Fast action camera: Choosing between Fujifilm X-H2S and Sony A9

Hi. Looking to make the right choice here, migrating from Sony A99ii. I tried to build up my A mount system a bit more, but A99ii is the only camera I would consider and it's simply unavailable where I live, let alone at a good price (which has a flip side in that I can hopefully resell it for a good amount).

Seeing reviews, I noticed that Fujifilm's X-H2S is roughly a direct rival to Sony A9 and is as good, if not better, in many aspects.

What I've noticed is that Fujifilm users in general seem to be very satisfied with their gear and I rarely hear really big concerns about it.

So I found myself choosing between Fujifilm X-H2S and second hand Sony A9. The lenses I'm considering are f/2.8 zooms for Fuji and f/4 zooms for Sony, plus fast primes (f/1.8 in case of Sony, I'm not considering overspending on G Master or high end third party stuff).

I'm aware that Fujifilm cheats a bit with sensitivity. That's okay, I can work around it. From what I see in reviews, it seems that this problem is overplayed.

Especially when comparing the new X-H2S against the five year old A9 or slightly newer A9ii. Image quality is similar. Fujifilm's AF works just as well. It also has a non-blackout shutter, rolling shutter is minimized and almost as good as the one in A1, which should mean that pictures using the fully electronic shutter won't look any worse than A9.

It's also easier to pick a good second hand backup body (I'm thinking of X-H1 an/or X-T2). This is something that's much better with Fujifilm than Sony. Fuji focuses only on one format and unlike Sony, APS-C is not left to languish. So if you pick up a Fujifilm body, it can take advantage of all the lenses you have and they don't change their character.

In case of Sony, if you want to use the APS-C cameras for smaller size, you have to buy separate lenses for them. The wide angle 20 mm prime becomes a 30 mm equivalent, which is no longer very wide, but it's still huge. The 35 mm could be usable as a 50 mm equivalent, but it's much larger than it needs to be and becomes unbalanced on the small body. The full frame 85 mm is large and gets a bit too long. So you need separate APS-C wide angle, standard and short tele to cover these ranges. Not a chance of simply dropping in a backup APS-C body to use it with your other lenses, except maybe ultra telephoto which get even more reach. So in case of Sony, it's one mount, but still two different systems, and it's cheaper to buy a spare full frame body than a whole APS-C set.

Another reason to pick Fuji is that used Sony A9 bodies are in short supply (or at an unacceptable price). I could get an A7iii, but it's a step down from what I expect (and what I currently have in the A99ii), so I don't see it as an attractive proposition. Yes, an A7iii would make a good backup body, but this requires an A9 to be available in the first place. A new X-H2S with 16-55 or Tamron 17-70 costs less than used Sony A9ii bodies, and is more capable.

After a few years of Fuji being the only supplier of lenses for XF mount, third party manufacturers are picking up some of the market. True, it's impossible to tell when they will release their APS-C lens catalog on XF mount, but seeing as Canon forbade third parties from making RF lenses, Fuji suddenly becomes an attractive, if small, piece of the market. So Sony might not have the advantage in number of lenses that it enjoys now.

Unfortunately, there's a flip side to that. Fuji's volume is apparently nowhere near Sony's, which makes Sigma and Tamron wary of releasing their lenses in XF mount. Even if that attitude changes, there's no guarantee that it will, or that it will take acceptable time. That's understandable, if unfortunate. Also, the exciting stuff is going on with full frame gear. It almost seems there are weekly lens releases weekly while APS-C stuff languishes.

There are a couple of things that hold me back:

I have a number of Sony A mount lenses. They can be adapted to E mount bodies, but not to Fujifilm (let's be serious, no AF and no automatic aperture are complete deal breakers). So that's a number of lenses that I won't need to purchase outright, but simply adapt and wait for a good moment to switch. But adapting is not something that I see myself doing indefinitely and time is not on my side. The sooner I sell off, the more money I'll get for my current gear, which would go towards other purchases regardless of the system I pick.

Other than migrating lenses and other gear, there's the learning curve when switching to a different system with different menus, frustration about completely different interfaces. But newest Sony bodies also have a different menu layout, so even staying with Sony, it's inevitable to have to relearn the camera at some point.

Finally, there's the matter of high resolution cameras. Sony has 60 megapixel full frame cameras which share the lens mount. There's the Fuji X-H2 which has 40 megapixels, and that's quite fine, but if I were to go for the ultimate in quality and pick up a medium format body, the single system advantage of Fujifilm X mount is lost.

Finally, there's a very personal matter: every time I pick something away from the mainstream, it fails in the market. I had smartphones with Symbian, Bada, Windows. I'm a certified Solaris sysadmin. I drove and I enjoy Citroën's hydropneumatic suspension cars. I have a feeling if I buy a Fuji, they're going to discontinue everything in a year, two maximum.

Tough decision. I've only gone as far as use of an XT3 and XT4 with the 50-140 and 100-400 but found it frustrating when using AF-C and was continuously disappointed with the Fuji hype about AF improvements.  Sony? Currently have both the A7RIV and A9ii. Don't like the UI as much but find them much better tools when dealing with fast action. Most important with respect to my migration to Sony for the best AF (still shoot with an XE3), is moving forward I feel Sony provides great tech much sooner than Fuji and has the much better lens ecosystem. GL with your decision.

toughluck wrote:

Finally, there's a very personal matter: every time I pick something away from the mainstream, it fails in the market. I had smartphones with Symbian, Bada, Windows. I'm a certified Solaris sysadmin. I drove and I enjoy Citroën's hydropneumatic suspension cars. I have a feeling if I buy a Fuji, they're going to discontinue everything in a year, two maximum.

Please stay away from Fujifilm 

Morris

maltmoose wrote:

Morris0 wrote:

toughluck wrote:

Finally, there's a very personal matter: every time I pick something away from the mainstream, it fails in the market. I had smartphones with Symbian, Bada, Windows. I'm a certified Solaris sysadmin. I drove and I enjoy Citroën's hydropneumatic suspension cars. I have a feeling if I buy a Fuji, they're going to discontinue everything in a year, two maximum.

Please stay away from Fujifilm

Morris

haha, i was just about to say, i think everyones got to be rooting for him to choose Sony this time round

Well Fujifilm is the king of APS-C so I think they'll be fine either way you choose to go.

I went with the XH2s and have no regrets...it's amazing.

The X-H2S is probably a great choice.  Depending on what and how you shoot I would avoid an X-H1 as a backup body.  I have one and it was a nice camera 4 years ago.  Still is a nice camera, although I don't think I've had mine off the shelf in three years now.  The problem is the AF.  More specifically, continuous AF.  As I say, depending on what you shoot and how you shoot it may be just fine for you.  But if you use AF-C all the time such as in back button focus, it's dreadful.