In the last video I posted I talked about ways to make photography easier for moms, to make the act of picking up your camera and taking photos simpler and more ingrained in your everyday rhythms so you can stop feeling guilty about owning a camera you don’t use.
And today I gotta talk about something that’s kind of blowing my mind, but a short backstory IS required.
I have been a Canon girl since 2007, when I first got a yearbook camera in my hands in high school. I got my first Canon Rebel in 2008 and basically never looked back. I went on to get my BFA in photography alongside my bachelor’s in Art Education, and I’ve very happily stayed in the Canon ecosystem ever since.
I think Canon is great. I’m comfortable with it. I have not been out here looking for a new camera system. I’ve said time and time again that the best camera to use is the one you have, and Canon has worked wonderfully for me for almost 20 years, which is frankly frightening to say out loud.
What changed
I became a mom, and carrying around a big camera body with a big old piece of glass just doesn’t hit the same way it did seven years ago. Now I’m also carrying water bottles and snacks and sunscreen and whatever random rock my toddler decided is precious, while trying to actually be present and enjoy my time with my kids.
And that’s why I want to talk about a camera system that genuinely surprised me with how perfectly it fit into my life as a parent.
Quick disclaimer: this is NOT a sponsored video/post. These are just my own unfiltered thoughts as a mom, photographer, and educator.
This summer, rather incredibly and randomly, a wonderful Fujifilm creative director reached out to me and essentially said, “Hey, heard of us?” And I was like, “Yeah. I’ve seen the hype. I do not have the time or monetary funds to invest in said hype.” 😆 And they said, “Well, what if you just borrowed one and took it on vacation?” Why not?
So I spent a few weeks traipsing around the Pacific Northwest with my family, from Whidbey Island to the San Juan Islands, with a Fujifilm X-T50 and a tiny pancake lens around my neck. I took hundred of photos with it. And yes, the photos were beautiful. But I think the more important reason I took 3,000 photos is that I actually had the camera with me.
It didn’t feel like I was lugging professional equipment around all summer. It didn’t take up half the space in my bag. I wasn’t constantly worried about the gear. I could just wear it, live my life, and take pictures when I saw something I wanted to remember.
And when it was time to send the camera back, I was genuinely sad. So today I want to talk about why. I’m going to take three of the biggest barriers I hear from parents who want to use a real camera more often, and show you how surprisingly well Fujifilm knocked down excuses I didn’t even realize I had for not carrying my camera. And the last one has genuinely changed the way I think about my entire photography workflow.
#1 You’ll actually bring it with you
Pain point: Real cameras are heavy, bulky, conspicuous, and competing for diaper-bag real estate.
One interesting thing to know is that Fujifilm doesn’t make full-frame cameras. Their X Series cameras use APS-C sensors (think cropped), and the bodies and lenses can stay impressively compact. I’ve been so impressed by the size, weight, and feel of these cameras, especially for carrying them around all day. I don’t particularly like pulling my camera out in front of other people sometimes and this feels less conspicuous to photograph with because it’s smaller and a lot of them have articulating screens so you don’t have to use the viewfinder or raise the camera up.
You can also charge most of the modern models with USB C so the convenience factor is just huge! I can plug it in while I am driving to the park and then it’s small enough and light enough that I can either wear it around my neck, or put it in a bag and not feel like I am carrying an extra child. It really makes a surprising difference.
The camera you leave at home cannot document your life. I took almost 3,000 photos on that trip because I had the camera with me.
#2 You’ll actually want to use it
Pain point: Photography feels technical, intimidating, and like something you need to be “good enough” to do.
On top of that, Fujifilm is FUN. It’s nostalgic, and while these cameras feel approachable for a beginner, they aren’t something you necessarily have to outgrow. I can pick one up and shoot professionally in manual mode with the control I need, while someone learning photography can pick up that same camera and start much more simply.
Something I love is that Fujifilm doesn’t make photography feel like operating a computer. I still shoot my grandfather’s Canon T70 film camera, and Fujifilm gives me some of that same tactile, nostalgic feeling. Depending on the camera and lens, you’ve got physical aperture rings, shutter-speed dials, film-simulation controls. You’re actually touching and changing things, and honestly, it’s just fun.
Fun isn’t frivolous when you’re learning something. If a camera makes you want to experiment with it, you’re going to practice more. And practice is how you actually learn photography.
#3 You’ll actually do something with the photos
Pain point: I don’t have time to edit hundreds of photos
Now this is the segment where I blow your mind if you have never used a Fujifilm before. You know what doesn’t make me a very effective memory keeper? Having 6,000 RAW files sitting on a hard drive that my family has never seen.
I hate being stuck at my computer when I could be doing other things. I don’t like managing digital clutter, and I just all-in-all don’t have time for it. So the biggest shocker in using a Fujifilm system is that they have what are called film simulations which you can bake directly into your JPEG files. If you’re hearing me say JPEG and thinking, “What the heck, Megan? I thought photographers were supposed to shoot RAW?” You’re not wrong. RAW files retain significantly more image information and give us much more flexibility when we’re editing. But that’s the catch: a RAW file needs to be processed before it’s ready to share.
I set my Fujifilm cameras to shoot in RAW and JPEG. The RAW file gives me all that flexibility if I want to come back and really work on an image later. The JPEG is for my life right now.
The JPEG file has a film simulation baked onto it. And what I mean by that is basically that I have put in some settings in the menu to tell my camera how I want my image to feel. How do I want the colors to look, how do I want my highlights and shadows to look, what kind of contrast do I want? How much sharpness do I need? I’m telling my camera all of that ahead of time and then it’s applying those changes to my JPEG files which means when I download these JPEGs, they’re done. I can immediately share them. I don’t have to open them up in Adobe Bridge, or Lightroom and do anything to them. I can just share them and I can do that from my phone, and when I send them from the Fujifilm X app to my phone I can also even resize them automatically.
It makes sharing our work as memory keepers so much more reasonable, and I cannot emphasize enough how much more fun this has made photography for me because it has completely removed this giant awful barrier of I don’t have time to sit down at a computer and edit files anymore. This is not my livelihood anymore. Photography is something that I use as a tool to connect with my family and sitting at a computer does not align with that vision so this to me is one of the main reasons that Fujifilm makes so much sense for parents.
CONCLUSION
I’d love to hear if you’ve been curious about Fujifilm and whether any of this surprised you, because it definitely surprised me. When I had to send that first X-T50 back, I was genuinely sad. And the biggest thing I noticed afterward was that I didn’t pick up my Canon as much. Not because there’s anything wrong with my Canon, but because the Fujifilm had removed so much friction between me and actually taking photographs.
And that’s really what I’m looking for at this point in my life. Anything that makes it easier for me to put my phone down, pick up a device whose only job is photography, and jump back into the life happening in front of me. I don’t need photography to be another job. I want it to be part of the rhythm of our family. I want to make the memories, document them, and actually share them with the people I love.
And right now, Fujifilm just makes a surprising amount of sense for that.