After two years of obsessing, finally………

It all started in February of 1969!  Freshly graduated from U. K. (the University of Kentucky ), and living at home with my mom and dad, I was flush with cash, or the promise of it!  I had just been hired to a whopping five thousand dollar a year contract to teach high school and was going to get a hundred bucks more, a year, to coach football!  With money in my pocket, for the first time, I had always wanted a good camera, so after much study and research, I  bought a Nikkormat FTN  and a 50mm f2 lens! That combo cost me $165., those were the days!!!   Within a few months I had added Nikkor 24mm f 2.8 and Nikkor 105mm f 2.5!!!  As they say, “the rest is  history!”  O.K. well, at least that’s what I say!

For the next 44 years the love affair has continued!  I owned and used; Nikon Fs, F2s, F3s, F4s, F5s, I even had an F6 when I joined Nikon as the NPS Rep for the Southern U.S.  By then film was gasping for air, and I shot my last three rolls of film with her!  I have over 25,000 color transparencies and 10,000 black & White negatives from my film days past!

Then the new streak began with the digital age; D1s, D2s, D3s, and D4s, ( and lots of other various Nikon bodies, and dozens, and dozens, and dozens of lenses!!! ) Yes, I admit I had a few little flings, a Konica once, a Leica, a Minolta, and even a Canon G9, egads!!,  but they never lasted very long, and she, (Miss Nikon), always took me back!

Millions of miles, thousands of breath taking scenes, incredible experiences, and four decades slid by, in what seemed like 15 minutes!!!! Over time we grew used to each other, we knew each others limitations, mine, far greater than hers, but some how we made it work!  She was the one constant in my photographic life, the palms of my hands shaped like a Nikon!  A photographic relationship made in Heaven!  I was sure she and I would stroll, and then hobble into the sunset together!

A doctor’s office visit:

So many sad stories start with a visit to the doctors office.  My doctor said, “Would you like some more shoulder surgery?”  I responded, “would you like me to sock you in the jaw??!!”  ( My doctor is also a good friend and he’s use to my, sometimes, caustic manner!) He explained that if I wanted to preserve my remaining, good shoulder, I was going to have to stop carrying a 25 + pound camera bag!  No options,  no excuses, just do it, or check into the hospital and go under the knife again!  Not ever wanting to face shoulder surgery, and rehab again, I started a search for how to reconfigure my gear to get the weight way down, but it just wasn’t happening!  No matter how much I eliminated, my bag still weighed too much, and the “I have to have its’” kept the weight too high!  It seemed there was no way!  I was truly worried!  Was this the end of the road for me as a serious shooter??!!  I started the search for a small, mirror-less, carry system, but honestly, everything I looked at was falling way short of what I wanted!  Don’t get me wrong there were some interesting systems, but none met my “very” specific desires!

Then it happened …….

It was Nick’s fault,  (Nick Coury, my dear friend and brother at Durys Camera in Nashville),  he introduced me to her!  She was much smaller and lighter, but really well built, and oh how sharp her lenses were.  Nick may have introduced me to her but I was the one who decided to take her for a spin, don’t blame Nick!  After a romantic afternoon of shooting the Fuji X-Pro 1, with my hands all over her, I went back and downloaded the files. There it was, starring me in the face, and as Judy Garland sang in the nineteen fifties, “You Made Me Love You!”

“You made me love you
I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t want to do it
You made me love you
And all the time you knew it
I guess you always knew it.
You made me happy sometimes, you made me glad
But there were times, Dear, you made me feel so bad.”

I told myself, you’re too old to have these kinds of feelings again, that spring in your step, that perpetual smile, waaaaay too old!  But I did!  The beat of “Addicted to Love” pounded in my head!  Miss Fuji X had me head over heels!  TIME OUT!  Now fortunately we’re not talking about a marriage here, this is photography after all!  Surely I can have a new photographic love, and not have to walk away from the other love of my photographic life?  It’s not a sin to love them both, and thank goodness, because I can’t imagine my photographic life without either one of them!

With all the choices, why Fuji?!?! Certainly other, lighter systems exist, and some very fine ones too!   It was one thing; IMAGE QUALITY, period!  If a camera won’t make a killer image, I’m not interested!  In the world of DSLRs, nothing, and I truly mean nothing, (as of this writing), comes close to a D800/800e, end of sentence!  But, the Fuji X series comes shockingly close, and it weighs a third the weight, and costs half as much!  It really doesn’t matter anyway, can you spell anesthesia?!  No, no more surgery for me!

