[Brucie]

Hello everyone--

I'm thinking about switching to a mirrorless camera, probably a Fuji. Other than smaller size and lighter weight, what advantages, if any, do mirrorless cameras offer?

Are the Fuji lenses for mirrorless cameras as good as Pentax glass?

Thank you!

Brucie

[Winder]

Hello everyone--

I'm thinking about switching to a mirrorless camera, probably a Fuji. Other than smaller size and lighter weight, what advantages, if any, do mirrorless cameras offer?

Are the Fuji lenses for mirrorless cameras as good as Pentax glass?

Thank you!

Brucie

The AF is better. The size and weight advantage is often not realized unless you are going with primes like the rather excellent F/2 lenses. When it comes to zooms and fast glass, you don't really save much on the size and weight. The Fuji cameras are smaller and lighter, but also they are not as well built as the K-3.

If you like lenses like the Fuji 35mm F/2 then the Fuji system is very nice. You will find that the latest Fuji cameras have better AF than what Ricoh can offer. Other than the AF advantage which can yield more keepers, you won't notice any difference in the image quality if you are shooting RAW and have decent skill with LR/C1/PS. If you are a JPEG shooter, then you will probably be happy with all of the Fuji film emulations.

I don't have much interest in APS-C, but if that was my format of choice I would probably be shooting Fuji.

[biz-engineer]

Mirrorless camera advantages

When considering only the advantages of anything, the choice is easy and quick.

[6BQ5]

Brucie,

One thing to note about Fuji camera bodies is they don't have in body image stabilization. They rely on shifting lens elements to stabilize the image. This may be important to you if you ever want to adapt manual focus lenses. An EVF is great for these lenses.

The bodies will be smaller but the lens won't be much different. A 50mm focal length on Pentax is the same as it will be on a Fuji. Pentax bodies have a mirror box taking up that space whereas the Fuji lenses will add that length to the lens body.

Lenses will be more expensive since each one will need to have extra stabilization hardware.

Image quality will be sensational like almost every modern camera can do nowadays.

If you want a more radical switch that has smaller bodies and smaller lenses and you don't need super high ISO then consider a u4/3 system. That system is light, small, and works well too. Just an idea.

[WPRESTO]

I don't know about Fuji, but one feature I like about my Olympus MFT is availability of focus peaking with or without enlargement through the viewfinder. I can dedicate a button to instantly change from AF to MF with either focus peaking, or enlargement, or both. If I mount an MF lens, such as a Pentax via adapter, the camera instantly changes to MF mode. With any and all AF lenses, there's no need to calibrate the AF system. Also, if images seem regularly a little too bright or dark, you can alter the exposure response within the menu system, totally separately from the +/- exposure compensation dial.

[photoptimist]

Although not a mirrorless issue, you'll need to think carefully about whether you will really love or really hate Fuji's exposure dial system (that lacks a PASM mode dial and hardcodes specific numbers to specific dial orientations rather than using a programmable e-dial). For example, maybe you will love that you can set the exposure compensation and have it not change regardless of what else you do. Or maybe you will hate that you lost a picture because EC was set to +3 from your last photo when you picked up the camera and shot it.

It's just a different philosophy of controlling the settings.

[marcusBMG]

Most important thing with mirrorless IMO is make sure you get one with an EVF.

[bm75]

Mirrorless camera advantages

After so many threads about this... My opinion about the most clever thing to tell is just: buy an used one and try it. This could sound harsh (no offense inteded) but trust me, we can discuss to death about advantages of mirrorless Vs reflex but no one but you can say if mirrorless advantages are real advantages for you and if the MLC system you choose could fit your needs. And , psichologically, perhaps if I tell myself I will like a mirrorless, perhaps I decided to buy one and it's just a matter of time before I do it. This always happens to me with cameras and lenses
My 2 cents.

[photoptimist]

Most important thing with mirrorless IMO is make sure you get one with an EVF.

Some people love EVFs and some hate them. And if you've ever had any episodes of car sickness, motion sickness, sea sickness, etc. then spend some time with that EVF to make sure it does not give you headaches, eyestrain, or nausea.

