Does this make sense?

[christeo]

I think the 24-120 f/4 G on a FX camera is a very nice and flexible combination for taking pictures of kids in action. The lens is optically very good from 24-85 mm. From 85 to 120 mm you have weaker borders, but in center it is sharp from f/4, which makes it good for portraits. Things happen fast with the kids, so it is very nice to have the opportunity to take wide angel photos and capture nice portraits with the same lens. If there is a need for lens change, the spontaneous portrait moment may be gone.
I have used the combination D800E and 24-120 f/G a lot on my own kids with many keepers. I also carry primes, but the 24-120 is very often good enough for capturing the spontaneous moments. The autofocus is also pretty fast and snappy.

[pkol]

Keith: I never found the fuji to be innacurate in terms of AF, on the contrary if anything when it locks the Af is accurate. The EVF delay is there, while it is not ideal it never really bother me all that much. Have I missed the "moment" due to the lag? Yes I did but not many times and also you kind of get used to it. The EFV magnification is great (and was one of the things that help make my decision to get the X-T1 - Crop sensor benefits without the "small window" that characterise most crop sensor camera VF) it is approximately the size of a FX camera VF. Also the operation speed is not bad, it is obviously not comparable to a DSLR but it is OK. My issue is AFC, which in my experience is useless... and has such whenever I got out to walk in the park (with my daughter) or go on holidays, I'm always doubtful regarding taking the Fuji system...

Almass: I also agree with Bjorn in principle, but I'm leaning towards selling the fuji. The D5 is great but it would be a total overkill for my purpose. I would like to have the Nikon 51 point AF system and wouldn't like to loose in terms of ISO relative to my D810. So that rules out the D5xxx and D6xx bodies. But maybe the D500 could be an option.

Richard: The thing is when I go on holiday and will always bring both Fuji and Nikon. The reason is twofold: lack of trust in the AFC capabilities of the Fuji and the lens choice I have for the Nikon. not to mention the amazing quality of the D810 files. Nice to know that I'm not alone with the regards kids photography challenges. I agree with your assessment of the D750: not that big, battery life and predictability of AF. Bonus point is that it shares the same battery of the D810.

Bez: I also had a brief stint with a M43 camera, but couldn't live with it. The body and buttoms were too small and never really like it. So sold it off to a friend that really likes it.

Frank: While I'm 99% decided to sell my fuji system, I will probably could be swayed to the D500. But for now the D750 size, speed, OVF and ISO capability seem to be a great complement to my D810. I read some reports regarding the X-Pro 2 and know that in the next couple of months will most likely bring the X-T2, however I don't think that AFC speed/accuracy is up there with the DSLRs. And the price... is the same as d750. Hats of to you for using MF for taking piictures of your daughter running and jumping. I resorted to that using the fuji 10-24, to take advantage of the greater dof while stopped down. It kind of works but is not very versatile as AFC on a Nikon DSLR.

Christeo: thanks for your input regarding the usage of the 24-120. I'm kind of aware of its limitations but the versatility is what I'm looking for. Is the AF speed comparable to 24-70 f2.8 or more like the 70-200 f4?

Thank you all for taking your time to share your thoughts.

[richardHaw]

Paulo Kol, i dumped the D800 for the D750 and never looked back. The D800/D810's MP is more than what i need. all i wanted was a D700 replacement, thats all.

if that is the case then try the D750 and you might end up leaving the Fuji and D810 behind. better still sell them both to recover the cost. I never had so much fun since owning a D750 and it is not much bigger than my D7200.

what is bothering me is that i got the impression that you think that you are doing something wrong for dumping the Fuji. is it because of the pressure of people saying that mirrorless is the future of photography and that if you cannot make it work then you are the problem and not the system? these kind of thing is new, labeling people who do things differently that you. back in the days nobody cared what and how you shot.

i can tell you that there is no universal right or wrong in this regard. gear choice is very personal so long as you are happy. Nikon has made a great camera in the D750 despite the recalls. since owning one, the D800 was sold because 24MP is more than enough for me, the D4 sees less action because the high ISO of the D750 is good enough at ISO3200 and is a lot lighter/compact.

The flippy screen is also a bonus, specially when i shoot videos.

please correct me if i am wrong with any assumptions,sir.

[stenrasmussen]

Oh man does this story ring a bell...
Paulo, I've been there, done it (two times to X-T1) and am now back with a Fuji X-T10 along my Nikons. The thing one cannot argue with is bulk/weight. The other thing is the advantage an EVF has wrt. focusing in poor light situation and ease of manual focusing. Yes, the Fuji's suck at continuous AF and tracking but that's not what the camera does for me. It plays a role the Nikon's cannot and that's of value to me.

