Tor Egil Hoftun Kvæstad

Possibly due to the photography course I took, I got my first DSLR for Christmas in 2013. The camera in question is the Canon EOS 700D, with the standard 18–55 mm kit lens.

It has served me well, with RAW capabilities and various manual and semi-manual modes. The ability to swap lenses was also fun after using point and shoot cameras earlier – although I suppose I haven't swapped as often as I could.

10–22 mm f/3.5–4.5

A wide zoom intended for interior shots. Hasn't seen that much use.

18–35 mm f/1.8

A better normal zoom lens, intended to better capture low light scenes. It's bigger and heavier, so it hasn't seen that much use.

18–55 mm f/3.5–5.6

The kit lens, mostly used in the beginning before I got other lenses.

35 mm f/2

The everyday lens. Took over the job after the kit lens, probably the one that's gotten the most use.

50 mm f/1.8

Mostly intended for portraits, I've used it for family and colleagues, although it did see daily use before I got the 35 mm.

I guess the 18–35 mm and 10–22 mm zoom lenses didn't really suit my photography style; partially because of the size.

I'd been eyeing mirrorless cameras for a while, as they've gotten better over time. I'd also heard about the many possibilities of "full manual" photography on mirrorless systems, and wanted to test that out.

When browsing the webpages of a local camera store I came across a used Fujifilm X-T4, which I bought in 2024.

The camera came without a lens, but I bought an adapter and used it with some of my father's old Canon FD lenses.

After a while I also bought a cheap 27 mm f/2.8 lens – though I had a scare when it didn't work and I wasn't sure if the camera or the lens was to blame. (Turns out it was the lens)

My first "proper" lens for the camera is the 50 mm f/2.

Some of the things I like about the camera (or mirrorless cameras in general is):

• The ability to see what the finished image will look like in the EVF
• Physical dials for aperture, ISO, exposure compensation and shutter speed
• RAW format and manual controls
• Many converters for lenses with other lens mounts
• Various options to help you get good focus
• Customizability (although it could have been even better)
• The indicator showing how far the near and far end of the focus area is, in the EVF
• Weather resistance

There are of course a lot of options, there are many that I have not tried. Some of the things I have done are:

• The image in the EVF would suddenly split in two when using manual focus (an overview and a zoomed view) – that was distracting, so I now turn it on and off manually
• Back button focus (on a front button), in manual focus mode. That way I can use it to get something in focus, and then manually finetune. When I switch to autofocus the camera focuses when half-pressing the shutter button
• It's easy to nudge the focus stick with a finger or your nose. I've locked it so that I have to press it first before it can change the focus area

Some pet peeves I've found so far:

• There are dials for choosing the shooting program (bracketing, hdr, etc.) and for selecting between taking pictures and recording movies. I don't need these very often, and they're under the dials for ISO and shutter speed, making me prone to turn them as well when turning the others
• It would be nice if I could use/customize the buttons on the left of the camera; I use my left eye to look through the EVF, so some buttons on the right are hard to press
• There could be even more options to customize buttons/dials
• The indicator showing near/far focus area could be more precise. (A blue line starting a little before the number 1.5 m and ending a little bit after, is a bit difficult to read)

I'm thinking of getting some more prime lenses for the X-T4.

My photos are usually landscapes or closeups of vegetation, insects and other small things. The lens types I'm probably going to go for are

• A wide angle lens for landscapes
• 23 mm for everyday use (I needed to go a bit far back when using the 35 mm on the Canon, to get everything in the frame)
• A 60 or 80 mm tele lens with macro capabilities (I don't think I have any lenses with macro)
• A converter that enables me to use my Canon EF and EF-S lenses

Other than that I still have my trusty Canon PowerShot S95, that's living in my backpack. The small size and weight makes it quite useful for travel; although I have been wondering if I should upgrade it.

And of course, these days I also have my smartphone when I can't be bothered to unpack a camera…