Why I Chose the Fujifilm X-T5
I've moved to Fujifilm
I've recently moved to the Fujifilm X-T5 and I love it.
It's not because I was looking for the latest camera or the longest list of specifications. It's because the Fujifilm system feels like it fits the way I want to photograph. I'm becoming much more conscious of the style of photography I want to develop. I'm drawn to photographs that feel considered, atmospheric and timeless, and I want the camera to support that rather than distract me from it. The X-T5 feels like the right tool for where I am now.
Looking back, that's probably the best way to understand the decision. The cameras I've used over the years haven't simply been upgrades. Each one has reflected a different stage of my photographic journey and, in its own way, helped me work out what I actually want from photography.
Where it started
My relationship with photography goes back to secondary school, when I first started shooting film. I enjoyed it, but eventually photography took a back seat. For around ten years, the camera I used most often was simply my iPhone. In hindsight, that period was probably more important than I realised. Having a camera with me all the time meant I continued to photograph things, even when I wasn't really thinking of myself as a photographer. The iPhone removed almost all of the barriers to taking a photograph. There was no preparation, no camera bag and no decision about which lens to take. If I saw something interesting, I could photograph it. Then, when my first child was born, I wanted something more capable.
Discovering the Olympus PEN
My first proper digital camera was an Olympus PEN Micro Four Thirds camera. It was a significant step forward from the iPhone, but it retained the portability that had become important to me. It was small, relatively light and easy to take everywhere. Having children made that particularly useful. There was already enough to carry without adding a large camera bag to the list. I wanted something that could come along for family days out, holidays and walks without becoming a burden.
At the same time, I was beginning to take photography more seriously again. I was learning what I liked photographing and becoming increasingly interested in landscapes, architecture, cities and the spaces around me. The Olympus gave me a way back into photography and reinforced something I've come to appreciate ever since: a camera is only useful if you actually want to take it with you.
Moving to full frame
As my photography developed, I eventually moved to the Lumix S5 and my first full-frame system. The S5 was a fantastic camera and, as a first move into full frame, it was difficult to fault. The image quality was excellent, the colours were beautiful and the files gave me a level of detail and flexibility that I hadn't experienced before. It also represented fantastic value for money. I could get genuinely excellent full-frame image quality without the whole system becoming prohibitively expensive. For a first full-frame camera, it was an excellent way of exploring what a larger sensor could offer.
But over time, I started to notice what I wasn't getting from the experience. The camera was relatively heavy, particularly once you added the lenses, and the autofocus wasn't amazing. More importantly, it felt like a camera designed to do a lot more than I actually needed. There was a strong emphasis on video and a huge amount of technology built into the system. None of that is a criticism of the S5 — it's part of what makes it such a capable camera — but I wanted something more photography-first. Something that would encourage me to concentrate on seeing, composing and making photographs rather than thinking about the capabilities of the equipment.
That was the beginning of my search for something different.
Why Fujifilm?
The appeal of the X-T5 wasn't really about specifications. The high-resolution sensor was certainly attractive, but what interested me more was the experience of using the camera. It feels like a camera built around photography. The controls, the size and the overall design all encourage me to pick it up and take photographs rather than think about everything the camera is capable of doing. And it fits easily into a small bag. That sounds like a relatively minor consideration, but for me it isn't. I want a camera that can come with me on an ordinary day — walking around a city, travelling, exploring a landscape or simply going out with the family.
I don't necessarily go somewhere with a shot list. I might choose a particular area of London or a specific landscape because I think it will be interesting, but once I'm there I want to walk, look and respond to what I find. The camera needs to fit into that process. The X-T5 does.
The hesitation about leaving full frame
There was one thing I was genuinely hesitant about when moving from the S5 to the X-T5: going from full frame to an APS-C sensor.
I'd become accustomed to the image quality of a full-frame camera, and there are genuine advantages to a larger sensor. In particular, full frame has an advantage in low light, and I knew I would be giving up some of that performance. That was a real consideration but I started to question how often those advantages actually mattered to the photography I was doing. For most of my work, the X-T5's high-resolution sensor gives me more than enough detail and flexibility. I'm not photographing in extreme low-light conditions most of the time, and I would rather have a camera that I'm happy to carry everywhere than a larger system that gives me an advantage I rarely need. That doesn't mean APS-C is somehow better than full frame. It's simply a different compromise, and for me it's currently the right one.
Quality, character and the idea of the "film look"
There's a lot of discussion around Fujifilm and its "film look". I understand the appeal, but I think that description can sometimes be overplayed. I'm not really trying to make my digital photographs look like film. What I'm looking for is something harder to define - it's a feeling.
There's something about photographs that have a sense of nostalgia or timelessness to them. They don't necessarily need to look old or obviously analogue, but they can feel less clinical than some of the incredibly sharp, highly processed digital images you see in some pockets of modern photography. I don't want to reject sharpness or technical quality. Quite the opposite. I want excellent files, plenty of detail and the freedom to print and crop my photographs. But I don't want technical perfection to become the objective.
Some of the highest-resolution full-frame and medium-format cameras can produce astonishingly detailed, clean and technically perfect images. That's impressive, but I'm not convinced that making an image as clinically perfect as possible necessarily makes it a better photograph.
