seriously im actually losing my mind trying to find a fuji camera that isnt marked up like 50 percent over msrp. i've been refreshing pages for weeks now and everything is either out of stock or some random seller on amazon is asking for two grand for a used x-t30 ii which is just insane to me. i have this big trip coming up to japan in literally three weeks and my old canon finally gave up the ghost so i thought hey perfect time to switch to fujifilm because everyone raves about the colors and the film sims but i didnt realize it would be this much of a nightmare.

my logic was that i could just walk into a best buy or something and grab an x-s20 but nope. nothing. and i dont want to get scammed on facebook marketplace because people are being so sketchy lately with shipping stuff and the prices are even worse there. i have a budget of about 1500 bucks including a lens which i thought was plenty but apparently not in this market. i checked b and h and adorama and they just say backordered with no date and im getting really anxious that im gonna end up with no camera for my trip and have to take everything on my iphone which would honestly break my heart.

so i was thinking maybe there are some smaller shops or authorized dealers that people actually trust that dont have a six month waiting list? i live in the pnw but at this point i will pay for shipping from anywhere in the country if the price is fair. i looked at kenmore camera and a few others nearby but they are cleaned out too. is there anywhere left that has decent prices or even just has them in stock for the actual retail price? maybe some hidden gem retailers or a reliable site i havent heard of yet? i'm just so fed up with the hype train making it impossible for regular people to just buy a hobby camera without selling a kidney...