Battle Tested Camera Bodies as of 2023 (and a few honorable mentions)
There’s a certain romance to reading about photographers like Henri Cartier Bresson, Gerry Winogrand, or Daido Moriyama who are often regarded as photographic geniuses as using one camera and one lens throughout their whole careers. Each one of these artists is as known for their work and the camera / lens combo they used. And I’ve chased that. Shoot, In some ways, I still chase that perfect setup.
But there sort of a misnomer in this. Sure, having the ultra minimal camera kit takes a lot of decision making out of the equation, which does good for my indecisive Libra tendencies, and simultaneously pushes creative ways of working. But I also think about the kinds of photography they’re known for. It’s not that I’m saying each of these photographers are one trick ponies, but they certainly seem to stay in their lane. I don’t work like that.
As someone who’s doing portraiture, landscape, and personal reportage, I started to examine Annie Leibovitz early on, as she takes on different genres depending on the project she’s doing. I remember finding a used copy of Annie Leibovitz’ At Work in a Half-Price books somewhere in the neighboring towns of Phoenix, Arizona. And as I thumbed through the book on the plane home, I remember her talking about her gear, how her kit would shrink and grow based on what she was doing, and that she wasn’t so sentimental about her gear. When new cameras and technology came out, she had no issues allow herself to try new things. .
Which at this stage in my journey as a photographer, I’m leaning into more and more into that approach. As the landscape of photography continues to ebb and flow with the culture, and people’s attitude towards people with cameras tend to change along side it, I’ve found that the awesome camera in one era of my photographic career, was typically optimal for that specific time, project, and subject matter. Though, let’s not get it twisted, all this isn’t to say that the willing couldn’t replicate what I did with something else.
Anyway, my peers tend to notice how swiftly I can bounce from one camera system to another, jumping from one manufacturers methodology of picture making to another (I think about the copious retrol-ness that comes with FujiFilm, the utilitarian everything-ness of Sony, or the ultrastealth-ness of Ricoh’s GR series) and always suggest I should probably start a gear review YouTube or something. Yeah, I don’t know about that. But it does make me think that people interested in how I make my work may find interest in some of the camera mainstays that have made my work possible. Besides, I think every photographer I’ve met over the years has some curiosity in what everyone else is using, and newcomers to the craft often ask me what’s worth checking out— even though I always respond with “Well, it depends…”
I want to be more open about my often-sheltered commentary around the cameras I use. Outside of my close friends, I don’t talk about this much, probably because it takes an embarrassing amount of money, and an equally embarrassing lack of commitment to be engaged the way I am. But I would be misleading you all if I didn’t state that I have a love (if not obsession) for gadgets and technology, so cycling cameras in and out of my kit is just as much a part of my processes as the heady theoretical I think about when making work.
All being said, over the years I did come to a few conclusions, and it’s culminated in cameras that just end up sticking, and an even more cameras that end up not making the cut. But it’s been recommended to me to share some of this knowledge, and give folks an idea of what I ended up I learned about what I like in a camera kit and how there might be something there others will find worth considering.
Before we jump in, again, I do mostly environmental portrait work, landscape, and personal reportage. So I tend to put stock in cameras that are streamlined and compact, relatively easy to use after some general configuration in the environments I work in. What does that mean? It means that if I have to work hard to get basic operations done, the camera is overly large or heavy, or off-putting to the people I’m using the equipment in, it probably won’t stay. The camera has to get out of my way so things can get done.
Honorable Mentions:
Fujifilm X-Pro and X-E lines: I’ve had a range of these including every X-Pro camera that has been released, including a few special edition color ways. I’m inclined to continue to say that the X-Pro1 was the most charming of the bunch, but was the most limited. If there was someone who asked me which one to get. They’re all generally feel great to use, especially if you like the retro design. From an imaging standpoint they’re powerful cameras, but what really keeps these in my camera bag are three things that utterly bug me.
1) The faster lenses are too big and feel clunky with these specific APSC bodies and start to suck to work with with on longer gigs like weddings unless you add a grip, to which at that point one might as well go with the uber comfortable-in-the-hands X-T line.
2) The progression of the X-Pro line, and Fujifilm’s approach to how we see what we’re about to take a photo of really leaves me scratching my head. To start with the optical viewfinders of each, we went from the X-Pro2, which had a magnifier that automatically slid into place depending on the lens you chose. We lost this feature in the X-Pro3, where they leaned in mad hard with a viewfinder dedicated to 35mm full frame equivalent, thus making my 28, 50, and 85mm (ff equivalents) harder to use. I’d find myself opting for the EVF instead. Which at that point, I might as well go with the X-T line where the EVFs, generation-for-generation, is better than their X-Pro counterparts.
