Long-time Sony shooter here: Took the Fuji X100VI to the Faroe Islands alongside my a6700, and mv Sonv never left the Airbnb.
Hey everyone,
I've been a loyal Sony user for years. I started with the a6400, eventually upgraded to the a6700, and honestly never quite bought into the Fujifilm hype. Still, curiosity got the better of me, so l picked up an X100VI right before a trip to the Faroe Islands to see what the fuss was
about.
At first, I spent quite some time wrapping my head around film simulations and tweaking custom recipes. Eventually, I stumbled across Kodak Gold and dialed it in to match my taste.
I brought both setups on the trip: my trusty Sony a6700 with the Sigma 17-40mm (my workhorse setup) and the X100VI. Within days, a funny thing happened-the Sony spent more and more time sitting in my bag or staying behind at the Airbnb. I found myself carrying only the
Fuji everywhere.
It completely redefined what travel photography means to me. When traveling, it's not about clinical technical perfection; it's about capturing genuine moments, evoking feelings, and preserving memories you can look back on years later. The X100VI excels at this like nothing else l've used. It's compact, pocketable, fits anywhere, and the 35mm equivalent f/2 lens is incredibly versatile. Technically speaking, it might not beat the Sony on paper, but it is just fun to shoot with. It genuinely reignited my passion for photography.
That said, coming from Sony, there are a few gripes and thoughts:
Autofocus: Not a dealbreaker, but coming from Sony's real-time tracking, the autofocus definitely feels lacking at times.
Menus: I found the menu system somewhat confusing-partly because l'm so conditioned to Sony's layout, but it definitely took an adjustment period.
Weather & Lens Protection: With the crazy wind and rain in the Faroes, shooting with a subtle Glimmerglass filter meant I had to disassemble parts of the front setup multiple times just to wipe down glass and dry things out. A more integrated lens cap/cover solution would be great.
Feature Wish (X-Pan): In my photographyi, I'm constantly aiming to create frames that look and feel like stills from a cinema film. Having a native 65:24 (X-Pan) crop mode in-camera would be an absolute dream for this visual style-and with that 40MP sensor, it feels like such a missed opportunity on a high-res body like this.
All in all, I'm thoroughly impressed. The camera won me over, and I can easily recommend it to anyone on the fence.
A couple of questions for the community:
1. Optical Viewfinder (OVF) tips: The hybrid OVF was a huge selling point for me, but during the trip, I struggled to consistently nail my exposure while using it, so l ended up defaulting back to the EVF. For those who shoot primarily with the OVF: how do you approach metering and getting your exposure right? Any specific settings, histogram tricks, or ERF habits you rely on?
GFX Rangefinder comparison: Has anyone here shot with both the X100VI and the 100MP GFX 100 RF? | love the minimalist, tactile design philosophy of the X100VI, and I'm curious how that shooting experience translates to the larger medium-format sensor.( and the xpan crop 😁)
Cheers
