miXed zone: Projet 192, X-T1, Fuji’s imaging division still losing money (but less than before) and more!
image courtesy: Projet 192
Madrid, March 11, 10 years ago… the day of the commuter trains passenger bombings. On that day, 192 persons died.
Now, 10 years later, 192 photographers created “Projet 192” (website) in memory to those souls. Each photographer took one image to remind one of them. You can see the whole gallery here.
It’s a touching tribute to the people who died that day. And, among all the other great photographers, also Donato Chirulli (riflessifotografici) dedicated one picture to one of the victims of that terrorist attack. He took it with his Fuji X-E1.
X-T1
X-T1 body only ($1,299): USA: AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama / Pictureline / EU: wexDE / wexUK / PCHstore /
X-T1 with 18-55 ($1,699): USA: AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama / Pictureline / EU: wexDE / wexUK / PCHstore /
– X-T1 shooting report at yodobashi here (translation).
– Chris Donkin’s (f-sunny) X-T1 unboxing here and test shots here. He also tested the tracking here and after his initial test he says: “they’ve cracked it.”
– Vibranze: “Some photos taken with X-T1 with 14, 56 lens during Fuji X-T1 pre-order session in Singapore.” Check them here on Flickr.
– Jonavin: “Fuji Canada doing in store demos of X-T1 at some Canadian retailers start Friday February 21. adencamera and henrys.”
X-E2
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– Ari Hallami: “Here’s a story (in Finnish) about “fullframe” Fuji X-E2 + Metabones Speedbooster. I have tested lenses such as Canon FD 50/1.2L, 85/1.2L, 35/2 + few others with the setup and the results are very good (bokehlicious) indeed. I haven’t found any articles about this, so it could be a good read for Fuji shooters (even if the Google translate will mess up the text).” Check it here (translation).
– Introduction to the Fujifilm X-E2 by X-Photographer Kale Friesen at KaleJFPhotography (youtube).
X100S
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– “Goodbye God, I am going to Bodie” with the Fuji X-Pro1 & Fuji X100S at olafphotoblog here: “It is hard to describe what draws us to places like Bodie. Maybe it is the beauty of the forgotten and rusty; maybe it is the dark history or a search for ghosts of the past. One thing is for sure – after documenting all major ghost towns of the West over the last few years we couldn’t be more pleased. Each ghost town provided us with great history lessons, unforgettable adventures and beautiful imagery.”
– Simplicity and the X100S Part 2 at stephenip here: “As I’ve mentioned in the past, the X100S is the camera I turn to whenever I want to keep things simple. Without having to worry about zooming or changing lenses, I’m left to focus on creating images. By concentrating on what I see in the viewfinder, I find that I’m not only more creative with my compositions, but more able to find a narrative in the images I bring home. Here is a series of images from my latest exercise in simplicity.”
– Using the Fuji X100S to Photograph a Wedding at rogerspictures here: “There are lots of benefits of using the tiny and silent Fuji X100S to photograph a wedding. Although I mainly use Canon cameras through the wedding day, there are many great opportunities when this little camera is a better option for me. That’s usually when I want to get in close to my subjects without affecting their behaviour. Its small size, and silence is what’s most important here. But there have been small and quiet compact cameras around for a while now – what makes the Fuji different is the amazing clarity and image quality. These images fit in perfectly with those shot on the larger Canon SLR’s, and it’s pretty hard to distinguish between them in the finished set.”
– X100S review at luminous-landscape here: “[…] as I worked with it something surprising happened. I started creating images I was excited about. I had ideas for images I did not have before. I started finding excitement in subjects I previously considered mundane, or for which I had no vision. The simplicity of the camera did that. The X100s is a simple camera with a fixed lens that makes me focus on taking photographs rather than on what gear I am going to use. It brings me back to thinking about photographs, instead of thinking about my equipment. It renews my vision and focuses my attention on the image rather than on the gear. Small and lightweight, I forget I am carrying it until I want to make a photograph. The camera is almost transparent. It lets the photograph come through and the vision free to express itself, renewed and fresh. As such it fosters a return to the fundamentals, to what photography is about.”
