Why I Choose To Travel With Fujifilm X100T Mirrorless Camera On Trans-Siberian Railway Adventure

Okay, Before I go further , before I you waste your precious, times, let me be honest with you guys and gals, I’m not doing a review for this new Fujifilm X100T Mirrorless camera, I just bought it two days before flying to London to start my Trans-Siberian journey. I didn’t have any experience with Fujifilm Mirrorless camera before and this is my first experience using it.

So if you wanted to get an in depth review about the camera, this is not the right place for you. Anyway one of the reason I choose this camera is that, I wanted to travel light, yes this compact camera is in the range of premium compact camera, it is not very cheap and not very expensive either, it sits on the middle range, with the same amount of  money, you can get a quite decent DSLR camera with interchangeable lens, this camera has a fixed 23 mm lens or equivalent to 35 mm field of view of full-frame camera. Even though they have a fix lens, they also offer you a Wide Conversion and Tele Conversion lens.

Actually the quality of picture from X100T and the previous X100s is more or less is the same because both of them use the same sensor, the only different is just a minor, just a little bit of extra function and with the addition of Wifi (Remote Shooting & Image Transfer to Smartphone).

I’ve just mention above that among the reason I wanted this small compact camera is because I wanted to travel light, at the same time I still need a good quality camera within my budget that still can produced great result. I still have a DSLR a Canon 5D Mark II which is still doing great and I’ve been traveling with that camera all over the world but this time I would like to travel light and I just bring one camera for Trans-Siberian trip which is Fujifilm X100T.

I travel in winter, so most of the time I wear a thick down-jacket and most of the time the camera sits inside my jacket, people can hardly noticed me carrying a camera under the jacket. If I choose to travel with a DLSR and hang it around my neck and put it under my jacket, I believe the lens inside still shouting for attention.

I’ve use the camera inside the busy Moscow Subway without getting any attention, even the police saw me taking a picture with that camera pay very little attention,   I’m just a tourist with point and shot camera that they have nothing to worry about, yes, it is, in fact I’m a tourist, and most people inside the subway also pays little attention to me. I think if I carry big DSLR with me, things might be different.

I’m not on an assignment and I’m not doing any stock photography which require a little extra quality from the camera and I can live with 23 mm or 35 mm field of view. Did I miss interchangeable lens? No, I did not. That’s why I choose X100T compared to Fujifilm XE2 where you can change the lens. I want to be minimalist and furthermore 23 mm or 35 mm field of view have less distortion, since I’m more into environmental picture or portrait photography, where I like to include people in my photo, I like the field of view, I like the perspective, the human inside the frame did not distort so much compared to like 10-14mm.

People on the street also is less intimidated with you, they tend to be more open with someone holding a small camera, I’ve had a great conversation with m new North Korean friend on the way to Beijing from Mongolia, they have a small Canon Power Shot camera, and small Canon IXUS camera, we talk a lot about the camera, maybe they like the classic look of the Fujifilm camera and my camera is nothing much bigger than their camera.

It is good to have a conversation with someone who have a similar things, I mean if I’ve a big bulky DSLR camera, maybe they think I’m rich, I’ve lots of money, I don’t want to have that kind of perception coming from a strangers.  I travel Trans-Siberian Railway alone, so I’ve to be extra careful. It is better to blend with them rather than stand out. Sometimes it is better to be among the tourist than to be among the Profesional Level Photographer (In term of camera equipment).

If you asked me about the quality, my honest answer is, I’m quite satisfied, yes, it is not a perfect camera, a little bit slow compared to DSLR but I can live with that, actually it depends on the purpose, but for very  sure, If I’m traveling again, I will take this camera with me, and leave my DSLR at home. I don’t have much time to argue about the Pros and Cons of this camera.

I’m not a Fujifilm Camera Salesman, I paid with my own hard earned pocket money to buy this camera and I’m glad I’ve taken this lovely looking Fujifilm X100T camera traveling almost half way across the globe via The legendary Trans-Siberian Railway and it survive well in the frigid Siberian Winter.

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