Between my third and fourth years of university, I worked as a distillery tour guide and as an intern software developer. By the end of the first month I bought my ideal camera - a Canon 6D - and a month later I picked up the Sigma 35mm 1.4 ART lens. Two years later I sold both of these and instead bought a second hand Fujifilm X-T20 and Fujinon 23mm 1.4 lens and bar a few nitpicks, I believe it was a brilliant swap to make.

X-T20

What I miss from my Canon:

  • Brilliant low light performance
  • A solid handgrip
  • Long battery life
  • The detail of a full frame sensor

Here are the reasons I much prefer the Fujifilm:

1. It’s small and light

  • The lens and body of the Fujifilm combined weight less than either the lens or the body of the Canon. This is probably the main factor for me. My Canon was brilliant but I had to consciously bring it places and it was so bulky that when I did take it places, I wouldn’t want to keep it out all the time. The X-T20, on the other hand, is so small and light that I can happily leave it slung over my shoulder, it comes with me far more often.

Linlithgow Snow

2. The digital viewfinder is brilliant

  • Prior to getting this camera, I presumed that optical viewfinders were far superior to digital ones, on the contrary, this viewfinder works so much better for me than my Canon. You get focus peaking whilst looking down the viewfinder and whilst in manual focus, the middle of the screen zooms right in so you can get your shot pin-sharp. When you half-press the shutter, the screen zooms back out and you can compose your shot. It’s a great system that I wish all cameras had.

Callum & Amy's Wedding

3. The in-camera JPEG processing is great

  • If you set the X-T20 to JPEG mode than you can choose what film emulation is used to process your JPEGs. I now shoot in JPEG 90% of the time. I realized that I spent more time backing up and processing my photos than I ever did looking at them. Now, by shooting straight in JPEG, I don’t think nearly as much about processing and 99% of the time I am just as happy with the photos.

Trees

4. A physical aperture ring, shutter speed dial and exposure compensation ring

  • Having physical controls for each setting feels great. Combining this and the brilliant film simulation gives you the closest you can get to shooting film without spending £10 per 30 shots of photos you take. Having an aperture ring has encouraged me to change the aperture in my photos far more often, I no longer shoot everything wide open and hope for bokeh.

Frosty

5. Its friendliness

  • This is a hard one to describe but people react differently to this camera than they do with large full frame cameras. This camera feels much more point and shoot and people are more comfortable both getting their picture taken and taking pictures themselves with it.

Castle

6. Charging over USB

  • The X-T20 can be charged with any micro-USB cable. This is great for travelling as you don’t need to pack a camera specific charger and can even charge your camera using a battery pack. I regularly would forget the proprietary Canon charger and never wanted to fork out the cash for a spare one, so USB charging is a welcome change.