bradleyhanson

I still think the X-Pro1 is a wonderful camera, despite now enjoying the X-Pro2 as part of my wedding kit. I was just interviewed by Andrew Hellmich for Photo Business XPosed: http://photobizx.com/TPX11-Bradley-Hanson-Photography-Podcast-Interview

I could not be more excited about this camera. It looks like exactly what I had hoped for, and even included my wish for the small joystick! http://www.mirrorlessons.com/2015/09/24/what-10-fujifilm-x-pro1-users-would-like-to-see-on-the-fuji-xpro-2/

For weddings I use the 56mm for about 70% of my shots, 23mm about 20%, the rest divided among the 14mm and 90mm. For day to day personal work and landscapes, I love the 23 and 35mm perspectives.

Hello- In the process of writing an article about my love of the 50mm perspective, I've re-written and reposted this article, which originally was written for X100c.com. My forthcoming article will include comparison to the forthcoming XF 35mm f2, due to ship any day now... http://www.bradleyhanson.com/blog/2015/11/4/fujifilm-tcl-x100-review

I've just revised and updated my blog post to reflect my 3 years with the Fujifilm X-Series for weddings (and portraits and magazine work). While I will be first in line for the X-Pro2, I'm still loving the X-Pro1 bodies and X100S. The blog post still has it's original URL because so many other sites are linking to it, and Fujifilm Cameras posted it on their Facebook page. http://www.bradleyhanson.com/blog/2015/5/26/my-25-years-with-the-fujifilm-x-series-cameras-and-lenses

"To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them." - Elliott Erwitt

I travel a lot for weddings and use the opportunity to explore my surroundings. I find the X100s particularly well suited to landscapes/cityscapes/seascapes (with and without the TCL-X100 converter) because it's small enough to take EVERYWHERE! I separated my landscape (non-wedding/portrait work) by tonality. 90% of these were taken with the X100S, the rest with X-Pro1 + 23mm f1.4 or 35mm f1.4 B&W: http://www.bradleyhanson.com/landscapes-bw/ Color: http://www.bradleyhanson.com/landscapes-color/

Shameless self-promotion: I was just featured on Junebug Weddings with a photo spotlight interview and gallery. It's relevant to this forum in that I mention the role of the Fujifilm X-Series camera and lenses in my work. http://junebugweddings.com/wedding-photo-blog/photobug/photographer-spotlight-interview-bradley-hanson-minnesota/

I've been shooting weddings with the Fuji X-System for almost 3 years, and I'm still using 2 X-Pro1 bodies and the X100s. This wedding was just published on Minnesota Bride, and also included a LOT of low light at the reception. http://www.bradleyhanson.com/blog/2015/8/10/christina-and-bens-wedding-at-the-bachelor-farmer-published-by-minnesota-bride

Here is a wedding I photographed in February when there was still snow on the ground. Extremely low light reception that got dark at 430pm means I relied on the X-Series wonderful quality at ISO6400. It was just published by Minnesota Bride Magazine and was the first wedding ever at the groundbreaking Heyday restaurant in Minneapolis. All images from X-Pro1 (14/23/56) and X100S with the TCL-X100 converter. http://www.bradleyhanson.com/blog/2015/7/14/the-first-wedding-ever-at-heyday-in-minneapolis-featured-in-minnesota-bride-magazine

A conversation between myself and Vincent Opoku, Fujifilm X-Photographer, is live on X100c.com about using the X100s for weddings: http://x100c.com/blog/14/5/2015/fujifilm-x100s-for-wedding-photography-review

Everyone should do what works for them. I personally don't use flash anymore. I used to have a studio with a full ProFoto setup and it just wasn't consistent with my style. Same with weddings. ISO6400 and f1.2/f1.2 allow you to work in pretty much any kind of light. I had a B&W photo printed in Women's Health Magazine as a double page spread (from film) that was ambient light only and no flash, handheld at 1/15th with a Leica. Flash would have *ruined* the drama and the mood. I don't feel like flash always ruins the mood, but it does eliminate your ability to be discreet.

I have never heard anyone complain about the 14mm. I know the 16mm is amazing, especially if you need the extra two stops, but they aren't really designed for the same purpose. The 18mm is Fuji's least impressive lens optically, but it's a good lens if you want a tiny and inexpensive wide angle and don't mind a little distortion on the edges of the long dimension, which can be can be corrected with LR or any RAW converter, and are corrected automatically by Fujifilm with it's OOC JPEGs. Trenton might be referring to my post about the 14mm lens from a couple years ago? Optically, this lens is stunning (better than the Zeiss 12mm, too) and as it come out prior to the 23 and 56, was their first real 2nd generation lens with internal focusing and push/pull clutch mechanism for manual focus, which I love and wish was on all of their lenses. Essentially zero optical distortion and essentially zero chromatic aberration (purple or blue/green color fringing in backlit edges and highlights). I find the 14mm rarely sees use, but when I need it, it's amazing. I don't find it renders tonality any differently from the other Fujinon XF lenses, but it does seem to be sharper at the edges, especially compared to Fujifilm's softest lens, the 18mm (which I still like but no longer own). Attached is an extremely low light wedding image from the X-Pro1 and the 14mm f2.8 lens, taken while the restaurant staff was prepping the room for the reception. ISO6400 at f2.8, grain, contrast and B&W conversion from LR6. The only real caveats with this lens are shared by any ultra wide: prone to perspective distortion when off axis (you'll see this as trees or buildings leaning inward when lens is tipped up) and putting people at the edge of the frame is unflattering unless they like looking wider. ;-)

X-Pro2 for sure, and I'm keeping my two X-Pro1 bodies, too...