When life feed your lemons...

A friend invited my family for a few days to his private  lodge in a game park in the Umbabat Nature Reserve, which is unfenced next to  the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

As normal,  the night before routine, loading batteries, checking my camera bag, huge was my dismay to discover my bag with my 6D missing. Missing, haven't used in two weeks, gone. Turn the house upside down, went twice back to my office. No luck. Like a plane in the Bermuda triangle my 6D disappeared without trace.

After wiping my tears I started to look at my options. Camera rental appeared to be my best option, but my luck was out as no cameras was available in our small city.

Then a solution dawn upon me.  My trusted X100T,  which I normally keep in my car as my goto camera when cycling,  or for street photography. I knew however I had to drastically  adjust my approach to the visit. No close up shots of leopards and lion for me this time, unless I am willing to take the risk of being eaten while capturing  a close up with my Fuji.

The nice thing of the X100T is that it forces you to think about your photography. With my 6d and 100-400mm zoom, most of the time one just shoots frantically away when stumbling upon wild animals, and later spend some time in Lightroom filtering out the good from the bad. Not this time, now I had to carefully consider what story I want to tell with each shot.

In the end my misfortune turned out to be a very nice experience. No more huge bodies and massive lenses to balance on your lap while simultaneously trying to hold for life as the Land Rover find its way thought the bushes and undergrowth.

Now  I was forced to think  differently. While everyone was focused solely on the Leopard 100 meters away, I was also looking around me for other stories my X100T can tell.

And what can I say, the quality of the X100T is really superb in my layman's eyes.

Another outcome of my experience is that I am now really pondering the way forward.

What is clear to me that their is actually life after full frame. I do not need a D850 or A7R3 with the most expensive primes to enjoy my photography. So my next camera will most likely be a X-T2, or a MFT like the Olympus or Panasonic, maybe even the Sony RX10M4. My X100T gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling  when I hold it into my hand. My 6D never did. Maybe that is why I am leaning towards the X-T2, as I suspect it is also a camera that one can  have an emotional bond with.

To all the readers and staff  of DPReview. May 2018 be a tack sharp year for you all.

All photos edited to taste with Luminar.