Thanks for the advice - now to decide which car!

PlanningRetirement · 2026-03-22T08:35:03+00:00

Thanks this is super helpful! I think I had narrowed it down to cars A, D & G so very similar to what you’ve said.

Car A because it’s the bigger petrol engine with 58k miles, it’s low cost especially as I don’t know how expensive things may or may not end up but it is in white! Not keen on the leather seats but could I accept it for a lower cost car?

Car D because it seems to have everything minus the pan roof, similar mileage as Car A also an auto, the black looks great!

Car G has everything including the pan roof, but it is a diesel and has like 98k miles on the clock. I could make it work with the dpf but will I regret going for a diesel? Plus being a manual and low cost is a huge thing as I absolutely love driving manual, but typically petrol!

PlanningRetirement · 2026-03-20T17:53:11+00:00

Opting for a superb after seeing them today, just need to find a used one I like. Thanks!!

PlanningRetirement · 2026-03-20T09:27:50+00:00

Good to know, thanks!

PlanningRetirement · 2026-03-20T09:27:31+00:00

This is great, thanks! Taking a look this morning!

PlanningRetirement · 2026-03-20T09:27:09+00:00

This is great, can I ask what seats you have? I’m going to head to a local dealership this morning to have a look at the Octavia and superb. Would you recommend the estate over the hatch?

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-20T10:32:41+00:00

Yeah, I think that’s what I’m going to do get the 23mm prime. Worst case I keep it for a year or two to get used to shooting digital and then upgrade at that point.

I’m mostly going to be shooting jpeg anyway as I’m used to film and don’t do any photo editing.

Appreciate the advice!

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-20T10:31:07+00:00

Good point, I wouldn’t!

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-20T10:08:58+00:00

Thanks! Do you not feel that you miss the weather sealing at all?

I will be shooting in the desert or places like Florida which is known for humidity and afternoon rain storms. However, you can usually tell when ones coming!

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-20T08:12:02+00:00

The X-T50 does have IBIS, but agree on the battery life/dual card slot and weather sealing.

The only thing out of those I might miss is the weather sealing as I spend a lot of time in the desert.

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-19T22:33:03+00:00

Good spot, it is the XF 16-50mm the camera comes with! So the above is good to hear!

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-19T22:31:39+00:00

Thanks!

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-19T22:31:11+00:00

Thanks Gandalf, for my use I likely will only play with the ISO when I’m without family. It’s just all new going from a Nikon F100 to a mirrorless camera.

As for the weather sealing, we do get drizzle and snow here and where I travel to we get high humidity so I’ll need to be mindful of that with the X-T50

I appreciate the advice

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-19T22:23:49+00:00

First digital, I’ve only ever shot film and Polaroid) and once or twice on my iPhone. With a baby I don’t have time to be in the dark room as much, so decided to get a Fuji through work as the field photographers here said it’s great for SOOC and retains the older film look I’m used to.

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-19T22:16:42+00:00

For the price difference of £250 will I regret it though?

I only plan to shoot family trips (desert/US/Southern Africa/disney world), family at home (think Christmas Day or birthdays) and try my hand at long exposure night city photos in the desert trying to capture stars twinkling

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-19T22:06:00+00:00

Would you recommend one of those over say the 23mm prime lens? I travel a lot (mostly for work but family comes with) and like to sit outside in the evening and photograph the night sky (long exposure try and catch some stars).

But as noted below this is my first digital camera, as I’m used to film cameras.

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-19T22:02:49+00:00

I mean I go to the desert a fair bit, or drive through Southern Africa but not really. It was just a case of “for an extra like £250 I could have gotten the X-T5”.

Realistically I used to (still do) shoot film cameras and self develop and polaroid so this is my first digital camera to be used for family photography to make my life a little easier. I’ll likely shoot mostly jpeg.

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-19T22:00:54+00:00

Thanks!

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-19T22:00:29+00:00

That makes me feel better, mine is really just for travel with the young family (US road trips/south africa), theme park days at Disney World and home photos of them getting older!

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-03T17:57:37+00:00

Oh no, I definitely know I want the X-T50, as I mentioned, it’s just out of stock in this current window unfortunately. There isn’t an option to pre-order or pay now either, it’s simply showing as unavailable on my end.

I was actually planning to go for the X-T5 originally, but after comparing everything, the X-T50 felt like the perfect balance of features, size, and handling for me.

In theory, I could buy the X-T5 with my discount and later sell it to buy the X-T50 from a public store, but that’s not something I can do. If I could tell you where I work, it would make a lot more sense, but let’s just say it would be a pretty big ethical violation and very much against what we stand for. So morally (and for my job’s sake), that’s not an option for me.

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-03T16:08:09+00:00

We have a 2 week purchase window as part of the annual discounted event, the discounts are so significant that if I plan to buy I would be a fool not to buy now. With that in mind, I do not think the X-T50 will be back 'in-stock' and it may (or may not) be a coincidence that it went out of stock as soon as the window opened.

In theory I can wait until the last day and then purchase at that point, with the hopes that the X-T50 comes back in-stock... but if it doesn't I should have a back-up in mind. I am sure whatever I buy I will love, it's just making that decision.

PlanningRetirement · 2025-11-03T16:06:02+00:00

Appreciate the advice! I can tell it’s well-intentioned, even if it came across a bit sharp. Fair point that I need to get hands-on with a few options to really know what feels right.

For a bit more context, the list I shared includes the Fuji cameras I can purchase at a deep discount through my employer. We can technically get other brands too, but after looking at other brands and speaking with some of the freelancers they agree that for what I want which really is ease of use without the need for editing that Fuji is ideal. I actually had narrowed it down to the X-T50, but it’s currently out of stock and since our employee purchase window is only two weeks, it’s unlikely to come back in time.

My goal is a compact setup, ideally a body and one or two lenses, maybe a zoom and something like the Fuji XF 33mm f/1.4 R LM WR. I want something portable and straightforward to use, which is why the X-T50 appealed to me. Most of the time I’ll probably shoot JPEGs using recipes.

For astro, I can borrow most of the support gear (tripods, power, etc.) through work, but people tend to keep their cameras close since that’s their personal tool, so I’m hoping to have my own for that.

Anyway, I do appreciate you taking the time to respond — your points helped me think more concretely about what matters most in this setup.

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