Hello From The Other Side

[Black Pearl]

The other side being 30+ years of Nikon SLR's and DSLR's.

 

I've just traded my entire Nikon outfit along with a smaller Pentax outfit in for a Fuji X-T1 + 18-55mm kit. I also added a 55-200mm, a 35mm f1.4, a 60mm f2.4 macro and a Samyang 12mm f2 along with batteries and a new UHS-II card.

 

Its taken me a good while to make the switch and no I don't do things by half so this is it - I'm part of the X crowd from now on. I have done so for various reasons; I'm not impressed with any of the current Nikon bodies, I am fed up of lugging heavy gear around, nice primes (some zooms for that matter) from Nikon cost a small fortune and I have no desire to chase pixels as I feel for me more is not always better. Over the last few weeks (months really) I have been looking at various options. I did think about updating my elderly but still fantastic Nikon D300s to a D7200, I also fancied replacing the K30 with a Pentax K3 II. Nothing about the D7200 excited me and I know I'd miss the pro body while the K3 II didn't solve the size issue and I'd have to buy a few Pentax lenses which I'm not convinced are always that good. Right from the X100 launching I had a inkling that I'd end up with a X System as I grew up with dials and I'm a tactile sort of guy. Its not the retro look that does it (though it does appeal) its the simplicity of looking at a camera that may even be switched off and still being able to see what is set.

 

My history - I worked at Jessops for 24 years until its collapse in 2013 so I have owned, used, played with and generally mucked about with just about any camera, lens or accessory you can imagine. I started photography as a very young child using my dad's Nikkormat, his black & white darkroom and have never looked back. I've never made a living from photography but I have done some commercial jobs over the years and I do have a photographic degree - I could probably still wield a monorail and take a stab at working out the exposure increase due to bellow extension if push came to shove. I'm a shoot everything photographer without any real speciality. I live on the North East coast of the UK so you will see a lot of seascapes and landscapes but expect anything I see to be shot at. I am also a massive iPhoneography fan shooting with my phone every day - yes I have installed the Fuji app - and I try to use it in the same way I would a 'proper' camera. I have a tripod adapter and camera apps that give Exposure/WB//Focus, I even remotely trigger it to reduce camera shake. The integration between the X-T1 and the iPhone was a factor in its choice.

 

Anyway enough about me for now - I only got the gear today and it has poured with rain all afternoon so haven't had a chance to get out with it. Did have a play in the conservatory and have already fallen head over heel in love with the 35mm - I can see it becoming my regular companion on my daily dog walks along the beach. 

 

One shot to get me started:

 

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BP