Tips, techniques, questions, & answers….

Yesterday post unleashed a flurry of questions, many coming to me in emails, so as always I will share my answers with all of you!  Just an aside, it is perfectly o.k. to post your question right on the blog!

(1)  Fred asked, yesterday, what brand were my lens and body neoprene  pouches?

Several are shown above and here they are from HDE, Bluecell, and Photo tech.  Here is the link for them on Amazon.

Google:  Amazon Neoprene Lens pouches

(2)   What are your most used lenses of those listed in your field system?

The vast majority of my field work is best served with the two zooms and a ultra wide lens,  the 55-200, 18-55 and the 14.  The new 10-24 zoom is due out any time, and it will very likely replace the 14, though I truly love the 14, it is so spectacular, but then the new 10-24 is likely to be as well. One of the things I have loved about the Fuji X System is that every single lens is so good that I don’t have to choose one over the other based on which are sharper!

(3)  Laura says, “It seems your single focal length lenses are duplicates of the focal lengths you already have in the zooms, and any reason for that?”

Actually there is a very good reason for having both!  The three lenses above are my speed lenses, and I would use them when I was doing available light work, say a jazz club in New Orleans, or family pictures in a normally lit room.    Another reason for the high speed lenses, f 1.4 and f 1.2 is the wonderful bokeh when shot wide open. That is one advantage that the other Micro 4/3rd cameras don’t offer, a full set of speed lenses!

(4)  Sam says, “I love the Fuji lenses, but I hate their hoods, have you found any solution?”

Actually I feel the same about most of them, for me the problem is the bayonet on hoods have to be removed to use a polarizer which I do all the time.  So above is a sample of what I’ve worked out.  For instance the new 56mm (85mm equiv) is a 62mm filter thread. and as chance would have it the lens hood for the Nikon 85mm f 1.8 fits it perfectly and you can screw it right into the polarizer.  Speaking of polarizers I use Singh Ray polarizers!  One more nice thing, the hood is capped perfectly with the Nikon 77mm lens cap!!!  The 23mm f 1.4 is used with a vented lens hood I found on Amazon (just Google Amazon 62mm screw in lens shades).  By the way the same lens hood and 77mm lens cap that I use on the 56mm, works fantastic on the 55-200.   Amazon to the rescue again Vello makes an identical hood to the Nikon HN-23 for a reasonable price!  Just Google Amazon Vello HN-23 lens hood.  Nikon’s HN-23 is much more expensive.

(5)  Stephen asked,  “I know you do a lot of close-up work, how do you deal with the short comings of the 60mm Micro being the only Fuji offering in that area?”

Wow, you’re right, this is one area that Fuji has not come through with more great lenses!!  Now having said that the 60mm Micro, other than focusing to slow, is exceptional and I use it a lot, however honestly it is not enough, so for now (until Fuji give us a 105mm or 150 mm Micro?  ***Please!!),  I have a solution.  Fortunately, with an adapter I can use my Nikon 200mm Micro (my all time favorite close-up lenses), and it works absolutely fantastic!!!  I do hope that Fuji gives us another longer micro that focuses 1:1, but until then, I’m getting along just fine.  One last solution, diopters works really well on all of the Fuji lenses, and I use them often.

(6)  John asked,  “I see you have the Rokinon 8mm Fisheye, is it any good?”

I rarely use a fisheye lens, but since the Rokinon was only $300. and I wanted to have a fisheye, I just dropped someone on one, and surprisingly it is pretty sharp, very usable.  Is it as sharp as say the Nikon 10.5 or 16mm fisheye lenses?   Nope, not really, but as I said three hundred bucks.

(7)  Tom asked, “Why did you choose the three cameras you chose?”

This is a tough one, I started with the Fuji X10, which I loved but wanted a bigger sensor, so the X-E1 was my first serious Fuji X System body.d it and would have been happy there for ever, but it doesn’t work like that, Fuji improved the X-E1 dramatically with the X-E2 so of course  I got one.  Once again, the X100s hit the market and though different it was wonderful and so I picked one of those up too!  Hate to admit it, but every one went on and on about the Fuji X-Pro 1 and so I added that body too.  I really like it but it is very different and I still don’t use it very much.  Then the big bomb dropped, the X-T1, which I love so much, will likely be the one, from now on… Ha!! do we really believe that, hey, I’m a photographer and that is spelled fickle!

YEP, this is the one!

Hope this is helpful!

Blessings,

the pilgrim