Behind the X Gear: Meet Barry Wetcher, the X-shooter, Who Brings Fujifilm to Hollywood

Behind the scenes image from “The Girl On The Train” which was the first film I ever used Fuji mirrorless cameras on. This was taken with the Fuji X-T1.

Behind the X Gear

Fujifilm and Hollywood have a special feeling.

Not only because the gorgeous looking Fujifilm cameras seem to be very telegenic and hence are often used in movies, as we documented several times here on FR (and more will come), but also because Fujifilm X gear is actually used by professional photographers to capture the behind the scenes of big blockbusters, such as the X-Pro2 and XF 18-135 used to snap the official images of the highly awarded Dunkirk movie, as we reported here.

In today’s “Behind the X Gear” episode, we would like to meet one of those photographers, who work with Fujifilm gear on the biggest Hollywood sets: Barry Wetcher.

Before we start with the interview, here is a short bio of Barry Wetcher:

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National Geographic Photographers Shoot Fujifilm GFX 50S :: Hollywood Loves Fujifilm :: Famous Fujifilm X Shooters & More

Fujifilm Hall of Fame

As you might or might not know, 1 or 2 times a year, here on FujiRumors we curate a little column about famous X-shooters or Fujifilm cameras appearing in movies. The best way to check out the full coverage, is to head over to our fuji-x-forum famous X-shooter collection.

Today we would like to add a few more to the list.

We start with National Geographic photographer Corey Arnold. He gets his job done using the Fujifilm GFX 50S, as you can see in this video for a KIA ad [video embedded at the top of this blog post].

Regarding the “famous X shooters“, we have to add Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey, who shoots a Fujifilm X-Pro2 (more on facebook here and image below). And also top UFC fighter (former #1) Joanna Jedrzejczyk shoots Fujifilm [image below]

Also, Fujifilm made it again in various movies, not only in front of the screen, but they are also used to shoot official BTS images in Hollywood blockbusters (as it already happened with the Dunkirk movie).

See all the details down below.

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That Damn Gear, How Many Megapixel Do You Need, Fujifilm Goes Hollywood (again!), Nintendo’s Super Mario is an X-shooter :) – miXed zone

I Messed Up at Nathan Elson Youtube

A miXed zone

Today I have a rather uncoventional miXed zone for you… it’s not really about a specific camera, or Fujinon glass, or X-Trans or accessories, or the GFX…

It’s just some miXed stuff, also gravitating around the X-series (but not exclusively), that I thought you might also be interested to check out.

I’ll include also some curiosities, like a Fujifilm X-series camera used (again) for a Hollywood movie. But also Kawasaki and Nintendo decided to use Fuji cameras in their ads…. the Fuji beauty does not pass unnoticed… not even to star wars director Ron Howard.

Let’s start:

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Hollywoods’ Dunkirk Movie Official Photos Taken with Fujifilm X-Pro2 and XF 18-135!

Many of you have probably already heard about (and maybe even seen) Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster, Dunkirk (trailer here). [Note: C. Nolan also made Inception, The Dark Knight & more]

Well, if you search for “Dunkirk” on the web, you will probably be redirected to sites like comingsoon.net, where you can see some images (including behind the scenes images) of the movie as well as the trailer.

The images on the set were taken by Melinda Sue Gordon… with… the Fujifilm X-Pro2 and the Fujinon XF 18-135 (at least some of them)… as you can see below.

So yes… the APS-C X-Pro2 and the XF18-135 superzoom were used on the set of one of the biggest movies of the year… and its images were used all over the globe to promote the movie :) !

I own the Fujinon XF 18-135… and I always thought it’s kind of awesome for a superzoom :)

It’s nothing new, that Hollywood loves Fujifilm cameras. The X100S was the travel camera of Hector, in the Movie ““Hector’s Search for Happiness” (which I saw in the airplane, when flying back from Cambodia) and the Fuji X-Pro1 was used in the Movie “The Neon Demon” by Nicolas Winding Refn. X-series cameras are also used in TV series like Parenthood TV, The Last Ship and by lots of celebrities.

Full Overview of X-series cameras spotted in Movies or used by celebrities here.

