Tag Archives: lens

Deals and Sales

Reminder: Fujifilm X-Series Discounts

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I recently posted an article about  the Fujifilm X-Series camera system that included a list of some impressive price reductions that are part of a current Fujifilm promotion. These prices are still available, making this a great time to acquire a Fujifilm X-Series camera or lenses. Here is the list once again.

X-Pro1: Fujifilm’s innovative interchangeable lens camera combining an optical rangefinder design with an electronic viewfinder.

X-T1: Fujifilm’s flagship interchangeable lens mirrorless camera

X100T: Fujifilm’s compact rangefinder fixed lens camera. Street photographer’s love it.

X-T10: A less expensive but very capable camera modeled on the X-T1.

X-E2: A very compact interchangeable lens mirrorless camera. (I use the X-E1, the predecessor of this model.)

X-30: A very compact mirrorless camera with a smaller sensor and a zoom lens.

Fujifilm lenses for X Series interchangeable lens cameras

Summary: Based on my own experience with a number of the lenses and confirmed by many other reports, the Fujifilm lenses provide first-rate optical performance. The range from very small prime lenses up to large aperture zooms that are competitive with the best from the DSLR manufacturers. I have marked lenses that I own and use with asterisks — *.

This list was compiled carefully, but errors could occur, so verify all prices and other information directly with the linked vendor(s).

Taking Stock of the Fujifilm X-E1, X-E2, S-T1 Mirrorless Cameras — My article with more information about the X-trans cameras from Fujifilm.

Links go to site-affiliate B&H Photo, and purchases through these links return a small percentage of the sale price to support this website. Your price will be the same as if you clicked directly on the vendors own links. Thanks for your support!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Deals and Sales

Deals: Fujifilm X-Series Special Pricing Announced

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A Fujifilm “Instant Savings” promotion just started today (November 15, 2015), and it brings some excellent price reductions on all of the current X-Series cameras and a whole bunch of lenses. This is a great opportunity to acquire or upgrade a Fujifilm system!

Asian Styles
People in front of a San Francisco storefront at night

If you follow this website and my photography, you may already know that I’m a big fan of the Fujifilm X-Series cameras and lenses. I rely on the little X-E1 plus a small set of the excellent Fujifilm lenses for my street and travel photography. This 1.5x cropped sensor camera system performs beautifully.

The list of cameras and lenses is too long for me to describe each piece of equipment. I’ll mention a few, but feel free to leave a comment if you have questions about anything on the list.

Fujifilm X Series Cameras

Summary: The X-Pro1 feels like an old-school interchangeable lens rangefinder camera. The X-Pro1 is the current high-end in this series — and probably the body I would get for my own use if I were buying right now. The X100T is a rangefinder body with a fixed 35mm-equivalent lens. The XT-10 shares many features with the X-T1, including its sensor, but at a lower price. The X-E2 is a very compact rangefinder-style interchangeable lens body with an electronic viewfinder. (It is the updated version of my X-E1.) The X-30 is a very small camera with an integrated zoom lens and a smaller sensor. With the exception of the X-30, all of these cameras use the excellent 16MP, 1.5x cropped sensor Fujifilm x-trans sensor.

X-Pro1: Fujifilm’s innovative interchangeable lens camera combining an optical rangefinder design with an electronic viewfinder.

X-T1: Fujifilm’s flagship interchangeable lens mirrorless camera

X100T: Fujifilm’s compact rangefinder fixed lens camera. Street photographer’s love it.

X-T10: A less expensive but very capable camera modeled on the X-T1.

X-E2: A very compact interchangeable lens mirrorless camera. (I use the X-E1, the predecessor of this model.)

X-30: A very compact mirrorless camera with a smaller sensor and a zoom lens.

Forested Cliffs, Königsee
Steep, tree-covered cliffs along the shore of the Konigsee, Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany

Fujifilm lenses for X Series interchangeable lens cameras

Summary: Based on my own experience with a number of the lenses and confirmed by many other reports, the Fujifilm lenses provide first-rate optical performance. The range from very small prime lenses up to large aperture zooms that are competitive with the best from the DSLR manufacturers. I have marked lenses that I own and use with asterisks — *.

This list was compiled carefully, but errors could occur, so verify all prices and other information directly with the linked vendor(s).

Taking Stock of the Fujifilm X-E1, X-E2, S-T1 Mirrorless Cameras — My article with more information about the X-trans cameras from Fujifilm.

Links go to site-affiliate B&H Photo, and purchases through these links return a small percentage of the sale price to support this website. Your price will be the same as if you clicked directly on the vendors own links. Thanks for your support!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Equipment, Ideas, Morning Musings, Thinking Aloud

Morning Musings: Canon and Mirrorless Cameras

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(It has been a while since I’ve written a “morning musings” post, but since I’ve been “musing” about Canon and mirrorless cameras over the past few days and learning a few things about the subject, it seems like time for another such post.)

