NEW! Fujifilm GFX Medium Format System

Today is the day that Fujifilm has officially announced their ground-breaking new GFX medium format mirrorless camera system. The GFX 50S is a 51.4 megapixel, CMOS-sensor based mirrorless camera with exceptionally high performance specifications and alongside the new body, Fujifilm has also announced three initial lenses, with several more to appear later in 2017. The new system is slated to start shipping by late February and prices are surprisingly modest for medium format gear. At launch, pricing in Canada will be as follows...

GFX 50S Body - $8,499
GF 63mm f/2.8R WR standard lens - $1,899
GF 32-64mm f/4R LM WR wide zoom - $2,999
GF 120mm f/4R LM OIS WR Macro lens - $3,499

You can inquire about pre-ordering by clicking the above banner. In addition, we will be hosting a hands-on GFX Launch Event at Beau Photo Supplies on Friday, February 3rd, so call or email for more information about that too!

Some interesting accessories will be available for the new GFX system as well. One option is a tilting and swiveling EVF bracket ($749), that will allow for greater flexibility when viewing from awkward angles, a vertical battery grip ($799) and a large-format camera adapter plate ($519) to allow for tilt and shift movements when used on a 4x5 camera with suitable, high-resolution large-format lenses. A very interesting accessory will be the H-lens adapter ($879) which will allow for Hasselblad HC lenses to be mounted, even allowing you to use their leaf-shutters for fast studio flash-sync speeds up to 1/800 second. The only downside of the adapter is that those otherwise autofocusing Hasselblad HC lenses will only be manual focus when adapted to the GFX. Still, those two adapters will immediately open up a world of additional lens possibilities when they ship!

NEW! Fujifilm X-Pro2!

A slew of big announcements from Fujifilm marks this day! A Fujifilm rep was kind enough to lend me a preproduction X-Pro2, an X70 and the new 100-400 zoom a short while ago, just so I could prepare a bit of a hands-on preview in time for the official announcement. Despite the fact that I am very behind with my blogging (nothing on the new Nikon announcements yet for example, but coming soon!) I feel obligated to put the other blog entries on hold and first talk about the Fujifilm gear, since the rep did go totally out of his way to get me the gear for the personal hands-on I had requested. Please note that the camera I tested definitely had beta firmware, and I did notice the occasional typo. I also cannot be sure how the camera's performance will change, or what features might still be added, once the final firmware is out. I will publish some more hands-on impressions of how it is to shoot with, once I get my hands on a production camera for a while.

So, now to the X-Pro2… finally! Many have been waiting for an upgrade to Fujifilm's first interchangeable lens X-system camera, and soon the wait will be over. The X-Pro2 improves on its predecessor in pretty much every way. First off, rest assured that Fujifilm's superb Hybrid-VF is still present, and it has been upgraded to offer an optional zoomed EVF focus preview in its lower right corner, even when in OVF mode, just like its cousin, the X00T.

NEW! XF100-400mm zoom, Fujifilm X-E2s and X70...

Along with the X-Pro2 announcement, Fujifilm has announced a slew of other products, including the highly anticipated XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6R LM OIS WR zoom. Above is a photo of the preproduction X-Pro2 on the new zoom and as you can tell, it isn't exactly a svelte lens! Thankfully, it isn't quite as heavy as it looks, but you sure wouldn't be lugging this around for casual shooting. Carrying this lens will mean you are going to be wielding it with purpose, motor-sports, wildlife, birding etc.

Since the lens was preproduction and I had very little time with it, I am unable to comment on its image quality. That said, I did do a few indoor handheld shots at between 1/10 and 1/15 second, and even wide open at 400mm (a 600mm equivalent), they were mostly tack sharp. The 5-stops of image stabilization that Fujifilm is claiming certainly does not seem exaggerated. It features a weather-resistant design, has fast focusing, a lens hood with a built-in, sliding polarizer adjusting door, a tripod foot and apart from all the usual controls, also has a focus limiter switch. Here is a comparison, hoods off, to the largest of Fujifilm's other tele zooms, with the new big gun on the left, the the XF 40-150mm f/2.8 zoom in the middle, and on the right, the XF 55-200mm…

NEW! Fujinon XF 35mm f/2.0R WR and 1.4x Teleconverter...

