I bought myself a new toy. A Fujifilm XQ2 premium compact camera (at least this is what marketers call it). So much for being a minimalist. My wife might call it a toy but seeing as I want to be a professional kind of photographic artist I call it a business expense. When I had my M43 gear, I also owned a Sony RX100. Sometimes it is just impractical to carry a full camera setup. When I shot exclusively with the Fujifilm X100T and X100F, I had no use for another small camera so I sold it. Now, as much as I love my Fujifilm XT3 and my vintage lenses, I actually needed something small that fits into a shirt pocket. Not that I would ever wear anything with a shirt pocket. I could have kept the Sony, but truth be told I never really liked it. It was fast and had lots of technical features, but the images straight out of camera seemed lackluster, except for the black and white mode. Its menus were terrible. Well Sony right?
I was looking for a few months but they rarely popped up on eBay for a reasonable price and I did not want to order from Japan. I guess they did not sell many, and those who own them now treasure them. But I got lucky on a classified ads site and the seller was willing to ship it.
Compared to my old Sony camera, this one seems to be a clear downgrade. It has a smaller 2/3″ sensor with “only” 12 megapixels compared to the Sony’s 1″ 20MP sensor. The display is inferior, as are some other technical details. But those do not concern me. The reason I bought this camera is the X-Trans II sensor and the Fujifilm film simulations. This allows me to use some wonderful film recipes people create and share. The lens goes to 25 mm on the wide end with a minimum focus of just 5 cm, which opens up quite a few opportunities. It is fast and reliable. In fact, when switching on, the camera is ready before I can even start framing despite having to extend the lens.
Of course, being this small, using the camera is fiddly and annoying. The control ring is too small, too sensitive and the lens ring of course clickless. But I use these small cameras mostly on automatic mode anyway. It is also beyond me why Fuji did not put their "Q.Menu" or a touch screen in this camera. But those tiny things are an ergonomic nightmare no matter what, so I will stop complaining. The important thing is that it takes beautiful images and is easy to bring along anywhere.
This brings me to the reasons for buying this small camera. I often take images before or after work, and I do not want to bring my big setup with me every day. I also want something discreet for taking shots inside train stations, tunnels, shopping centers and the like. And third, when I go for a walk with my little kid, I can’t really use a viewfinder and manually focus without loosing track of my wild daughter. The XQ2 allows me to keep situational awareness while shooting.
I bought this camera in 2021 and sold it after three months and took (kept) 68 photos.