Category : Pilgrim’s Chronicles

Let me be clear, as I said yesterday, I have not seen an X-PRO 2, an d I have not held one, or shot with one!  I am very excited that I will be getting one of the very first, actual production cameras, but I want to talk about what I think this new camera means to all of us Fuji-holics!  I have read everything I have seen on the web, and it is a large volume of information,  some articles and reviews I’ve read are from people I know and trust implicitly!  So for now, I am going to assume that much of what I’ve read, from trusted sources, is true and accurate, and I have no reason to doubt these folks!

So I think the importance in the release of the X-PRO 2 is it further cements the belief that Fuji is truly committed to elevating their X-System with products of ever increasing quality and functionality!  Let’s start with the sensor and processor.  We now have the first jump in resolution in a Fuji X camera and the added 8 megapixels will definitely make a difference.  My fear all along was what would this do to two factors, noise, and the lens performance of the sterling Fuji glass.  More resolution always puts more demands of glass.  I love the exceedingly high level of sharpness of the current lenses, I wanted so badly to believe that adding 30% more resolution would not tax them too much.  My trusted sources say the lenses are more than up to the tack and look even sharper with this new 24.3 mega pixel X-Trans sensor!  So what about noise, it is being reported by almost everyone that uses the camera that the new sensors has gained at least one additional stop of low noise at hight speed, translation 6400 now looks like what we were getting from 3200!  Great news indeed.  The new X-Pro processor is said to be 4 times faster, making every function much smoother and of course faster!

The controls on the new X-PRO 2 are said to be more positive in their function, better arranged and easier to use, making what was already a photographer’s camera better than ever!  The ISO dial being resident within the shutter speed knob, and the + or – 5 stop range ignite exposure compensation are both very welcome.  Early reports seem to indicate that we are getting + or – 2 full stops of bracketing, not enough in my opinion, but much better than only one stop.  I can only hope the X-T2 will give us 5 to seven full stops of bracketing.

The X70 looks like a wonderful new addition to the line and more importantly the 100-400 is a dream come true for photographers that needed the coverage of those focal lengths. The recently released 35mm f 2 and the 1.4 teleconverter have both been fantastic products!

Ron Smith shooting Deadhorse Point Sate Park!

Bill Fortney & Vinny Colucci

Arches & Cayonlands National Parks

November 9th – 13th, 2016

$995 Workshop Fee  

Early Registration before June 15th $895.

Join Vinny and I in Moab, Utah for a great November Canyon shoot, This is an excellent time to enjoy great weather, and smaller crowds, the kids are back in school!!!!    Joins for these great shooting locations!

Some of our folks having fun at Dead Horse Point.

This is one of the best National Parks in all of America, and one of the favorite workshops every year, I’m doing two this year!! the first is Sold Out!!!  If you might want to join us get a hold of Vinny at the contact info below!

http://www.vinnycolucci.com

I’ve been heavy in gear lately and I’m going to be through out this coming week!  I will be writing about the apparently (I say apparently because I have not held one yet, ^&%$!#$!?!) Fuji X-PRO 2, all is good though, I fully understand that I’m not one of the X-Photographers that has traditionally used the X-PRO 1!  The truth is I bought one some time ago and after a few months realized I just was not getting along with it and sold it.  I’ve regretted that constantly, ever since, and have almost bought a second one but knew this one was coming!  Tomorrow I will deal with the new X-PRO 2 which I will be doing project for Fuji with, a Two Week Road Trip for their Website, and I can’t wait!!!   So more on that later, but for today I want to deal with the whole gear thing.

Let’s get this out of the way, I’m a gear freak, love it, I buy way too much, love to use it, test it, and yes, fondle it!!!  Yes, I’m in therapy, but at least it’s out in the open!   I know, that’s not a Newsflash!  Not much of a spilled secret there!  But I do have a big and important “BUT” to add to this diatribe!

Even though I have an irrational love for gear, I do know it is just a tool.  No matter how incredible a camera body is or how wonderful lens is, it won’t make images by itself. Don’t get me wrong, it is important, very important, but not nearly as important as  the loose nut behind the viewfinder…….the photographer.  If a photographer is truly on top their game, technically skilled and in the zone for subject light and conditions, then the gear is a big plus in their favor, but the first part of that has to come, FIRST!

Enough about the importance of gear, now let’s talk about the spiritual aspect of all this. Is it possible to get too attached to our gear?  Afraid so.  Most people don’t ever think of the Ten Commandments when they think about camera gear, but actually one does apply!   Thou shalt have no other gods before me!   If we worship our  gear, if we find ourselves feeling way to close to it, then that is a problem.  I believe that God wants us to have good things, I think He provides them, I just know He doesn’t want us to place any of this stuff above Him.  If anyone could ever start to worship gear it would be me, but I know better than to go down that road.

