Second body for kit?

Sgraham602 wrote:

After years using a Ricoh GR and deciding I wanted the flexibility of interchangeable camera, I feel like I miss having a “pocketable” camera. Even with the 27mm pancake lens the XT2 is a little large for “intimate” events.

A few thoughts:

Firstly, there’s “pocketable” and there’s pocketable. None of the X100s are pocketable in the way a GR is, and as others have pointed out, they’re pretty much the same size as an X-E3/4 with the 27/2.8. If you want truly pocketable without going to a smaller sensor, your options are the XF10 or the X70. Both are rather expensive on the used market and the latter is also rather less wieldy than the GR.

Secondly, there’s size and there’s presence. The X-T2, while larger and heavier than an X-E/X100, isn’t that much larger and heavier than an X-E/X100—but they have very different presence. The silver X-Es and X100s are the only digital cameras I’ve had that strangers have ever started a conversation about, and I take that as a sign of how disarming they are compared to something like the X-T2.

The X100s also come with some compromises (eg the AF is underwhelming compared to the ILC bodies—though it’ll still beat a GR) but also some potential benefits (eg the practically silent shutter). Fundamentally, though, unless you absolutely must have an OVF, I think living with an X100 relies on having a connection with the concept of a fixed lens camera, and of course also with that specific lens. If your one and only motivation is a compact size, then you’ll quite possibly be a bit disappointed.

Let’s put it another way: if you’re canny at buying and selling, then you shouldn’t have to add too much cash to your XF 35/2 to get an X-E3. With your retained 27, that gives you something the size of an X100, with a focal length you’re familiar with (and of course the option to use others), better AF, and (this being one of my few reservations about fixed lens cameras) the ability to clean the sensor if you get a dust spot.