I want photographs to have character. I want atmosphere. I want them to have some soul.
That's where Fujifilm feels right for me. I'm not trying to recreate the past. I'm looking for a modern digital system that can produce high-quality photographs without everything feeling completely clinical. The X-T5 gives me that balance.
JPEGs, RAW and the editing process
Another part of the Fujifilm experience that I really appreciate is the colour straight out of the camera. The JPEGs can look fantastic, and I completely understand why so many Fujifilm photographers are happy to shoot them. The colours and film simulations provide an excellent finished starting point. But I still want to shoot RAW because I genuinely enjoy editing. I like cropping an image and reconsidering the composition. I like refining colour and contrast and gradually working out what I want a photograph to look like. Sometimes I'll return to an image months or even years later and see something different in it. Having the RAW file means I can revisit it and take it in another direction. For me, the photograph doesn't necessarily finish when I press the shutter. The editing process is part of the creative process.
Despite shooting RAW, I'm still hugely impressed by Fujifilm's colour. The starting point is excellent, and the colours I can achieve through Lightroom and my own post-processing are phenomenal. So I'm not particularly interested in abandoning RAW in favour of JPEGs, even though I appreciate just how good the JPEGs can be. For me, the flexibility of RAW is too valuable, and I enjoy the process of getting the photograph to where I want it.
The 16–80mm lens problem
There was one slight false start with the X-T5. I initially paired it with Fujifilm's XF 16–80mm lens. On paper, it seemed like an ideal everyday lens. The focal range is extremely useful for travel, walking around cities and photographing landscapes. But I wasn't completely happy with the images. I found them softer than I wanted, particularly when looking closely at the files. With a high-resolution sensor, I wondered whether I was really getting the most from the camera.
Before blaming the lens, though, I questioned whether my processing workflow might be part of the problem. I'd been using Lightroom for years, but I'd noticed that the X-T5 RAW files seemed to have a little more crispness when processed in Capture One. So I experimented with both systems, using the 16–80mm and later the 16–50mm, to try to understand what I was actually seeing. There is a difference. Capture One does seem to give the RAW files a slightly sharper edge than Lightroom, particularly when looking closely at fine detail. But the difference is relatively subtle. And comparing the two lenses made something much clearer: the 16–50mm is simply an exceptionally sharp lens.
The 16–50mm changed everything
Moving to the XF 16–50mm made an immediate difference. The images are incredibly sharp, and the lens feels like a much better match for the X-T5.
I've sacrificed some of the range of the 16–80mm, but I'm very happy with that compromise. The extra reach was useful, but the smaller size and excellent optical quality of the 16–50mm are more important to the way I actually photograph. The whole setup is now compact and incredibly portable. And the sharpness is more than enough for me.
I'm not looking for the sharpest possible photograph. I'm looking for a photograph that works. The clarity is there when I need it. What matters more to me is what I do with it.
Why I'm sticking with Lightroom
Having experimented with Capture One, I've decided to stick with my existing Lightroom catalogue and workflow. Capture One does have a slightly sharper rendering of the RAW files, and I can see the difference when I look closely. But it's not enough of a difference to justify moving away from a catalogue and workflow that I've built up over years. More importantly, Lightroom gives me the editing tools I want and I'm very happy with the colours I'm achieving from the X-T5 RAW files. It's another example of the balance I'm looking for. I'm interested in the technical differences, and I enjoy experimenting with them, but I don't want them to become the focus of my photography.
I may write more about Lightroom and the experience of comparing it with Capture One at some point. For now, I'm happy with the decision to stay where I am.
The camera I want to photograph with
Looking back at the journey from film, to the iPhone, to the Olympus PEN, to the Lumix S5 and now the Fujifilm X-T5, I don't really see it as a series of upgrades. Each camera solved a different problem at a different point in my life. The iPhone gave me a camera that was always there. The Olympus gave me a way back into photography while remaining practical around family life. The S5 showed me what full frame could offer and gave me fantastic image quality at a very reasonable cost.
The X-T5 feels different. It feels less like a step towards a technically superior camera and more like a step towards the photographer I want to become. I'm still learning. I'm still experimenting. I'm still trying to understand exactly what my photographic style is and where I want to take it. But I'm increasingly drawn towards photographs that feel considered, simple and atmospheric. Architecture, urban landscapes, landscapes and travel all give me opportunities to explore that. I want technical quality without technical perfection becoming the point. I want colour without everything looking overly processed. I want sharpness without photographs becoming clinical. I want a camera that encourages me to think about the photograph rather than the equipment. And I want to be able to put it in a small bag and take it with me. The X-T5 gives me that.
It's not perfect. A full-frame camera still has advantages, particularly in low light. There are cameras with larger sensors, greater resolution and technically more impressive specifications. But I've realised that those aren't necessarily the things I value most. For me, the sweet spot is somewhere between absolute technical perfection and something with character. The X-T5 has landed remarkably close to that point.
It's a camera that gives me the image quality I need, the colours I love, the portability I wanted and a way of working that feels increasingly aligned with how I want to photograph. Most importantly, I want to use it. And for me, that's probably the best reason of all.