FR-readers zone: long exposures, speed booster, X100S High Sync Speed + Craig’s biggest shoot since switching to the X

Time to take a (very short) break from the rumors and to share your images and stories of your eXperience with the Fuji X-series.

Keep it up! You can contact me via email at fujirumor@gmail.com, facebook and twitter.

cheers
Patrick

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Lawrence

Hey Patrick – I saw your featured Jeff’s work a few days ago [admin: see it here]. I’ve known Jeff for years and he’s an amazing photographer. He was the person who helped push me over the line when it came to Fuji and I’ve not looked back !

I just wanted to drop you a line and share some images from my trip up to Banff a couple of weeks ago. This was the first time I did any extended travel with the system and it’s been amazing. I bought a [shoplink 12888 ebay]14mm f2.8[/shoplink] for the trip and used it probably 80% of the time. Aside from the size advantages of the system on hikes, the X sensor has such amazing resolving power and image quality (especially when processed in in a good RAW converter like Capture One). That and the quality of the glass has convinced me that this is not only the system for a balance of weight and IQ, but is one of the best landscape systems period.

Anyway, there’s a few of my favorite shots in the link below. A lot of long exposures – I used a B+W ND 110 filter and a [shoplink 16456 ebay]Gitzo 1542T tripod[/shoplink] (when Fuji fixes the placement of the tripod mount in the next version I’ll be a lot happier). All shots with the Fuji X-E1, 18-55 kit lens, 35mm f1.4 or 14mm f2.8.

http://lawrenceripsher.com/post/60729936323/over-this-past-week-ive-been-posting-photos-from

Feel free to feature this online and embed any images / text.

Cheers!

Lawrence

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Rob

Hello, I just wantd to pass along a few of my findings using my loved Fuji X-E1, if fuji would fix the video exposure issue I would even leave my d800 home on my current trip. Anyways in one of your recent posts it was mentioned that you cant make photos with extreme bokeh and small DOF. I currently only have the 18-55 (waiting on the [shoplink 16128]23mm 1.4[/shoplink]) but I have lots of nice Fmount lenses so I have been using the metabones [shoplink 16275 ebay]speedbooster[/shoplink] and wow Ive been getting really nice results. Some of the photos in the links to follow show the ridiculous nikon 85mm 1.4G with the speedbooster making it closer to a 90mm F1.0 and then the other is a [shoplink 15642 ebay]kowa 2X anamorphic lens[/shoplink].

– Shots of setup: http://www.robbannister.com/download_files/fuji/xe1_kowa.jpg / http://www.robbannister.com/download_files/fuji/xe1_85.jpg
– Fuji X-E1 and [shoplink 15642 ebay]Kowa 2X Anamorphic[/shoplink]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robbannister/9457550567/sizes/l/
–  Fuji X-E1 and Icorama 1.5X Anamorphic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robbannister/9457469698/sizes/l/
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– Fuji X-E1 18-55: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robbannister/9458628227/
– Fuji X100: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robbannister/9461410328/sizes/l/

– Fuji X-E1 and Speed booster – DSO Lens with low contrast (nikon Fmount / Helios): http://www.flickr.com/photos/robbannister/9461406326/
– NIkon 85mm 1.4G: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 – – – Nikon 50mm 1.4D: 1 / 2 /

I just wanted to show the speed booster with the 85mm 1.4. I did find the speed booster amplified the color fringing on the 50 1.4d quite a bit.

Regards,
Rob Bannister
Lead Compositor / Head of 2D
www.robbannister.com / 500px.com

Rob

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Morten

Hi Patrick. I did a high sync test with the X100s last night. I am pretty stoked about shooting these at 1/1000 of a sec. My 5D III should handle 1/200 but usually works best at 1/160. Can’t wait to use this feature more. For your Mixed Zone if interested:

http://mfoto.ca/blog/fabrice-soccer-portrait-x100s-high-sync-speed

Morten

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Craig Litten

Hi Patrick,

I wanted to share a recent shoot with you all taken with the Fuji X-Pro 1, [shoplink 12891 ebay]18mm[/shoplink], [shoplink 12889 ebay]35mm[/shoplink] and [shoplink 12887 ebay]18-55mm[/shoplink] lenses. The shoot was for a company called Sun Bum for their 2014 catalog. It was shot over two days on Cocoa Beach, Florida (Sun Bum’s HQ). I shot more than 3,000 photos in the hot sun, surf and sand with the two X-Pro 1 bodies and they performed nearly flawlessly (except for a few freeze-ups–didn’t freeze before the last firmware update).

Lenses, even the 18-55mm, are tack sharp and amazing. I didn’t plan on using the 18-55mm, but found myself using it more and more as the shoot progressed because of the super fast and silent autofocus, as well as the flexibility of the zoom. I shot without the hood, which I hate (Fuji please, get rid of these cheap petal-type hoods, they do NOT fit the styling of the X cameras!). I shoot with the OVF mostly on the X-Pro 1 except when shooting up close then I switch to the EVF. But when using the zoom, I only shoot with the EVF.

