Inspiration: Riley Joseph

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Today, Riley Joseph published the latest in his series of “Photo Stories,” titled “Palm Springs.” I’ve always enjoyed Riley’s restrained processing style, and the consistency of his eye has been getting better since I first started following him way back when I got my first X Series camera, the X100S. He did more gear-oriented posts back then, but I enjoy the more photographically-focused content just as much.

Riley‘s always captured great photos—nuanced detail missed by the casual observer, clever compositions, and precise timing—but after a few redesigns of his site, he seems to have hit a new stride, and his work has reached new levels. Or maybe he just got around to posting it, I’m not sure.

Anyhow, with Palm Springs, it’s not just how well he captured the time warp of the area he visited, it’s also the presentation. The balance of text and images is just right for me, and I found it wonderfully compelling. I really felt like I was there with him, seeing through time, so to speak, and he was reminiscing about a shared experience. It is indeed, storytelling.

Check out Palm Springs, and Riley’s other Photo Stories.

Palm Springs, Riley Joseph

Palm Springs, Riley Joseph

Paml Springs, Riley Joseph

Paml Springs, Riley Joseph

Palm Springs, Riley Joseph

Palm Springs, Riley Joseph

Another Metal Hood

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In addition to the 2x Teleconverter, Fuji also quietly added another metal hood add-on accessory, this time for the XF 23mm f/1.4, the Lens Hood LH-XF23. I don’t know about you, but I’m perpetually in “persuit of premium quality to multiply the pleasure of ownership.”

Truthfully, I do really like the metal hood for the XF 16mm f/1.4 WR. It’s noticeably heavier than the plastic hood that comes with the lens, but significantly more compact when ready for use. A worthwhile trade off in my opinion. The hood that ships with the XF 23mm f/1.4 is also much too large for me to ever want to attach it to my lens.

I think we can expect this trend to continue from now on. It’s shame because these hoods aren’t cheap, but they’re so much nicer.

One Wide Angle Remaining

The XF 14mm f/2.8 comes to mind as being the next lens due for a new metal hood. As I’ve mentioned, the plastic hood for the XF 14mm f/2.8 is a clone of the hood for the XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4, which leads me to believe it hasn’t been terribly well optimized for the former, since it was released after the kit zoom.

Fujifilm XF 2X Teleconverter Announced

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Well isn’t this fortunate. Fuji has officially announced their XF 2X Teleconverter.

From Fuji:

The “FUJINON TELECONVERTER XF2X TC WR” is a high-performance teleconverter capable of multiplying the focal length of mounted lenses by two.

This gives the XF 50-140mm f/2.8 and effective focal length of 100-280mm f/5.6, or 152 to 427mm in 35mm equivalence, and the XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 reaches all the way out to 200-800mm f/9-11, which is 305 to 1,219mm in 35mm.

That quite a bit of a slow down in aperture, but over 1,200mm of reach is going to be tough to resist.

No Phase Detection

Also worth noting, we lose Phase Detection on the XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 altogether with the XF 2X TC attached thanks to the reduction in aperture. That could pose a bit of a problem for things like early morning game park drives or bird photography outings when higher ISOs are already common. It will be interesting to see how this lens performs with the TCs attached.

Size and Weight

That extra reach also means extra size and weight with the new 2x weighing in at 170g, or 40g more than the 1.4x and measures twice as long at 30.2mm. I’ll be getting close to maxing out the height of my bag already, so be mindful of your max carry size before you place any preorders.

Edit: Jonas Rask already has one of his typically epic reviews up for the XF2X TC. Man, that guy is on fire these days.

Disassembling a Fuji XF Lens

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Fascinating post at Lensrentals.com:

The overall construction is excellent. There was no place during this disassembly that either of us thought we saw a weak point that would be likely to cause problems. It’s not massively over engineered, but it’s very solidly constructed. [...] This looks like a lens that was designed by people who know how to make reliable lenses.

Lens Got Flare

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When I write about flare, it’s typically not with a negative connotation, unless the lens in question comes with coatings intended to reduce it. Flare is part of what gives a lens its character, and can play a huge role in its desirability.

Charlene Winfred has a great piece on how much she likes the flare from Fuji’s new XF 35mm f/2 WR:

... I’ve never had a lens that flares as downright cinematically as this one. Those distinct diagonals and ghosting that appear when it is pointed at strong, directional light sources are simply gorgeous.

It’s helps to possess the photographic talent Charlene does, but I’ve enjoyed shooting my XF 35mm f/2 WR directly into light myself. She’s got plenty more great sample images on her site.

Flare example from the XF 35mm f/2 WR, courtesy of Charlene Winfred

Flare example from the XF 35mm f/2 WR, courtesy of Charlene Winfred

35mm Reviews

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Lots has been written about the new XF 35mm f/2 WR, but a few reviews have risen to the top for me.

  1. First is Jonas Rask’s. His reviews are always chalk full of excellent sample images, and drool-worthy gear shots. If you’re on the fence with the XF 35mm f/2 WR, his review will likely shove you violently over to the purchase side.
  2. Second is Kevin Mullins, the guy I attempted to emulate at a family wedding I shot last June. If you’re looking for insight from someone in a professional space, look no further.
  3. As it happens, Mullins suggests my latest inspiration candidate, Patrick La Roque, for further reading on the XF 35mm f/2 WR.

35mm (and where I’ve been)

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XF 35mm f/1.4 vs. XF 35mm f/2 WR

After weeks of testing, my extensive comparison of Fuji’s 35mm primes is now online. See how well the new normal compares against the old normal.

Where I’ve Been

As a bit of an aside, regular visitors have likely noticed a serious lull in content and updates. Looking at my last post that happened in August, I can hardly believe it’s been that long myself. What happened? A combination of things.

First of all, I found new employment approximately 5 months ago. It’s been a big transition from my previous freelance gig, and the ups and downs of a new job on top a huge multi-month project, had all but squelched my capacity for creative photography, let alone photographic analysis. Fortunately, things have settled down considerably.

Secondly, I decided early last year to take control of my physical wellbeing. This started out with the standard physical fitness, but quickly morphed into an obsession with restoring mobility and range of motion I’d lost from 15+ years of sitting for 8-15 hours a day. It’s been hard work, and took up almost all my free time, but it was well worth it.1

Anyhow, it was always an internal struggle for me. I felt bad neglecting the site outside of replying to those who emailed or tweeted, but it was the right thing to focus on.

TL;DR

I’ve been busy with work and life, but plan to get content on the site more regularly now. It’s good to be back.

  1. Physical health is hardly a topic for this website, but if you’re at all interested in restoring your own capacity for movement and how good movement can apply to photography, I recommend Kelly Starrett’s CreativeLive Class. Simply being able to squat properly behind my camera (ass to ankles, heels on the ground, toes pointed forward) has increased my enjoyment of photography, and saved me from putting more bad loads on my knees. If you can relate to that last part, you owe it to your lower extremities to restore full range of motion in your hips and ankles.↩