4 Years Shooting on Fujifilm For Documentary Wedding Photography

I have been shooting on Canon cameras for years but in 2018 I switched to the Fujifilm X-H1 and the Fujifilm X-T3. I still shoot a lot of commercial work on my Canon gear, but for weddings I now switched to the Fuji system and I love it. This isn’t a full on review of the system, more of a preference and small comparison list that I’ve found helpful.

EVF: The electronic viewfinder is probably my favorite feature when switching from a Canon DSLR to the Fuji cameras. I’ve learned how to see light better since the EVF shows you what the picture and exposure will look like before you take the picture. It also helps when shooting off camera flash when the lighting conditions change rapidly on cloudy days. The EVF is definitely my favorite thing about the mirrorless cameras.

DOF: I don’t really notice a huge difference from shooting full-frame to shooting crop sensor. This was a concern before switching over but what I’ve realized is that its not the DOF that makes the picture look nice, its the expression, the pose, the object your shooting and composition that is most important.

Fujifilm X-Pro2 with 56mm 1.2

Fujifilm X-Pro2 with 56mm 1.2

Flash sync speed: The sync speed on the X-pro2, X-T3, and the X-pro2 are 1/250th rather than 1/160 on my Canon camera. Doesn’t seem like much of a difference but that’s almost a stop. When you think about saving a stop of flash, you can recycle and shoot quicker. If I’m at full power on my strobe and at 1/160th on my Canon, I could use a Fuji X-T3 camera instead and set my shutter speed to 1/250th and bring my flash down to 1/2 power. It would also freeze action better if the subjects were moving. This is a big one for me personally, most people might not care, but if you using flash it helps a lot!

Fujifilm X-T3 and 23mm f2 lens

Fujifilm X-T3 and 23mm f2 lens

Weight: Any photographer that complains about DSLR’s being too heavy shouldn’t be a photographer in my opinion. That’s a load of weak bullshit. I’d love to see those same photographers work on a video set and carry mombo combo’s all day. Carrying those 90 pound stands for 14 hours is a lot worse than carrying a Canon 5d and a 70-200mm. But all this being said, the Fuji system is lighter which is nice but that’s not a reason why I switched over.

Lowlight Situations: The full frame might be a little better with higher ISO’s but the X-T3 is pretty close. Just invest in faster glass for shoot with an external flash to add some light back in to lowlit reception situations

Autofocus: I used to have the X-T1 and the autofocus was horrible in my opinion, the AF on the newer cameras is 1000x better. I am very happy with their update in technology in regards to the AF.

Price: The Fujifilm gear is reasonably priced, I personally like the 23mm and the 56mm. For the price and build, I feel like it’s very fair.

This is a quick review but to sum it all up, if you are currently shooting Nikon or Canon and deciding whether to switch here are just a few things that I have realized from experience. I personally will continue to use Fuji cameras as my main camera bodies for weddings.

Fujifilm X-H1 with 23mm f1.4

Fujifilm X-H1 with 23mm f1.4