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

Blood N Guts Murphy wrote:

XE2 till I die. 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.

As you already stated: YES, you are very much indeed part of a very, very small minority!

I join in at what FTOG and Jeff Biskuits already stated…

I own even still two of the XE1 , did not purchase the XE2 and find the XE 3 a damn good camera. Especially the cursor is a fine advancement in ergonomics.

The sensor and the processor of the XE3 is a big step forward since it is a sort of revolution AF-wise (AF very snappy even with the 3 very first and 10 years old lenses!) and the IQ is just fantastic.

I did not even spent an hour to think about a purchase of the XE4 since this camera is indeed too „puristic“ in the wrong direction.

BUT it is very challenging to take people serious who claim to use a certain tool (a camera is nothing else than a simple tool) „until I die“ (unless they are just going to die atvthe moment they write or say that) or such fundamentalistic phrases like „never ever“ and so on.

95% of the quality of photography are about the talent, artistic ressources and the experience of the PHOTOGRAPHER him/herself… and surely not at all about hardware….

So, when I read something like „this camera took away my joy of taking photographs“ I cannot resist to laugh up really loud….

So - I wish you to get happy with Sony or whatever gear you „need“ to get happy enough again for photography… concerning me and the majority of photographers who like photography and are happy to do photography, with whatever gear they have, I love good ergonomics and advanced technology - but gear is just a tool … a tool, a tool…

to understand me right, just have a look at YouTube and search for Kai Wong‘s „cheap camera challenge“…

photography is about (nearly) nothing but photography….

Cheers