The Fuji X-Series and a trip to Cornwall | Paul Melling

We have just got back from a week away in St Ives. It’s one of my favourite places to visit in the UK and when you get the weather it’s just about perfect. St Ives is blessed with some fantastic beaches, which essentially surround the small fishing town. The harbour area is the bustling focal point of St Ives with its shops, restaurants, cafés and traditional old pub – The Sloop Inn. The tables outside the pub face the harbour and it’s a great spot for people watching. On elf the first things I do when I arrive in St Ives is order a pint of Doombar, sit back and just relax. The atmosphere is unique. Local fishermen mix with tourists and conversations play out against a background soundtrack of waves gently lapping on the shore and the shrill sound of seagulls. The only sound more shrill than the gulls is the screams of newbie tourists losing their newly purchased ice-creams and pasties to the swooping airborne aggressors. Here are a few photos from this year’s visit.  The pictures here were taken on the Fuji X-Pro1with mainly the new 10-24mm f4 and the X-E1 with the 55-200mm attached. The reason for the two bodies was that it enabled me to cover a wide range of shots without changing lenses in what can be a fairly dusty environment with all that sand swirling around………

Source: paulmellingphotography.com

Sabbath Town: Black Sabbath x Fuji X-Pro | Suberashi

As a native of the city of Birmingham there a some things that make me
proud to be a child of the town. HP Sauce, Duran Duran, UB40, and the
original Mini to name a few. But there is one thing that stands above all
of that, a band well, more than that an entire sound that shrouded the city then now and forever. The story is well known, four working class lads from Birmingham who got together because there was chuff all else too do in Brum at that point in time. A real smoking sooty furnace of a place, the city was and still is a fairly hard place and for over 40 years Black Sabbath has been interwoven within that. The heavy bluesy soul that Birmingham emits is the heart of Black Sabbath even now…..

Source: www.suberashi.co.uk

Samyang 2.0/12 CS (Fuji X) … | Carsten Schouler

Wie kürzlich hier bereits berichtet, habe ich nun – so hoffe ich – meine Weitwinkellösung für das Fuji-X-System gefunden. Was folgt, sind ein paar Artikel in einer Art “rolling test” zum neuen Samyang. In Teil 1 beschreibe ich das Objektiv und gehe auf Verarbeitung und Haptik ein. Ein 12mm-Objektiv mit einer Lichtstärke von f/2.0 muss man lange suchen. Es zeichnet als APS-Objektiv den Bildwinkel auf, den ein 18mm-Objektiv am Kleinbild-Format beleuchten würde. Die Blende f/2.0 ist – was die Lichtstärke betrifft – eine echte Blende f/2, was das Freistellungspotential angeht, wirkt es, als würde man mit einem 2.8/18 auf Kleinbild fotografieren. Das ist schon beeindruckend………

Source: retrocameracs.wordpress.com

Profi oder doch nur Amateur? | Patrick Ludolph

Immer mal wieder stolpere ich über eine Diskussion zum Thema Profi vs. Hobbyfotograf, bzw. Amateur. Dabei schwingt unweigerlich auch eine Diskussion über das jeweilige Können des Fotografen mit. Dem Hobbyfotografen stellt man gerne das kleine Wörtchen “nur” voran und degradiert ihn damit. Er ist ja nur Hobbyfotograf. Dem Profi wiederum wird generell unterstellt, dass er ein gewisses, vermeintlich hohes, Niveau bei der Fotografie an den Tag legt. Der Hobbyfotograf stellt sich auch mal unter den Scheffel und macht sich klein. Da kommen dann so Äusserungen wie “Equipment xyz ist nichts für mich, bin ja nur Hobbyfotograf”. Dabei ist es löblich, dass ein Hobbyist sich nicht aufblasen möchte und seien Platz in der Rangordnung unter dem Profi einnimmt. Wie kann man sich auch nur anmassen sich mit einem richtigen echten Profi auf eine Stufe zu stellen. Bescheidenheit ehrt. Nüchtern betrachtet ist das aber alles Bullshit…….

Source: neunzehn72.de

Mirrorless Photography will be the Future | Bryan Caporicci

The topic of mirrorless photography seems to be everywhere these days, and it certainly stirs up controversy in it’s wake, with photographers seeming to pick one “side” or the other. Many of you know that I am a Fuji X-Photographer and that I love my mirrorless cameras. You may even remember a while ago when I wrote about my experiences with mirrorless photography and how it’s inspired me, my perspective and my artistic vision. I recently wrote an article for Digital-Photography-School.com all about mirrorless photography, and in specific about how it’s changed me as a photographer. The article went viral, with close to 9,000 shares on social media and close to 40,000 photographers taking the corresponding “poll” about mirrorless photography. I estimate that the reach of the article was probably close to 150,000 photographers. Again, like other articles on mirrorless photography, it stirred up a lot of discussion. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room – change. In general, people don’t like change. We become comfortable with the status quo and when anything comes along to shake that up, we get our backs up against the wall and put on our “defensive” hat……

Source: www.sproutingphotographer.com

Mir wurde gesagt, ich muss einen Post zum Vergleich
Fuji X-T1 und Fuji X-E2 schreiben | Jörg Langer