Update #2: I have now received my own XF 35mm f/2R WR lens and published a detailed review, with lots of sample images as well. Check it out on my blog at the following link: http://mikemander.com/2015/11/tested-fujinon-xf-35mm-f2r-wr.html

Update: We now have the new 35mm f/2 (black version) in stock! The silver model will be coming in a week or so. I'll be receiving my own personal one within the next week too and I'll be doing some testing and reporting on the quality of a production version of this new lens soon. See the rest of this blog entry for some preliminiary testing notes.

Announcement & Initial Testing Notes

[October 21, 2015]: Today, Fujifilm took the wraps off a couple of new items. First off, let's talk about their new, compact 50mm equivalent normal prime lens, the Fujinon XF 35mm f/2.0R WR. You can see it above in the lineup, starting on the left with the 23mm f/1.4, then the existing 35mm f/1.4, the new 35mm f/2 and then the 18-55mm kit zoom (click the image for a larger view). As you can see, the lens is a fair bit smaller than the current 35mm f/1.4.

The new 35mm f/2 is due to be available for sale on November 14th at a price of $499 CDN. The lens will come with a small, 43mm thread-on lens hood and you can use the standard lens cap with it. There will also be an optional bayonet metal lens hood for an estimated $59.95. This hood is tapered and "vented" with slots cut in to allow for better optical VF viewing with the X-Pro1, and presumably, future models with a similar rangefinder-style Hybrid Multi Viewfinder. Despite its tapered design, thankfully it will still allow for use of the supplied, normal snap on lens cap, which is something you cannot do with the rectangular metal hood on the 35mm f/1.4. Not sure yet if the hood can be reverse mounted though? Here is a shot of the optional hood…

The lens will be available in both black and silver, however the hood seems to be available in black only. We are taking preorders on this lens, so contact us if you'd like to order one!

Here is a photo of the black and silver versions, side by side (again, click for a larger view) which might help you decide which one to preorder…

I had a chance to test out a prototype 35mm last week and considering it was optically not a final version, I was still impressed with its image quality.

NEW! Fujifilm XF 16mm f/1.4R WR

The new XF 16mm f/1.4R WR (second from the right)

Update [May 15, 2015]: Due to an unexpected delay in shipment, we did not receive our stock on the 14th as hoped for. According to tracking, we should be seeing a partial shipment arrive on Tuesday, May 19th. Unfortunately, the first shipment is not quite covering our pre-orders either. Hopefully we'll see the balance in a couple of weeks...

The good news is that I have had an opportunity to thoroughly test a production sample of the lens and have posted a follow-up review and a gallery of images on my personal blog here:

Tested! Fujifilm XF 16mm f/1.4R WR

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A couple of weeks ago, Fujifilm announced a new, fast wide-angle 16mm prime lens, equivalent to a 24mm in full-frame terms. Notably, this is Fujifilm's first prime lens with the WR designation, meaning it has dust and water resistant construction. I had the opportunity to test a pre-production sample of the new 16mm and while I cannot share any photos from it, I will say that I was extremely impressed. Compared to the Fujifilm XF 23mm f/1.4R, which I consider one of the very best wide-angle lenses I have ever used (regardless of brand), I would say that even the preproduction 16mm held up to the 23mm as far as image quality.

Like the 23mm and the 14mm f/2.8, the new 16mm seemed 100% corrected optically for distortion, therefore no software correction will be needed; straight lines render straight with no apparent barrel or pincushion distortion, even at the very edges of the frame. In addition, I could see no evidence of any chromatic aberration either. With its Nano-GI anti-reflection lens coatings (which the older prime lenses do not have), it proved extremely resistant to lens flare when shooting into the sun as well, something that fast, wide-angle primes are often not very good at. Corner sharpness on the preproduction lens was exceptional as well, and once the lens was stopped down to /2.8, the corners were already essentially as sharp as the centre. Even wide open at f/1.4, the centre of the frame is tack sharp, the edges were very good and only the extreme corners showed some obvious softness. Even the wide-open bokeh was surprisingly smooth and pleasing, not something one would necessarily expect from such a wide lens.