3. Fuji’s approach to the screens is an interesting one. The XPro2’s standard fixed screen is relatively par for the course, so I can’t really pass too much judgement here. The next step for the Xpro3 and it’s hidden screen was welcome in my mind, in theory. After all it brought it more akin to the Leica M-D which I’ve bene lusting after since it’s inception. But to my earlier point about photographic tools needing to be optimized for the time, for the society, for the culture— even people who I’ve photographed for years, by 2023, seem to feel more and more weird when I pull a camera up to my eye and take aim in their direction. The fold down screen seems to be more welcomed, and while the X-Pro3 sort of did that, you might as well go with the X-T series (well any except for 4 because swivel screens are whack and generally a non-starter for me).
Leica M8 and M9
Leica M cameras are magical, if rangefinders are your thing. If you’re a through-the-lens shooter or like to shoot anything less than .7m away, then this isn’t for you. But, with that out of the way, the colors coming out of these two CCD sensors was obnoxiously organic and beautiful, especially for the kind of work I do on most days. But what comes with the technology in this bodies is that they struggle in ISOs over 320, which makes the cameras $$$$ cost so hard to justify. If they were cheaper (and I guess didn’t have innate design problems like sensors that would corrode, or sensors that didn’t have IR-cut filters integrated in their design), I’d probably still have one.
Fujifilm GFX
OK so how affordable (relatively speaking) this is as a medium format digital platform is a feat in itself. The image quality here is just astounding, but I think the thing that keeps medium format a mainstay (even though I’ve had several of them) is that it’s medium format. It’s bigger, heavier, slower, and often more expensive to make the picture. If there’s anything this teaches me, it’s that full frame is the goldilocks format. So many times have I sat at my desk with a sore shoulder, with a knot under where my camera bag sat for the past 4 hours, reviewing my images and thinking “was this all really necessary? But, if a GFX 50R showed up somewhere for cheap I’d probably get it again. Which is silly, but I didn’t say I was above being silly.
Ricoh GR/GRII (APS-C models):
Small and powerful, nothing really beats this system in terms of pocket-ability and general approachability (subjects don’t really think twice about being encountered by these). Which is why, despite their placement in Honorable Mentions, I’ve had a GRII in my kit for years, and will likely continue to have it for years to come. Ergonomically perfect, and equipped with an incredibly sharp lens, I think the only thing that prevents the GRII from getting GOAT status from me though is that it doesn’t have parity with anything else in my camera kit in terms of resolution (everything else I have is 20MP while this camera is 16MP) and while snap-focus is awesome, general AF speed is way behind.
Meanwhile, I was of the impression that the GRIII series would mitigate a few of these grievances (megapixel count greater than 20, IBIS, touch screen focusing that I actually like on a camera like this), but they got rid of the on-board flash (excellent for photographing your friends and family go HAM at parties) and a bunch of buttons went away. It makes using the GRIII way less enjoyable than the GRII as a general purpose wide angle snapshot and street camera.
Still, snap-focus, pocket-ability, and it’s non-threatening nature rules, and the images these cameras makes feels on-par, and in some cases cleaner, than any of my other cameras. So while I’m not so sold not the GRIII, the GR/GRII are cameras I still continue to enjoy. Not a big fan of their grain/noise patterns in higher ISOs though.
Cameras I’ve Coveted and loved but no Longer Own
Fujifilm X-T1 and XT-2
I sold these bodies to go into Fuji bodies with more modern (for that time) features prior to going into full-frame as my primary format, but I can’t deny how much of my past work was created with these cameras. While not as pretty as the rangefinder inspired X-Pro and X-E lines, these cameras are ergonomically perfect, and the tilt out screen in the XT-2 opened my eyes to how much I love tilt out screens. The image quality is awesome, the faster lenses from Fuji feel more at home with these bodies, and the camera can sort of just melts out of the way so you can do your job.
Olympus PEN-F
Perhaps the only camera with a swivel screen that I actually loved. There was just something so, so charming about the size and the way this camera functioned. The potential of Micro Four Thirds is also way underestimated from an image quality standpoint. Like the Fujifilm X cameras, I sold my Olympus off to move into a larger sensor size, but I absolutely regret doing it. They’re now going for about a thousand dollars on eBay, which probably isn’t crazy. I bought mine for about half that on Craigslist years ago though, so having that experience is really the only thing keeping me from getting this camera again.
Top 4 cameras I Continue to Covet and Love:
Leica M10
Leica M cameras are such a joy to use because their operation is so simple. You do your light reading, you input your settings, focus, and fire. The nature of the system, once you get good at it, also lends itself to shortcuts in many of these processes. A lot of Leica shooters I know, just a few months after using one exclusively, can tell you they’ve learned how to preset their exposure settings just by looking at a scene, an pre-focusing their lenses just by judging distance. With the M10, we get a modernized full-frame CMOS sensor, and a slimmer chassis. Shooting primarily 35mm and 50mm lenses on most days, this camera just works for me. They’re expensive as fuck, and I would never recommend them to anyone who I didn’t think was crazy about photography as I am, or just plain rich. But here we are, and it’s on my list, at the top.