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past few years you are aware of the introduction of so-called mirrorless cameras by several manufacturers and of the increasing sophistication of these cameras. Their features typically include:

  • smaller and lighter bodies that may be reminiscent of older rangefinder film cameras.
  • the ability to allow use of smaller lens designs, due to the shorter distance between the lens mount and the sensor.
  • electronic viewfinders (EVFs) that can incorporate additional useful tools and information into the viewfinder display and which have advantages in low light.
  • designs and features that increasingly appeal to serious photographers.

There are still issues with these cameras, and while much progress has been made and will continue, they still lag behind DSLRs is some areas:

  • battery consumption rates tend to be quite high by comparison to DSLRs.
  • AF performance is uneven and in some cases quite slow.
  • EVFs have latency issues.
  • Not everyone is fond of looking at an EVF monitor instead of the “real” image on focusing screen.
  • With some systems (notably Sony) using a wide range of lenses will likely require the use of third-party adapters.

I’ve been using a Fujifilm X-trans mirrorless system for my travel and street photography for nearly three years. (Mine is a discontinued model, but if I were buying today I would get the Fujifilm XT1 or perhaps the Fujifilm XT10.) Virtually all of my street/travel photographs of the past two years were made with my Fujifilm camera and lenses.  For this photography, the small size and excellent quality of the system compensates for the slower AF speeds and the battery consumption issues.

More recently the Sony A7r and A7rII cameras have gotten a lot of attention. When first introduced, the A7r came with the highest MP full frame sensor then available. The cameras can use (with varying degrees of compatibility and functionality) a wide range of non-Sony lenses, and they have a number of the other pluses associated with mirrorless designs. Several landscape photographer friends use the A7r and A7rII bodies for their tripod-based, manual focus photography, and I know several street/travel photographers who like the system a lot.

Sony and Fujifilm are not the only companies moving in this direction. For example, Olympus and others produce some very fine small mirrorless cameras.

All of which leads to the question: “Where is Canon’s mirrorless offering?” (Or, “Is the EOS-M the best Canon can do?”) Continue reading Morning Musings: Canon and Mirrorless Cameras →

Commentary, Equipment, Ideas

DSLR & Mirrorless: Flexibility and Adaptability

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(Note: This is one of those occasional posts adapted from something I originally wrote elsewhere. This one came from an online discussion of the relative merits of DSLRs and mirrorless cameras and their abilities to work with various lenses and photographic subjects. I have edited the original slightly for its re-use here.)

With all of the recent (justifiable!) interest in new mirrorless camera developments from Sony, there are factors that may persuade some photographers to go slow on giving up DSLRs for mirrorless. (It may also convince them to do what I did — I augmented my DSLR system with a second mirrorless system.) As good as mirrorless cameras are becoming, in particular the full frame Sony A7r and newer A7rII, they have their pluses and minuses when it comes to real-world photography. They can do some things quite well – there are advantages in some cases to the electronic viewfinders, Sony sensors provide state-of-the-art dynamic range, the bodies are compact, and more. They do some things less well — native lenses are few, other lenses require adapters, the autofocus systems are slower than DSLRs, there are still latency issues with the viewfinders, and so on.)

In this context, I recently realized that one of the nice things about the new Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II Lens and the newer Canon bodies (like my 5Ds R, which is very similar to the 5Ds)  is that they now autofocus (AF) quite well at f/8. The 100-400 len’s maximum f/5.6 aperture at the long end is no longer a barrier to getting 560mm out of the lens by adding the TC.

I’ve only tried the combination on one occasion so far, when the opportunity to photograph wildlife came up on a recent photography venture along the California coast. I put the 100-400 version II and the Canon 1.4x TC on my 5DsR and photographed two wildlife subjects, elephant seals lounging on a beach and pelicans doing everything from flying past to landing to sitting still. (For those who want more information than I can provide here, I wrote about the initial results in a another article.)

While I do not recommend that people whose primary photographic focus is birds in flight rush out and get a 5Ds or 5Ds R, a 100-400 v2, and a 1.4x TC as their primary setup, it does work decently and in some cases extremely well.  Most importantly, it means that my primary landscape photography setup and can also work very effectively with non-landscape subjects, including wildlife — a task that will severely challenge the best current mirrorless options.

The Landing
A brown pelican joins the flock on a rock along the Pacific coast of California

The combination focuses well and provides good resolution, even with moving subjects — though, obviously, not as well as using something like a 1Dx with a 300mm f/2.8 prime. It is good enough that I can track birds in flight and catch sharp photographs of them in motion. Continue reading DSLR & Mirrorless: Flexibility and Adaptability →