u/Future_Safe1609

Hey!

I've been shooting casually on my phone for a while now (just for fun, street stuff, daily life) and I'm thinking about getting into a proper camera. I love the Fuji look and colors but they're either crazy expensive or hard to find locally.

Here's the thing though — I already have a couple of manual MFT lenses from my other camera.

I found two local used deals:

• Panasonic Lumix GX9 with two lenses for ~$370. It's a bit worn but works fine.
• Olympus EM5 Mark II with its kit/box for ~$320. Very light use, basically mint.

My budget hard limit is around $400.

Here's what I care about:

• Looks/vibe & shooting experience (I want to enjoy holding and using it)
• Straight JPEGs with film sims/filters (I don't really want to spend time editing RAWs)
• Compact enough that I'll actually take it out
• Already own manual MFT lenses, so M43 makes sense... right?

So my options are:

1. Stay on phone and forget about it
2. Buy one of these M43 deals (and use my existing manual glass)
3. Keep hunting/waiting for a Fuji (X-E2? X-pro1? though they're rare here)

What would you do in my place? Is the GX9 worth the extra $50 over the EM5 II for casual JPEG shooting when I already have manual MFT lenses? Or should I just stick to my phone until I can afford a Fuji?

"attached a couple of my phone shots, not the best I have but hope you like them."

Thanks!

[Fuji Noob] Friend has an iPhone — should we bother with an old Fuji body or just stick to phone photography?

Hey everyone, total beginner here looking for some honest advice.

So my friend has an iPhone (pretty recent one, takes really nice photos honestly) and we're debating whether to grab an older Fuji body like the X-Pro1, X-M1, X-E1, X100, or X100S — or if we should just save the money and keep shooting with the phone.

I know this is a camera sub so the bias might be obvious, but hear me out: the iPhone genuinely produces really nice images. Good dynamic range, solid portraits, computational photography does a lot of heavy lifting. A you see in the post like, they look good good. Not "good for a phone," actually good! (these aren't the best we have though, but I love the second one).

So my question is: at what point does an old Fuji setup actually pull ahead?

We're looking at these bodies because they're cheap on the used market right now, but I keep wondering:

• Is the image quality gap big enough to justify carrying a separate device?
• Are we just going to end up using the Fuji for the "vibe" and then grabbing the iPhone when we actually want a guaranteed good shot?
• For casual street/travel photography, does an X100 or X-E1 still offer something an iPhone can't touch?

Would love to hear from people who made this exact jump (or decided not to). Is the "real camera" experience worth it if you're not printing huge or doing client work?

Thanks in advance!