Hello fellow dpr'ers,
Photography is a hobby for me, but the more I improve my skills, the more I am drawn to it.
After shooting almost exclusively with 50 mm FOV for a year I got very familiar and quite "safe" with this angle of view. But lately I started to "widen" my horizons and now I realized that I don't know how to see in wide angle terms. I don't want to start a discussion about wide angle vs standart fov here. I know that choosing a prime angle is very personal. I would appreciate people with that "wide angle" abilities help me with their experience here.
First a little bit history. I bought an X100 two years ago, and although I liked the shooting experience, I couldn't connect to that 35mm fov lens, so I sold it and got a 50 mm fov prime lens and immediately loved it. After using that lens (XF 35mm f2) I understand why X100 didn't do it for me, and why I loved 50mm. I didn't (and still don't) know how to balance my compositions, can't keep my background clean, can't take environmental portraits etc.
Now, just like I lenarned to love that 50 mm fov, I want to dive into the world of wide angle. And when it comes to wide angle, equipment will influence how I will shoot so this is another "which lens should I get" question but with a little twist. My current setup is an XT10 with XF 14mm, XF 35mm and XF55-200mm, with RX100m3 as an EDC.
So here are my options, and I am trying to find the best combination between them. I would love to hear your suggestions.
*Get a X100s : This would be great as a second body. I would leave 14mm on XT10 most of the time, and use X100s with normal shots. But since I already have XF35mm, I won't get another fov option.
*Get a X70 : An X70 would serve me as both a second body and an EDC. First of all, a viewfinder is not a must have for me. An articulating, touch enabled screens is much prefered. I would love to take "stealth" shots with X70 in the crowded areas, and would like to catalog my everyday life. I want a second small camera because I rarely take XT10 with me and more than half of my shots are taken with RX100. I like RX100, and it produces very good results, but I find it hard to use it for even easy tasks, like changing the focus point etc.
*Get an XF10-24mm (and sell the XF 14mm) : This way, I will have access to a broader coverage of wide angle views. As a beginner, this will allow me to get the feeling of different FOVs. When I attach my XF 14mm , I miss many shots. With the zoom, I will at least have very wide to normal view covered so I won't have to change lenses that often. I know longer ranges are not where this zoom performs best, but I am not a pixel peeper either, so no problem here.
And lastly, here are the possible combinations:
If I get the zoom and the X70, I will have great EDC camera. But that FOV will be already covered with the zoom and with my trusted RX100. I can sell the RX to make some money, ut then I will loose the flexible zoom for the EDC.
If I get the zoom and the X100s, I will have a good EDC camera. I will probably carry just the zoom attached to XT10 and the X100, but this will only help me not changing the lens too frequently, and that 35mm FOV is almost covered with XF53f2. Very little gain here.
If I keep the XF14mm and buy the X70, I will have covered 21mm, 28mm and 50mm FOVs with just two small primes and two small bodies.
And lastly, I can buy only the zoom and sell the XF14mm, and continue carrying RX as EDC
So yes, what do you think ?