Tex, I'm hitting the order button today so I'm all-in on GFX, and I love reading you guys. You are all good salesmen for GFX and I'm salivating right now with GAS. I came here for the first time yesterday as it has always been against my religion on DPR to leave the Fuji Board. I would consider it to be Trolling if I ever stepped foot into posting on the SonCaNikon Boards, as so many of them do on our Fuji Board (daily and almost constantly in order to inform us of the superiority of their FF over Fuji X-Trans).
Well, first of all, ignore obvious trolls, here and everywhere. Remember that trolling is sociopathic--sociopaths feed on getting a rise out of people, as that is their opiate used to fill the hole in their souls. I visit other forums on occasion, I'm just polite about it.
But as far as the "margin of error" you mention being broader with MF, I'm worried that it is narrower in the sense that my EV decisions that I normally make with the benefit of IBIS (XH-1) are going to be much narrower with GFX, not only from lack of IBIS but because of the unforgiving resolution capturing even minute camera shake.
Well, this is a good point. So, I would say this about it: First, I'm a Pentax 645Z guy, former Fuji MF film guy. The smaller and lighter Fuji DMF cameras will make "run and gun"-ish photography more tempting, while the larger Z tends to remind you to use a support---although I use it handheld all the time. With the Z, however, I have found that from an EV standpoint its forgiving qualities, which are really enormous, easily allow me to shoot handheld. It's forgiving both in wonderful high iso performance and also reciprocally (I guess) through underexposing and pushing in post. Each are useful in different ways. But that is a specific characteristic of the Z (with the penalty that you can be badly spanked on the highlight side if not very careful...). I can't attest to the Fuji's---you'll have to ask that specific question of those who've had it. Start with Jim Kasson, who has hard data, but work out from that to other shooters.
High res benefits can be erased by hand-holding challenges that do not exist with my other system.
Yeesssssss....but. Remember that in this case some of that high res is higher than in other formats, so if you miss a little then you actually haven't "lost". With the Z the bulk of the system promotes better hand held stability for some (like me). The smaller and lighter Fuji's maybe are more jittery, I don't know. Their big ole' film cameras ("Texas Leica" was the one I had) were pretty easy to hold still---got lots of images to prove it, including some outlandish ones. But AFAIK, high res is not the only or even the most important value of the system. Superb DR and smoothness of tonalities are equally important to me. The data doesn't (yet!) support my assertion. My eyes sure do. FYI, I'm trained as a painter. Nuance is a big deal to me, and in my field it's conservators doing the testing, very carefully and deeply. But I can tell you that all of their data can't tell you why ter Borch's depictions of satin are so breathtaking, or why Jasper Johns' paintings are so mysterious.
Am I right? I'm a travel photographer. I travel, take lots of gear and shoot lots of images. I like my DOF
Which DOF? Deep or shallow? I shoot deep 99% of the time currently, and have always done.
and low hand-held speed capability with my gear. I know I'm not going to have that with GFX. I will have to adapt because that ultra high-res and huge sensor is going to demand higher hand-held speeds and I will constantly be opening up my aperture more than I want to get that, or perhaps dialing in more ISO to buy that. Am I right? Or is it not going to be that big a deal?
Well, there's technique involved, you'll have to recover those breathing and relaxation techniques. It's a slower style, for sure if you ask me. I think that's a good thing. A big reminder: to get the same deep DOF you are going to need to stop down further with DMF---and all that that entails. I am routinely shooting at f16.
Reassure a fellow Texan if you can.
Well, I was only born there, Big Spring---which my DAR gran thought was outlandish, and that's how the name started.
I'm spending 10 grand more now this year than I thought I was going to spend on camera gear,
I feel you. I spent way more than that since 2014---and it was waaaaaaaaay more than I had any right to from a fiscal responsibility standpoint. Have not regretted one cent of the expenditure, not evn a scintilla of doubt.
and this is a camera equipment board so the perfect place to get either support or ridicule. I rarely need hand-holding, but sometimes a Man needs some reassurance.
Fools rush in, etc. So, not normal hand-holding. It's a decision that requires more than typical consideration. Read the regular posters on this forum, the enthusiastic ones (like Chris) through the skeptics (like Eric.). I had some other reasons to make the jump up to DMF that don't pertain here, and importantly I had a Pentax 645N and several lenses, so I wasn't starting from scratch---a big deal for me. As Jim keeps saying, right tools for the job.