Coming soon... Fujinon XF 16-55mm f/2.8R LM WR

I had a chance to try out a preproduction copy of the upcoming Fujinon XF 16-55mm f/2.8R LM WR the other day, Fujifilm's new professional grade mid-range zoom. Notably, it does not have OIS (optical image stabilization) which seems to have gotten a few people riled up. Originally, Fujifilm specified OIS for this lens, but then a few months back when Fujifilm showed a prototype at the 2014 Photokina trade show, it was suddenly missing that feature.

Contrary to apparent popular opinion, I am quite pleased Fujifilm decided not to include OIS. Why? Well as you can see in the photos of this lens, it is already quite substantial (although not quite as heavy as it looks in my view) and adding image stabilization would have meant either increasing the lens' girth even more, or shrinking the optics instead which then would likely lead to more vignetting and other image quality concerns. More importantly, I have seen far too many non-telephoto, stabilized lenses suffer from image quality issues, most often inconsistent edge and corner softness and variable chromatic aberration, which is rather hard to compensate for properly.

A lens projects a round image-circle, slightly larger than is needed to cover the rectangular image area of the sensor (or film!) that takes the photo. Often times, especially with wide angle lenses, the closer you get to the edge of the image circle the more compromised the sharpness might become, often with increased vignetting and chromatic aberration too. While you are holding a stabilized lens, the image circle is constantly drifting about, compensating for your handholding jitter and movement. If you happen to take the photo while one corner of the sensor is near the edge of this drifting image circle, that corner might have worse sharpness than then rest of the frame. Wide-angle lenses tend to require very precise alignment of all their optical elements to achieve sharp, consistent image quality edge-to-edge so I don't know about you, but to me, having a group of lens elements tilting about continuously inside the lens doesn't strike me as a good recipe for optimal image quality!

Arrived! Fujifilm Extension Tubes

Much to my surprise, we have already received our new Fujifilm extension tube order! We have both the 11mm and 16mm ones in stock currently.

Here is what both tubes look like on my X-E2, stacked with the 60mm macro…

Following are a few examples of what sort of an effect they have on minimum focus distance. Firstly, here is shot taken with Fujifilm's XF 60mm f/2.4R Macro by itself, at its closest focusing distance which gives a 1:2 macro reproduction ratio…

Adding the two extension tubes (the 11mm and 16mm) allows you to focus a lot closer, as you can see here, and my guess is that this shot is now getting close to a 1:1 reproduction ratio…

Even with both tubes attached, the working distance with the 60mm is still quite useable since closest focus results in the subject being 10cm from the front of the lens. Without the two tubes, the closest one can get with the 60mm is roughly 15cm. However, when you pair up the tubes with some wide-angle lenses, sometimes the point of focus is actually inside the lens, behind the front element! Clearly that is not workable.

For example, here is a shot with the 11mm tube and the XF 23mm f/1.4R but not at its closest distance. In fact, I believe the lens was actually set to infinity for this shot! In this case, the front of the lens was maybe only 2 or 3 cm from the "Eval" button on the calculator in the photograph...

One thing to remember is that every lens will behave differently with extension tubes. Fujifilm does have a chart that shows statistics for the individual tubes when paired up with various lenses, but does not show results when both tubes are used together. A few points about using extension tubes…

While autofocus does work with tubes attached, it doesn't work very well if the subject is far out of focus, even if the subject is actually within the current range of focus. This difficulty in focusing varies from lens to lens and is also dependant on which tube you are using, and usually gets worse when you stack more than one. Once you get the focus close though, then my X-E2 does seem to lock quite responsively. Generally speaking, the wider angle the lens, the more effect the extension tube has. For example, the 11mm tube by itself only has minimal effect on the 60mm macro, but on the 23mm wide-angle it has a huge effect on minimum focusing distance and reproduction ratio. Put the 11mm tube on the 10-24mm zoom and at 10mm, even at infinity focus, the point of focus actually falls behind the front element (inside the lens), however at 24mm it is barely useable with a few centimetres of working distance.

