This is not what I bought this camera for
Or, “This is not the purpose for which I bought this camera.” I gave up on prepositions a long time ago. Good luck using them correctly without coming off a bit poncy. “Whoa, didn’t realize I was talking to the King of England.” I digress. And apparently use “poncy” in sentences now.
I mentioned in my last post that I returned my latest X100 camera (X100T) when I preordered the new Fujifilm X100VI to use for street photography. But then I skipped the line when one of my favorite members of the Glass photography community Markus Busch sent me a message that he wasn’t getting along with his X100VI and would I like it. I hesitated. His was the silver version—which I prefer—but I’d preordered the black version to get maximum subtlety when trying to capture candid street photos. While deciding, a day out using my chonky GFX to grab candid shots made me realize that most people on busy sidewalks don’t really notice any camera, especially if you’re not holding it up to your face.
So I had Markus send the camera, then I got sick.
When the camera arrived—lovingly wrapped in Swiss newspaper that will look great beside all the Japanese newspaper my stuff normally comes in—I was as thrilled as I could summon the energy to be. The next day, still feeling quite ill, I snapped a weak joke attempt for my 365 photo, then went back to resting.
Today, I’m feeling almost human again. I still won’t be walking the streets until at least this weekend, but I wanted to get a few shots around the yard. And oh yeah, in the midst of all this, we had the heaviest spring snow I’ve ever seen, which made it impossible for regular cars to get in and out of our driveway. It was a rough weekend.
Anyway, these photos are great (as far as the camera’s performance is concerned). They’re the type of shots I’d normally use my GFX for (damn ending preposition again). This is not at all what I bought the X100VI for (I give up). But if it were the only camera I owned, I’d be perfectly happy shooting it in all situations.
Side note: I haven’t canceled my B&H preorder yet. Probably will. Could sell it on eBay to recoup some cost. Those people aren’t making as much as you’d think, fees alone are $300+. Nobody decries the buyers willing to pay that much. There is no inflated market without impatient buyers. Is being opportunistic worse than being impatient and entitled? I don’t know. It all feels icky. Maybe I’ll just sell it off eBay to someone else who can’t get one, for regular price. Pay it forward. Although canceling the preorder is effectively the same thing, another poor soul moves up the list. My recovering-but-still-weak brain likes the ease of that option. We’ll see. Let me know in the comments what I should do.