It also hurts your creativity!  If you spend your time looking or thinking about just the gear, you won’t see the world you’re trying to photograph with clear eyes.  If you are really a photographer and you really want to make wonderful images, you don’t want this happening.  If you’re an equipment collector, and I plead guilty, it’s perfectly fine.  Now let’s get down to brass tacks, it’s o.k. to be both, I am a 75% shooter, 25% gear nut.  Now it’s out, but I don’t let loving the gear affect by art, or my relationship with my Heavenly Father.  I know this is a tough and thin line to walk, but let’s face it, we have to.  It’s liberating to admit your feelings and face your issues, but the result is a clear mind to apply to the craft you love so much.  But wow, is the gear fun!!!!

Blessings,

the pilgrim

The old garage building at Nelson Ghost Town, Nelson, Nevada.

Robert posted a comment about the 100-400 Review and it said; “Seems like you’re rapidly approaching the weight issues for which you initially switched away from Nikon!”  My response, “You Think!!!???”   Yes Robert, you are right, but I need to explain that I am still fighting and beating the weight limit!  Quick history lesson, in 2010 I had rotator cuff surgery that left me unable to carry the big full frame Nikon gear that I had used for many years (40 +!!!!)  My search to something lighter led me to the Fuji X System  I fell in love with them and that brings me up to today!  The original reason for going to mirror-less and Fuji was weight, but I never gave up on quality, both unfortunately and gladly, Fuji kept coming-out with more great bodies and lots and lots of great lenses, well I bought them all, well most of them, and now I’m up to a lot of gear weight again, so what to do!!!???

If I travel by air I  have to just take what I think I will need keep the total weight to under 20 pounds.  If I travel by car, and I do as often as a I can, I can take all the gear I want! I now divide my gear into several smaller bags so no one bag exceeds my self imposed weight limit of 20 pounds. Even when I get on location I rarely walk more than 100 yards from the vehicle, (I’m suffering from degenerative back disease),  and I don’t take full bags of gear, but usually a photo vest with a few lenses. Here is my current bag set up.

The Major Bag ( Tamrac’s New Anvil Slim 15 ), filled with my most often used zoom lenses, the 60mm Macro, the auto extension tubes and two X-T1 bodies.  The contents of this bag can allow me to do almost anything I need to do in a general assignment. (20.5 lbs.)

The Fast Prime Bag (Lowe Pro’s Flipside Sport 10L  AW ), filled with my favorite fast prime lenses from Fuji, they are;  14mm f 2.8, 16mm f 1.4, 23mm f 1.4, 35mm f 1.4, 56mm f 1.2 and the incredible 90mm f 2, I also have a Fuji XT-10 in the bag as well.  (9 lbs.)

The last equipment bag is my Rangefinder Bag.  I love the Fuji X100T and the Fuji’s compact X30 and so these two cameras and extra batteries reside in a Think Tank Retrospective 5 shoulder bag.  (5 lbs.)

Lastly I have what I call my Support Bag, it is a Red Oxx Heavy Duty Shave Kit bag, filled with the following;  A Watson Battery Charger that charges two Fuji batteries at once and tells there state of charge with a nice LCD panel on the front panel, extra plates for the X100T and X30 batteries, a pair of multi allen wrench tools, a mini AC outlet strip for hotel rooms and my charging station, also included in the bag, but not shown are a set of tools and small socket wrench set with various heads, Swiss Army Knife and multi tool.  In the car will also be my Really Right Stuff Tripod and BH-55 LR ballhead.

So the Big Question; “Do you really need all that???!!!”  Of course not!  I could go in the field with one body, 10-24, 18-55 ( the small one), and the older 55-200 and shoot almost anything I need to shoot, maybe throw in a diopter to get close with the 55-200, so why carry all this????  It’s fun, I own it, I bought it, and if it is left at home, it’s totally useless. If you are in Arches National Park and you reach for your 16mm f 1.4 to make a shot, only it can help you make, and it’s at home, well you get the point.  Every lens in these bags has a special purpose and when you are in the situation that require that lens,  if you don’t have that lens with you, you don’t have that lens with you, and you can’t make that exact shot you planned.

I don’t carry all of this more than twice a day, from the hotel to the car, and then back into the hotel at the end of a shooting day!  On my first big road trip for the year in early March I will take a group down Route 66 and then over to Nelson Ghost Town the Neon Museum in Las Vegas and then some us are going on to Arches/Canyonlands National Parks.  My goal is to put all this stuff to use on that two and half week trip.  Stay tuned and see how it goes!

Thanks for coming along with me on this journey!

Blessings,

the pilgrim