From somewhere in the back of the auditorium, I heard a question yelled out; ” Mr. Fortney, please quantify your definition of IMAGE  QUALITY?”

Happy to do so my friend, for me Image Quality is:

1. Resolution high enough to make great, sharp, large, and I mean, feet by feet, prints!

2. Accurate, attractive, richly saturated color, with boat loads of dynamic range.

3. The noise at high ISO, needs to be noiseless to at least 1600!  ( the X-E1 does that coasting, very, very usable all the way to 6400!).

….and then it must have:

A. A solidly built, metal body, (check)

B. Real, old school, shutter speed, and  exposure compensation knobs, (check)

C. An actual aperture ring,  just like in the old days, (check). 

D.  Lenses that are right up there in quality and sharpness with my beloved Nikkors, yep, (check!!!!) 

E.  It’s got to feel like a real camera in my hands! (check, it does!)

F.  …..and lastly, the images have to be jaw dropping!  (Yep!!!).

Can you see how this affair happened?!

The same guy yells out, “where does that leave Miss Nikon?  ” I’am so glad you asked! For over forty four years she has been with me, helping me make great images, and even greater memories, so I’m not about to leave her now!!!   The D4 is still my  lifetime “do everything – picture making machine”, the digital age equivalent of the old film era F5!! High praise indeed.  I love the Fuji X series but they can’t do that, that speed, that weatherproofing.  My D800 is my 4X5 view camera equivalent!  The single “BEST Imaging” camera in the world as of today!  My Nikkor glass will never leave my equipment collection!  Nope, they are not going anywhere, I’m just not able to carry them any great distance!!!  Remember what started all this???!!!  Yes the Nikons will be a trunk system supreme, and will get plenty of use when I can work close to the vehicle!

If you do lots of kinds of work, you need a multi faceted system!  No one camera or system does it all!  There is no “Best Camera”,  one that does everything so well that you need nothing else. All the gear I’ve invested in is “capable” of great imagery, if it’s being used right, in the right hands, that is now, and has always has been the biggest challenge in my career!  And I love the challenge!  I believe every great photographer wants to make the most of the equipment they shoot. I sure do, I love the craft!

So, problem solved, I’m now geared up for anything I ever want to shoot, wherever I need to go to shoot it!  My shoulder should be safe from the surgeon, and I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had as a shooter with both my loves!

Here is my retirement years system below:

* As of August 2013.  * keep in mind,  new things always arrive so, down the road, we will see how any of this changes!

NIKON FX:  For Speed / Action / HDR / Heavy Duty Build & Weather  / working close to the vehicle.

Nikon D4  –  Nikon D800  –  Nikon D700

16-35 AF-S VR f4

24-120 AF-S VR f4

28-300 AF-S VR f3.5-5.6. (Most often paired with the 16-35)

70-300 AF-S VR f 4.5-5.6

105 Micro Nikkor f 2.8 AF-S VR & Manual Focus version

85 f 1.8 AF D lens

200mm Micro Nikkor f 4 IF-ED

* ( Full set of AI-S manual focus lenses, stretching from 24mm to 400mm, all classics!)

NIKON DX  BODY?   Still considering the options and what may come next, no I don’t know anything!!!  Honest.  I’m waiting to see just like you!

MY CARRY SYSTEM:  Light weight + Exceptional IQ + very high fun factor!

Fuji X-E1 body.

Fuji X100s

Fuji X-Pro 2.  or whatever they will call it!  (When released)

10-24 f4 OIS ( When released)

14mm f 2.8

35mm f 1.4

18-55 f2.8-4.0 OIS

60mm Micro F 2.4

55-200 f 3.5-4.8 OIS

Looking for 90mm f 2 or 2.8 equivalent

* All camera bodies ( Nikon & Fuji) outfitted with Really Right Stuff L Brackets,

Fuji’s with wonderful integrated grips!

So, it took over two years of study, and testing, hand wringing, obsessing, and praying,  but I know I’ve got the right systems for me now!  What’s best for you??  That’s for you to decide!  Get busy testing!

Blessings,

the pilgrim

P.S.  A nod to Zak Arias.  I thought his wonderful review of the Fuji X100s “A Camera Walks Into a Bar”  was the most clever reviews I’ve ever read, this is my attempt to, in some small way, to return the favor!