[Rondec]

Big advantages of mirrorless are smaller size -- mainly with wide angle lenses, EVF (I hesitate to say advantage, but it does have some focus aids, histograms, etc if you want those things in your viewfinder), thinner bodies, and they can adapt most lenses with the use of the right adapter. With Fuji you get some really nice lenses -- fast aperture lenses -- which also happen to be fairly expensive. The camera bodies are fairly retro and if you like that interface, they will work well for you. I have used Pentax long enough that I like my two e dials and PASM dial, but to each his own.

Biggest negatives of mirrorless are that bigger lenses can be a bit unwieldy, battery life is usually not as good, and for Fuji specifically there is no hope of full frame with their mount. If you like EVFs, then you should look into it. I think you will find many of the folks here on Pentax Forums are fans of old fashioned optical viewfinders with a pentaprism, but that's very much a personal preference thing.

As someone else said, why not try one out? There really aren't any bad cameras out there, just cameras with different interfaces and slightly different lens line ups available.

[surfar]

Are the Fuji lenses for mirrorless cameras as good as Pentax glass?

The only Fuji lens that attracts negative comments is the 18mm which was released back in 2012 along with the first mirrorless ILC that Fuji brought out.Fuji are currently working on version 2.The 3 native mounts i own all produce very good images.

switching to a mirrorless camera, probably a Fuji

Probably a very good choice!

[wlc1967]

Hello everyone--

I'm thinking about switching to a mirrorless camera, probably a Fuji. Other than smaller size and lighter weight, what advantages, if any, do mirrorless cameras offer?

Are the Fuji lenses for mirrorless cameras as good as Pentax glass?

Thank you!

Brucie

I recently Sold my K5iis and purchased Fuji ex2 used for same reasons. The Fuji is a great camera, however weight and size not much less than K5 and for me just did not feel like a real camera in my hands Lens selection very limited and expensive. Was able to sell the Fuji at a small profit and went back to Pentax, K3 this time. The K3 heaver than the K5, but at 75 I don't have any trouble caring it on long hikes in the Colorado foothills and mountains with the DA18-135 lens attached.

[luftfluss]

I think the very first thing to consider is if you enjoy the EVF experience as much as an OVF. I'm fine with both, but I totally get it when a person says they like only one or the other.

[mulveyr]

I rented an X-T2 and some fast primes a couple of weeks ago, for a week.

I was really, really impressed by the system. I could absolutely nail the eye focus on portraits literally every single time, even when composing with the eye outside the ( already very large ) phase-detect region in the "proper" location in the upper third of the image, etc.

Being able to see the final exposure in real-time as I was making adjustments, like when shooting into the sun, was fantastic.

I shot nearly 1K photos, and all but about 10 completely nailed the focus even with many very shallow DoF shots, and a lot of them being models dancing around, etc. It was just a world of difference from what I experience with my K3 setup.

I liked it so much that my X-T2 and 50mm f/2 are on the brown truck, to be delivered tomorrow. :-)

As for disadvantages; I have probably 20K K3 and Sony RX100 images in Lightroom at the moment. All operations are extremely fast... except for the Fuji RAF images. It's noticeably slower when working on the Fuji files.

Second, the "watercolor" effect for landscapes in particular is real. People who are pixel-peepers will notice this. Personally, I view my images like a normal person, and I don't find them objectionable. That being said, I'm going to keep my K3 around for landscapes because my impression is that it's more solidly built; I have no qualms about dragging it into a rainstorm, snow, etc. I'm less convinced that the X-T2 would survive as well.

In the end though, the Fuji is just insanely easier to deal with for portrait work compared to the K3.

[YankeeDan]

I have both Fuji X-Pro2 and Pentax K1 systems. The one I would keep if I had to choose is the Pentax, despite being slightly larger and heavier. The Fuji is my preference for lighter weight travel, but it is not as durable or intuitive (my opinion) as the K1. I almost always pick up the K1 if I go for a hike and for all landscape shots. I'd grab the Fuji for street shooting and a camera to carry around all the time.

Fuji glass is superb, as are their film simulations. They also update firmware to add features not present in the original camera sale. With so many different models to choose from, be aware of those with OVF/EVF, which are weather sealed and which lenses have aperture dial or none.