This was my biggest shoot since switching to the X, and after two days of shooting, I didn’t even notice the weight of the cameras. Wondrous!

Craig Litten (website)

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Fuji X-A1 high resolution samples at ephotozine + Instax Mini 90 annoucement at Fuji’s global website

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X-A1 PRE-ORDERS XC 50-230

X-A1 with XC 16-50: USA: AmazonUS: black – blue /BHphoto: black – blue / Adorama: black – blue / Pictureline: black – blue / EUROPE: AmazonUK: black – blue – red (via DR)

XC 50-230 : USA: AmazonUS: black – silver / BHphoto: black – silver / Adorama: black – silver / EUROPE: AmazonUK: black – silver (via DR)

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ephotozine just posted some Hig-Res samples taken with the X-A1 (from ISO 100 up to ISO 25600). Click here to see them.

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And Fujifilm just officially announced the Instax Mini 90 Neo Classic at the global website here.

You can pruchase it at [shoplink 16924 ebay]ebayUS here[/shoplink].

Main Features:

1. Stylish and premium body design
2. Automatically detects the brightness of the surrounding and adjusts the amount of flash and shutter speed to optimize photo quality
3. A variety of shooting functions:
(1) Double exposure mode:
2 images are produced on 1 film sheet by pressing the shutter twice
(2) Bulb mode:
The shutter remains open while the shutter button is depressed (10 seconds at longest), and a light trail can be photographed
(3) Macro mode:
Short-distance photography (30-60cm) is possible
(4) Kids mode:
Suitable for photographing kids, pets and other fast moving subjects due to a fast shutter speed
(5) Party mode:
The subject and background can be photographed brightly and clearly
(6) Other:
Landscape mode, Flash ON/OFF mode

Lens reviews: XF 55-200 at DPreview (silver award) + Zeiss Touit 12 at lenstip + Touit 32 at optyczne

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Fuji XF 55-200mm: [shopcountry 12892]

You can now read the whole DPR review of the XF 55-200 here: “The XF 55-200mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS is a relatively portable, well-made telephoto zoom that delivers consistently fine images. Focusing is essentially silent and reasonably fast, at least with static subjects, and the optical image stabilisation works very well. It’s a natural complement to the XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS zoom.”

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Zeiss Touit 2.8/12: [shopcountry 13645]

Touit 12mm review at lenstip.com: “The Zeiss Touit 2.8/12 is a well made lens and its parameters make it fill the gap in the Sony NEX and Fujifilm X systems. It would be difficult to have any real objections to a lens which provides an angle of view of almost 100 degrees and useful images across the frame already up from the maximum relative aperture. You can only hope Zeiss won’t stop after producing the 2.8/12 and 1.8/32 models; we do hope it will present other mirrorless instruments in the near future. We also count on the fact that, as a part of an offer-enlarging strategy, sooner or later Zeiss will produce lenses with Samsung NX and Canon M mounts so they will fit other APS-C sensor systems as well.”

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Zeiss Touit 32mm: [shopcountry 13646]

The Polish site optyczne posted its 32mm review here (translation)

miXed zone: Kaizen, reviews and some tips

Talk about the X + Kaizen

– X-Photographers David Hobby and Zack Arias talk about their experience with the X-series here. These two photographers were part of the expedition invited to Tokyo from Fujifilm in order to give them honest feedback about the X-series. The other two X-photographers were Bert Stefani and Kevin Mullins. I’ve already shared the 23mm first impressions of Bert (here) and David (here) on Fujirumors (for a great first look at the 23mm check Rico’s X-pert corner post here). Now it’s time to read what Kevin Mullins thinks about Fuji’s Kaizen spirit (read his article here):

“See the guys in the blue shirts?  These are the people that design, manufacture, make, forge and breathe life into the X-Series of cameras. You know what they are doing here?  They are listening feedback from “us”.   The guys that actually build the systems, design the software and produce the cameras that we use on a day to day basis are listening to our feedback.  Feedback that all four of us took to them from many hundreds of photographers.”

– Also photographylife (click here) admires Fujifilms devotion to its customers and says:”Fuji has quickly become a manufacturer that feels involved with its clients more than any other camera maker no matter how well-known or popular. It feels as if they want to do good by their customers, as if you are using gear that real people design and improve, rather than a faceless company.”

PhotoLive

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“Can you change your mental mindset and be a better photographer?  Come along to PhotoLive and sign up from a selection of over 200 seminars from 35 Pro Photographers and see what interesting tips can be picked up!!” If you are interested to learn from great photographers as Dave Kai-Piper then consider to participate to this seminar in London on the 26 and 27 of October. You can also profit from a discount. Dave Kai-Piper will tell you more about it here.

