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Sorry Nikon – This is Where You Lost Me… (Now Fujifilm X-T2 Shooter)

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I’m going to be honest and say I wasn’t an very unhappy Nikon user, but I’ve become progressively despondent. My D750 was great (despite having two shutter replacements), the lenses were great, and the system was great. But I wanted a second body and I wanted that body to be mirrorless. I would have been great to have a mirrorless body coming from the same system as my DSLR but after waiting and hoping for Photokina, that didn’t happen, so I had to question how important DSLR or full frame was for me. The more I compared, the more I really that there was no longer a loss of performance moving to mirrorless, at least not for what I was doing.

I always said that when mirrorless offered a viable alternative, I’d consider switching. Sadly for Nikon, mirrorless now offers a viable alternative, but Nikon isn’t close. To put it into perspective, the race started 5 minutes ago, and the problem isn’t that Nikon started late, they’re still in bed sleeping.

Their last announcement at Photokina was more than just a little disappointing, and I wasn’t the only one. I don’t think I saw many positive comments at all. For those who missed it, Nikon seemed to indicate they might consider, thinking about contemplating, potentially, maybe looking at mirrorless and they would continue to monitor it. I’m glad you’re monitoring it, but if I’m going to continue to invest in a system, I want to know they are doing more than just watching this space. I can watch this space and I don’t even manufacture camera’s.

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So where did Nikon go wrong? Well, for starters, if your customers are waiting for you to produce a mirrorless, and we know there are a lot of them out there waiting for this, and if you are actually developing a mirrorless, you may want to mention it. I know what you’re thinking…maybe they wanted to keep it quiet so the market doesn’t know what they’re doing for competitive reasons. No, 10 years ago if Nikon was doing it, it might have been a secret. Now the market actually thinks you an idiot if you’re not doing it. And if you’re doing it and not mentioning it, they think your marketing department are idiots.

In the last 12 months, I’ve seen 5 Nikon amateurs/enthusiasts switch to mirrorless. They probably would have stuck with Nikon if they knew there was a good mirrorless coming, and don’t give me this Nikon 1 crap. I’m talking a mirrorless with a APSC or FX sensor. Sure, we’re not professional sports photographers bu we’re not spending small sums of money either. We may not be buying 400 f/2.8‘s but we are buying D810‘s, D750‘s and pro glass like 24-70‘s, 70-200‘s and 14-24‘s. To put that into perspective, when these photographers go out and buy into another brand, they’re spending $5,000 – $10,000 to start with along with a another $5,000 – $10,000 over the next year or two. Maybe that’s not much to Nikon, but it should be, because when enough people start doing that, the numbers and up. This is the next generation of photographers that influence the youth who are buying and right now, we’re telling them not to buy into Nikon and Canon, because mirrorless is where the future is at, and Nikon and Canon aren’t the future.

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Bypassed: The Effects of the M4 Motorway on a Welsh Industrial Town

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guest post by Nick St.Oegger stoeggerphotography.com + www.ptbypassed.com + Instagram @aquietamerican, or Twitter: @NickStOegger

My name is Nick St.Oegger, I’m a documentary photographer from California.

I recently completed my major project as part of a Master’s degree in Documentary Photography at the University of Westminster in London. I was part of a collective who traveled to Port Talbot, Wales to produce different stories about the town, which has been in a state of crisis since the owners of the nearby steel plant announced plans to sell off all their UK assets last spring.

I shot the entire project using an X100T I recently acquired after my Leica was stolen.

Despite an initial hesitation based on previous experiences with the first X100 and early Fuji X cameras, I found the camera an absolute delight to use for the project in terms its light weight and beautiful color output. The whole multimedia piece can be viewed at: www.ptbypassed.com

The Port Talbot Bypass was Wales’ first motorway and the first part of what would become the larger M4. Conceived in the 1930s but finished in 1994, the M4 provided a much-needed economic link between England and the historically depressed south of Wales. It served as a major upgrade to the previous main route between the two countries, the A48, which offered motorists a slow, often perilous journey along winding roads. When the 4.5 mile long stretch was opened in 1966, the town was still experiencing a boom period due to the nearby steelworks, which employed close to 20,000 people. Issues with traffic had been worsening due to an increase in motorists and a growing shift to road based shipping routes. Traffic jams through Port Talbot were a common sight, made worse by a railway crossing that periodically halted traffic, making simple trips across town burdensome.

