About to dive in: Is X-E3 + 35mm f1.4 a good 'single prime' camera choice?

PaulWC wrote:

Hi all, I used to be active on this site almost a decade ago but I stopped posting and my handle apparently now belongs to someone else.

I always loved a single prime lens camera. I loved my OM2 + Zuiko 50mm 1.8 (although I did add a 24mm eventually.) The greatest camera I ever used was an all-mechanical Fujica GS645. The 80mm lens on this pullout bellow-lens camera was a 40mm full frame equivalent. That is an excellent focal length really. A Sigma DP2 has intervened. It had a good focal length and excellent image quality but was an absolute dog on usability and raw software.

Now I am convinced that I want to go Fuji again. I have looked at hundreds of images and I love the quality. I mostly intend shoot in-camera JPEGs with Raw that can be tweaked afterwards in-camera where necessary. I love the Fuji JPEGs and really believe in the purity of shooting the final picture on the spot where possible. I am also not too interested in going down the Lightroom rabbit hole.

I have of course been considering the X100F and I have played with it extensively. It is a beautiful camera, almost a perfect rangefinder design. However the 35mm equivalent is not really my focal length. (I had a Nikon 35Ti at one point. Great camera, lovely pictures but wrong perspective for my photography.) I want cleaner lines to do the portrait, portrait in scene, and landscape photography that I enjoy. Using a single prime lens is a challenge but I like it.

After also considering the X-Pro2, X-T2, X-T20 or X-E3, with the 35mm f1.4 , 35mm f2.0 or 27mm f2.8, I think that I am ready to jump...

I am close to buying the X-E3 + 35mm f1.4. It looks to be functionally excellent and the lens has a lot of character.

(It is also not too expensive an investment. So an eventual upgrade to an X-Pro3, 33mm f1.0 or [insert rumour here] would not be too painful.)

I appreciate any thoughts or suggestions. Thanks in advance.

35f1,4 is possibly too big and heavy - compared to the lightweight body.

f2 lenses are smaller and perhaps more balanced with the smallish body.

X-E3 is on my shopping list i will probably buy it with 23f2. Or i just use my  pancake style 27f2,8  and sometimes the great 18-55 zoom. With 27f2,8 the camera is pocketable and weights almost nothing.