Take five

Amateur Photographer lighting expert Ian Pack ditched his Canon DSLR gear for the Fujifilm X-T5. How has he got on with this more modern and portable alternative?

My first experience of Fujifilm cameras was in the 1990s, with the specialist 6x17 panoramic film camera. In 2014, I needed a new everyday carry camera and opted for the 12MP Fujifilm X30 compact, which introduced me to the joys of Fujifilm’s excellent straight-outof-camera JPEG files and film simulation settings. However, for the following six years I continued to use Canon full-frame and crop- sensor DSLRs for my commercial location and studio photography.

Late in 2022, I decided that it was time to move from my full-frame DSLR to a crop-sensor mirrorless camera, in order to reduce the weight and bulk of the gear I carry. For the past ten years I’ve used portable battery flashes on location and now in the studio, owing to their more compact size and lighter weight. So in this respect, going mirrorless is a natural progression for me.

I looked at the various options available from Canon, having been a loyal user since the introduction of the EOS 5 film camera in 1992. Sadly, the cost of Canon mirrorless bodies and RF lenses was prohibitive, and at the time of writing, Canon had not released the intellectual property to enable third-party lens providers to manufacture RF- mount lenses. So there aren’t any affordable alternatives to Canon’s own lenses.