How I Finally Chose My Everyday Camera (And What I Considered Along the Way)
By a family photographer based in Auckland, New Zealand
If you're a photographer who's spent weeks — maybe months — researching your next camera, this post is for you. When you've gone deep into spec sheets, watched every YouTube comparison, and still felt no closer to a decision.
That was me. I'm a family photographer, and I wanted one camera I could reach for every single day: photographing my daughter at home, heading out on weekend trips around New Zealand, and capturing the landscapes and street scenes that make living here so special. It had to be good enough to satisfy my eye as a professional, small enough that I'd actually take it, and joyful enough to make me want to.
Here's how I worked through it.
What I Was Actually Looking For
Before diving into cameras, it helped to get honest about the use case. I wasn't building a studio kit. I needed something for:
Day-to-day family photography — quick, candid, low-fuss
Weekend trips and nature — lightweight, ideally weather resistant
Street photography — compact, unobtrusive
Decent video capability — not a priority, but great to have the option
Once I framed it that way, certain priorities became clear: image quality, portability, a focal length suited to portraits, and some kind of weather sealing if possible. Battery life, it turns out, also becomes quietly important when you're chasing a toddler.
The Cameras I Seriously Considered
Sony RX100 VII — Ruled Out Early
The RX100 VII is a genuinely impressive piece of engineering. It's tiny, it has a versatile zoom lens, and the autofocus is excellent. But it runs a 1-inch sensor — and when you've been shooting with larger sensors, the difference in low light and background separation is hard to ignore. For me, the image quality and colors were a major.
Ricoh GR IIIx — So Close, But Not Quite
The GR IIIx has a cult following for good reason. It's genuinely pocketable, has an APS-C sensor (24MP), and its 40mm equivalent focal length makes it surprisingly versatile. It’s an ultra-minimalist, pocket-sized street photography stealth tool, but Ricoh felt like a compromise when it comes to video capabilities.
Fujifilm XT30 II — The Budget Option I Couldn't Justify
The XT30 II is a great camera for the price (around $1,899 NZD) and pairs beautifully with a 27mm lens to give you roughly the same field of view as the X100VI. But it's a 2021 body shooting 4K at 30p — and honestly, my iPhone is more capable on video. It also lacks IBIS, which matters a lot for handheld family photography. Ruled out.
Fujifilm XS20 — Better for Video, Not My Priority
The XS20 is excellent if video is your thing — it's Fujifilm's strongest hybrid in this size class, with 6K oversampled footage and solid autofocus for moving subjects. If video were a bigger part of my everyday use, I'd have looked harder at this one. But I'm a photographer first, and for occasional family clips rather than deliberate filmmaking, it felt like paying for features I wouldn't use. Ruled out.
Fujifilm XM5 — Built for Content Creators, Not for Me
The X-M5 is an entry-level, budget-friendly interchangeable lens camera heavily tailored toward vlogging and content creation. Built squarely for video creators, it features a side-flipping screen so you can see yourself while filming, an advanced 3-microphone audio system, and 6.2K Open Gate video — which lets you easily crop horizontal footage into vertical reels for TikTok or Instagram. If you're a content creator, this could be a great fit. But there's no viewfinder, and for the kind of considered, deliberate shooting I like to do, that was a dealbreaker. Ruled out.
The Real Shortlist: Four Cameras, One Decision
After filtering everything else out, I was left with four serious contenders. All Fujifilm. All very different in how they'd feel to shoot with every day.
Fujifilm XT50 — ~$2,295 body / ~$2,785 with 16-50mm f/2.8
The XT50 is Fujifilm's mid-range SLR-style body. It has IBIS, a built-in flash, and a dedicated film simulation dial on top — a genuinely fun addition. But the SLR shape is its defining characteristic, and honestly, it looked a bit much for a grab-and-go family camera. It doesn't have the rangefinder discretion I was after. And pairing it with a quality prime — say the XF 23mm f/2 at $825 — puts your total spend at over $3,100 NZD. That's before you consider third-party options like TTArtisan, Sigma, or Viltrox lenses, which can bring the cost down.
Fujifilm XT5 — ~$3,500 with 16-50mm f/2.8
The XT5 is where Fujifilm gets serious. Dual card slots, the biggest battery in the lineup, superior IBIS, and the full pro-grade control set. At around 797g with the 16-50mm lens, it's a meaningful chunk of kit. It's the camera I'd reach for if I were shooting weddings or commercial work every day. But for photographing my daughter on a Sunday morning walk? It felt like overkill. And the weight adds up on full-day trips. Worth knowing: the XT5 delivers about 580 shots per charge, which is genuinely excellent.
Fujifilm XE5 — ~$2,659 with XF 23mm f/2.8 (approximately 35mm equivalent)
The XE5 is new (2025), and it's a quietly compelling camera. Rangefinder-style body, small and lightweight (around 530–580g with the 23mm), and the 23mm f/2.8 lens is practically free when you compare the XE5 body-only price ($2,640) against competitors. Image quality is outstanding.
But there are real trade-offs. The 23mm f/2.8 lens gives you an f/2.8 maximum aperture — versus f/2 on the X100VI. That's a meaningful difference in low light and background blur. There's no ND filter. Battery life sits around 310 shots per charge, which means packing spares for any full day out. And you lose the built-in flash, which sounds minor until you're photographing kids indoors.
Still, if you're dead set on an interchangeable lens system in a compact rangefinder body, the XE5 is a genuinely excellent option.
Fujifilm X100VI — ~$2,874
The X100VI is the camera I kept coming back to. Here's why.
The focal length. The built-in 23mm lens is equivalent to 35mm in full-frame terms — my favourite focal length for portraits, street work, and travel. It's wide enough to capture environment and context, but intimate enough for faces.
The sensor. 40MP APS-C, the same as the XT5. That's serious resolution for a camera this size.
The built-in ND filter. This is underrated. On a sunny Auckland afternoon, an ND filter lets you shoot wide open at f/2 without blowing out the exposure. You can also create motion blur effects in bright daylight. It's a feature you don't know you need until you have it.
Weather resistance. The X100VI is weather sealed. For someone who wants to take their camera to the beach, up a track, or out in typical New Zealand drizzle — this matters.
Video. The X100VI shoots 6.2K internally and handles 4K well — more than capable for capturing family moments, short travel clips, or anything you'd want to share. It's not an XS20, but it covers the "great to have the option" brief comfortably.
The size. At around 557g with battery and card, it's almost identical in weight to the XE5 with lens. But it's a single unit — no worrying about lens changes, no second-guessing focal length.
The trade-offs. Battery life is similar to the XE5 — you'll want spare batteries, and there's no getting around it. The fixed lens means you're committed to 35mm (though Fujifilm offers conversion adapters for wider or longer coverage). And it's not a cheap camera.
I went with the Fujifilm X100VI.
It's not perfect — I carry spare batteries and I'm committed to 35mm. But every day I pick it up, it feels right. It's small enough to take anywhere, sharp enough to satisfy me professionally, and joyful in a way that makes me want to photograph everything.
That last part matters more than any spec sheet.