Before making that switch, I owned cameras from three different manufacturers: Canon, Sony, and Olympus. Up until autumn 2020, my mantra of owning cameras from only one brand was actually working quite well. And then Black Friday happened. The Fuji X100V suddenly became available at a really tempting price. It was originally only supposed to stand on my shelf as decoration. Yes, I bought a camera simply because I liked how it looked.
A few years earlier, I had already borrowed a Fuji once, but at the time I could not get used to how it worked at all. Looking back, it was a bit like the discussion around Sony menus. Many people who do not use Sony like to make fun of them, even though they have often never really spent time with them. That is why I always say: if you have not seriously taken the time to understand something, you should not be too quick to judge it. And in hindsight, that was probably exactly my mistake with Fuji. I had not spent enough time with it, yet I had already formed an opinion.
The Fuji X100V is not a full frame camera like my Sonys, but an APS C camera. With Fuji, that means a crop factor of 1.5. The fixed 23mm f2 lens therefore gives roughly a 35mm full frame equivalent.
I started looking more closely at Fuji through YouTube videos. I especially enjoyed videos by Roman Fox. Over time, I liked the colours Fuji produced more and more. And at some point, I naturally started reaching for the Fuji instead of the Sony. What can I say? It was incredibly fun.
I quickly noticed that I approach photography differently depending on which camera I have in my hands. For me, Sony is first and foremost the system I rely on when reliability, speed, and professional results matter. Especially when it comes to autofocus, Sony is in a completely different league for my needs. Fuji was and still is noticeably further behind in that area, which makes a real difference in demanding or fast moving situations.
That is not meant as a criticism of Sony, quite the opposite. I value the Sony system highly, precisely because it delivers so reliably and works extremely well for me in a professional context. Fuji simply brought back more of that carefree feeling, where photography itself takes centre stage again.
Maybe that is the real difference for me: Sony is the system I use when performance, speed, and reliability matter most. Fuji is the system I use when I want to photograph more freely, more intuitively, and without too much pressure to produce a result. I especially appreciate that when travelling, because then I often want to take the images as they come straight out of the camera, without having to spend too much time editing them afterwards. On holiday, I want to take photos, not necessarily end up sitting in front of the computer again later.