I've lived in Washington State all my life (which is a long time). I grew up mostly in Seattle. I live south of Seattle now. Closest to me is what we used to call the "Nisqually Wildlife Refuge" and now called the "Billy Frank Jr. National Wildlife Refuge".

I might be able to help if you define "Seattle area", what kind of wildlife you are looking for, your physical capabilities, the gear you have, what you have for transportation and how far you can travel from Seattle.

This is a quick one. Nowadays it seems that the majority of people, (obviously with some exceptions), now own or would like to own Nikon Z series, Canon R series or Sony A series. I have an aquaintence who is an accomplished landscape photographer and he's soon going to be buying some new equipment. Top of his list at the moment is the Fujifilm X100. I am just an amature myself, and don't really have a lot of knowledge regarding these things. I don't want to ask this fellow outright the reasons for his decision, (long story why not), but I'm curious to know if any of you guys have experience with, or knowledge of the X100, especially compared with those already mentioned. (and I forgot to mention Olympus, sorry). I ask mainly because I very very rarely see anyone here mention owning any model of Fujifilm cameras and is there a reason for that? Thanks for your consideration, stay safe and have a great day!
Ray.

I'm Lucy and Sally's papa, from Robin Hood country in the UK - long time since I contributed here, but a Fuji X-Series user since 2013.

The X-T4 simply continues a line of excellent APS-C cameras. Most XF lenses will perform well on it. Some decide to use old (and good quality) manual lenses on these cameras - but that needs an adapter and, in many, if not most, cases, "manual focus only". I've tried both and came to an early decision - use lenses designed for the camera.

My pics tend to be within the 35mm to 80mm (full frame) range, and I enjoy having low-light performance, so I have 2 primes - 23mm f1.4 and 56mm f1.2. Coupled with a bit of "zooming with my feet" these two do it for me. What point in having any kit you're not gonna use ?

Your subject interest may demand something different - but, to get you going you might like to look at the XF 23mm f1.4. A couple of pics with this lens attached.

Unless you are already aware .... this is a really good learning YouTube site - and in north America !

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBT6ZUFLWSkghYRzPQkWbhA/videos

You made a good camera decision. Have fun !

Try an XF 18-55 f2.8-f4. This is an excellent general purpose lens. The FF equivalent field of view is 27-82 mm, it’s tack sharp, light and small and can be had for ~$300.

a more expensive alternative that you might want to consider is the 16-80 f4 with an equivalent FOV of 24-120mm (about $600) and if it’s fast enough for you, it may be the ultimate versatile “walk around” lens.

In terms of primes, any of the XF f2 lenses such as the 23, 35 or 50mm can be had for around $300 and all are first rate.

Both of the zooms have stabilization, which will work with the X-T4’s IBIS to provide even more stabilization. All of the lenses, like your body, are weather resistant.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by the clearly pejorative term "artsy stuff." I suspect you are referring to the application by the photographer of brand-specific in camera effects to an image, e.g. "oil painting" or "poster."

But it is simply false and misleading to say that different camera brands produce straight out of the camera JPEG images that "are the same." Perhaps you cannot discern the difference, or have too limited an experience in comparing different brands, but others do not share your conclusion. I will concede that the determination of which brand is "best" is somewhat subjective. But they are different to a reasonably perceptive eye.

https://petapixel.com/2016/11/16/great-jpeg-shootout-brand-best-straight-camera/

I watched the Masters this year and thought it must have been pretty exciting for Japan. Here is what I cannot understand: The Japanese people are so gracious and humble. The caddie bowed to the audience and I have seen this humble expression many times from Japanese performers. As a whole the Japanese people seem so gentle and unassuming. Yet during WWII the Japanese warriors were inhuman in their treatment of prisoners. I know the Germans did some really bad things as well, but the cruelty of the Japanese was unmatched. The forced marches, the disregard of the Geneva Convention, and the starvation of prisoners was unbelievable. The two faces of the Japanese do not seem to be compatible.

Certainly. If I'm at a food store picking up groceries, at the barbershop or at the dentist, it is not likely that I will be carrying my DSLR camera on me. And to be honest, I don't want it on me at all times. Eventually it would turn into of a obsessive-driven burden rather than an enjoyable hobby. My life doesn't revolve around constantly taking pictures; I have plenty of other interests. Whenever some states that they have a camera with them at all times, I can't help but think that they are grossly exaggerating how much they really have a camera with them. Unless they are referring to their smartphone - that I can believe!