[Leica] Thoughts on the Fujifilm X-HS2 and lenses

[Adam Bridge]

I had two choices of cameras to take on the cruise: the Fujifilm and my Leica SL2-S. I chose the Fuji because it’s smaller and, with lenses, vastly lighter. There’s a price for using full-frame lenses and weight is not the least of them.

I found that the X-H2S had real problems separating foreground objects (like birds and dolphins) from the waves. Even choosing to use the “Bird” focus mode the camera was much more interested in white-caps than creatures. Also, its exposure control consistently fought me in wanting to over-expose whites (again in ocean scenes.) 

I’ve had very good luck with the SL2-S ability to keep the whites from being blown out. There’s an exposure setting exactly for that and it seems to work brilliantly. I haven’t tested it in the same manner as I did the Fuji, though.

I suspect some of the issues came from the 100-400mm lens which just seemed to struggle with focusing well. But the Fuji can shoot 30fps bursts into a very fast memory card. The Leica is much slower.

My biggest problem on the cruise was the humidity which was very high - often over 80%. I’d take the camera outside and the lens would instantly be covered with mist. The same with binoculars. I started to wake up and put the camera outside on the veranda so I’d be able to use it at need. I’ve never had this experience before.

The human factors one the Leica are simply better than the Fuji - as is the app on my iPhone to pass along GPS location data. More than half the time the Fuji app just didn’t work and had to be restarted so I lost location information. This made me very grumpy.

I’m pondering buying an SL2 (used) or perhaps waiting for an SL3 that uses the Q3 sensor. But, man, the kit is heavy.

Adam