See? I happened upon a Fujinon XC 50-230mm f 1:4.5-6.7 OIS II lens in the storeroom and leaped on it with a glad cry. I have several small Fujifilm X-series bodies to hand and two airports within a reasonable proximity. What better chance to try the light-duty medium zoom from Fujifilm. The Fujifilm shooters who only buy the heaviest of their lenses...
At airfield, with onions. I was out at Jandakot aerodrome testing the Fujinon XC50-230mm 1:4.5-6.7 OIS II lens for this column and turned around and there he was - our friend Mark - consummate wedding and aerial photographer of Mark Wagenaar Photography ( go look up his website and admire the pictures...
And I am, in turn, doing it to you. Just as well we don't live in the main county town of Somerset and drive a German Ford sedan because that would be a case of Taunus taunting in Taunton, and we could all be arrested on suspicion of carrying an offensive weapun...
And I hope I never find it...
Armed with my trusty Fujifilm X-Pro 1 and equally trusty 18-135mm f:3.5-5.6 zoom lens, I visited the hot rod show again on their second day of operation. It was in the spirit of scientific enquiry, as well as the spirit of having another day out looking at cars and avoiding having to fold the laundry. Science by itself is all very well, but there are certain social sweeteners too...
I do not intend to rule the world, or bother going to see any more of the Tolkein movies for that matter, but the idea of one lens to take all my pictures is a rather attractive one - particularly when it means keeping it on one camera and not having to open the hatch to let dust in. I will excuse studio illustration work as I have a dedicated camera, lens, adapter combination that does that right now. I feed batteries and cards into it and extract images and as long as it churns the pixels I am going to pronounce myself satisfied - but there are more shots than just upon a product table. I go out to dance shows, car shows, and general affairs. The dream of one focusing ring to cover all is tempting. Did I use a full-frame DSLR or mirror-less body, I would opt for a 24-70 f:2.8 from whichever manufacturer I fancied and be satisfied with that. If I were using a small-frame DSLR I would ask for a 17mm or an 18mm to 55mm...
I'm really doing the Royal Show people a disservice with that title. The Silver Pavilion and the Robinson Pavilion are far nicer than barns - even if they do sometimes have animals on display there. Or hot rods and custom cars, as was the case this last weekend. Apart from the one time they fired up a methanol-powered sprint car inside the main space, there were no bad smells, either. But I drift...
I have never used this lens before - any experiences I have with it are going to be new. Whether they will be rewarding or not depends on a number of factors: The job in hand. The degree of skill I can bring to it. The expectations I have beforehand. The lens is the Fujinon XF 16-55mm f:2.8 R LM WR and I have attached it to the Fujifilm X-Pro1. The reason I have chosen this camera body instead of the X-Pro2 or the X-T2 is because I own the X-Pro 1 and it has not failed yet. I do not expect it to fail now. Recent experience has shown that the ISO rating on this camera need not hover at the 200-400 mark as previously thought. It can readily be set to 800, 1600, or 2400 ISO for reportage and the images do not suffer. In addition to this capability, I have a new Fujifilm EF-X500 flash gun and it pumps out plenty of light. Previous trials with slower lenses than the 16-55 have had mixed success - particularly when there was...
If you ever want to feel as if the unbounded springs of life are about to burst inside of you, I suggest that you try not to attempt it on the roads on Sunday morning. At least not in Perth. In Margaret River springs might burst - in Meekatharra springs might burst - but in Perth the mechanism is rusted shut. At least that was my experience this last Sunday whilst looking for a suitable subject to exercise the Nikon 18-55mm f:3.5-5.6G AF-S DX lens attached to the new Nikon D7500 camera. I was looking for where it was all at, but was forced to the conclusion that it wasn't anywhere. Even the rail museum was shut. You'd think that Rotting Locomotives R Us would at least be open for business - even if they were not fired up. No. Not until 1:00. Until then you could cruise the streets, slowly work your way through the detours on Tonkin Highway, and then drive past the lost souls along James Street in Guildford. Wind it up with a tour down the back streets...
Big T, Little A and an M, R, O, and an N. It's not Texas but don't tell anyone...