XE-2, XE-3, or X-E4... The Dilemma

Blood N Guts Murphy wrote:

XE2 till I die.

You sound like me lol. I used to say that as well. They all have their attributes, no doubt, and the feel of an XE2 in the hand is sublime.

None of the others come close. It just feels so right in my hands. Much faster in several ways compared to the XE1. Then the XE3 lost the "soul" of it being a mini X Pro, with cheaper build. The XE4 went even further in the wrong direction, effectively making it more of a mini X100 (and Leica imitation). I also happen to be in the small minority who can't use the 17mm eye relief point EVFs, which also ruled out the X Pro and X100 models (which have an even shorter eye point e.g. 16.8mm).

The XE2 has great build quality (which I often find myself admiring), a 23mm eye point EVF (like the XT and XH flagships) and comfortable handling. I have bought the XE3 twice and it took away the fun of photography due to the build changes and EVF. I tried the X Pro 2 which has the soul, but the EVF was pants. I didn't even consider the XE4 as they stuck with the same poor EVF and removed the focus lever and grips. So now I stick with an XE2 and go with Sony for newer left EVF bodies with 23mm eye points. It works out well with Sony for super fast autofocus and other modern tech. I just miss an exposure compensation dial on the Sony. The Sony A6400 is worth double the XE4 for me, yet they cost about the same.

Luckily Cobalt Images do a great job emulating Fujifilm simulations, so I can use Nostalgic Negative and Classic Negative on both bodies. The XE4 doesn't even have the former sim. The XE line is dead to me, as are all left EVF Fuji cameras.