Fujifilm X-T5
This is my workhorse. My baby. I will never part with this camera unless something takes my life with it. I purchased this in late 2023, right after it was released, along with the Fujinon XF 16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR as my first 'present to myself' after securing my current position at #iworkforgm. Go watch one of the many videos raving about this camera- the hype (like with all Fuji releases) was ridiculous and you should be grateful if you missed the online buzz. That being said, it's a great camera and I am constantly amazed at the details I can resurrect in the RAWs. This camera begins my photography journey in earnest - no more point-and-shoots, no more borrowing my Uncle's Nikon and being deathly afraid of breaking someone else's stuff (especially given my past of klutziness. My uncle has gifted me two separate Olympus Tough series cameras, which our family passive aggressively but lovingly in the way only an Italian family can, dubbed "Zachary proof").
It's nearly perfect for mating with old lenses with its manual dials and vintage appearance, but I think fuji really missed the mark by not making the XT series full frame. If I were to do this again, I would have waited for the Nikon Zf, but I have no regrets.
Fujifilm X-T1
This body is on loan from my brother and is the camera that restarted my love of photography. See, my main passion is music. Not photography, not cars, not programming - though I certainly love contributing to all of those circles in one way or another. Limited to the whims of limited resources, like time and money, for a long time, I put down my little Olympus Tough point-and-shoot, whose sensor I was never happy with, in favor of learning musical instruments and getting things like my first microphones, new cymbals for my drums, guitars, amps, etc.
But my brother sent me an image of an AMC Eagle in all of its delightfully beige glory in 2019. The image on the whole looks like a scan of a preserved negative from the late 70s or early 80s. He explained to me that he took the photo with a Fujifilm X-T1, a digital camera I had never heard of made by a company that used to produce (much more) film and film bodies. I was immediately enamored with the idea of getting those contrast-y film "vibes" without having to invest in Lightroom or Photoshop. Still, I was in college and could not afford to drop the money on an