An X-T2 Wishlist

      More or less on time, Fuji announced the much anticipated X-Pro 2. While many were engaged with this event others of us noted that it was the hoped for stepping stone on the way to our hoped for X-T2 camera. Our own instinct, supplemented by the usual (Industry spnsored...) rumour mill is that the successor to the X-T1 will emerge later this year, we hope in June or thereabouts. Despite the praise lavished on the rangefinder versions, their 'Pro' designation and price point at the top of the range, I preferred my XT to the XPro. It felt a little like the impact that the OM1 and OM2 made on the full size pro bodies in the 70's. I'm pretty happy with the x-T1 but it does have a combination of niggles, annoyances and some limitations. What then is my own personal wishlist for the XT?Sensor: We have the 24MP sensor in the XPro, this is a given now I would say.Performace: If the XT matches the Pro the results should be perfectly acceptableBattery Life: I want greater battery life but it would seem that Fuji are guiding us to make choices on performance or long battery life. Not playing fair, I want both.Viewfinder: Even though this is exemplary on the XT, an uplift seems likely and positive.Buttons: Always amazed me that Fuji could make a weatherproof camera and then fail to see whether it could be easily operated wearing gloves. Many of us have enhanced the buttons with Sugru, this needs to be sorted as standard.Remote: I wont get this but the one change I'd like more than any other is to move the position of the remote cable socket. I always use an L bracket and if you use this camera on a tripod in the protrait orientation there is no way to attach a remote cable without adding an additional, messy spacer. PLEASE Fuji, just move this anywhere but on this end of the camera.I'd also like an optional lock on the Exposure Compensation dial, much too easily knocked it seems to me.I think I'll come back to this post, please do add any suggestions in the comments below. 

Gloves...

I am perhaps far too interested in gloves, I may seek treatment..... I own a lot of gloves and have owned a vast number of pairs over the last 40 years or so. Those of us who spend a lot of time in the mountains have lots of gloves. Photographers have lots of gloves. I'm not sure whether photographers who spend time in the mountains have those numbers added together or multiplied. I've owned gloves for walking, camping, scrambling, winter climbing, wet conditions, cold conditions, wet and cold conditions. I have windproof gloves and I have gloves that were advertised as waterproof, thick gloves, thin gloves. Andy Kirkpatrick wrote an excellent piece on gloves here. The vast majority is hard to argue with, especially his assertion that there is no such thing as a waterproof glove. I've tried all in one gloves, system gloves, layers and adjustable gloves. I've written about mitts that allow the end part to be removed, fingerless mitts and the ubiquitous Buffalo mitts. However after many years I have finally found a system that works for me. There is no implied suggestion that it will work for you but in case it helps, here goes.This my solution, just two pairs (with the caveat that somewhere in my bag there is ALWAYS a spare pair of some description). For 95% of the time I've been using the Macwet Climatec long cuff glove as my day to day glove. These are amazingly warm for their thickness, remarkably windproof and manage to grip better when they are slightly wet. They shrug off cold, wind and wet far in excess of their bulk. These allow the most delicate of camera operations to take place, buttons, dials, filters and lens changes. They might just be the only glove that do not impede removing a  Lee Polariser from the holder. Just prior to my most recent visit to Scotland I decided to try an alternative to the Buffalo mitts that I had been using. They are warm, long lasting and cheap but have absolutely no grip whatsoever. The replacements, after much deliberation were the Extreme Mitts from Montane. These are a lightweight pile and Primaloft mitt with a grippy palm. They slip easily over the Macwet gloves and allow some of less dexterous tasks such as changing lenses, moving filters and operating remote control cables. to be accomplished. As can be seen from the photo, I always add wrist loops to mitts as do most ex winter climbers and anyone who has the same propensity to drop important items into fast flowing water...I've spent much of the last three weeks in snow, ice, winds and temperatures between 0 and -10 degrees. Whenever my hands felt cold the mitts would restore warmth in no time, they could be easily popped off again for specific tasks.These mitts will certainly shed a shower, they are not advertised as waterproof but we need to remember what it is we seek from a glove and that is usually to keep our hands warm rather than dry.