Here’s the funny thing though, I like to shoot through-the-lens on professional/client work, which rangefinders don’t do. So on those shoots, this camera often gets left behind. I like small cameras when traveling, but this camera requires two hands to critically focus, and isn’t the best for any travels where I’m going day drinking, bar hopping, shopping, or holding my son’s hand, so this camera gets left behind. My vision is also getting worse as I get older, so in low light settings where manual focusing can get challenging, I’ll leave this camera behind.
Do these constraints just add on to the idea that this is a luxury item—absolutely. This camera is likely the least practical in my arsenal, but as a camera used to document the mundane aspects of my life, various landscapes and scenes I encounter, and a no-frills street photography tool, nothing beats it. Is it worth it? My inner Dave Ramsey says no, but my inner Mari Kondo doesn’t let me let this one go.
Sony A7 series
No the R not the S, just the Plain-Jane regular one. Is it as sexy or soulful as the other cameras I’ve mentioned so far? No. Not even close. But there’s something to be said about something that just works, and works well. Albeit it has an atrocious menu system (though it’s probably a bi-product of the litany of stuff it can do) after some initial basic custom configuration (I’m understating how time consuming this is though), it’s basically the Fujifilm X-T series without the dedicated dials, but full-frame and faster and better in just about every aspect. As a workhorse camera, I’m probably going to sit with Sony’s A7 series for quite some time.
I’m also a big fan of adapting vintage lenses to modern digital bodies, especially old Minolta Rokkor glass that I’ve inherited from family over the years, to which this is a great choice to do such a thing. While it isn’t as nostalgic as digital platform like the Fuji X-T series is in this regard, it’s pretty cool to get the full gamut of character from each lens since so much of it tends to live closer to the edges of the frame which is often cropped out when adapting old glass on APS-C cameras.
FujiFilm X100V (or maybe the GRIIIx?)
Most of my peers know that I’ve been an early adopter for the X100 series. Initially purchased asa beautiful alternative to my DSLR setup (to provide more context, our child was born and we had to carry diaper bags everywhere, which made larger camera systems impractical until he was old enough to use public bathrooms), I’ve owned every single iteration since I took ownership of the original back in 2012. While I enjoyed each one, each iteration to the next seemed like such an incremental upgrade. However, when I saw the X100V get announced and go on presale in 2020, I immediately hit the “give them my money” button on Amazon and I’ve been with it since.
Updated lens design, optimized view finders, blazing fast operation, beautiful ergonomics, and TILT SCREEN just made this camera a must-purchase.
Due to it’s fixed focal length and APS-C sensor, it does sort of stick out like a sore thumb in my general camera ecosystem (or lack thereof) but whatever, it’s too good as a 35mm (full-frame equivalent) chameleon. For any time when I’m going out and photography isn’t going to be a central point to what I’m doing, this is the camera that’s probably coming with me. Since it’s weather sealed, relatively compact, and with a few add-on accessories, it’s right up there ergonomically with the Fuji X-T series bodies, I’m usually packing this for vacations, nights out on the town, raging at a concert, outings with family, dog walks etc. It can then just as easily act as a solid 35mm focal length backup to almost any scenario where I’m using the A7III or M10.
This camera is probably the one that people seem to get the least weird about me using when I’m taking photos of them too, especially when I’m using the screen to frame instead of the LCD. There’s a lot of value in my workflow for something like that.
While I wouldn’t necessarily say that paying the Q1 2023 price for it is justified (it’s currently around $2k online, I paid 1400 for mine at launch), I can say that hype that emerged out around this one is real.
Going to my initial thoughts around photographers and the consideration of having only one camera and one lens to potentially carry me through all the work I do, this one might be it
….if I can stop thinking about whether or not it can be replaced by the Ricoh GRIIIx.
As of March 2023, the Ricoh GRIIIx isn’t a camera I currently own, as I let mine go earlier this year so that I can re-allocate resources into my workhouse Sony kit. I don’t regret it, but I certainly miss it, and as time progresses, this camera basically does everything I want out of something like the X100V, just without a viewfinder, tilting screen and slightly slower AF (unless it’s lowlight, to which is moderate to significantly slower AF). I can’t stop thinking about it’s pocket-ability and the clean images it takes is certainly something to write home about. While I’ll go on and on about it’s GRIII sibling’s lack of on board flash, I can for some reason go without that when we’re not talking about a wide angle compact. Will it take this spot? Who knows. I guess we’ll see where the photos take me.
And that probably wraps it up for now. When I first started writing I thought this would be a cool, quick blog post to start this section of my website with, but 3 hours later I find that I keep going back into each section with something new to say. So let’s leave it at that. If you like this sort of thing, have questions, or want to talk show, feel free to shoot me a message! I’d love nothing more than for us to nerd-out and talk each others ears off.
