Tag: gear

Fujifilm Upgrade

My beloved Xpro-1 died on our recent trip to Paris, so while I’m waiting for it to come back from repair I pulled the trigger on a long-needed camera upgrade. After a lot of reading/research/fretting, I finally pulled the trigger on the Fujifilm X-T20 after seeing some results from a friend who has been shooting with it quite a lot. One of the best pieces of advice a teacher gave me in regards to photography gear was to invest in good quality lenses in whatever system you were shooting; there’s no point in constantly upgrading your camera body if you aren’t shooting with decent glass. I currently own four of the Fuji Lenses (18-55mm, 35mm 1.4, 56mm 1.2, and 14mm 2.8). After only a week of shooting with the T20 I’m kicking myself for not upgrading sooner, as the Fuji system has improved in leaps and bounds since the Xpro-1 and I’ve been wasting these amazing lenses on such an outdated system.

I’ve been falling more and more in love with this system and am going to invest further in a few more lenses for wedding work. I’ve been a canon shooter for much of my life and career, but I love the low profile and quiet shutter of the Fuji and it’s become my only go-to travel kit camera. Just for fun I challenged myself to shoot first with the 18-55mm kit lens, as it’s a lens I’ve never really liked much and was considering selling. It’s optics come across much nicer on the Xt20 and while I’m happy with these results, I’ll likely sell it and invest in the 16-55mm 2.8 next.

 

Fujifilm X-Pro1

Plenty of other people and websites have reviewed this camera, but it was Zack Arias’s post about it which pushed me over the edge on making the purchase. I’ve been looking for a good travel/backpacking/street photography camera for a while. Much as I love the 5d Mk 2 and 3, carrying around that and a couple of lenses can be hell on your back after a while. I needed something I can throw into a bag to carry around, and I wanted a less intimidating camera for photographing people on the street.

So, I’ve been shooting with the X-Pro1 for a month or so now, and my love affair with this camera has only begun. Fuji recently announced their upcoming lens roadmap and the future looks bright. Currently I only have the 35mm 1.4 lens, but am already planning to expand my kit for this camera and plan to start using it at weddings.

More sample images below the jump Continue reading “Fujifilm X-Pro1”

Canon Announces the new 5D Mark III, New Lightroom Released

New Gear! Secretly, even the most artistic photographers also love a new camera. (Or, sometimes a new ‘old’ camera in the case of flea purchase scores of Canon Ae-1’s.)

Just this last few weeks have been with the release of of Lightroom 4, and the announcement of the Canon 5d Mark3 camera. I’m excited about both these offerings and I only hope my pre-order went in early enough to get a hold of one of the Mark III’s when they ship! Every time the doorbell rings I secretly hope it’s a delivery person bringing a big box from B and H Photo. My logical brain knows it’s way too early for that to be the case, but illogically, it feels a little bit like expecting Santa to show up.

Some links of inspiration/information you might find useful –

5d Mark III stats and sample photos and gorgeous video. They’ve integrated some of the more useful video settings from the Canon EOS 7D SLR Digital Camera (Body Only) (also a great camera), added a headphone jack, dual card slots, and expanded the auto focus settings. I personally mostly use center spot focusing for weddings, it’s just easier to move the camera after grabbing focus than to change the focus point, but I can see it being useful for food and product photography.

Canon’s also announced a new flash, the 600EX. This is a purchase I might hold off on for a while, as I’m pretty happy with my Canon Speedlite 580EX II, but it’s worth knowing about.

What’s In Your Camera Bag?

When not being ‘occupied’ by a cat, my standard camera bag holds my Canon 5d Mk2, Canon L series 24-105, Canon 50mm 1.5, Canon 85.. 1.8, extra batteries for the camera, and four 16 gig memory cards in an awesome Pelican CF card holder. In an additional bag goes flashes, flash accessories, extra batteries and the battery chargers – I also carry my own power strip to gigs to line up all those chargers, just in case.

I’m currently investigating new camera bags, as the gear (as well as the cat) has outgrown the ancient one I’ve had since college. Any suggestions for what works for you are most appreciated!