When using extension tubes, the range of focus on your lens, from closest focus to "infinity" is extremely compressed too. For example, the 60mm macro with both tubes give a 10cm working distance to your subject at closest focus but when the lens is set to infinity, that distance only increases to 17cm. This does make things difficult for the AF system and often it is easier to put the camera on manual focus and move the entire camera and lens back and forth physically to find the point of sharpest focus, rather than trying to use the focusing ring on the lens. This is why geared macro focusing rails are so useful!

Lastly, at present there doesn't seem to be any embedded metadata when the extension tubes are used with my X-E2. For example, Adobe Lightroom simply reports the XF 60mm f/2.8R as the lens used and there doesn't seem to be any way of telling if one or more tubes are attached. I can't be sure, but there is a chance that future camera body and/or lens firmware updates might rectify this...

If you would like to try the new extension tubes on your own camera body to see how they might perform with a specific lens, I have bought both for myself and will generally have them available to show at the store...

Preview: Fujifilm XF 50-140mm f/2.8R LM OIS WR Zoom

(click on above image to open a high-res version in a new window)

[UPDATE: for my final review with a more extensive image gallery, click this link]

I recently had an opportunity to briefly test Fujifilm's new professional level zoom, equivalent to a 75-210mm in full-frame terms. I tested it on my X-E2 body but above, you can see it mounted to an X-T1. While the lens is indeed quite large and has substantial mass, it is actually not as heavy as it looks, in other words, its density doesn't seem all that high, a welcome fact thankfully. I have Fujifilm's extra hand-grip on my X-E2 and with it, I found the lens fairly well balanced and easy to handhold.

This is constant aperture f/2.8 zoom with a properly marked aperture ring on the lens, a first for Fujifilm zooms and hopefully the beginning of a future trend! It has a linear-motor (LM) for fast and quiet focusing, it boasts weather-resistant (WR) construction and has an optical image stabilizer (OIS) that is rated for 5-stops of extra stability. The tripod mount is detachable with two thumbscrews but it is also a nice way to carry the lens with attached body, to avoid stress on the body's lens mount from the relatively heavy lens.

The lens is beautifully constructed with a fully internal zoom mechanism and a silky smooth zoom ring with absolutely consistent tension that doesn't get tight anywhere within its range or towards either end of the zoom. In addition, it has a perfect feeling aperture ring with nice, crisp detents and excellent tension. In terms of its mechanical operation, it may just be the nicest feeling lens so far for Fujifilm's X-system. Personally, I take great pleasure in the mechanical and tactile feel of a camera's controls, one of the attractions of Fujifilm's X-system for me, and this lens absolutely does not disappoint. Finally, even the lens hood is thoughtfully designed, with a small slide-out portal that allows one to adjust a polarizing filter when the hood is mounted.

NEW! Nikon D750 Digital SLR

Now to be honest, my first reaction to reading the D750 specifications and seeing photos of the body was... slight disappointment. Consumer looking body, no AF-on button, no pro-camera 10-pin remote connector, some important settings buttons, like ISO, along the back rather than to the top-left of the VF where all the pro bodies have had them (and where I've gotten used to finding them!), consumer-grade slide-in VF eyecup, WiFi instead of GPS darn-it (okay fine... most will actually prefer having WiFi) and what the heck… it is even lighter than a D610?! How can this be a pro body, worthy of being the "true" successor to the D700?

