DPRTV Best Camera and Lens for Portraits: Dream Combo is Fujifilm GFX100S with GF110mmF2, X-S10 with 56/1.2 Best Below $2,000

DPReviewTV published a video about their favorite camera and lens combinations for portraits at different price points.

Before we go to their top picks, a few thoughts.

In all combos below $3,000, DPRTV picked third party AF lenses to couple with Sony, Canon or Panasonic bodies. This just shows how precious third party autofocus lenses for a system are, as they help to keep the overall costs down by offering at the same time a good image quality.

Only for Fujifilm, who won the sub 2K category, DPRTV went with the Fujifilm X-S10 and native Fujinon lens: the XF56mmF1.2 (which according to our sources will get a refresh in 2022). Btw, that lens was one of my reliable and trusted workhorses at the recent wedding I shot.

Overall this denotes that Fujifilm just made a terrific error to close their mount for so long. An error, that they finally fixed. Better late than never.

Also, APS-C dominates the sub 2K segment, showing that this sensor size (and lenses) just offers a terrific value for money.

For bigger budgets below 10K, the Fujifilm GFX100S wins coupled with the Fujinon GF 110mm F2.

And if money was no issue at all, they’d still get the GFX. It’s simply the best of the best, if you value also features like autofocus, eye detection and other advantages a modern digital camera can offer.

With that said, here are DPRTV’s top picks:

Under $1,000

  1. Canon M50 Mark II with Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary
  2. Sony A6100 with Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary

Under $2,000

  1. Fujifilm X-S10 with Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2

Under $3,000

  1. Sony A7C with Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN
  2. Panasonic S5 with Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN

Under $5,000

Difficult to pick Canon R series, as there are not really nice mid-range options and the better lens options are too expensive and break the budget

  1. Nikon Z7II with Nikkor Z 85mm F1.8 S

Under $10,000

  1. Fujifilm GFX100S with GF110mm f/2: Awesome choice, favorite portrait lens. The camera is light and compact and has all the image quality you could ever ask for
  2. Canon EOS R5 with Canon RF 85mm f/1.2

Dream Combo (Money No Issue)

  1. GFX100S with GF110mm f/2: that’s still the best choice

Get Yours

TTArtisan 40mm f/2.8 Macro Available Now for $114

The new TTArtisan 40mm f/2.8 is now available for $114 at AmazonUS here (free shipping) and directly at TTArtisan here ($99 for the lens plus $24 shipping to USA).

You can also get it AmazonUK here and at AmazonDE here, as well as for $119 ($99 for the lens + $20 shipping to USA) at Pergear here.

  • Standard Macro Lens: Lightweight and compact, full metal body with weight only 371g. Excelling at close distances, the 40mm f/2.8 from TTartisan is a 80mm-equivalent macro lens (35mm equivalent focal length) for M4/3, providing an all-in-one solution for normal portrait shooting as well as macro photography.
  • 1X Magnification: The TTartisan 40mm f/2.8 offers a 1:1 life-size maximum magnification along with a 17cm minimum focusing distance. Manual focus design, along with focus distance and depth of field scales, aids in precise focusing control.
  • Optical Design: Its optical system consists of 8 elements in 7 groups. Bright f/2.8 maximum aperture suits working in a variety of lighting conditions and also contributes to the sleek form factor. An 11-blade diaphragm contributes to a smooth and pleasing bokeh quality.
  • Clicked Aperture Ring: The aperture ring is stepped with the right amount of resistance and click, marking on full stops from F/2.8 to F/16. The clicks are very light and just enough to let you know that you’ve changed your aperture setting.
  • Multi-Layer Coating: By reducing the impact of flares and ghosting effects in your pictures while ensuring excellent image quality and contrast from the center to the periphery, it offers crystal clear, sharp image quality.

You can find samples at the dedicated AmazonUS TTArtisan 40mmF2.8 page.

Fujifilm Gear 2021 In Stock Check (and it Doesn’t Look All That Good)

Fujifilm has definitely not been lazy and has announced tons of gear in 2021.

However, most of it is hard to find.

I was extremely lucky, as I grabbed the last available XF27mmF2.8 R WR at my local store on the first day the lockdown ended and I could finally leave my micro-village and drive to the store in the city nearby. And for the Fujifilm GFX100S I had to wait “only” 5 months.

But how does the situation look like now? Down below the in stock check of all the gear announced in 2021.

GFX100S

Adorama has a few samples in stock. No other store listed below has the GFX100S available. The store Moment expect availability on October 15.

GF80mmF1.7

A limited number of Fuji’s latest speed monster is available at AmazonUS here. The lens is in stock also at Focuscamera. The Fujinon GF80mmF1.7 is expected to be in stock in 2-4 weeks at BHphoto. Adorama just says “coming soon”. Moment expects it for October 21.

GFX50SII

It was originally planed to ship by the end of September, but Fujifilm issued an official delivery delay notice for the GFX50SII with GF35-70 kit, so let’s see how this will change things.

So far all stores expect the body only version as well as the kit version to be available on October 21.

GF35-70mmF4.5-5.6

So far stores expect it to ship on November 30. Only Adorama is slightly more optimistic and gives us November 20 as shipping start.

X-E4

It’s on back-order everywhere. And the situation seems to be rather dramatic, as BHphoto and AmazonUS even stopped accepting pre-orders on it. You can still order it at Adorama.

XF70-300mmF4-5.6

It is back-ordered everywhere. The only time indications we get comes from AmazonUS here, who expects stock around October 20 and Moment here, who is more optimistic and hopes to be able to ship some samples on October 3.

XF27mmF2.8 R WR

This is the one lens every X shooter should own (and I own it), but you can’t buy it at the moment, as it is unavailable everywhere. AmazonUS even gave up and stopped taking pre-orders on it for now.

X-T30II

It is expected to ship on October 21.

XF 33mmF1.4 R LM WR

It was supposed to start shipping on September 29, but pre-orders are very high and forced Fujifilm to issue an official delivery delay notice. Now it is expected to ship on October 21.

XF 23mmF1.4 R LM WR

It is expected to ship on November 30.

XF18mmF1.4 R LM WR

Good News. This one is in stock everywhere!

BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / Focuscamera

Fujifilm GFX100S in Stock Now!

Adorama was able to get a few more Fujifilm GFX100S cameras and hence marked it as in stock now here.

It will surely sell out quickly. Still not available at other stores listed below.

Fujifilm Manager Talks XF33mmF1.4 and XF23mmF1.4: “Fit for the Future of Fujifilm X Series”

Specs Comparison: XF23mmF1.4 vs XF33mmF1.4
Specs Comparison: XF23mmF1.4 vs XF33mmF1.4

An interview with Japanese Fujifilm manager Mr. Ueno has been published at a Japanese youtube channel.

We rely on the automatic Google translation tool, but don’t worry, you I’ll spare you this pain and I went through it for you. You can see a summary down below. If any Japanese FR-reader would like to sum it up for us in the comments, feel free to do so, we’d very much appreciate it.

Get Yours

Summary

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **