Breaking news — We’re travelling even lighter! Remember how I wrote a blog post on travelling light with one DSLR camera and only one lens? Well, this new solution is about to take “travelling light” to the next level!! Introducing our new ultralight, minimalist Fujifilm travel kit!
We recently came back from a trip to Vancouver, Canada and was able to do a full test drive! If you missed our Vancouver post, be sure to check it out the link below. ALL the photos in this post was entirely shot with this new ultralight camera travel kit of ours!
So why the Fuji system?
First of all, I am actually no stranger to the Fuji brand. I actually started my photography journey with an old Fuji 6 megapixel point & shoot camera and even brought it to our honeymoon in Jamaica. That camera was ahead of its time and surely sparked a flame in me to continue. While most of you know how much of a big Canon fanboy I am, it was a tough decision to change brands (let alone the cost of it all) but I can tell you, it was a game-changing move! I might even say I regret not making the switch to Fuji’s mirrorless system much much earlier!
The MASSIVE weight difference!
What if I told you that 1 mirrorless camera body + 2 lenses is WAAAY LIGHTER than 1 DSLR camera body + 1 lens?!? Well it is!!
When I did the math, this just blew my mind away! This factor alone was worth the switch! I could just hear my aging back thanking me and breathing a sigh of relief that we were to go on all our trips and no longer have to haul so much weight anymore! Trust me, it’s a drag!
The beautiful image quality!
So am I sacrificing image quality with this crop sensor camera? Absolutely not! The 26 megapixel Fuji RAW files are quite beautiful and what’s even more amazing are those JPG files that come right out of camera! I guess you can say that most people want to switch to the Fujifilm system for the color science that they do in-camera! That’s right, when you shoot Fuji, you technically don’t need any further edits in your computer! Just shoot and share! Those JPGS just come out so beautifully baked and ready to go! This is one less task for me to do for my daily family photos. In hindsight, I think the task of editing was one of those things I wanted to do less of, which ended up with me not wanting to shoot & document much of my daily life with my DSLR because of that. But with the editing out of the way on Fuji’s mirrorless camera, just shoot and save! How much fun is that!
Endless JPG fun!
Moreover, there are a million setting combinations you can do to really customize the look of your JPGs! When I stumbled upon a site called FUJIXWEEKLY, I was blown away! Site owner & creator, Ritchie Roesch, shares a bunch of beautiful Fuji recipes that emulate the old favorite film rolls from the past! He even made an app for his recipes and the options are truly endless!
The MASSIVE size difference & sexiness!
Besides the monstrous difference in weight, amazing image quality and the fact that I no longer have to edit my daily photos…. Needless to say, part of why this system is so light is because of the SIZE and form factor it has. It now all fits in one tiny camera bag! Fuji has known to be one of the best (if not the best) camera designers around, following that retro vibe of old rangefinder cameras of the past. You can’t beat that timeless & ageless beauty of a design! It’s eye-candy all day long!
Fuji X-E4
I’ve been waiting for a camera body like this for a very long time! I initially wanted to get the Fuji X100v (which is a different beast on its own) but I couldn’t ignore my urge to have the ability to switch to a different lens whenever I wanted to. So my wish was if they could do the Fuji X100v small form factor but have the ability to swap lenses….wish granted! This came at a perfect time in 2021 when things were feeling a bit flat and uninspired due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This lit a bit of a spark in me to go out and shoot again!
Coming from a DSLR system, I was a bit worried about the autofocus system of this new mirrorless camera… but to my surprise, it has a VERY CAPABLE autofocus system which gets me excited to capture rapid moving subjects like my kids and at the same time, be confident to nail the focus every time! Furthermore, this beautiful retro rangefinder also sports a flipping LCD screen (which my DSLR didn’t have) that allows me to get way down low and grab extra cool angles I never could with my old system. Plus you can flip the screen all the way back and grab “selfie” shots without guessing the composition!
Fuji 18mm F2.0
With a tiny camera body like the Fuji X-E4, I needed a lens that is tiny and light to match! For this, my go-to-lens is definitely the Fuji 18mm f2.0 lens! This lives on my Fuji X-E4 about 90% of the time! Weighing at at a mere 116 grams, it’s a featherweight addition to your camera body! It’s also rockin’ a “pancake” thin form factor and the focal length is just perfect for everyday walk-around / street photography! This focal length can also get you some pretty good portraits without too much distortion and that f2.0 aperture just allows you to suck in the scene during those low-light conditions. And if you get close enough to your subject, you can definitely achieve some good ol’ bokeh in your shots!
