I try to be responsible with my tech. When things break, I try to get them repaired before replacing them. I shop second-hand, I use a Fairphone with replaceable parts. And my mirrorless camera is a model that’s coming up to a decade out from release, and one that I’ve owned and used for three years, having traded up from the previous model. And I’d call my Fujifilm X-T20 one of the best buys I’ve ever made.
This compact, capable little mirrorless model just does everything I need it to. While film photography is my hobby and passion, I do a lot of digital photography for my work. I need images of products and places to illustrate articles. They don’t need to be flashy, but they do need to be clear, and hey, a little artistry never hurts from time to time. They need enough pixels to be printed, and I need to be able to achieve a shallow depth of field for product focus.
My X-T20, which was already second-hand when I bought it, just does all that – and what’s more, it does it efficiently. I shoot in JPEG because I am not paid enough to mess about with RAWs, and Fujifilm has long been the best brand for JPEG shooting. The X-T20, released in 2017, is new enough to offer touchscreen focusing on a tilting screen, which is really handy when you’re hunched over a product on the floor of your flat (it’s a glamorous life, it really is). The touchscreen was the main reason I traded up from my previous X-T10 – and happily, the X-T20 also has a bright little electronic viewfinder, which for me is non-negotiable.
I’m not just here to keep heaping praise upon my little camera, though I happily could. I think the fact that I don’t feel the need to upgrade, and I’m not sure I ever will, is indicative of the pickle that the camera industry has found itself in. Many photographers just don’t have any need to upgrade, and haven’t for some time. I jumped from the X-T10 to the X-T20 because I wanted a touchscreen, and it has made an appreciable difference. But since then, the X-T30, X-T30 II, X-T30 III and X-T50 have come along, and I just… haven’t felt the need. That’s great for my bottom line – less so for the industry’s.
This seems to be affecting the upper echelons of the industry too, with sales of full-frame mirrorless cameras slowing down. And sure, a full-time pro photographer’s needs are a lot more complex than mine, and they no doubt benefit more than I do from the latest tech. But it feels like we’re hitting an inflection point, doesn’t it? Do pro photographers really benefit from yet more pixels? Can autofocus appreciably get much faster? Does anyone truly, genuinely need a 120fps burst rate?
I know predicting a technological plateau is a mug’s game – things can always improve. But users don’t always need those improvements. And my lack of desire to replace my good old X-T20 feels indicative of an industry that’s struggling to figure out how to give its users something they really need.
Related articles:
- Mirrorless Milestones – 18 years of the cameras that killed the DSLR
- Disposable cameras are a surprising comeback success story – I think I know why
- Oh Pentax, where art thou? I love my old Pentax DSLRs, but if I need a new one, do they still really exist?
The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Amateur Photographer magazine or Kelsey Media Limited. If you have an opinion you’d like to share on this topic, or any other photography related subject, email: [email protected]
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