Reggie Ballesteros picked the Fujifilm X-T3 for his wedding photography business, and not the Fujifilm X-H1. Why?
You can see it in the video above. Down below a summary for those, who are in a hurry and can’t watch it right now.
Why X-T3 is better for weddings:
Low Light AF: X-T3 has -3EV autofocus, whereas the X-H1 is at about -1EV
AF speed: X-T3 has fastest AF in AF-S and AF-C
X-T3 has 100% phase detection coverage (X-H1 only center part)
Good enough image quality in low light, dynamic range and ISO performance to deliver high quality images to his clients
X-T3 is smaller and lighter
X-T3 has better video specs and features
X-H1 has IBIS, but it stabilizes only camera shake. It does not freeze the motion of people in your picture. That you can only do by raising shutter speeds or flash
at weddings he captures lively images of people in motion
he usually shoots at 1/250s and in low light he drops down at a minimum of 1/160s. He never goes slower than that, unless he uses flash
one of his workhorses is the 56mmf/1.2, and with that lens, IBIS would only be effective at slower speeds than he uses
Raggie then asked other X shooters, why they think the X-H1 is better for wedding photography, and they said:
Why X-H1 is better for weddings:
some drop down to 1/10s to do exterior shots. But Raggie takes maybe 2% of exterior shots on a wedding
some say they don’t trust that their hands are steady enough
a good reason is if you use the 90mm f/2, where IBIS becomes effective at 1/270, which is faster than what he shoots (1/160). But the XF90mm F2 is the least use lens in his lineup
X-H1 ergonomics are way better than X-T3
X-H1 shutter is very quite and discrete
X-H1 has better high ISO performance over X-T3, because X-T3 has more megapixel. It’s not a huge difference, but a little bit there is difference
X-H1 smooths out any handheld video. It does not replace a gimbal, but gives you stable handheld look
Conclusion:
he could find IBIS useful in less than 5% or 10% of his shots
he uses autofocus 95% to 100% of his shots
if he must buy a camera based on better autofocus or IBIS, he goes for the one with better AF
there is no best camera for everybody, just cameras that suite your style better
As you can see from the screenshot below, the official Fujifilm page writes:
The FUJIFILM GFX System and X Series Camera Body and Camera Kit Product Savings and Promotional Offers are effective from August 4 – September 28, 2019 or while dealer supplies last.
However, it seems that the Fujifilm summer deals last day is actually today, September 29. So you have a few more hours to grab the super discounted Fujifilm X-H1.
If you click the video above (which will start at 4:55), you will see it compared side by side to the IBIS on the Sony a7iii. The difference is hugely in favor of the Fujifilm X-H1. Actually it’s that bad on the Sony a7III, that one might think IBIS was disabled.
On the Sony IBIS side, things do not really get better with the smaller Sony A6600.
“in some cases tuning on IBIS on Sony A6600 almost gives as shaky results as with IBIS turned OFF“.
Don’t get me wrong, Sony is great and we are all lucky to have such a wonderful camera manufacturer on the market. They deserve all the success they have, and in some areas they lead the pack (eye-aufofocus).
But sometimes, like IBIS and weather sealing (as reported here), one could get the impression Sony wants to put those specs on paper as a selling point, but they don’t really put all the R&D necessary to make them work at their best.
Not sure if Fujifilm should do the same, meaning don’t care much about how well the IBIS on their smaller X-T prototypes currently works, and just release an X-T4 or X-T40 with IBIS as soon as possible.
At the end of the day it will show up on the specs sheets, and hence become a selling point, no matter how well or not it works.
Or maybe Fujifilm should remain obsessed by how well their stuff actually works, and just wait until their smaller IBIS unit works properly.
Fujifilm X-H1, Still Worth Buying?
So, is the Fujifilm X-H1 still worth buying?
Well, now that you can get it with vertical grip and 2 additional batteries for $999 only, there can be only 1 possible answer: I don’t know, it’s up to you! :)
But if your answer is “yes”, then you have on big problem: the Fujifilm X-H1 is back-ordered on many stores, so good luck finding one.
