The Fuji XT-2 is available used, now that the XT-3 has arrived, at prices in the range you're looking for. Ebay is a good source. I have both the above cameras and find their low light noise levels quite good and they are a joy to use. Of course, as mentioned in other posts here, the faster lenses produce the best results since the ISO can be lower at wider apertures.

Until recently I was the kind of photographer who had a camera for every use. Canon 80D for wildlife with a Sigma 150-600, Leica M10 for street, Sony RX10 for travel, Fuji X-T2 for best user experience. When I came home from a two month 13,000 mile RV trip across the US, Canada and Alaska, it had become clear to me that the X-T2 was the only one of them I truly enjoyed using. In fact, when I tallied up the number of shots I had taken with each camera, I found the X-T2 was the resounding winner at 93% of the 3500 photos from the trip. So, I sold all the other cameras and lenses and bought an X-T3, keeping the X-T2 for when I need more than one body/lens ready for wildlife while shooting landscape. Now the X-T2 sits idle most of the time while the X-T3 gets all the use. This is the best decision I've made about my camera gear in several years. The lure of full frame cost me lots of $, but the theoretical advantage over APS-C never materialized in my use and the Fujis are so nice to use. I guess I'd have to call myself a "Fuji guy". at this point.

Quick update. I last reported updating the firmware to v1.01. I haven't shot much with it since the update, but last night while watching the Yankees get trounced by the Red Sox I was doing some work on the menus and it locked up without even taking a shot. Hm.

Then today I called Fuji's tech support on Long Island and the only relativity they had to offer was that they had not as yet heard back from anyone who called with lock up issues and who they (the Fuji tech guys) had recommended using fast SD cards. They had suggested a minimum speed of 120-150MB/S. Unfortunately, they didn't specify whether that applied to the read or write speed. Not much help. They did say that the big guys at Fuji's headquarters were inquiring as to how many calls the tech guys have fielded on the subject. My guess is it's a widespread problem and we'll see another firmware update sometime soon. Just sayin'. ;-)

Well, I watched the videos you suggested, then checked the firmware version (1.00) and downloaded and installed v1.01. Now I have to go out and take enough photos to gain confidence in the fix. Of course, I'll posted my findings once I come to a conclusion. Meanwhile, thanks for the help.

I took delivery yesterday of an X-T3 and promptly took it to an exhibition of the Dale Chihuly blown glass work at the Biltmore in Asheville. It was awe inspiring and I took a couple of hundred beautiful shots with a 35mm f/1.4 on it. The day, however, was not without incident. Twice in the course of shooting the camera froze up. It showed the live view image coming through the lens, but wouldn't actuate the shutter and none of the buttons or controls were operative. In fact, I couldn't even shut the camera off. With the power switch set to OFF the screen still showed whatever the lens was pointed at. The only way I could reset and start shooting again was to remove and reinstall the battery. After the battery reinstall everything functioned as it should again, though it severely degraded my confidence in the camera.

I'm going to call the Fuji tech people today, but I'm hoping to get some feedback from some Hogs before calling. Thanks in advance for any help you might have for me.

I apologize if anyone has already mentioned this, but I hope it helps regardless.

I have a three year old iMac and use only Photos for editing. I have PS Elements, too, but have used it rarely since Photos covers 99.9% of my needs. Photos has worked well for me until I upgraded to the High Sierra OS back in January. At that point I started having problems similar to those you describe. I spent countless hours talking with the dedicated Photos team at Apple without resolution. They kicked the can up to Apple's software engineers, who said my problem had been reported by others, but they had no fix as yet.

I had more or less given up on using Photos for editing, assumed I would move any file I wanted to edit to Elements, and then move it back to Photos. Before I got around to doing that Apple released the Mojave OS and, voila!, problem solved. All is well again. I haven't noticed any mention of your OS in your posts (Sorry if I missed it.), so consider the upgrade to Mojave if you're not already there. Good luck.

I have two X-T2s and currently have one up for auction on eB. After reading and watching several X-T3 reviews I'm convinced it will significantly improve my in-focus hit rate when photographing moving subjects (grandchildren, etc.). Better quality videos sweeten the pot even more. I welcome this new camera's improved performance, especially because I am already so familiar with the wonderful usability of this line of Fuji cameras.

As to the frequent emergence of updated models and whether they warrant the expense of upgrading, that's a matter each person has to answer for themself. In other words, if you can afford the upgrade and want what the newer model offers, go for it.

Since it's show-and-tell time, here's my stealth model (2010).

Very nice. Are you willing to reveal your post ops?

I've had both HP and Canon all-in-ones over the years. All of them worked very well, but more importantly, both have had excellent phone support. That's worth at least as much as the quality of their products. I would suggest researching the quality of the support provided by the manufacturer of any model you consider purchasing. Otherwise, you will have an expensive paperweight when it doesn't work as needed.

As a resident of the Smokies I would caution you that the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed during this part of the year due to ice and snow. It is often closed even when ambient temperatures are above freezing because there are quite a few tunnels and there sections of roadway take much longer to thaw out. It's too bad because there are some really beautiful photo ops up there. The only way I know of to get around this is to park at lower elevations and hike up to the parkway area, but that's more strenuous than I care to undertake.

If you take a good look at image quality you will undoubtedly find that it will decrease as the zoom range increases. So, going with a "one lens for everything" approach will not give you as good results as simply adding a 70-300 or 100-400. Swapping lenses is less convenient, but that's the price of better IQ unless you regularly shoot in bad weather.

When you're starting from scratch the options are many. Listen to all the opinions, do lots of online research and then, most importantly, get yourself to a large camera retailer and handle your top contenders. It's the only way you'll know how they'll feel and whether the controls you most want to use will be located where they are easily usable. Sink the most cash into a lens or two which have gotten good reviews for image quality, but the way a camera feels in the hand will have a major influence on how often you'll want to use it. My personal choice is with Fuji because they generally feature good exterior (i.e. non-menu) controls for aperture, shutter speed and ISO as well as having the right combination of size and weight for my personal taste along with top quality lenses at reasonable prices. There certainly are others to consider as well, so be sure to either try them at a retail outlet or buy from an online retailer that has a good return policy.

You might also want to consider the additional weight.

Apple's current version of their Photos app is very good and easy to master. It can do almost everything I've ever needed. The only thing I've ever needed PS for is when I need to edit one section of a photo independent of the whole. For me, that's VERY rarely needed. Meanwhile, you'll be able to save all your photos to the cloud and have them ready for editing on your home computer when you get back. As for extra storage, the price for SSD is coming down all the time and is pretty affordable already.