Olympus or Fuji

Kyle M. · Nov 18, 2015

Hello all I've been away for awhile now back in April I traded my 60D and lenses in towards an RZ67 and a Hasselblad 500C because I just can't replace film with digital. I can however shoot a mixture of both. Now I'm looking to get my first mirrorless camera and am having trouble deciding between the Olympus E-M10 II with the 14-42 kit lens, or the Fuji XT-10 with the 16-50. I like the looks of both and I mainly shoot in manual exposure mode with auto focus enabled, and they both seem to have a good control layout for that. I don't do any video nor do I intend to so in the future so that doesn't come into play, I also don't shoot many if any moving subjects so the Fuji's smaller buffer doesn't really affect me. At this point I'm leaning more towards the Fuji, but I would like opinion of owners of both Fuji owners and Olympus owners, also it would be great if someone has or has had both cameras and could give me their thoughts. Thanks for any help.

jaomul · Nov 18, 2015

I have had a few olly cameras and they are in my opinion excellent. They have a touchscreen and if you enable the "super control panel" you literally have every control and setting at your finger tips. The inbuilt stabilisation only adds to the already great feature set, they have a great range of primes and zoom lenses, are tidy and much better at higher iso than a dxo spec sheet comparison would have you believe.

However, i use the olly as a secondary kit, with a nikon as my primary. If I was buying a mirrorless system I would consider between olly and fuji the following-

Do I take a lot of portraits or subjects that I desire strong seperation between subject and background- if yes I'd veer toward fuji simply because it has a bigger sensor and this type of shooting, though possible with m43 is easier with the aps-c camera

Do I use a camera at higher isos generally- the m43 is capable, but from what I see the fuji is more capable

If the top 2 items don't really come into play for you its hard to go wrong with the olympus

Kyle M. · Nov 18, 2015

jaomul said:
I have had a few olly cameras and they are in my opinion excellent. They have a touchscreen and if you enable the "super control panel" you literally have every control and setting at your finger tips. The inbuilt stabilisation only adds to the already great feature set, they have a great range of primes and zoom lenses, are tidy and much better at higher iso than a dxo spec sheet comparison would have you believe.

However, i use the olly as a secondary kit, with a nikon as my primary. If I was buying a mirrorless system I would consider between olly and fuji the following-

Do I take a lot of portraits or subjects that I desire strong seperation between subject and background- if yes I'd veer toward fuji simply because it has a bigger sensor and this type of shooting, though possible with m43 is easier with the aps-c camera

Do I use a camera at higher isos generally- the m43 is capable, but from what I see the fuji is more capable

If the top 2 items don't really come into play for you its hard to go wrong with the olympus

Thanks I'm gonna take a little drive tonight and go look at both, and see if that makes the decision any easier.

PropilotBW · Nov 19, 2015

Although it's not what you're asking about, I have the Olympus EM5ii. It is a very powerful little camera that I like a lot ( I have the lenses listed below). I sold a bunch of Nikon equipment to move to a more travel-friendly system. I believe I made the right decision. There are some limitations though, but that's been mostly bird photography and focus tracking moving objects...which you said wouldn't be an issue.

I looked long and hard at the Fuji XT1. I liked it a lot. It is a very good looking system. The things that turned me away, believe it or not, were the lenses. Yes they look good, and I'm sure they're superior in optics, but small size was really what I was going for. I had to keep reminding myself why I sold my Nikon equipment to go smaller. Not to mention superior optics comes at a price. Fuji lenses are expensive for a hobbyist! Olympus/Panasonic lens lineup is massive, and had more appealing options for what I was looking for.

I have taken several portraits with the micro four thirds and have created a very nice bokeh in the image. It's not necessarily the sensor size, it's finding the optimal lens focal length. If you're shooting studio portraits with lighting, you won't be unhappy with the M4/3, since light won't be an issue.
Also a second thought, with the smaller sensor, you can shoot a portrait wide open 1.8 or 2.8 and still have a face in focus.

It's a tough decision between the two systems, you'll just have to keep researching and playing around to find what fits you best.

