How the X70 saves me from the stress of too many options.

Options stress me out. It’s taken me a good many years to realize that. The more options I have, the harder it is for me to be decisive. Maybe that’s why I love the small, but mighty Fujifilm X70 so much. There is no guesswork that goes into popping it into my bag for the day. No agonizing over which lens (or lenses) to bring. It frees me up to simply take pictures. It’s quite liberating.

Now, I have other gear of course, but nine times out of ten, the X70 is the camera I’ll grab. It practically lives in my bag or an easily accessible spot in my home. Most times, I feel I am not only more motivated to shoot, but also more creative when I limit myself to a fixed lens camera. (If only the X100 series were just a little smaller! I’d love faster autofocus, an updated lens, and some of the newer film simulations in a package the size of the X70. Skip the EVF and optical viewfinder – I don’t use them anyway. So basically, I really, really want an X80).

The X70 is the most unobtrusive camera I think I’ve ever owned. Even my photo shy teenage boy stays in the frame when the X70 comes out. That’s REALLY saying something. I’ve done a lot of experimenting with different gear since I closed my photography business last year and felt I had the freedom to let go of the “latest and greatest.” It’s been a high turnover of camera bodies and lenses to discover what I most enjoy using. Enjoyment has really been my focus, knowing that I’m much more likely to shoot if the tool I’m using is fun. Not just for me, but for my kids as well.

Two of my kids (the ones that aren’t photo shy) have really gotten interested in photography this year, which is the only reason I’ve held onto as much gear as I have. Part of me would love to sell everything and just keep the X70 for this season of life. Does that sound crazy? I began my serious foray into photography way back in 2008 and had my own business by 2011. It’s been a long time since photography was just for me.

The X70 is helping me rediscover why I picked up that first camera to begin with.