I have a 2015 iMac. It’s a nice computer, with a screen boasting 27 inches of 5k goodness. I say it’s nice. But Apple says its not nice. Apple started a name calling campaign, casting insults at my precious iMac a couple of years ago. The slurs started with ‘vintage’ and when I did nothing, they screamed ‘obsolete’ at me. But I don’t care what Apple says. Sticks and stones, and all that jazz. But it did irk me that Apple stopped my computer from playing with it’s latest operating systems. Which in turn, stopped some of my favourite apps from updating to the latest version. Including Adobe Lightroom, something I’m paying £9.98 a month for. This is digital apartheid, and I decided I’d had enough.
I looked at all the shiny new iMacs in the Apple Store. Which I think was the point of all the name calling. They are all very lovely, but they are also all very expensive, and seeing as I just don’t use my desktop that much anymore, I closed that tab down. Instead I looked for a way to hack-my-Mac, which I was sure would be possible. And it is. So I did it. And it was as easy as the video said it would be. And now my precious iMac runs Sequoia, and runs it very smoothly. And it’s is allowed to play with all the big boys in the digital playground again. Hurrah. I have a born again iMac, praise the Lord!
Perhaps I should update my camera too. I have a Fuji XT20. I’m not sure if Fuji classifies stuff as vintage or obsolete, but I think we can all agree that it’s old. It still works just fine, but sell it or keep it has become the question of the day. I’ve had quite a few digital cameras over the years. Plenty of compact shooters, which I loved for their slip-in-a-pocket portability. I’ve had several bigger sensor interchangeable lens cameras from Olympus and Fuji, which take fabulous high quality images. And I’ve had quite a few bridge cameras from Nikon, Panasonic and Fuji and I have to say I loved those cameras most of all. They are great fun to go out shooting with, with their do-it-all super zoom lenses.
But – big but – they are chunky cameras. I couldn’t be taking them out with me everywhere, all the time. Only on special occasions. Holidays and what not. Which is why I always ended up trading them in for something lighter and easier to pack. But I’m sitting here in 2025 and I can’t help but think that this is a great time for bridge cameras to make a comeback. Because these days I only ever pack a camera for special occasions. For everyday shooting, I have an iPhone.
Alas and alack, have you looked at the bridge camera marketplace? Sony do a fabulous 1” sensor bridge, but I’m not paying £1500 for it. Panasonic also have a 1” model which is more reasonably priced. But it was released not long after my XT20, and I’m not sure I can bring myself to part with nearly £900 for a six year old model. The rest of the competition? Small sensor fluff. Frankly, I’d have hoped after all this time someone would have found a way to pack a full APS-C sensor in a bridge cameras.
So I wondered if I could also hack-my-Fuji. I have a whole bunch of holidays coming up, and I’d love to set off with that bridge camera feeling in my backpack. And it turns out I can. Sort of. Tamron released a jack-of-all-trades 18-300mm lens a couple of years ago. That’s the type of focal range that normally gets rightly slated in reviews because all the optical compromises needed to make it work trash the image quality. But Tamron seem to have pulled it off. Sure, there are still some image quality compromises but I bet I can have a ton of fun with this set up. Fun should be high up on anyone’s list of priorities. The purists may pixel peep and frown on post-processing, but I’ve always loved playing around with my shots on my computer, and my up to date Adobe software can overcome a lot of those optical compromises.
Cotswold Cameras sell grey imports which will save me a pretty penny. I reckon if I stick that lens on my camera, I’ll basically have that big sensor bridge camera that I’ve been dreaming of. And for a fraction of the cost of buying an overpriced, small sensor unit from new. Hurrah! I will have a born again Fuji, praise the Lord!
The photos in this post were shot on a Panasonic FZ35 and Fuji HS10 between 2010 and 2011.
The Mexile 