Kyle M. · Nov 20, 2015

Well I finally got the chance to check them out last night. I looked at the Olympus E-M10 Mark II, and E-M5 Mark II, the Fuji X-T1, and X-T10, and the Sony a6000. After playing with all of them for about an hour I've pretty much decided on the a6000, it does everything I need and some things that I don't need and will probably never use (11 fps and the video modes) and it's also the cheapest of the lot. $629 with the 16-50 kit lens, and if I really wanna wait and deal with the black Friday crowds Best Buy has the body with the 16-50 and 55-210 for $699.

jaomul · Nov 20, 2015

Good way to decide, hands on. Enjoy

sashbar · Nov 20, 2015

Depends on how much you are going to use it. That Sony is a reasonable choice for a secondary/travel/backup system. But FUJI with its top glass and exiting colors is a better choice in a long run in my opinion. Unlike Sony it has soul

if you are into film you will quickly recognise it

. It is just a more exiting system in my view and will compete to become your prime one whatever other cameras you have. FUJI glass line is growing fast and it is truly pro grade. Hey, even Zeuss gave up, they could not compete with FUJI X lenses

. FUJI lenses will cost you, though, that is true.
Sony a6000 is a good camera as well, quite versatile, but it is too digital to me compared to FUJI X

PropilotBW · Nov 25, 2015

sashbar said:
Depends on how much you are going to use it. That Sony is a reasonable choice for a secondary/travel/backup system. But FUJI with its top glass and exiting colors is a better choice in a long run in my opinion. Unlike Sony it has soul if you are into film you will quickly recognise it . It is just a more exiting system in my view and will compete to become your prime one whatever other cameras you have. FUJI glass line is growing fast and it is truly pro grade. Hey, even Zeuss gave up, they could not compete with FUJI X lenses . FUJI lenses will cost you, though, that is true.
Sony a6000 is a good camera as well, quite versatile, but it is too digital to me compared to FUJI X

I just checked, "Soul" isn't listed on Any of the Fuji specs, and therefore cannot be used in logical comparison.
Also cannot prove Sony doesn't contain "Soul"
"Exciting" is also subjective.

So you prefer Fuji, it's "probably" great...For you.
There are 2 things drive camera sales. Money and functionality. I didn't like Fuji because of the cost of ownership. The lenses are outrageously priced. I'm sure it's "premium" glass too. I went with Olympus because it worked better for me, it's cheaper, and I'll take the same picture at a fraction of the cost.

sashbar · Nov 26, 2015

PropilotBW said:
sashbar said:

Depends on how much you are going to use it. That Sony is a reasonable choice for a secondary/travel/backup system. But FUJI with its top glass and exiting colors is a better choice in a long run in my opinion. Unlike Sony it has soul if you are into film you will quickly recognise it . It is just a more exiting system in my view and will compete to become your prime one whatever other cameras you have. FUJI glass line is growing fast and it is truly pro grade. Hey, even Zeuss gave up, they could not compete with FUJI X lenses . FUJI lenses will cost you, though, that is true.
Sony a6000 is a good camera as well, quite versatile, but it is too digital to me compared to FUJI X

Click to expand...

I just checked, "Soul" isn't listed on Any of the Fuji specs, and therefore cannot be used in logical comparison.
Also cannot prove Sony doesn't contain "Soul"
"Exciting" is also subjective.

So you prefer Fuji, it's "probably" great...For you.
There are 2 things drive camera sales. Money and functionality. I didn't like Fuji because of the cost of ownership. The lenses are outrageously priced. I'm sure it's "premium" glass too. I went with Olympus because it worked better for me, it's cheaper, and I'll take the same picture at a fraction of the cost.

The soul lies in the way FUJI renders colors, contrast and detail. And what I meant by it was the rich FUJIFILM color film heritage/philosophy and the way they have kept it and implemented it in their digital engines.
As for FUJI glass, each time I buy another FUJI X lense it feels like a steal. Must be not a bad lense, when you feel like that having splashed over a grand of your hard earned money

Enjoy your new Oly, great cameras.