17.02.2021 Kazunori Kawada

X-E4: “Make More with Less” x Kazunori Kawada

Kazunori Kawada

Born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. After working for a company for 10 years, he studied under photographer Koichi Saito for 4 years before becoming independent. He loves using both film and digital cameras. His favorite things are rusty signboards and dilapidated cars. Hobbies other than photography include bicycles and audio.

X-E4 Impression

I use different cameras for different purposes: this one for portraits, this one for product photography, and so on. Although it would be ideal to use one camera for all purposes and I think it would be smarter for a photographer to do so, I have always been a camera buff, and I use various cameras for various reasons.

 

X-E4 & XF16mmF2.8 R WR

I have always been the most careful in choosing my Everyday Camera. It is the camera to be carried always with me. While being light enough to carry with you whenever and wherever you are, it is also capable of taking pictures with sufficient quality in terms of both image quality and functions when the time comes. Such a camera would be ideal for an everyday camera. The X-E4 I used this time is extremely compact, and I think it is a camera that is extremely close to this ideal.

X-E4 & XF27mmF2.8 R WR

X-E4 & XF16mmF2.8 R WR

Actually, until a little while ago, I thought that a high-end digital camera with fixed lens was the best choice for an everyday camera. But when I actually used it, I found that I wanted to change the lens depending on the weather and my mood that day.

X-E4 & XF16mmF2.8 R WR

X-E4 & XF16mmF2.8 R WR

There are many XF lenses that are very compact and portable, such as the newly redesigned XF27mmF2.8 R WR, XF16mmF2.8 R WR and XF50mmF2 R WR lenses. The combination of these lenses and the X-E4 is very practical, and the image quality is so high that it is hard to believe that such a small camera and lens combination is possible. When the camera and lens are compact, changing lenses is not a hassle.  Above all, the “feeling of mastering the lens” is fun actually.

X-E4 & XF16mmF2.8 R WR

X-E4 & XF50mmF2 R WR

By the way, the X-E4 is not equipped with an in-body image stabilization mechanism, which may disappoint some people. Personally, however, I think this is one solution. Of course, image stabilization is beneficial, but on the other hand, it inevitably increases the size and weight of the body. I enjoy bicycles, and in the world of bicycles, “lightness” is an important factor, and I am willing to invest a lot of money to reduce the weight by just a few dozen grams. In the same way, maintaining a compact size and light weight by deliberately not installing image stabilization is a very important “performance” for a camera. For those who really need image stabilization in the first place, X-S10 is an option available in the X series.

Technically, it would have been possible to install the image stabilization function in the X-E4, but that would have made it a camera similar to the X-S10. It is natural that the camera you choose will depend on what you care about, but for someone like me who wants to use the X-E4 as an everyday camera with a light touch, the X-E4 with its focus on portability is in a sense the “best solution.

X-E4 & XF27mmF2.8 R WR