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Fujifilm XF 16mm f 1.4 WR Lens Review and Images

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I don’t normally write reviews but this will be not a typical review. Just few thoughts on the Fujinon 16mm lens. I own this lens for more than six months now. I have waited with this blog, so I could try this lens in many different scenarios. I used it in crumpled spaces documenting children in action, on a photo shoots of a new born baby,  several boudoir sessions and on weddings. In addition to professional shooting, this lens is attached to the Fuji camera (currently XE 2), which is always on my table, so my wife can grab it and take a photo of our baby anytime.

Main reason why I wanted a wide Fuji lens was to capture moments with more context and at the same time not to scare my audience. I needed wide open lens which could be used in crumpled spaces. So I don’t have to switch lenses as often.

I already own 18mm lens and I was not sure if 14mm or 16mm would be the best choice. Actually I was not 100% sure if I need this lens at all. Once again I was defeated by GAS (gear acquisition syndrome). I was maybe influenced by totally positive reviews. My decision was easier, when I found out, that this lens can be used for close ups. I sold my canon macro lens and now I have this 16mm beauty.

16 mm Fujinon lens feels pretty solid. I am not sure if it’s influenced by weight or size, but it just screems – quality! The aperture and focus rings can be turned smoothly and with small push of focus ring you can get into manual focus which is awesome. Lens hood is quite big and not that nice, but well at least it’s there. When I tried this lens in a shop for the first time it seemed very heavy to me. I think it’s because I compared 16mm Fujinon lens with my 18mm lens which is extremely light. On my assignments where I take both Canon and Fuji it feels in the contrary light. ;-) It’s a little bit front heavy on XE2 so I am waiting on the new XT2.  Just based on feelings (no exact measurements) this lens produces much sharper images than 18mm.

When shooting close enough, this lens is able to produce very pleasant looking bokeh. This is now my go to lens for close up photos of rings, food and details. I shoot “macro” wide open and manual mode with magnification is so handy in these cases. I love this feature.

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Marine Shoots Bride & Groom on Their Wedding Day!

Wind in the Hair by Rick Birt with a Meyer-Optik-Goerlitz Trioplan f2.8/100

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*Request – I have just been informed that one of my photos has been nominated for an award. I would greatly appreciate it if you would support a fellow Fuji X-shooter by clicking this link and like, love, or comment on my black and white portrait. Thanks to all of you, and to Patrick for suggesting I add this request to my post.

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Written for Kelly Williams Photography by Rick Birt of RomeoBravoPhoto.com

I recently had the honor of documenting the union of Anna and Hayden Taylor. They are a cute and fun couple, and I thoroughly enjoyed shooting them. I should also mention that Anna’s mother, Charla, was kind enough to provide me with a shot list, and kept everything running smoothly that day. It was arranged to be an intimate ceremony with close family in the living room of the Groom’s parents’ home. It all sounded like the perfect scenario for photographing my first wedding.

So was it all rainbows and unicorns? Not quite…

I had just switched from a Sony a7R II camera to a Fuji X-Pro2 the month before. I absolutely love the Fuji, but I still haven’t mastered it like the Sony. Moreover, I got a bad copy of the 16-55mm zoom-lens and was in the middle of an exchange – so I didn’t have it for the ceremony. Therefore, I went looking for a second body. I almost bought another X-Pro2, but I got a great deal on an Olympus Pen-F and two prime lenses the night before the big day. Suffice it to say, I had not mastered the Olympus either.

As for lighting, I purchased an on-camera speedlight, a Diva ring-light, and a small LED continuous light array. My wife also suggested I bring her light-gun, so I stopped by her studio on the way to meeting the bride, and her mother, at the salon. When I got to my wife’s studio she told me her light gun was “in the attic.” So I proceeded up the stairs to a little loft area where she keeps some of her equipment.

She then asked, “What are you doing?”

I explained, “I’m looking for the light-gun.”

She then said, “It’s in the attic – at home.”

Great :/

So, I grabbed a couple of her Westcott Ice lights and off I went.

The salon was very nice, but was pretty crowded (which I’m sure is normal for a Saturday), so it was hard to find a good shooting position, but I managed to get a few nice portraits.

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Two Years, Two Trips & X-E2

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Hoi Patrick, hoi everyone.