Then the good points starting sinking in, some to me quite unexpected, such as the fact that it potentially has even better autofocus than the D810 or D4S, with not only the excellent 51-point pro-series AF sporting the new Group-Area-AF mode, but the fact that it's rated to be more sensitive in low light allowing for focusing down to -3 EV, a whole stop lower light than the others. The D750 also has the same video mode enhancements found on the D810, including zebra-stripes to show overexposure clipping, faster frame-rates in full-HD, Auto-ISO in manual mode and more.

Nikon D810 - Available tomorrow - July 17th!

Unlike the initial constrained availability of the popular D800 and D800E, the new Nikon D810 has actually shipped in relatively generous quantities. As you can see, we've had to hire a guard to fend off customers wanting to pick one up a day early!

We are actually able to fulfill our pre-orders and even have a small number left  to sell. If you want a D810 quickly, then do not hesitate to call and reserve one today since you'll be able to pick it up tomorrow! They will be selling for $3,499…

I had a quick look at the D810 that will be going into our rental dept. and my initial feedback is positive. The new, quieter and smoother shutter and mirror mechanism are truly a huge step up, making the camera sound and feel much more refined. Also, quiet mode is now actually much quieter too, so if you are trying to be unobtrusive, the new D810 might just be the quietest pro DSLR on the market today. The camera not only shoots faster, it also has substantially larger raw and/or jpeg buffers and its UI is more responsive in many ways.

Despite some reports to the contrary, I did find low-light live-view to be significantly improved compared to the D800, especially since you can now just push the Pv button (depth-of-field preview) while in live-view and force the camera to open its lens up wide from whatever your set working aperture. Press Pv a second time and the aperture closes down again, or just take a shot. On the D800, you'd be doing a lot of scroll wheel spinning to open and close the aperture while doing low-light live-view work. Also, the zoomed in resolution of the D810 seems a fair bit higher, making it easier to accurately focus manually in all light levels.

Those are just a few quick first impressions: look for a more detailed review in the coming weeks where I plan on comparing its image quality to a D800, checking out the small-RAW to see how effective it really is and more...

NEW! Fujifilm X-T1 Body Preview...

Well finally, the mythical Fujifilm X-T1 has been announced! After many leaks, even an official teaser from Fujifilm, the X-T1 ($1,299 body) was finally revealed in all its glory. As much as I like the sleek, rangefinder-esque styling of the X-E2 and other previous X-series bodies from a practicality standpoint, I can't deny that the new X-T1 looks great, especially in person. Yes indeed, thanks to our local Fujifilm rep, I managed a reasonably extensive hands-on for an hour or so with a production-level X-T1 body, although the firmware was still pre-production. Below, you can see the X-T1 between an X-Pro1 and X-E1…

The Eve Of the Eve of Fusion

Well it's almost here!  We wait for it all year long and then it's here. "Just one more sleep"!

For those who don't know what Fusion 2012 is, it's the biggest DSLR Video event on our West Coast! You would have to go to Vegas or LA to see a bigger show. If you ever thought of shooting video and wanted to know how they got that shot, or how to shoot it yourself, this is the show for you.  If you want to be one of the first to see Nikon's D800 or D4 this is the show for you.  If you ever wanted to see Canon's line of DSLR video cameras including the all new EOS-1D X, this is the show for you. If you are a PRO and wanted to see some of the best gear around... this is the show for you! If you are anywhere near Vancouver this Saturday get yourself down to Canada Place and check it out because if you don't you will have to wait another year to see an event so cool!

Also Don't forget Kirk Neff's talk this Friday Feb 24th 7PM at Langara - it's FREE !

 Tickets and more info at : http://www.beauphoto.com/fusion2012/fusion_frm.html

First Thoughts: Fujifilm X-Pro1 System

As mentioned in my previous blog posting, I have not yet had a chance to handle the camera, which will hopefully happen in the next few weeks. However I have handled it "virtually", by carefully watching all the online preview videos that I could find. This blog posting will just be some of the thoughts I had after watching those videos, and considering that I have been an X100 owner and have used the camera extensively under many different conditions, I think I can draw some useful conclusion based on what I saw...