[pkol]

Richard,

Like you I had a D700 and all I wanted was a replecment for it. In 2013 I bit the bullet and bought a D800. While i was a bit sceptical at first the quality of the files was amazing, even though I had to tighten my shooting discipline. I kept the D700 as a backup but I hardly used it. Until i had the D800 fail (mainboard failure), send it to Nikon for repair. When the D810 came out I waited for the price drops in the UK (I was living there at the time) and swapped both D700 and D800 for a new D810. With all the small improvements I think, in hindsight, was a good decision.  I really like the D810 and won't part with it. I don't mind having two cameras and the D810 file quality is amazing. Whilst I could never really trust the D800 Af system like I did the D700 AF, I can say that with the D810 I'm totally over the "D700 replacement syndrome" 

The D750 seems that would be a very good companion to the D810. I wouldn't give away any meaninful iq, could use the same lenses, batteries, chargers and will have a similar AF system. Also raw files are more friendly to edit than Fuji.

It's not that I'm thinking I'm doing something wrong,my doubts come from regreting selling it as for some situations it is a good system. On the other hand the opportunity cost of keeping the Fuji is not having a second Nikon body, with all the benefits as stated above. Is more optimisation of photographic resources if you will... Even though I could go on and buy the D750/D500 without selling the Fuji, I would probably fell "guilty" for accumulating more gear than i need. To be honest I already have more gear than what I need, so doing that will make it even worse.

I don't care about mirrorless being the future, as previously stated, I don't think I will ever (ever is a long time I know ) be without a DSLR. Maybe the future of mirrorless is CaNikon !!!

About the D750 what is your limit in terms of ISO? I've been getting good reasults up to ISO 6400 on my D810.

Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Paulo

[christeo]

"Christeo: thanks for your input regarding the usage of the 24-120. I'm kind of aware of its limitations but the versatility is what I'm looking for. Is the AF speed comparable to 24-70 f2.8 or more like the 70-200 f4?"

I do not own the 24-70 or 70-200 f/4, but the 70-200 f/2.8 VRII. I don`t think the 24-120 f/4 is quite as fast as the 70-200 f/2.8, but it is definitly faster than my AFS 1,8 G primes (28m and 85mm).

[pkol]

I do not own the 24-70 or 70-200 f/4, but the 70-200 f/2.8 VRII. I don`t think the 24-120 f/4 is quite as fast as the 70-200 f/2.8, but it is definitly faster than my AFS 1,8 G primes (28m and 85mm).

How does it compare with the 70-200 f/2.8?

[pkol]

Hi Sten,

Thanks for chipping in.

Oh man does this story ring a bell...
Paulo, I've been there, done it (two times to X-T1) and am now back with a Fuji X-T10 along my Nikons.

That's exactly what I want to avoid...

The thing one cannot argue with is bulk/weight. The other thing is the advantage an EVF has wrt. focusing in poor light situation and ease of manual focusing. Yes, the Fuji's suck at continuous AF and tracking but that's not what the camera does for me.

I agree with the weight even though I have my XT-1 permanetly attached to the battry grip, which brings the total weight closer to the D750 body. I also agree with the ease of manual focus. Do you believe that the Fuji has an adavantage to single point focusing in low light situations vs say a D750?

It plays a role the Nikon's cannot and that's of value to me.

Can you elaborate a bit more on this last point. What does the Fuji do that a Nikon cannot? Would be very interested in this last point.

many thanks for your time.

Regards,
Paulo

[richardHaw]

Hello, Paulo.

I would say that for what I do, ISO3200 should be my ceiling but ISO6400 still looks acceptable to be honest. nowhere as clean as the D4's but still useable.

[christeo]

How does it compare with the 70-200 f/2.8?

The 24-120 f/4 is a bit slower than the 70-200 f/2.8

[Frank Fremerey]

Frank: While I'm 99% decided to sell my fuji system, I will probably could be swayed to the D500. But for now the D750 size, speed, OVF and ISO capability seem to be a great complement to my D810. I read some reports regarding the X-Pro 2 and know that in the next couple of months will most likely bring the X-T2, however I don't think that AFC speed/accuracy is up there with the DSLRs. And the price... is the same as d750. Hats of to you for using MF for taking piictures of your daughter running and jumping. I resorted to that using the fuji 10-24, to take advantage of the greater dof while stopped down. It kind of works but is not very versatile as AFC on a Nikon DSLR.

Here are some action shots taken with manual focus 4/200mm AI-S Micro-Nikkor:

[pkol]

Thanks for sharing the photos. They look pretty good for manual focus on a long FL. Were these taken with a Fuji? Nevermind just checked the EXIF. Even more impressed as manual focus on a Fuji is easier than a normal OVF!!

[Frank Fremerey]

What I hate about all of the Fujis I used till today is the delay caused by power management wakeup. The camera ist simply not ready when I need it. Any of my Nikons is and was back into film days from 1988 till now.

[pkol]

I see your point. The most modern Fujis have a High Performance Mode seeting that mitigates that delay to a certain extent. It trades off battery life for speed. It is not a match to Nikon though.

[Jørgen Ramskov]

A late response to this thread, but I thought I would weight in. I went from a D700 to X-T1 - D750. There's definately a lot to like about the Fuji system and they are capable of producing some stunning results I think. As Frank has mentioned, Gary is using Fuji and show it is certainly possible to shoot action with the Fuji. I personally never quite "cracked it", I simply didn't get the results I wanted and ended up selling my Fuji and buying a D750.
For action shooting, the new D500 (and D5) sounds really good. If I was looking at a camera for that currently, I would certainly check out the D500 before deciding.