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LETTER OF THE WEEK
I simply had to write to you regarding Jessica Miller’s field test of the Fujifilm X-S10 in AP 28 March 2023 because her experience was so very similar to my own.
I always enjoy the field test articles and find they tell me much more of what I really need than the more technical reviews. However, I already knew what a great camera the X-S10 is, and the lenses you used with it, and of course I fully agree with your assessment.
Like you I was a confirmed and very happy Pentax user until very recently, ever since my Spotmatic in the late 1960s, when Pentax was at least as good as Nikon and Canon. But it all changed when my K-S2 developed a manufacturing fault just out of warranty, causing me to lose all faith in Pentax UK’s customer relations and their repair department.
So I decided to change brands just as mirrorless was taking off. Fujifilm seemed to have good cameras and by far the widest range of lenses, and I could borrow them free of charge to try out. So I borrowed an X-T4 and the very new X-S10, the 18-135mm and 70-300mm lenses (equivalents of my Pentax kit) and loved both cameras. It was an extremely difficult choice between a slightly bulky older model and a considerably lighter (and cheaper) very new model which included a pop-up flash but not weather-sealing (one thing Pentax always did so well). But I went for the X-S10 with the thought of perhaps moving to the X-T5 which probably wasn’t far away, and included those two lenses to go with it. It wasn’t long before I’d added the 10-24mm and the new 27mm pancake prime lenses and love all four. As planned, I have now bought the X-T5 and love that too. But I can’t bear to part with the X-S10. And I must say what a super little unobtrusive jacket-pocketable ‘party camera’ it makes, with its pop-up flash and that pancake lens. Oh, and the rotating screen closed to protect the glass when it’s in my pocket. It’s a perfect complement to the more intrusive X-T5 with its array of topplate controls.
A final thought: After some experience with the tilt screen on the X-T5 I do much prefer it to a rotating screen because it remains aligned with the lens. So I use it a lot more than I ever did with the rotating screens on the Pentax or the X-S10.
Mic drop
Having read AP 21
