It is perhaps my least capable camera that I use on a regular basis, but also the one I loved the most! My X-T1 was not my first mirrorless camera, it was my second, the first being an Olympus EM5, a good camera, that felt really great in the hand, but not one that made me feel like picking it up and going out with, in use it just didn’t do it for me ~ the menu system, I didn’t enjoy the EVF, the handling, although the Sony A99 I bought at the same time was an absolute joy. For many, many people, the EM5 was a great camera, just not for me.
The X-T1 was my first foray into the world of Fuji mirrorless cameras and the moment I started using it, I knew it was for me, you know the feeling when something’s just right. This was it.
I’ve had my X-T1 for five years now, having bought it in February 2018 and the first years of use were without incident. However, two years ago, it was April 2021, whilst out in the wood one afternoon I stopped to ask a family walking there if I could shoot photos of them, which they readily agreed to. I decided to change my lens and upon attaching another lens, the lens failed to autofocus. I didn’t understand what was going on, it was embarrassing, but after a few more failed attempts, I had autofocus once again.
The whole situation was a surprise, I had been used to having camera gear for years and not having any incidents with gear not working. What I didn’t realize, at the time, was that within a few months – August the same year, the camera would no longer autofocus at all.
Between April and August, there were a few more occasions when this happened, and by trial, I quickly established that it was the camera body, as my X-T20 was fine with all my lenses, but the X-T1 would have the same issue with all my lenses. It was the camera body and I was devastated.
I am not in the position to buy, or replace equipment, so this was a major blow to me and the prospect of my beloved X-T1 becoming an expensive desk weight was not an appealing one. It was also around that time that I started experimenting with old manual focus lenses and realization was soon forthcoming that the X-T1 could have a new lease of life, as it worked very well with my growing collection of manual focus lenses. In fact, I have many good images with the combination of manual focus lenses and the X-T1, it is a combination that I find extremely enjoyable to use, very satisfying in fact.
For the past two years I have continued to use and enjoy shooting with my X-T1 with manual focus lenses and it has been great…until a few days ago. Whilst out shooting in the woods the camera randomly went into Panorama mode – the dial was clearly set to single shot, and turning the dial failed to change the mode to any other setting. Turning the camera off and back on also failed to change the mode, only removing the battery for a few seconds worked. I noticed that changing ISO to 800 would set off the chaos and setting back to a lower ISO would let the chaos loose too. One other thing would also happen randomly, though far less ~ the camera would go into a shooting mode ~ specifically “Toy Camera”. It was frustrating and annoying, I felt that my favourite camera was dying.
Roughly three hours in the wood spent over two days gave me a good idea of what was going on…and indeed the electronics of the camera seemed to be faulty. First the body wouldn’t recognize autofocus lenses and focus and now two years on there were more problems.
I’m not saying that I have solved the issue, because I haven’t, I may have a dodgy work around, I say dodgy, as I’m not sure it works all the time and I suspect that the electronics are failing no mater what. The dials that have the ISO and shooting modes on the top left of the camera seem to set-off the issue. I also discovered that by un-assigning the shutter button to focus helped, as I noticed that I would see a “Focus Check” in the viewfinder and the issue would start. However, even after un-assigning the shutter release to focus, it would still “Focus Check” periodically and that’s why I do suspect that the camera will ultimately fail completely.
For anyone reading this that thinks why didn’t I try a Factory Reset…well I did. It didn’t work. No, I think I have a limited time with my X-T1, there’s no point in having it repaired, I know it would cost too much for it to be not worthwhile and another, working copy, could be picked-up for less.
Since I started writing this post, a couple of days have now passed and this morning I took my X-T1 out with me on my morning walk in the woods. Armed with the knowledge I had recently acquired, there were only two incidents, the first was when I set the ISO to 1000 (setting the camera below 800 seems fine), and the second was when using Auto ISO and the camera selected ISO 800 ~ the troubled spot. Other than that, the camera did work well.
It's seems that shooting with the X-T1 will be a compromise, to some degree, now and I have a terrible feeling that the problems will increase, if and when that day comes when the camera fails completely, I will set my X-T1 sadly aside.
For some, it may seem like “why not just get another body”, well, I don’t have the cash to throw around on any camera equipment, I make do with what I have. Just like me, I feel that a good deal of my gear is ageing, some better than others. All my camera and lenses have their part in my photography, they all have their own character and I have grown to appreciate each one of them, we are old friends and I look after them. Whilst I still have the use of my gear, even with their disabilities, I will continue to shoot with them and in this case, the X-T1 one is a fine camera, one of my least capable, but one with a great deal of character and I love shooting with it.
I am glad that I persevered with the X-T1, it has given great pleasure and a few good images, it has the lowest pixel count of any of my cameras, but pixels do not matter here. The images have a distinct quality and feel to them and as I have already said, the camera is joy to use…it makes you want to pick it up and go out and shoot. That’s no bad thing!
Lastly, all the images in this post were shot with the X-T1 ~ some you may have seen before, either here in my Blog or on my website. I have included them, as they are images that I enjoy and I hope that perhaps you can see why this camera has given me so much pleasure and is still a faithful friend.