Also ich habe mir eine kleine Fuji X-E2 zugelegt. Dieses habe ich entgegen der Vermutung einiger nicht aus Sammelleidenschaft oder weil sie so ähnlich in der Hand liegt wie eine Mess-Sucherkamera getan, sondern aus einem ganz einfachen trivialen und profanem Grund: Sie ist die billigste Kamera die den selben AF und Sensor wie die XT-1 hat, die ja meine Hauptkameras für meine Fotojobs sind. Da ich eine im Eifer einer Hochzeits-Emotionen-Reportage durch einen Sturzschaden “geschrottet” habe und diese nun zum Kostenvoranschlag und (hoffentlich Versicherungs-) Reparatur geht brauche ich eine zweite Kamera für die bevorstehenden Hochzeiten. An die Arbeitsweise mit zwei nahezu identischen Kameras mit zwei Festbrennweiten habe ich mich mittlerweile so sehr gewöhnt und meine persönliche Art zu fotografieren so daran angepasst, das ich mich regelrecht nackisch fühle wenn ich nur eine der beiden Kameras am Mann habe. Ich nutze auf Hochzeiten zu 95% das 23 1.4 (also mein “35 er” dank Cropfaktor) und mein heißgeliebtes 56 1.2 (also mein “85 er” dank Cropfaktor) und diese beiden Linsen eben immer mit zwei Kameras am Mann. Um den “Nackisch-sein-Feeling” in den nächsten 2-4 Wochen so lange die eine X-T1 im Service ist, zu entgehen habe ich eben die “billigste” Alternative dazu geordert, und das ist im Moment die Fuji X-E2. Natürlich wäre eine extrem günstig gebraucht zu bekommende X-E1 eine billigere Alternative gewesen, aber ich wollte den schnellen und vor allem zuverlässigen AF der X-T1 und X-E2 auf jeden Fall haben. Im Business der Hochzeitsfotografie kann und vor allem will ich mir keinen unzuverlässigen AF einer X-E1 leisten……..

Source: www.digitaler-augenblick.de

Fujifilm X-T1 Review: A Canon User’s Perspective –
Guest Post by Duncan Fawkes | MirrorLessons

I’ve been a Canon user since I started photographing seriously in 2007. For the last 6 years I’ve been using the Canon 5D Mark 2/3. Overall I’ve been very happy with the 5D. The image quality is terrific, and the controls are very well laid out and intuitive. It’s a very usable camera and a great performer. However I was finding that its size and weight meant that I would often leave it at home. For dedicated landscape photography trips I’d take the big bag with me, but for everything else – family days, day trips, commuting, a leisurely stroll – the only camera I had with me was my iPhone. My desire for a second camera coincided with the release of the Fujifilm X-E1 which promised great performance in a much smaller package. There was a lot to like about this camera. Although small and laggy, I loved the histogram and the focus peaking in the EVF. The image quality was excellent even ignoring its small form factor. And of course its smaller size and weight meant I was now carrying a very capable camera around with me……..

Source: www.bestmirrorlesscamerareviews.com

Fuji X100s 830nm Infrared and Long Exposures | Mark Hilliard

Normally you do not see much in the way of Long Exposure  photography in the Infrared world.  The reason is that it is necessary to use Neutral Density filters (ND) to cut down the amount of light reaching the sensor to enable very long shutter speeds.  The infrared spectrum will reduce the the effective value of any ND filter that you attach to your lens from between 20% to 30%.  Have you ever taken a photograph of a person wearing a pair of sunglasses in infrared and noticed that they are totally clear?  This is the effect that I am talking about.   The general rule is that the cheaper filters suffer much greater loss in infrared and the variable ND filters do not work well at all (yes, even the expensive Singh Ray). Should you desire to pursue this style of photography I strongly suggest that you purchase and use B+W ND filters which loose around 20%.  I am also told that Lee filters do not loose too much effect as well but I have not yet tested them even though I own them all…….

Source: markhilliardatelier.wordpress.com

First Event DSLR Free | Matthew Hart

Last year at Africa Oye I was shooting with a Nikon D3s and a variety of Nikon Pro glass, as well as my favourite Sigma 300mm lens. I also had a Fuji X100 with me.  I was thinking about trying out Mirrorless but had not made up my mind. I managed to get a few shots with the X100 and one got published. I was worn out after two days shooting at Africa Oye 2013! If you have never shot an event believe me two or three days shooting all day with a heavy DSLR body takes its toll on your back and shoulders. I had been exploring the Fuji option for a while but felt I could not give up my D3s and 300mm f/2.8 ! But as most of you know from my previous posts I did give up my D3s last year at the end of the festival season. I went over to Fuji from Nikon and then spent the rest of the year shooting Fuji but in the back of my mind I was worried about the festival season. My first event in the 2014 calendar was Africa Oye, this will be followed by Brazilica, the Giants and LIMF.  Even after spending quite a while shooting with the XPro1 and the X-T1 I would not have a fast enough lens for the job in low light. The 55-200mm is fine but it’s not a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 so would struggle in low light and is a little slow at times. The Fuji bodies only go up to 6400 ISO so my fear was as the light dropped I would run out of light and not be able to shoot……

Source: matthewhartphotography.wordpress.com

Carl Zeiss 32mm f/1.8 | What Digital Camera

Verdict

Online prices for the Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8 X-Mount prime vary hugely, from £570 to £700, so a mean figure of £635 has been quoted here. But even the bottom end of that range is a lot of money for what is simply a conventional standard lens – albeit a very good example of the genre. Nevertheless, with Nikon’s AF-S DX 35mm f/1.8G available for under £200, and offering almost equal image quality in many respects, Zeiss’s lens looks distinctly over-priced…..

Source: www.whatdigitalcamera.com