Fujifilm X100TFickle me, here again. This time to talk about my Fujifilm X100T. I’ve had it for a month now or longer, and I’ve made every effort to use it daily. I just can’t get into it. It’s technologically a fantastic camera. Aesthetically it’s a fantastic camera. But it’s digital, and I’m just not there yet. I enjoy the film cameras too much. But let me do the camera some justice here.First, it is a cool looking camera. If you’re into the whole retro-style back-to-roots camera, this one is it. When doing street photography, people have seen me aim it at them and actually said “Oh, it’s an old camera” as if a new DSLR would have caused offense. I still scratch my head at that notion, but hey I have to be thankful for that with street photography.Second, the Classic Chrome emulation is really great. I’ve taken some mad photos with it, and been really stoked to have such cool in-camera processing.
Memphis, 2016. Fuji X100T , Classic Chrome emulation.The autofocus on it is really great, too. You might actually forget you’re using a Mirrorless camera.But it’s fragile. I can’t take it in the rain or I can pretty much throw it way. If I drop it, it’s almost inevitable it will cost me as much to get it repaired as I paid for it. I can put all kinds of protection around it, but it’s still pretty delicate.It’s a fixed lens. After shooting 28, 35, and 50, I simply prefer the 50mm focal length. Also, I like to manually focus, and I like rangefinders. It’s the shape of a rangefinder, and the look of a rangefinder, but it’s not a rangefinder.I miss the anticipation of film. There are little philosophical quips by famous photographers that I happen to agree with. “There are no photographs when I’m reloading.” -Garry Winogrand. “I never take more than one photo of anything.” -William Eggleston. “Shooting film will slow you down.” -Eric Kim. These are all great reasons to shoot film. There is no urgency, no worry, no expectation. I don’t get that feeling with digital. Certainly I could (and do) turn off my rear display and limit myself to a set number of shots, but it doesn’t feel the same as when I know I have to wind for the next shot.I miss the mechanical feeling of film and film cameras. The winding, the clicking. The reloading. I like the caustic chemicals, the drying time, the chore of cutting, examining, scanning negatives. I plan on building a real darkroom in the near future.So I’m going back to my Leica, Holga, and the XA. Ok, and occasionally the Canon7, the F1, the KSX Super, the OM-1, and yes probably the Zorki 4 and Lubitel, too. One day film will be gone, and I want to say that I got the most out of it while it was around (and affordable) and after that I’ll move to digital. Until then, my wife gets the X100T. I’m perfectly fine with my 60 year old Leica and a few canisters of hand-rolled film.
