Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts.
Alternatively, how about an X100 or X100S for similar money?
1) The 35mm (FF) FOV feels more right
I looked at the X100 and was tempted. The 35mm equivalent lens put me off. With my Sony A6000, my main camera, I ended up leaving the 50mm f/1.8 on the front as it suited my style best. I can stay a little further away from the subject and get the same width of field with a slightly different parallax. My iPhone XS also does 52mm and 26mm nicely, though with less control. I have a Neewer 35mm MF for the Sony but the field of view either feels a bit too wide or a bit too tight some of the time.
The idea is to get the body plus the two pancake lenses to get more into shooting wider than I normally do, but with primes. The XE-2 has excellent sharpness because they didn't put in an antialias filter so I can get sharper images than with my Sony - and that's been a bugbear from the start. I've been looking at XE-2 photos on Flickr and I love the film looks, too. I'd have to work quite a bit to emulate those on the Sony.
For digital, an X-E camera and 18mm would be my choice for street photography over an X100. I'd pick up the 27mm too because I really like the 40mm AoV.
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With the X-E2 you can get both pancakes and try them. If you buy
second hand you can sell the one you don't get on with at very little loss. I think that's another point for the X100, is that people sometimes don't want to get into another interchangeable system.
This was my thinking, too. The 27mm gives me the width I'm looking for. And the 18mm is great for taking on holiday. And, yes, I do want an interchangeable system. I was probably like most people when I looked at the Fuji way of doing things: "Gosh! Where's the PASM dial?" quickly followed by, "Oh!" when I understood how it all works.
In no way am I knocking the Fuji-X system as they are truly "Excellent" units and I am still a huge Fuji fan nut the X-E2 is not in my opinion as good as the RX100 series for candid street photography.
As you know, I'm a fan of your work, George, but I want to try something different from a Sony, and I have Fuji GAS right now. Plus the RX100M3 costs more than I want to spend right now. If I get the XE-2 it leaves more money for extra lenses later on.
Over the past few years I've come up with a pretty radical approach. People go to great lengths and great expense to get kit that fits their pockets.... I've found that it's much easier and cheaper to buy clothing that fits my cameras.
Yep! Me too! I'm a photographer, so I'm perfectly happy to wear a gilet. And my outdoor jackets always have pockets big enough for a CSC with a small lens, at least.
A concise answer to the Subject of my post. I love it!
You've all given me reasons to rethink various aspects of the subject, which is what I wanted. There are other reasons I've been looking at the XE-2, and some of them might also apply to the X100 and other Fuji cameras - I haven't gone through all of the spec sheets and reviews, but they've all convinced me to go with the XE-2 right now.
1. The XE-2 has a larger LCD than the X100. Only 0.3" but 3" is what I like and am used to.
2. The fact that the XE-2 has separate AEL and FEL buttons is a big factor for me. I don't care much for joysticks and focus points as street shooting very often has to be fast. I mostly shoot manual, and I feel that setting AEL while watching a scene develop, then hitting FEL just before hitting the trigger will get me more usable shots than I could with the Sony.
3. I can set it to manual focus, but still hit the AFL button if I'm not sure I've got it right. And in some light conditions, the camera will do a better job than I can.
4. There is a zoomed-in focus check view available in AF mode, by clicking the rear dial. I wish all cameras had this.
5. There's a Leica mount available. I can have fun playing with a lot of lenses. And there are some nice, cheap Meike and Neewer MF lenses, too.
6. It has 4 programmable buttons - more than any other camera I've used, I think. Not very important, but could be useful.
7. I can see that little bendy flash coming in handy for close-up fill or bounce with portraits of friends.
8. I can get the XE-2 in black. Might not be as pretty as silver/black, but better for candid street photography.
If any of this sparks any thoughts from any of you, I'd love to hear them.