This was actually one of the very first lenses Fuji came up with when they launched their X-mount mirrorless system and to my surprise, a lot of people didn’t give it a lot of love! Sadly, you can almost say this is the lens that everyone likes to hate on the internet! “Oh it’s not as sharp wide open”, “Oh it has a noisy jumpy focus”, blah blah blah. I think I’ve heard it all when it comes to old neglected toys like this just because the latest and greatest came out. For those haters, I say this…. Stop focusing on gear and start focusing on improving your photography instead! A lot of people quickly blame their gear when the photo looks like “MEH”, but in truth, it’s the person behind it that really matters! And stop pixel-peeping! 99% of people who see your photos won’t zoom in 400% to see that there’s some purple fringing in your trees. In the end, all that matters is capturing that precious moment…that slice of time! This lens is VERY capable! Even though it came out years ago, it’s still a modern lens! Everything that came out in the last decade is PLENTY GOOD already! Sure, it doesn’t have all the technical bells and whistles that all the new toys of 2021 has, it’s still “the little beast that could” in my books! It’s also a perfect pair with the Fuji X-E4, as it doesn’t weigh down your neck when you walk around with it all day long!
Here are some samples ALL taken with the Fuji 18mm F2.0 lens:
Viltrox 56mm F1.4
…VIL-who?? Yes, this is exactly what came to mind when I first saw this lens. I was originally eyeing the Fujifilm 56mm f1.2 lens but the $1500 CAD price tag scared me right out of the gate! After shelling out nearly $2200 CAD on the Fuji X-E4 + 18mm f2.0 lens, I wasn’t prepared to cough out more $$ for a portrait lens just yet. But I knew I needed the “long end” to complete our travel kit, since I normally use both focal ends of our old zoom lens 99% of the time. So after a few Google searches and reviews later, I stumbled upon this little guy! To be honest, what initially drew me to it was that it was only a quarter of the price tag of the Fuji counterpart! But, the million dollar question: is it good??? OHHH YESSS, this mini-beast of a lens is VERY sharp! Sitting at just $400 CAD, I couldn’t help but appreciate the build quality of this lens. It is made of mostly a metal body and even comes with a metal lens hood which is rare now-a-days!
Sometimes, when I miss seeing those buttery smooth backgrounds in my portraits, I pull this little guy out and it is nothing but BUTTER! Especially since coming from a full frame system, this helps mimic that full frame look on a crop body camera like the Fuji X-E4! I also use this lens for some beautiful landscapes from afar. Yes, don’t forget that you can still do landscape shots with longer focal lengths like this one!
On another note, people usually shrug their shoulders when it comes to third party lenses and sometimes has the stigma of being “cheap & plastic-ky”. This is of course no longer true with more and more companies like Viltrox coming out in today’s market!
Here are some samples ALL taken with the Viltrox 56mm F1.4 lens:
The icing on the cake: our standard tripod replaced!
Yes, not only did we overhaul our travel camera kit, we also replaced our already travel-friendly Manfrotto BeFree tripod (1590 grams). We didn’t think it would be possible but we sure took things to the next level with this highly rated ULTRAPOD 3 by Pedco. There are many iterations of the Ultrapod, but we picked up the latest version 3. SHOTKIT actually wrote a pretty good detailed review about this special tripod, so be sure to check it out! It’s quite an unusual outside-the-box tripod for those who really want to travel hassle free with an ultra compact tripod for those “just in case” situations. Weighing a mere 119 grams, this guy is just 8 inches tall but can hold a camera up to 6 pounds in weight!
Moreover, the beauty of this table top tripod is that you can strap it to a nearby tree using it’s very sturdy velcro straps, to take a group shot which includes yourself! It is made of very sturdy plastic and can withstand a beating if needed.
Lastly, sitting at just $20 CAD, it’s definitely not hard to justify throwing this in your bag when travelling! Yes, while it doesn’t replace the versatility of a traditional tripod, one can swap it out for this little guy instead for those simple easy trips, especially if you don’t intend take too many group photos with you in it and only need a tripod occasionally. I’ve weighed out the pros and cons of this tripod change, but at the end of the day, this saves a lot of back pain while keeping your camera bag extra light and more mobile on the go!
FUN FACT Conclusion:
At this point, should I decide to add another small, lightweight telephoto lens to the kit (such as the Fuji 50-230mm f4.5-6.7 lens) — making it 3 lenses + 1 camera body + 1 tiny Ultrapod tripod would equal only 1285 grams….which is STILL LIGHTER than having 1 DSLR + 1 lens at 1308 grams!!!!! 🤯 Really, I mean it….this new Fuji system of ours is a GAME CHANGER!!!
All in all, this new little camera system made me fall in love all over again with photography! It’s truly a breath of fresh air! A simple change like this just inspired me to shoot MORE again and really allows me to bring it everywhere! There is no more long excuses on why I didn’t bring my camera because it was too heavy. This new sexy retro rangefinder is small, lightweight and inconspicuous setup that is simply a joy to use! And to that, thank you FUJI! Safe and happy travels everyone! ~Keith