Thanks to the FR-reader who directed my attention these Chinese Forums here and here.

Fujifilm Goes Hollywood :: Fuji X-Pro1 used in Movie “The Neon Demon” by Nicolas Winding Refn – NSFW

hollywood

Youtube Video Here – NSFW

Weekend curiosity – spotted by FXF member Goran (thanks):

The festival of Cannes is running right now, with, as usual, a great selection of movies. One of them is “The Neon Demon” by the Nicolas Winding Refn, a visionary director, who already won the prize as best director in Cannes 2011 with the amazing movie “Drive“.

This movie takes place in Los Angeles, in a world of young and aspiring models obsessed by beauty and success. And of course also a world with lots of photographers!

Well, Nicolas Winding Refn decided to make his movie even cooler, by equipping one of the photographers with a stylish Fujifilm X-Pro1 + 35mmF1.4! You can see it in the trailer here.

It’s nothing new, that Hollywood loves Fujifilm cameras. The X100S was the travel camera of Hector, in the Movie ““Hector’s Search for Happiness” (which I saw in the airplane, when flying back from Cambodia). X-series cameras are also used in TV series like Parenthood TV, The Last Ship and by lots of celebrities.

Full Overview of X-series cameras spotted in Movies or used by celebrities here.

photo coleciton_zps4yxpmsrf.jpg

Hollywood knows it: the X100S is the perfect travel camera and uses it in “Hector’s Search for Happiness” : : a masterpiece (I mean the camera) :-)

There is a movie coming up called “Hector and the Search for Happiness”. It’s about a psychiatrist that changes his life and searches the globe to find the secret of happiness. Now guess what his travel camera is? Yes, the X100S will go with him all the way, and you can also see it in the trailer at 1:28 or in this image here.

This is definitely a masterpiece… I mean the X100S ;-). I don’t know if the movie is good too, but I have a good reason to watch it ones it’s out here in Europe.

Now, X100/S owners, what is your experience when you travel with it?

Fuji X100S: [shopcountry 12883]

DUNE Blockbuster Movie Images taken with Fujifilm X Series APS-C Gear

FR-reader Malcom was going through the book Dune Part 1 – The Photography, and he told me he noticed that lots of images in that book were taken by Chiabella James using Fujifilm X Series cameras.

Chiabella James was also part of the Depth of Field podcast at BHphoto, and in the video (video below starts at 9:54) she talks about the gear she uses.

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Oppenheimer Movie Photos Taken with Fujifilm X-H1 and These XF Lenses

Oppenheimer

Here is a little story for all those, who keep repeating the mantra that you need Full Frame cameras to get professional work done.

The official images of the blockbuster movie Oppenheimer have been taken with the following Fujifilm X series gear by the photographer Melinda Sue Gordon.

That’s according to Fujifilm Ukraine’s post on Instagram, which you can see down below.

And that’s not a surprise, as Melinda also took the backstage images of another Nolan blockbuster, Dunkirk, with Fujifilm X gear. In that case the camera used was the Fujifilm X-Pro2.

And keep in mind Melinda is doing this professional work with a camera, the X-H1, which according to the competent testing of photography master Jared Polin does not even allow you to move the focus point with the joystick. Yep, the same camera that snapped the top winning award at the World Press Photo.

So will this finally end the debate if you need Full Frame for professional work?

Certainly not. The internet world lives in a bubble created by influencers that not even reality is capable of bringing to reason.

And yet, the reality looks like this:

Not enough?

  • won the world wildlife photography award (story here)
  • made the cover of the TIME magazine (story here)
  • won the World Photography Arts&Culture Award 2015 (story here)
  • won the First Prize of the World Press Photo Category “Stories (stroy here)
  • made the front page of the Wall Street Journal (story here)
  • were good enough for God’s work (story here)
  • captured America’s most hated man (story here)
  • distracted a French presidential candidate during his interview (story here)

 

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

 

Ein Beitrag geteilt von FUJIFILM Ukraine (@fujifilm_ukraine)

Eduardo Soteras Snaps UNICEF Photo of the Year 2022 with Fujifilm APS-C X Gear

© Eduardo Soteras, Argentina, AFP (Agence France Press)
© Eduardo Soteras, Argentina, AFP (Agence France Press)

Eduardo Soteras has just been awarded with the UNICEF Photo of the Year 2022 for the image you can see above. The story is this one:

Although destroyed, the library in this elementary school in Ethiopia’s Tigray region is where two children have taken refuge in books. This little moment of happiness shows in their smiles. It is a rare moment. Because of the armed conflict with the central government, 5.2 million people in this region in northern Ethiopia are suffering from violence, displacement, malnutrition and a shortage of drinking water.