X-PRO1
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– Using the Fuji X-Pro1 for action sports at andywaterman here: “The X-Pro1 will never be sold as a pro sports camera but if you persevere with it, you’ll get some fantastic results. It encourages a way of shooting that slows things down and makes you think in advance of pressing the shutter. I like that. The lenses are small, light and fantastically sharp (I really want to try the 56mm f1.2) and the camera itself is small and light compared to a DSLR. ”
X-A1
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– Fujifilm X-A1 – Is this the best low light camera for under $1500? (even though it only costs $499?) at imaging-resource here: “We’ve just started testing the Fujifilm X-A1 and quickly ran across something astonishing (and we don’t use that word very often): It blows the doors off the close competition at higher ISOs for delivering good detail while keeping the noise levels low, and even challenges some cameras costing more than $1000!”
lenses
– Still Life with MC ROKKOR-PG 58/1.2 at vkphotoblog here: “Finally I got time to put together a small set of B&W still life images inspired by a visit to friend’s rustic cottage and taken with my favourite camera and legacy lens.”
RAW-conversion
– Updated X-Trans Sharpening Presets for Lightroom at thomasfitzgeraldphotography here: “The looks presets are there as a starting point. They’re there to get you in thew ball park, and you can then tweak the settings to your own tastes. Each of the looks uses the “SuperSharp” sharpening settings.”
switch to the X
– Why I left Nikon for Fuji X at jiriruzek here: “There are hundreds or thousands articles about Fuji X cameras all around. I have never seen something like this before. Why? Fuji simply has managed to produce camera you fall in love with. And it is not only one camera, it is almost the whole X line. Instead of the usual “Photos of Tuscany” photographers write “Photos of Tuscany with Fuji X”.”
hand grip
– Hands-On with the new Fuji MHG-XPRO grip at f-sunny here: “All in all a very nice grip – much more of an engineered solution, and something which should really have been supplied day one. Not cheap, but it’s so useful that I can easily justify the cost.”
a little bit of everything
– Fuji’s imaging division is still losing money… so what’s the news? Well, they loose less money than before! Read the report here.
– Is Full Frame Still the Best? at digital-photography-school here: “If you’re an aspiring pro, you may feel that you need a full frame camera to be taken seriously. In fact, this has never been completely true. There are plenty of professional photographers who use crop sensor cameras. The quality is more than good enough, and if you’re a sports or wildlife photographer you may also appreciate the extra reach that an APS-C camera gives you with telephoto lenses.”
– Fujifilm Metering at fujivsfuji here: “Fujifilm cameras […] seem to disregard the chosen AF point, and instead meter based on the centre of the frame. No matter what. I guess the camera presumes that whatever is in the centre of the frame is what you’d like to set your exposure to.”
– X Series Daylight shooting with ND Filters at f-sunny here: “One of the limitations for any camera is the shutter speed – and on the Fuji X Series, the shutter speed tops out at 1/4000. Normally this isn’t an issue, you rarely even have to think about it. But if you’re using fast glass, and shooting with wide apertures in bright daylight, that 1/4000 shutter speed can start to become a real problem. For example, shooting f/1.4 in sunlight, even with the base ISO of 200, could require a shutter speed faster than 1/4000. The X100 and X100s solve this by offering a built-in 3 stop Neutral Density (ND) filter. […] While the X100 and X100s have the ND filter built-in, the other Fuji X models do not. You need to add your own screw-on ND filter to produce the same effect, and you’ll need one for each lens/filter sizes in your lens set. (Fuji have failed to standardize on a single filter size, so this is a real pain/expense).”
– SanDisk announced new UHS-II SD-cards here. It’s what you need to boost your X-T1’s writing speed!
XF deals
XF 14mm: $200 off (price $700) at BHphoto / Adorama / AmazonUS / Pictureline
XF 18mm: $200 off (price $400) at BHphoto / Adorama / AmazonUS / Pictureline
XF 23mm: $150 off (price $750) at BHphoto / Adorama / AmazonUS / Pictureline
XF 27mm: $250 off (price $200) at BHphoto / Adorama / AmazonUS / Pictureline
XF 35mm: $150 off (price $450) at BHphoto / Adorama / AmazonUS / Pictureline
XF 60mm: $250 off (price $400) at BHphoto / Adorama / AmazonUS / Pictureline
XF 55-200: $200 off (price $500) at BHphoto / Adorama / AmazonUS / Pictureline