Out with the old, in with the new.

Nearly two years ago I decided to buy a mirrorless four thirds camera as my DSLR gear was getting a bit too heavy to carry about when I was out walking in the Lakes and Dales. I plumped for the Fujifilm X-T1 which was marketed as being an enthusiasts camera i.e. you can use it in manual, aperture, shutter speed modes as well as the normal program mode where everything is set for you. It was a brilliant camera and everyone raved about it but, try as I may, I never really got on with it. And I did try, I tried for nearly two years to like it.

I think my problem was that there was just too much on it. There were dials here there and everywhere and frequently I would accidentally move one which would either overexpose or underexpose my photos plus lots of things were menu driven as well. For example if I wanted to take a close up photo I would have to troll through the menu system and turn the macro setting on and then do the same to turn it off. For someone who is as blind as a bat and has left their specs at home, that can be a real pain. As I said earlier though, it is a brilliant camera and I took some great photos with it.

So what did I do? I sold it along with its two lenses and went back to a brand I have always felt comfortable with - Panasonic. I plumped for the Lumix GX8 and immediately felt at home with it. The layout is simpler but that doesn't mean it is any less of a camera than the X-T1. You can set it up to be as simple or as complicated as you wish. At the moment I have it setup in Program mode until I've trawled through the extensive manual and got a fuller understanding of what it can do.

It is certainly is an impressive piece of kit and its amazing how cameras have developed just in the two years I've had the Fuji. I've lost count of the number of times I said to myself "bloody hell, that's clever" as I read what it could do. I think we could become very close friends over the coming years! I would never give up my Nikon D610 though, it is solid, reliable and has a far superior dynamic range to anything else I have ever owned. Add to that the 24-70 f2.8 lens and you have the ideal partnership albeit a rather weighty partnership.

Anyway, these photos of The Leeds Liverpool Canal are the first photos I've taken with it and, for what it's worth, I'm suitably impressed by what it has produced.