[…] The desire to discover and learn new things is often so great in children that it makes them forget the threat of a situation.

That is the message of the Unicef ​​photo of the year 2022,” said Unicef ​​patron Elke Büdenbender, wife of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

“The winning image challenges us to do everything we can to ensure that children can play and learn even under the most adverse circumstances.

Because this is the only way they can maintain their hope and confidence in times of war and other crises.

Given the importance of this image, little it matters that the EXIF data shows it has been taken with the Fujinon XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR.

Here on FujiRumors we just want to congratulate with fellow X shooter Eduardo Soteras for his important recognition and for making the best possible use of our beloved Fujifilm gear: encapsulating meaningful moments and important messages into a single powerful image.

You can read more about this image and Eduardo Soteras at the dedicated UNICEF page here.

Thanks to Daniel Stocker (instagram) for letting me know about it.

And in case you are being brainwashed by some YouTubers that you can only get real Pro work done with Full Frame gear, check out the articles below.

Not enough? Well, then know that photographers using Fujifilm cameras also…

  • won the world wildlife photography award (story here)
  • made the cover of the TIME magazine (story here)
  • won the World Photography Arts&Culture Award 2015 (story here)
  • won the First Prize of the World Press Photo Category “Stories (stroy here)
  • made the front page of the Wall Street Journal (story here)
  • were good enough for God’s work (story here)
  • captured America’s most hated man (story here)
  • distracted a French presidential candidate during his interview (story here)
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Avatar: The Way of Water: These Unbelievably Good Fujinon APS-C Lenses were Used to Film Large Parts of the Movie

After this article, tons of Forum heroes and YouTubers will cancel their ticket for Avatar: The Way of Water.

Why?

Because once they find out that important parts of the movie where shot using the totally unprofessional APS-C format (Super35 cameras) in combination with not crazy fast Fujinon APS-C zoom lenses, they will know that this movie must be a technical disaster, and they’ll rather invest their precious time into creating Full Frame f/1.2 masterpieces in their basements.

But there will be those, who will watch the movie anyway. And today’s story is for them.

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER director of photography Russell Carpenter talks with Go Creative Show host Ben Consoli about the making of the film and using the custom-made 3D Sony Venice [also used with Sony Rialto Camera Extension System] – video below.

At some point they talk about which lenses they used for the movie, and here is where the praises for these prosumer Fujinon APS-C lens start.

Everything was done to get it as light as we could.

We didn’t need to work with a Full Frame sensor, that would require very big lenses. We wanted to work with zooms so we didn’t have to change lenses all the time.

We did a lot of testing and research, and we ended up with these prosumer Fujinon lenses made by Fujifilm [the Fujinon MK 18-55mm T2.9 and the Fujinon MK 50-135mm T2.9].  Each one is about 2.2 pounds and about 8 inches long, which is ideal for being on a rig.

The amazing thing about these lenses when we tested them, was that even though they were not as fast, at their wide open aperture of f/2.9 they were super super sharp. We thought we did something wrong with our test as they were as sharp as lenses that cost 10 times more.

We shot 90% of the movie on the MK18-55mm T2.9. In the world of 3D you get much more sense of depth if you shoot wider.

Russell Carpenter literally says they shot 90% of the movie using the Fujinon MK 18-55mm T2.9, but my guess is that he refers to the underwater scenes in the movie, although he did not specify that. He just said “movie” not “underwater parts of the movie“.

So, not only the backstage images of Avatar were taken with Fujifilm gear (as we reported here), but also the movie itself was shot using Fujifilm APS-C gear!

You can watch the podcast in the youtube video down below (automatically starts on the part where they talk about the Fujinon lenses).

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