Travel

Viltrox 85mm f1.8 for Fuji – Mattias Burling review

cameras, Fujichrome, Lenses, Travel

May certainly be worth a look at the price. 85mm is one of my favorite focal lengths. This gives 127.5mm with the APSc crop factor.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgVwlIabrL100C9_6vyM9-g

  • The lens is very well crafted. Its all metal ,feels better in the hand than the native Fuji primes. It actually feels better built than most lenses.
  • The auto focus is fast with the latest firmware, on par with many native lenses.
  • The image quality on this lens is surprisingly good and it’s an all around solid performer , this lens offers excellent center and edge to edge sharpness and superb resolving power.
  • Right out of camera, the neutral quality of this lens gives skin a subtle sheen, making it and excellent choice for portraiture as well as black and white photography.
  • The textured metal focus ring provides an exceptionally smooth experience and the 145.9° throw allows for precise focusing, even at closer distances where subtle nuances would be more noticeable.

Using the Fuji X Pro 1 still viable in 2020

cameras, Fujichrome, Lenses, Travel
Fujifilm X Pro 1 with an 18mm f2 attached.

The Fuji X Pro 1 is the first of the generation of X Pro’s to be introduced in 2011/12 following the X100. It was considered at the time as a beefed-up version of the X100 but with interchangeable lenses. The X-Pro1 is overall very much like the X100 but with some welcome tweaks and refinements. The essence of the control layout is unchanged, with top-plate shutter speed and exposure compensation dials, a front-mounted lever for viewfinder mode selection, and a shutter button threaded for a traditional cable release. 

It did have a few initial problems, slow focusing being the major one (pretty much fixed in following firmware updates) but it will never be a speed demon. I have been using it for several years now and have never found this to be a problem that I cannot workaround. Not a camera to be used for sport or fast-moving subjects. The camera does make you think a little.

Is it capable of getting the images that I want, and in high quality, that is mainly what I am concerned with, and the answer is resoundingly yes (with a little brainpower from the photographer. The sensor is astounding and gives wonderful, film-like, quality. I like the retro design of the camera with its external controls, but it is still configurable to my way of working. This is what I like most about this little box.

My camera is used to make images of things that I find of interest and should be able to produce ”still” images that meet my standards and with care be usable straight from the camera. I rarely find the need with this camera to use RAW images as it gives very satisfying results with its in-camera JPEGS and film simulations. Used with the high-quality FUJICRON lenses the results can be phenomenal.

forPeace 2019

cambodia, fujifilm, opinons, thoughts, photography, Travel, voluntary

Every year since 2013/14 I have be invited to spend the week with the forPeace house building team on there quest to finish houses donated to poor families in the Cambodia countryside. Covid 19 interupted the seasonal job as 2020 had o be cancelled. Hopefully 2021 will happen.

My Home Town

cameras, Fujichrome, Lenses, Travel, Uncategorized

I originally come from a town in the United Kingdom, called Warrington in Cheshire between Liverpool and Manchester. Warrington Museum & Art Gallery displays artefacts from around the world, plus archaeological finds and paintings. Gulliver’s World theme park offers children’s rides. Nearby, a canal runs through leafy Sankey Valley Park, with wildlife, paths and sculpture. South, imposing Walton Hall has parkland, formal gardens and a children’s zoo.