 2.8 // GF 110mm F2.0 // Mitakon 65mm F1.4 Manual Focus)

Number Three: The Fujifilm X-T4

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I’ve been shooting the X-T series cameras since the X-T2. Actually, to be honest, my very first Fujifilm camera ever and the entire reason I put away that giant ugly Red and Black machine gun of a camera I had been carrying around was an X-T10. If you know these cameras you just read that right. I set down a $5,000 camera with a $3,000 lens on the front of it for a camera that I was able to get with a lens on it for under $600. From the moment I picked up my first Fujifilm camera, it was the color, and the tactile experience of shooting it that drew me in and this latest version is no different. I think sometimes we forget why we got into this. I know a lot of the industry these days have stumbled into this industry because there’s a lot barrier to entry and a lot of money to be made but the truth is I think a lot of us are like me. I wanted to be an artist. My early film cameras felt like extensions of my soul, and when I started shooting portrait work and eventually wedding work I felt like I was capturing something that really mattered. Somewhere along the way though, my cameras started to feel more like computers than paintbrushes. I’ve shot every major brand of camera out there these days at professional gigs and it wasn’t until I first picked up a Fujifilm camera that I felt like I had found the off ramp on the marketing expressway where all the suckers are trying to speed past each other, and taken a little two-track road back to where I had started. The Art.

This camera is so fast and based purely on spec since I am not a videographer it’s not a lot different than the X-T3. A few things I’ll point out that I love though are the screen design, the incredible battery life, and the super snappy autofocus. This camera essentially never misses a shot making it the most reliable one in my bag on a wedding day, the best AF performance in low light, and the one I always grab when I’m in a pinch. Now I know a lot of people will get to this point in the blog and say “ya, but it’s a cropped sensor camera”. To that I’ll just say this – I genuinely, honestly, sincerely feel like you’d be shocked if you knew the photographers who are shooting circles around your full-frame friends with cropped sensor cameras. What matters these days is this – 1. File Size (and what the RAW file can do in latitude before it falls apart). 2. Color science (meaning what kind of color does the camera capture right from the moment the shutter hits). 3. Brand cohesiveness (meaning does your camera, say anything about your art, your brand, or who you are or do you just assume it’s like a hammer and nobody cares what tools you use?). 4. Lens lineup. (This one is huge because how sharp, clear, and well designed the glass you put in front of your camera is says the most about the camera itself).

Favorite Lenses: XF 18mm 2.0 // XF 35mm 2.0 // XF 56mm 1.2

Number Four: The Fujifilm X100V

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I can’t help but smile when I hold this camera. This was the very first camera in my entire career that I was asked to be a part of the launch for. This camera is the coolest little piece of heaven. It’s got a fixed 23mm f2.0 lens that is nearly flawless, it’s super fast, super sharp, and literally smaller than my iPhone. In fact, and I’ll go on record here – if this camera had two memory card slots – I would shoot it and the GFX100 and probably that’s all. I spoke at a conference last year in Chicago where I kind of challenged the photo community to think about what their cameras say about them while they’re shooting. This little brilliant camera is what sparked that thought for me personally. The realization that when I am shooting this camera I am conveying enough confidence to my clients that I don’t need the loudest, largest, most obnoxious camera in the room to be the professional. In fact, this camera has given me access to some remarkable moments from first person up close candids on wedding days to backstage at concerts when I slipped it out of my pocket. It’s got the same sensor, same image quality, and same guts as the larger X-T series cameras but whispers where so much of the industry is trying to yell.

The X100V is my “go to” camera to recommend to photographers trying to really learn their craft. At $1,300 it is still an investment however it’s worth well over twice that much in the image quality it produces. This line of cameras has a permanent spot in my camera bag as a camera I can rely on to make me feel inspired, creative, and in control. (Also – it’s REALLY cool for shooting video)

Number Five: The Fujifilm X-Pro3

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You know how sometimes you just want to be the guy who could wear a leather jacket or shoot tequila and not use a lime? This is that camera. It’s the one that doesn’t give a… you know. The X-Pro2 still sits as one of my all-time favorite cameras (in fact if there were six cameras on this list it would sit at number 6 before the X100F at number 7). It was a really edgy decision to make this camera the way they did. If you know – you know. It has a flip DOWN screen which means you can’t “chimp” and look back and forth at the screen in between every image and frankly it was designed to shoot through the eyepiece. GASP: a camera you have to look through? What is the world coming – back – to? I’ll admit, there’s a reason this camera is at number 5 for me and it’s simple. The other freaking 4 are too good. This camera is a total beast with the same imaging power at the X-T4, about the same size as the X100V (it’s a touch bigger) the ability to put any XF lens on it (though it totally looks best with any of the f2.0 series on it), and an actual optical viewfinder. To be honest, it’s almost odd these days for me to look through a camera and see something real happening on the other side. I’ve gotten really used to shooting from a screen, and though that is one of the top 5 reasons I switched to mirrorless cameras in the first place (that’s another blog in and of itself) this camera gives you the option.

There’s a reason this thing is famous in street photography circles. One: it looks a LOT like that other rangefinder-style camera that’s super popular and costs about 5X too much.

Two: it’s about 3 generations ahead of that other camera.

And Three: it’s small enough that you can shoot it without begging for too much attention. Having a loud, obnoxious machine gun camera on the streets of the Bronx is like wearing a t-shirt that says mug me, my wallet is full and my legs are tired. (Am I right Derek Fahsbender?)

Favorite Lenses: XF23 f2.0 // XF 35mm f2.0 // XF 50mm f2.0

All images are taken by MWB Photographic Collective Staff Photographer {Jared Fincher}