After one year with Fuji X-T50

I was in spending spree during the last couple years or so. First, I got Fuji XF70-300mm F4-5.6 from Australian Amazon, as it was not available in any local shop at that time. The first attempt to take close-up shots with Fuji X-E1 and XF70-300mm were disappointing. The camera just would not focus at a close distance. It turned out the issue was in the old firmware. Update to the latest firmware version addressed the focus issue, but it also changed some functionality of the camera. XF70-300mm became my default lens on the camera, especially for bushwalking, replacing XF55-200mm F3.5-4.8.  I love close-up capability at 300mm, plus 300mm provides extra reach, very handy in situations when approaching an object is either not possible or not desirable.  

 

Australian Tiger. The dragonfly is sitting over a lake.  

Tiger snake is among top ten venomous snakes in Australia. I was glad to have 300mm lens.  

 

 

 

 

 

Just like  XF55-200mm, I mainly use XD70-300mm at the long end. At some point I concluded that X-E1 might be a limiting factor for auto-focus speed: Fuji dropped support for this model, and the latest firmware update was released years ago. For hikes I wanted a smallish camera, either X-S20 or X-T50. I was a bit skeptical about 40M pixels sensor in X-T50, but opted for it as a kit with the new 16-50mm F2.8-4.8 lens. The new kit lens has good close-up capability, plus it starts at 16mm. 

The focus speed of XF70-300mm was improved in the new camera. Ironically, I barely use  16-50mm F2.8-4.8, and usually opt for XF70-300mm. 

I noticed the viewfinder in X-T50 is significantly better compared to one in X-E1. Low light performance was significantly better in X-T50, to a degree that now I am hesitant to take X-E1 as a second camera on a walk. I took it a beach one day and really struggled with autofocus, as now I am spoiled by X-T50. I tried subject recognition modes. In"bird" mode the camera focuses on a bird barely visible in branches. Combination of 300mm and "bird" recognition made some bird photography possible for me, but this is another story. X-T50 supports geotagging via a phone with installed XApp and Bluetooth. Geotagging does not require mobile phone or data connection, only geotagging option in phone and Bluetooth for connection with camera. Sometimes position is not updated, but I cannot figure out if it is related to the camera or the cheap smartphone I use. 

 X-T50 body is covered in buttons and dials. As the body is rather small, I accidentally touch some buttons and dials and unintentionally change settings. To prevent this, I disabled the front dial. I have impression that the energy consumption is a tad high, and the camera produce a warning for old NP-W126 battery after every wake-up. Fuji X-T50 uses an updated version of the battery, NP-W126S. Now I take two spare batteries on whole day walks.  

Fuji X-T50 in Australia

New Fuji X-T50 camera and some kits are available in Australia. On Amazon body only cost more than XC14-45mm kit at two shops. New model plus, I suspect, limited supply. Ted's Cameras apparently has X-T50 in stock. CameraPro, a local camera shop, apparently still does not have the new model in shop. 

New XF16-50mm lens is available as kit with Fuji X-T5. 

Stock availability is still an issue for some Fuji products. For example, Amazon Australia does not have XF70-300mm lens, again. It is available as an international order, at 35% premium. It can be preodered in Ted's at a premium price.

Fuji X-T50, XF 16-50mm lens and the world we live in

Fuji announced a new X-T50 camera, a major update for X-T30II, as well as a new standard zoom lens, XF 16-50mm. The new camera can be pre-ordered at cost that is similar to the X-T5 price  (currently advertised in several shops at discount). Ted's Cameras offers X-T50 for AU$2500 and X-T5 for AU$2545. Fuji X-S20 is available at AU$2k. While X-T5 is listed at discounted price, some major local camera shops do not have it in stock. A local Camera House shop had no Fuji cameras at display, when I visited it a month or two ago. Apparently, Fuji is in high demand in Down Under, but I don't understand why Fuji cannot ship more cameras and lenses. 

X-T50 is packed with new features, like 40 MP sensor and in body stabilisation. It is powered by NP-W126S battery, the same as in X-Ex and X-Tx0 cameras.  

The new XF 16-50mm lens can focus at very short distance at the tele zoom end, a great feature for me. Close-up capability of the current standard zoom, XF 18-55, is not very impressive, and it was one of the reason, why I do not use it very often. Resolution of the new lens is better. After all, it is promoted as a standard zoom lens for cameras equipped with 40 MP sensor. It is wider, again, a great improvement for me. The price is high, if sold separately: AU$1182 at Ted's, special order, of cause. Even in kits it is expensive, for example, over AU$700 when sold with X-T5 (Ted's), but only AU$500 when sold with X-T50 in CameraPro.