mdm

It had started with glances and wonderings at the new and alluring X-Pro1. What man hasn’t stolen a quick look at an attractive new model from time to time … just so long as the camera in your life doesn’t notice (she almost always does)! Then one fateful day a lovely, sleek and attractive X-E1 with a sexy 35/1.4 came into my life. The old DSLR was abandoned without ceremony or regret, my head had been turned, I was now a Fuji man, no doubt!

 

Soon the X-E1 and 35/1.4 became part of a harem, lenses, bodies and flashes were added. A smorgasbord of Fuji! There were X-E2s, an X-T1, X-Pro2s and an X-T2 and a positive orgy of lenses! That brief stolen glance had become a life style, a way of thinking and seeing, an obsession! A 23mm, a 56mm, a 90mm, a 16mm all soon made a home for themselves. 

 

Life with a whole heap of Fuji was a ball. A party where there was nothing off limit. As soon as something new came out, I had to have it, but there was also a feeling of dullness, a loss of vision. Was I just becoming a camera collector? Sure I was making a living out of it but was the focus the equipment or the making of pictures? Sure professionals need the right equipment but when I thought back to early days when a Hasselblad with 50mm, 80mm and 150mm lenses and an M6 with 24mm, 35mm and 90mm lenses sufficed, what was I doing?

 

I began to feel cluttered and confused, what was going on? There was simply too much stuff. I needed to rediscover my first love. So they all had to go, the party was over. I needed to clear my head and get a fresh perspective. I’ll be faithful to my X-E2 and just keep f2.0 lenses, yes that’s it, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll relive those heady romantic days when I wandered freely with a single Fuji in my hands and a few lenses in my bag. I felt so free, so light, so happy. Less is more, embrace the simple life.

 

Then Fuji revealed a bigger model, what was this? The curvy GFX with it’s voluptuous body was in the spot light. She was alluring, promises of performance beyond anything yet experienced but she wasn’t a cheap date! Could I… should I? No, she’s not for me. I can’t afford the cost of allowing her into my life. Does the journey end here? Has Fuji gone in a direction I don’t want to follow? What about all those lovely new optics? What should I do? Oh, no!

 

Then there was mention of an X-E3, would she have a tilt-able (or even an articulated) rear screen? Could there be IBIS? What would she look like, how would she perform … might there also be a 70/2? Oh, no - not this again! Here we go, my name is Chris and I am a cameraholic! For goodness sake, K.I.S.S. make pictures and not camera collections!

 

I’ve stripped down my Fuji stable to the bare basics, just what I actually need and no more. It’s going to be a couple of X-E bodies and a few f2 lenses and nothing more…

this one - http://www.rockynook.com/shop/photography/the-fujifilm-x-t1-2nd-edition/
 
and if I'm not wrong you can use coupon XPERT40 for a 40% discount as specified on FujiRumor site - http://www.fujirumors.com/category/x-pert/

Yes, and set your highlights / shadows tone to -1 or -2 if you shoot jpeg.

09:56 by Peter Zimmer, auf Flickr

So why a zoom, and why 2.8? Given the sort of shots they're almost always used for, does anybody really use UWs at their long end? And does anybody really need them to be 2.8? In my DSLR days I used the (lovely) Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6. But shot almost everything around 10mm and f/8. And I think most people I know who use UWs do pretty much the same. So, why not develop a nice, compact 10mm f/4?

The best snap I've made so far. It was the photo of the day at Smithsonian.com, a Daily Dozen at National Geographic, and in the featured gallery at Lensculture.

Available light to read newspaper by ewm19, on Flickr
 

crosswalk. by Peter Zimmer, auf Flickr

a field of view

Cold Morning @Kollassaare, Estonia by Hendrik Osula, on Flickr
 
X-T2 + 90/2
 
Sunset @Saare, Estonia by Hendrik Osula, on Flickr
 
X-T2 + 23/1,4
 
Cold Morning @Kollassaare, Estonia by Hendrik Osula, on Flickr
 
X-T2 + 18/2
 
Cold Morning @Kollassaare, Estonia by Hendrik Osula, on Flickr
 
X-T2 + 18/2

The same genius who think that we don't need fast primes any more; that we don't want X-E3; that most of us are going to switch over to GFX; that the more X-A models the better; etc, etc...

Don't give it up...
 

 
 

VAZ 2106 was my first car I bought back to 1997 just for $1500.... Hello Fuji )
 

 
I know Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear (ex ) is a big fan of these two...

GAZ 24 was the car I drove when I was in driving school. It's end of life for decades but still running
 

Happy New Year! Have fun!
 

 

 
 

"Retired"
 

"Retired"
 

No, my main concern is not DOF but low light situations when you need to shoot with adequate ISO and at the same time to have at least 1/60

I'm not much of a landscape guy...
 
But here's one from a couple of weeks ago, before even Portugal got to cold and wet to leave the house!
 
 
The Douro Calm by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

What's IBIS?

Really? Is it possible?

From my last trip to Santo Domingo. Shadows of a man and an old tree.