Second X-T3, or X-T2?

[Destin]

So as many of you have seen (because I won’t shut up about it) I just got the x-t3. I’m loving it so far as it’s my first experience with a top end Fuji camera.

That being said, I sold my x-t20 and need to get a second body as a backup and for shooting events. My second body also sees a lot of use shooting time lapses while I take landscape photos, or shooting a second angle of star trails when I’m out doing Astro work.

My original plan was to get a second x-t3 so that my bodies were identical. But the more I think about it, the more I’m not sure this is entirely necessary. They’re both excellent performers and the image quality isn’t much different, so I’m hung up on which way to go.. I can get a used x-t2 for half the price of an x-t3.

Pros to second x-t3:
-could keep one stored with a battery grip on it, one stored with an L bracket. Wouldn’t have to swap the the grip and l bracket on/off all the time.
-better af, including eye af
-possibly better high iso performance.

Pros to x-t2:
-nearly as good for half the price.
-saved money could buy more glass
-could get now, as opposed to waiting 2-3 more weeks to have the funds for a second x-t3

What would you guys do? With Nikon I strongly preferred having two of the exact same body for muscle memory purposes. But these two cameras have nearly identical controls, so that’s sort of a non issue.

 

[TreeofLifeStairs]

If it was me, I'd be patient and get the same one, but that could be an OCD type thing for me. I think it would bug me having two different ones.

 

[Gary A.]

Get a XP2. Have fun with an optical viewfinder and walk around with one of the best looking digital camera ever made.

 

[Destin]

Get a XP2. Have fun with an optical viewfinder and walk around with one of the best looking digital camera ever made.

Eh. I think they look cool, but rangefinders just aren’t my thing, and it lacks a lot of the features I like.

 

[jcdeboever]

Get a XP2. Have fun with an optical viewfinder and walk around with one of the best looking digital camera ever made.

Eh. I think they look cool, but rangefinders just aren’t my thing, and it lacks a lot of the features I like.

Mine does everything that my XT2 does, the optical viewfinder is handy dandy. No grip but that's OK. Maybe an XE3? Or a GFX50R?

 

[Destin]

Get a XP2. Have fun with an optical viewfinder and walk around with one of the best looking digital camera ever made.

Eh. I think they look cool, but rangefinders just aren’t my thing, and it lacks a lot of the features I like.

Mine does everything that my XT2 does, the optical viewfinder is handy dandy. No grip but that's OK. Maybe an XE3? Or a GFX50R?

No tilting LCD screen is a dealbreaker for me; I use it every time my camera goes on a tripod.

I definitely want a body with controls similar or identical to the x-t3. I wish I could afford a GFX and associated lenses.

 

[jcdeboever]

Get a XP2. Have fun with an optical viewfinder and walk around with one of the best looking digital camera ever made.

Eh. I think they look cool, but rangefinders just aren’t my thing, and it lacks a lot of the features I like.

Mine does everything that my XT2 does, the optical viewfinder is handy dandy. No grip but that's OK. Maybe an XE3? Or a GFX50R?

No tilting LCD screen is a dealbreaker for me; I use it every time my camera goes on a tripod.

I definitely want a body with controls similar or identical to the x-t3. I wish I could afford a GFX and associated lenses.

XT2 is a wonderful camera

 

[Gary A.]

So use the XT3 for landscapes and use the XT2 for Street and fun.

 

[Derrel]

Depends on how "transparent and seamless" you want your photography's actual shooting process and shooting mechanics to be. Over the past 40 years, I've used both two cameras, and one camera. When cameras were simple and basic, a pair of mismatched bodies was easy to handle, since a Nikon F3HP and an FM or an FE or an FE-2 were basically, the same thing, and there were only three adjustments to make: focus, aperture, and shutter speed. With simple, all-mechanical cameras with few settings to ever adjust, it was easy to use a pair of non-matched bodies of the same brand

In the modern, digital camera era, carrying two different camera models often means two substantially different control systems, or two substantially different menu systems, or both different camera control button and dial layouts AND different menu layouts. On some bodies, everything important is on a button or a dial, while on other bodies, there is more of that awful thing we call menu diving.

In today's shooting scenarios, often times I find the confusion about where things are in the menus makes me NOT want two different bodies. Right now, I am shooting a D610 and a D800, and am utterly fed up with the differences between the Hobbyist body and the Semi-pro body...to me, the mental effort required is NOT worth having two cameras that are so different. So, even though you could get a less-expensive alternate camera, I think keeping the sensor the same, the shooting routine and setup the same, the controls the same, the way the camera interacts with you the same...I think with complex digital cameras, shooting with a "matched pair" would be far better than having an "unmatched duo".

 

[cgw]

Couldn't agree more with the pair approach. Late 2017/early 2018, I lucked into a very low mileage graphite and new black X-T1--the latter being just to good to pass up. Configured them identically and, thanks to slowly improving muscle memory, can switch cameras without much fumbling. Also shoot a little X100T but usually only with "old shoe" Nikon film bodies.

 

[SquarePeg]

With the price of the xt3 being so reasonable, I’d get that. Love my xt2 and for your landscape and asto stuff you’d probably not notice much of a difference but I suspect the af speed and face detection improvements on the xt3 will make you disappointed when you swap on the run to the xt2 at a wedding.

 

[Solarflare]

Well, I use a Nikon D750 and a D700 and I dont have any trouble. Yes their controls are indeed very different. Much more so than between a Fujifilm X-T2 and X-T3. But I only use one at any time, keeping the other strictly only in reserve.

In today's shooting scenarios, often times I find the confusion about where things are in the menus makes me NOT want two different bodies. Right now, I am shooting a D610 and a D800, and am utterly fed up with the differences between the Hobbyist body and the Semi-pro body...

There is no such thing as a "hobbyist" category among Nikon bodies. Nikon sorts them into entry level, semi-pro, and professional level. The D610 is semi-pro and the D800 professional.

Specifically the D800 was the top image quality camera from Nikon back in the day.

 

[Destin]

Well, I use a Nikon D750 and a D700 and I dont have any trouble. Yes their controls are indeed very different. Much more so than between a Fujifilm X-T2 and X-T3. But I only use one at any time, keeping the other strictly only in reserve.

In today's shooting scenarios, often times I find the confusion about where things are in the menus makes me NOT want two different bodies. Right now, I am shooting a D610 and a D800, and am utterly fed up with the differences between the Hobbyist body and the Semi-pro body...

There is no such thing as a "hobbyist" category among Nikon bodies. Nikon sorts them into entry level, semi-pro, and professional level. The D610 is semi-pro and the D800 professional.

Specifically the D800 was the top image quality camera from Nikon back in the day.

Actually, the D610 is considered a consumer camera. The D800 is a semi professional “prosumer” body. The only cameras Nikon designates as professional are the single digit bodies like the D5.