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
There is just one thing Fujifilm needs to figure out: how to differentiate them enough!
An idea comes from FR-reader Brad, who made a Fujifilm X-H2 mockup for us. Here is what he wrote to me:
Video centric X-A7 16:9 fully articulating screen (I’m ok with the current double-tilt too, but 16:9 would be nice).
If Fuji wants each of their camera lines to have a unique voice, then the X-H2 would have less photography controls and more video. So I removed the mode dial and added the Nikon Z6 video switch. This wouldn’t work as cleanly as on the Z6, since manual controls exist up top. It’s not like they’re going to add tiny motors to the dials, but this is for dreaming.
Replaced AF/AE-L with AF-ON, because that’s the only one I use.
I hate the Fuji joystick, so I used the Z6’s
So what do you think about it? Comments and additional ideas are welcome.
Yep, once again, Full Frame vs APS-C… and we find out, that sensor size is not all that matters.
Also sensor technology is important. Canon has its own sensors, which are great in many ways (ie dual pixel AF), but have one shortcoming: they are not iso-less (or iso-invariant) as Sony sensors are (which are used by Fujifilm).
Here is a summary of the video (full video below):
