Many of the cameras I review are either professional or semi-professional models. But many non-professionals have a frequently asked question: what’s a decent camera to get for around €500 or €600 for someone who isn’t a pro?
I often recommend models such as Sony’s A6100, Panasonic’s GX9 or Canon’s M50. But I may well add Fujifilm’s recently introduced X-A7 to that list.
I’ve been handling it now for a few weeks and, with the exception of one shortcoming, it’s a heck of a camera for a beginner or an occasional photographer. The 24-megapixel X-A7 is nice and light, while still featuring something no other Fujifilm camera has: a full flip-out articulating screen. The advantage to this is significant: it means you can comfortably shoot selfies or even vlog-style videos by just turning the touchscreen around to face you. (If you want to add more quality to the audio, the X-A7 also has a microphone port.)
I’m a big fan of this type of flip-out screen. It’s why I bought Canon’s 6D Mark ii over the higher-end 5D Mark iii or iv models.
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However, there is a price to pay. The X-A7 doesn’t have a viewfinder. This can be a disadvantage on a bright, sunny day when it’s quite hard to see a screen.
Those types of sunny days may not be especially common in Ireland, but they might be if you bring it to any country with normal amounts of sunshine.
Suffice to say that I haven’t found it to be a major problem.
The X-A7 has excellent eye auto-focus right out of the box. This basically means that if you’re taking a photo of someone, there’s less of a chance they’ll be out of focus. You can quite easily add or adjust filter to individual photos by sliding them across the touchscreen when you’re taking the shot. This can be handy for portrait modes (as it smooths out facial skin).
The kit comes with a 15-45mm lens, which is a pretty good (if modest) zoom range. It goes from slightly wider than your smartphone to around a 3x zoom. One of the advantages to buying a Fujifilm camera is that if you want to build a lens collection, these ones are very, very good. So should you decide you want a better zoom, portrait or wide lens, Fujifilm’s rank among the best. The only issue is that, like other camera systems, some of them cost as much again as the camera.
But even the entry-level ones are good. I’ve used the basic 50-230mm zoom lens hundreds of times, sometimes professionally. You’re safe getting it – for a cheap kit lens, it’s outstanding.
(If you have more money and want to get yourself a real treat, go for the 35mm f1.4, which costs about €500 to €600.)
The construction and build of the X-A7 is decent, although more plasticky than some of the other Fujifilm cameras I’m used to shooting with. However, those tend to be a few hundred euro more expensive.
This, basically, is a really good camera for those who want the quality of a DSLR (it has the same size sensor as most consumer DSLRs) without the bulk, weight and complexity.
If you’re serious about photography as a hobby, I’d get an X-T30 instead. But for a more casual relationship, this is great.
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