Fujifilm X-Pro 2

I'm not one of those photographers who's interested in, or wants to talk about, camera equipment and, honestly, the latest updates in digital cameras don't interest me at all, but I recently traded in some unused equipment for a Fujifilm X-Pro 2 and three lenses, and I absolutely love it. It's everything I need in a digital camera. That is, a rangefinder camera with interchangeable lenses that feels like a film camera. I don't need video or flash.

I'm late to the party on this, but I especially love the ability to make and edit film simulations. This image of peonies is a JPEG, straight out of the camera using a modified film sim loosely based on Kodachrome, although nothing will ever replace that film. I guess I had this feature on a previous camera, the Fujifilm X100T, but I never really used the camera that much (probably because it was a fixed lens) and so I never learnt what it was capable of.

The X-Pro 2 is weather resistant and so I wanted to make sure the lenses I bought were too. So I ended up with the standard XF 35mm f/2 WR (53mm equivalent), the wide-angle XF 16mm f/2.8 WR (24mm) and the slight telephoto XF 50mm f/2 WR (75mm). They're not the fastest in Fuji's line of lenses, but they'll surely survive Minnesota's weather.

One of the other factors that led me to buy the X-Pro 2 was the inexorable amount of hassle it is flying with film nowadays. I've always asked for hand checks, and nine times out of ten the security people are okay with it, but there will always be the chance that one day they'll be obstinate and refuse, when I'll have dozens of rolls of exposed and unprocessed 120 film with me, and I'll be late checking in to the flight home. And it'll be at Heathrow.

I took the Fuji with me when I recently taught at North House Folk School in Grand Marais for a weekend. I admit, I missed carrying the Rolleiflex around and shooting film, but I was there to teach and didn't have too much free time, but it was so nice to be able to take a camera and a couple of extra lenses with me that took up just a fraction of the space the Rolleiflex and twenty rolls of film would have.

I'm not a street photographer but I love the images of Shane Taylor (@heroesforsale), an Irish photographer living in London and one of the co-creators of Framelines magazine along with Josh Edgoose (@spicy.meatball). They reviewed both the X-Pro 3 and the X-Pro 2 on their YouTube channel, with Shawn preferring the X-Pro 2, and with all the positive reviews I'd read online, this was enough to convince me that the X-Pro 2 was the one.

Framelines is also sponsored by MPB, a used camera company based in Brighton, Berlin and Brooklyn, so I decided to try them for trading in my equipment. I got a great quote for everything, free FedEx shipping and a timely turnaround. Plus, they increased the amount they were offering when they received my equipment! Everything I bought from them was in excellent condition and the photos they post are of the actual equipment you're purchasing, which makes the entire process feel so much more reliable and trustworthy.