Monthly Archives: August 2024

 

 

After all my heart issues in May of 2023 I’ve been working hard to regain what I lost because of all of that.  As the old saying goes “Dying really takes it out of you!”  Having coded twice on Mother’s Day of last year it really has been a slog to get back!  I’m happily back to where I can use my preferred and heavier system for my serous work again!  I enjoy the Micro 4/3rds gear but still prefer the APSC sensors in my Fujifilm cameras!  Plus you just can’t beat the Fujifilm color science with any system other than Fujifilm!

 

The photo above is my new attempt to meet my field work needs and stay under my self imposed 10 lb. limit on the bag and contents!  The key is to have a good enough spread of focal lengths, in the fewest lenses.  I will carry a back-up body in a safe place just in case anything goes down, but honestly in 54 years of doing this I’ve never had a body die on me, except for the one I dropped out of a canoe into a river!

 

I will make two adjustments depending on the kind of trip I’m on;  The constants are the Fujifilm X-T5 body, the 10-24 wide angle zoom and the 70-300 long zoom and the TC-14 teleconverter.  On some trips I will change out the 16-80 for the 18-135 and the 50mm f 2 for the 60mm f 2.5 Macro, also depending on subject matter, I may leave out the 16mm f 1.4!  Either way I’m covered from 15mm to 630mm!

 

I’m thankful to be feeling so much better and ready to get back in the field soon to continue what I’ve loved for half a century, shooting God’s Glorious creation!

 

Blessings,

 

 

the pilgrim

 

 

2023 was a pivotal year in my life.  Those of you that follow my blog know of the health issue I faced in the spring of last year.  For those that don’t know I had a heart valve replacement and a week later because of AFIB was rushed to the ER where I coded twice within 30 minutes.  They flew me to Lexington where I got a pacemaker and started the long slog back to normal.  Over 6 months of cardiac rehab has me most of the way back, but it certainly has impacted my life and level of activity.  In October I will do my first two workshops in over a year and I’m anxious to get back into the field with my students and friends!

 

Problem one:  I am not comfortable carrying the heavy system I have been using for the last 12 years.  Even though the Fujifilm gear is much less bulky and heavy  than full frame gear it still is heavier than what I’m planning to use for these two trips in October.

 

Solution one:  Over the past couple of months I have been aquiring a full, but small and light Micro 4/3rds system.  The bag above, a Tenba Solstice 7L sling a much appreciated gift from Carl Turner, holds the complete system:

Panasonic Lumix G9 camera body

Lumix – Leica 9mm f 1.7   (18mm equiv.)

Olympus 12-40 f 2.8 Pro   (24-80 equiv.)

Olympus 45mm f 1.8   (90mm equiv.)

Panasonic Lumix 35-100 f 2.8  (70-200 equiv.)

Panasonic Lumix 100-300 f 4-5.6    (200-600 equiv.)

 

With this system I have focal length range of 18mm to 600mm!  The entire system weighs well under 10 lbs.  In a separate small Domke bag I have a Lumix GX85 with the Leica 15mm f 1.7 (30mm equiv.) and and the Olympus 12mm f 2 (24mm equiv.) and the Lumix 40-150 f 4-5.6 (80-300 equiv.)

 

I will post images from both trips and we will see how we do!!  My pre-testing has given me a great deal of confidence of success, if I can hold up my end of the bargain! I know that many will ask if I’m dumping my Fujifilm system?  Absolutely not, I’m just adjusting my carry system for the situation I find myself in.  I still have the vast majority of my Fujifilm bodies and lenses though recently I have started to sell off items I seldom use.  I have told my students many times that if you are using any camera system from the last 5 years and you are not making spectacular images, it’s not the camera!

 

Blessings,

 

 

the pilgrim