This is Boris, a newbie in this Fuji wonderland. Unlike many of you guys, I am by no means a professional photographer- not paid, not freelanced, nothing. Currently I’m doing photography as a hobby, but this pastime is getting a little bit pricey, thanks to my obsession with faux-rangefinder cameras (more on the term “faux-rangefinder later). For goodness sake it’s not a genuine German rangefinder camera. Gimme one and I’ll buy all the compatible lenses till I become bankrupt… 

It has been two years since I bought the Zeiss Touit Duo during “the crazy sale” for $900 – a deal that was too good to be true and nothing but irresistible. To be honest, it was a reckless decision because back then I didn’t even have an X-camera to go with those lenses (or more accurately, I didn’t know which X-body to buy since they all have the same 16MP sensor). Luckily there was a XE2 – XF 18mm F2 bundle and I snatched it up (not in a sense that I didn’t pay) immediately without the slightest hesitation. And that was how I hopped on the Fuji X bandwagon.

In this article, I am not going to bore you all with the specifications, scientific test charts and comparisons because you guys either know it better than I do or can read it on any review page, so I will keep this article very subjective and personal.

My first impression with the XE2 wasn’t all roses.

The build quality surprised me – the silver paint on the top plate started to chip after a week of light use, and what’s beneath is not the attractive lustre of brass as you may have expected to see in such a Leica-like camera, instead the black base paint reared its ugly head. No wonder why some confused the magnesium top plate with a plastic one. Based on my past experience with Panasonic GF1, the paint should hold up quite well, unfortunately that wasn’t the case for the Fuji.

Secondly, the autofocus is quirky. It hunts a lot, it is slow, and when it doesn’t hesitate it confidently focuses on the background rather than the subject. Whoever designed the original autofocus algorithm deserves to be spanked if not sacked. Again, that wasn’t something that I have anticipated in a highly acclaimed premium camera system, as a result I have missed focus in 20-30% of the photos I took in the first week.

Another problem is the stated ISO. I cannot get a correctly exposed image with the Sunny 16 rule, images often appear to be underexposed by one stop.

And then the distance scale – it is not as accurate as it looks, especially when coupled with the Zeiss 32mm.

If there were a 14-day return policy in Hong Kong, I would have exchanged it for a Pansonic GX7, but there isn’t any. As you could have guessed right now, I didn’t sell it. After all, Kaizen is all above constant improvements, right?

During these two years, I have taken this camera on two trips, first to the West Coast, and then to Amsterdam and the UK. And during these two years I am getting used to most of the quirks, which can be partially attributed to the new firmware improvements, and partially to the overall shooting experience.

At first, I didn’t quite get why people compared this digital camera to an old school rangefinder film camera a la Leica M – to me it doesn’t feel like a rangefinder at all. This is a faux-rangefinder camera. It doesn’t have a rangefinder. It doesn’t even have an optical viewfinder. With a liveview EVF, I can preview what the final image will look like with my exposure settings and film simulations (yes, I am a lazy JPEG shooter); and since there is no optical viewfinder to show the world beyond my framelines, I can frame as precisely as I can with a SLR camera. By the way, let’s not forget this camera has autofocus, which again isn’t something you can find on an old school rangefinder with a rare exception of the late Contax G1 &2. To keep things short, the more I shoot, the more I like this camera. 

Okay, let’s talk about the image quality. Blimey, that’s where this camera shines. Punchy & contrasty? Checked.  White balance? Quite accurate. Saturation? Slightly too saturated but in a pleasant way.  Grains? Absolutely bonkers, I swear there’s real film behind that lens. Sharpness? Well, that depends on the lens, right?

Despite all that rubbish I hear about the 18mm F2, it is my favourite lens. It may not be as sharp as the Zeiss lenses, but mind you it weighs half as much, it focuses twice as fast, and just these two points alone make this a must-have for any X shooter. And despite the wide angle distortion, it’s also a great environmental portrait lens thanks to the smooth, characterless bokeh. If you’re looking for an art lens, this isn’t it; but if you want a wide reportage lens, this is it, until the 23mm F2 comes out.

Big Wave by Boris Chan on 500px.com

Sharp, contrasty, and having quite a bit of extra headroom to crop, I see no excuse to pair this camera up with a zoom lens.
Golden Gate Bridge by Boris Chan on 500px.com
 With firmware 3.0 came classic chrome film simulation, which has been my favourite and default film for a year or so.

Space Needle & Sun Flowers by Boris Chan on 500px.com

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