{"id":19374,"date":"2017-10-09T21:48:30","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T21:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=19374"},"modified":"2017-10-09T21:48:30","modified_gmt":"2017-10-09T21:48:30","slug":"what-is-a-photographer-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=19374","title":{"rendered":"What is a photographer to do?????"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I’ve had a number of readers and students ask me what I’m going to do about the new Fujifilm 80mm f 2.8 Macro lens? \u00a0What people are usually asking is it right for me!!!???<\/p>\n

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Let me set the parameters for you. \u00a0I do a great deal of close-up work and have, over the years, owned some of the most highly rated lenses out there. \u00a0I personally don’t want any lens unless it is spectacular in performance, nearly perfect! \u00a0Why? \u00a0I found long ago that unless you know your cameras and lenses are capable of making the highest quality images, you will always wonder was it me or the camera or lens that contributed to my failure in this shot? \u00a0If you know your gear is able to help you make the near perfect (technical) images you desire, when the results are less than great, “you know who to blame!”<\/strong> \u00a0It holds you accountable, since you know if used properly the camera and lens can deliver the goods!!!!<\/p>\n

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So, if you are very serious and want the best let’s look at some of the options I know best. \u00a0First if you buy a Macro lens just to shoot close-ups, really close and will not likely use it a lot for subjects at normal distances, a pure Macro\/Micro lens will work well for \u00a0you. \u00a0They are simple to use, simply focus them and shoot,\u00a0no need for extension tubes, diopters etc.<\/p>\n

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I’m assuming you shoot the Fujifilm X Series of cameras, but the basic principles will apply across the board. \u00a0If you need a lot of working distance because you might disturb your subject, if you are too close, (insects, snakes, frogs, etc) Then you will want a 150mm to 200 mm Macro lens, and if you shoot Fujifilm, you are “sorta” out of luck!! \u00a0I say “Sorta” because the \u00a055-200, 50-140 and 100-400 work fabulously with diopters. \u00a0The 100-400 with the Canon 500D can get you to almost 1:1 (life size) and is fantastisally sharp, but it is not a Macro lens per se’!<\/p>\n

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For Fujifilm shooters I recommend the 200mm Micro lenses from Nikon with an adapter or from Canon, (theirs is a 180mm ). \u00a0Of course you will have to manually focus, but then in all serious close- up work you will be doing that anyway (or should!!!!)<\/p>\n

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If a mid range Macro will do the new 80mm Mcro f 2.8 is hard to beat, it is tack sharp and has a lot of wonderful feature! \u00a0It can go to 1:1 without accessories, takes the auto extension tubes, and can even be used with the Fujifilm teleconverters! \u00a0It\u00a0is weather resistant, fast (f 2.8), and handles wonderfully. \u00a0Only two downsides are; \u00a0it is on the big side, and the cost is $1,095. \u00a0If it fits in your budget, it is well worth the price.<\/p>\n

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You can buy some of the long discomntinued manual focus Micro Nikkor lenses and they are very sharp and can be adapted to the Fujifilm bodies with inexpensive adapters I buy on Amazon. \u00a0They have aperture rings which makes them easy to use, and manual focus only, though the 105mm Macro AF will work as well, but is is the most expensive and does not focus as easy as the older purely manual focus lenses!<\/p>\n

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The spectaular darkhorse lens is the Tokina 100mm Macro f 2.8. \u00a0It has long been considered one of the very sharpest Macro lense out there and, brand new, runs less than $400. \u00a0It goes 1:1 and is built very well and focuses wonderfully in manual focus mode! \u00a0Truthfully, it is a steal if your budget is tight!!!<\/p>\n

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Lastly the shortest focal length is the venerable Fujifilm 60mm Macro f 2.4. \u00a0It reasonably priced, small and compact and is spectaculary sharp as well, (remember all these focal lengths should be multiplied by 1.5 to see the true focal length equivlent) \u00a0So a 80mm acts like a 12omm, a 105mm like a 150mm\u00a0the 60mm a 90mm, a 200mm a 300mm, \u00a0and on and on.<\/p>\n

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One last alternative for the Fujifilm shooter is their wonderful 90mm f 2 (135mm equiv.) \u00a0It is not a true Macro lens but focuses very close and works wonderfully with extension tubes and diopters!!<\/p>\n

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You may be wondering why I have not shown images of photographs made with each lens? \u00a0You couldn’t tell them apart!!!!!! \u00a0Web images just can’t portray the differences, which are very minor, at best!!!!<\/p>\n

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So what am I doing? \u00a0I own the Nikkor 200mm Micro for long distance, I use the 100-400 a lot and it is becoming my favorite and sharpest way to shoot from good distances!!!! \u00a0I love the 60mm Macro and the 90mm which I use a lot. \u00a0The new 80mm Macro f 2.8 from Fujifilm is still not availale to purchase, though I tested one and loved \u00a0it. \u00a0I suspect I will pick one up when they become available! \u00a0I’ve got some time to think about anyway!!!<\/p>\n

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Hope that was helpful!<\/p>\n

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Blessings,<\/p>\n

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the pilgrim<\/p>\n

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  I’ve had a number of readers and students ask me what I’m going to do about the new Fujifilm 80mm f 2.8 Macro lens? \u00a0What people are usually asking is it right for me!!!???   Let me set the parameters for you. \u00a0I do a great deal of close-up work and have, over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19374"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19377,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19374\/revisions\/19377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}