X-M1

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– Bert Stefani’s X-M1/16-50 review and lot of beautiful samples can be seen here: “So far this compromise, make the X-M1 the perfect companion for people on a budget who are looking for a small camera system with great image quality. But there’s more, the X-M1 is not all compromise, it has two features that none of the other X-cams have: a tilting screen and build-in wifi. […] having the same sensor as my main camera, the X-Pro1, it is well suited as a backup camera. The extra functionality with the tilt screen and wifi, gives me extra options that my current backup camera, the X-E1, doesn’t offer. […] About the 16-50 lens […] if you take the low price into account, I believe it’s not a bad deal at all. The image quality is surprisingly good. It’s a great starting all-round zoom for photographers on a tight budget. And if you add some better, more expensive lenses over time, it’s still a good backup lens. […] Despite my initial reservations about the X-M1 I’ve decided to give it a permanent place in my bag where it will replace my hardly used X-E1 as my backup camera. ”

– steves-digicams.com published an X-M1 review. From the conclusions:  “[…] The biggest drawback to the X-M1 is its high starting price of about $800 with the kit lens. You’ll be able to find more powerful and more feature-rich DSLRs and ILCs for well under that price range. However many of those models cannot match the stylish look and feel of the Fujifilm X-M1. The X-M1 is small enough to be used comfortably one-handed, yet the camera has a sturdy build. It’s a comfortable model to use, and even though the camera body is small, the buttons are of a good size and are easy to reach and press. This camera’s image quality and performance levels are pretty good too versus other entry-level ILCs, although those aspects of the X-M1 aren’t quite as impressive when compared to all models in its price range. You can shoot in RAW or JPEG with this camera, which is a feature that doesn’t appear in every ILC model. The X-M1 does a very nice job with low light photos too, thanks to its popup flash and good performance at high ISO settings, as well as a large APS-C sized CMOS image sensor. […]”

X100S

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– “In episode #3 of All About the Gear, Doug Kaye and I dive into the famed Fuji x100s camera. Find out if this little beastie lives up to all the hype, and if it’s actually the perfect walk-around camera.” See the episode here.

– Mike Kobal: “Yup, I was just as surprised as you probably are, I rarely find moiré to be an issue and here we have a good example, from the Fuji X100s, nonetheless. 100% moiré crop after the break.” See the image here.

X-PRO1

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– Comparing X-PRO1 and X-E1 at Tom Grill’s website here.

– photgraphylife’s in depth review of the X-PRO1 can be read here: “I have to praise Fuji engineers for going back and reworking the autofocus system of the Fuji X-Pro1 and fixing most of the issues via firmware updates. And I am happy to report that as of firmware 3.01, the Fuji X-Pro1 is a whole different camera compared to what it used to be. I was so frustrated with the autofocus system, that I practically disliked the camera just because of those issues. Autofocus speed has improved dramatically and AF accuracy has gotten a world better, even in low light situations.”

– The Fujifilm X-Pro1 for Landscape Photography at stephenip.com. A great camera for landscape photography combined with the [shoplink 12888 ebay]14mm[/shoplink] but “there is one thing about the X-Pro1 however, that I really, really don’t like. The location of the tripod mount. For some reason, Fuji decided that it’s unnecessary to access the battery or memory card when a tripod plate is mounted onto the camera. As someone that uses a tripod often, having to remove the tripod plate every time I want to charge the battery or download my images is extremely annoying. For a company that did so many things right in the usability department with the X Series cameras, an oversight like this is quite surprising.

– “X-Pro1, my take on it” at neillsoden.co.za:”I just love this camera, and can’t state it enough. This camera and most of Fuji’s cameras have been reviewed to death. This model has also been out for over a year, but I am going to add to it nonetheless. When I show it to people, their first response is always that they can get a DSLR for cheaper. Yes, it’s more expensive than the entry to medium range of DSLR and a lot of them think that DSLR has better image quality and looks more professional.”

– A wedding and more thoughts about the X-PRO1 at louwit.blogspot.dk

– A review of Fuji X-Pro 1 (ver 3.0) with 14mm lens can be read here at bigheadtaco: “If it’s all about the image, then you will not be very happy with the Fuji X-Pro 1. Combine this with great ergonomics, the industry only hybrid viewfinder, and super sharp legendary Fujinon XF lenses, I think you have a winner.”

– Shooting Beauty Portraits – Fuji X-Pro1 vs Canon 5D Mk2 Review at roughly365 here: “The more I use the Fuji, especially with the 35mm f1.4 lens, the more impressed I am with it, I love it. But, as I have stated in previous posts, I personally wouldn’t have it as my main camera, but its the best second camera I can think of.”

lenses

Fuji XF 27mm: [shopcountry 13829]

XF 27mm review at the Polish site optyczne here (translation).

dc.watch  took some shots with the XC 16-50. See them here (tranlsation).

… and some tips

– At thephoblographer you can read the “7 Tips for Photographing Strangers”: 1) start with a complimet… to be continued here.

– “5 questions you should ask yourself to become a better photographer” over here at photographytalk.com. 1) Where is the light coming from. 2) Why am I shooting this… and more.

– lightroomkillertips explains how the previous button works in this video.

– 3 Ways to Improve Your Images With Composition at digital-photography-school.com:  1. Rule of Thirds / 2. Second Point of Interest / 3. Room for Copy Space

– Understanding your Cameras Histogram at ephotozine here.

– Architectural Photography Tips at photographytuts here.