Gear Review: Fujifilm X-M1

08.29.2022

Around April 2022, I had been feeling uninspired and a little bored of photography. I never really subscribed to the gear-hoarding stereotype of photographers, but I’d been eyeing a Fuji camera for quite some time now. I knew that I didn’t need to spend a ton of money and get the new medium format monster, but maybe something more middle of the road or on the affordable side felt perfect. And so I did a little research, added a few different options to my wishlist, and decided that when I got my first paycheck from my new job I’d snag one.

The premise was that I’d take this camera with me everywhere…or at least to as many different places as I could. It was supposed to be a beater camera, y’know? Get dropped a few times, get rained on a few times, and god forbid it gets stolen? I’m only out a few hundred bucks instead of a few thousand. I ended up buying 2 lenses for this thing: One variable aperture kit lens and a 7artisans prime.

The gear that I purchased was:
- Fujifilm X-M1 Mirrorless Digital Camera Body, Silver/Black Leatherette
- 7artisans 25mm f/1.8 Manual Lens for Fujifilm X-Mount, Black
- Fujifilm Fujinon 18-55mm f/2.8-4 XF R LM OIS Lens for Fuji X-Mount

Initially I had planned to just primarily be using the zoom kit but as time went on, loved the look and feel of the 7artisans lens more and more. Initially, I was using the Fujinon 18-55mm f/2.8-4. As one would expect from a variable aperture lens, it performs wonderfully in optimal lighting conditions but as soon as lighting becomes dodgy, it starts to suffer. Not that I was really concerned about high ISO or anything. I had the ISO set to auto, at a max of 12800 HAHA. It was built beautifully, had wonderful glass inside, and worked great. With the Fuji 1.5 crop, this was a boneless 24-70 at a quarter of the size (and price)! The main issue with the 18-55 lens wasn’t the variable aperture at all — the main issue I had with it was that it wasn’t a little bittle pancake lens.

The 7artisans 25mm f/1.8 Manual Lens turned out to be the better (and cuter) option! It’s a manual focus only lens, which honestly doesn’t have the absolute best image quality in the world. BUT. It’s super compact and gets the job done! It’s also got the analog aperture control wheel in addition to the focus wheel. Very very satisfying to use. My favorite aspect of this lens was the fully manual nature of it, as well as its form factor. It was small enough to be attached to the camera and even fit into the pockets of some of my pants!

After using it for a year or so, I’ve actually decided to go ahead and sell this camera! While it was a beautiful camera, the form factor wasn’t exactly what I was needing. I’m a firm believer that the gear you use is the least important part of your kit. And I stand by that. I’m also a believer that daily life is worth being documented beautifully. Which is why while this was a beautiful kit, I’m most likely going to spend the money I get and invest it into something a bit more compact like the Ricoh GRiii.

12.27.2024
It’s been a full year since I’ve sold this camera and bought the Ricoh. I still miss the delicious buttons and knobs the Fuji had, but I was definitely correct to move to something with a more compact form factor. Review of the Ricoh GRiii coming sometime…soon?