Fuji X Series

stoke1863 · 10 Aug 2021 at 18:24

So i took the bus to Nottingham yesterday and took my newly aquired XF2mm and the trust XT-20, i left all my lenses at home on purpose so i have a completely pocketable camera which easily fitted into my jacket pocket.

must say its a really nice lens, im by no means an amazing photographer but the results are nice and sharp, i quite like 40mm (full frame) look. it is noticeably sharper than the Viltrox lens i have (32mm and 85mm) and is sharper than the XF 18-55mm kit lens as well.

It's not an ideal portrait lens but can certainly do a job as long as you are not looking for some amazing smooth bokeh, it seems like a perfect travel lens.

here are some samples i have taken (Lightroom edited) again im not the best photographer. This is going to be my go to lens when traveling and i dont want to bring a backpack basically. Looking to be able to take some more "snap shots" style photos with this lens.

Captain · 10 Aug 2021 at 21:01

LiE said:
My X100V is on MM for a tasty price

I have some plans

What’s the plan?

dave28 · 10 Aug 2021 at 21:08

Captain said:
What’s the plan?

Probably misses a zoom, they are just so handy to have

Captain · 13 Aug 2021 at 19:42

What’s the best way forward for some motorbike shots?

I want to get some pictures of my dad on his bike in motion, shall I look at an 85mm or something a bit wider?

stoke1863 · 13 Aug 2021 at 20:28

Captain said:
What’s the best way forward for some motorbike shots?

I want to get some pictures of my dad on his bike in motion, shall I look at an 85mm or something a bit wider?

So there is two ways you can do this, you can just sort of "freeze" the action with a shutter speed of at least 1/1000 but imo I think that's quite boring to look at.

The other way which can be tricky you can use a much slower shutter something like 1/80 1/60 or even 1/20 if you are really good.

Use a lens like the cheap XC 50-230 and turn off image stabilization, put the lens into Shutter priority (so the camera handles the aperture it's self)

Using continuous zone and higher shutter burst hold down the shutter and pan the camera while focusing on the bike, the affect if done right is the bike in focus with the background sort of smudged, this adds an element of speed

Here is two I took with this method. It's deffo got a learning curve and your keep to delete ratio will be low but it's worth it.

Captain · 13 Aug 2021 at 21:10

stoke1863 said:
So there is two ways you can do this, you can just sort of "freeze" the action with a shutter speed of at least 1/1000 but imo I think that's quite boring to look at.

The other way which can be tricky you can use a much slower shutter something like 1/80 1/60 or even 1/20 if you are really good.

Use a lens like the cheap XC 50-230 and turn off image stabilization, put the lens into Shutter priority (so the camera handles the aperture it's self)

Using continuous zone and higher shutter burst hold down the shutter and pan the camera while focusing on the bike, the affect if done right is the bike in focus with the background sort of smudged, this adds an element of speed

Here is two I took with this method. It's deffo got a learning curve and your keep to delete ratio will be low but it's worth it.

Thanks for that.

I have the 70-300 on order so that should do the trick.

GMac11 · 14 Aug 2021 at 09:05

stoke1863 said:
So there is two ways you can do this, you can just sort of "freeze" the action with a shutter speed of at least 1/1000 but imo I think that's quite boring to look at.

The other way which can be tricky you can use a much slower shutter something like 1/80 1/60 or even 1/20 if you are really good.

Use a lens like the cheap XC 50-230 and turn off image stabilization, put the lens into Shutter priority (so the camera handles the aperture it's self)

I have to respectively disagree with this although a massive caveat is it's of course down to personal preference and experience.
For me, I would recommend having the IS on. In fact, the 70-300 has the same "smart" IS as the 16-80, as in, there is no button to toggle OIS on/off. The lens knows itself when to engage/disengage the OIS.
The shutter speeds I agree with more and the slower you can go the better for sure. I always say 1/125 is a sweet spot for starting out - if you can get lower then fair play.
1/125 is my 'go to' for F1 but then of course those machines are travelling considerably faster.

Snaggle · 17 Aug 2021 at 23:17

So thinking of pulling the trigger on a 70-300 (and maybe the 1.4 TC) Anyone use eithier and have any feedback ? Also where are you buying it from as it seems all the UK stockists are OOS

GMac11 · 18 Aug 2021 at 09:03

Snaggle said:
So thinking of pulling the trigger on a 70-300 (and maybe the 1.4 TC) Anyone use eithier and have any feedback ? Also where are you buying it from as it seems all the UK stockists are OOS

I have both, beautiful combination - use them mainly for wildlife and moon shots although when the local football and rugby seasons start up I plan to use it there as well.
I pre-ordered the 70-300 from WEX as soon as it was announced so was lucky to get mine on release. As soon as I placed the initial order in January I started my hunt for the 1.4 TC and it took until April for me to get one (that didn’t involve paying grossly over the odds). I watched MPB like a hawk and set up a stock alert, eventually got one for £240 which I am very happy with.

Captain · 18 Aug 2021 at 09:32

Snaggle said:
So thinking of pulling the trigger on a 70-300 (and maybe the 1.4 TC) Anyone use eithier and have any feedback ? Also where are you buying it from as it seems all the UK stockists are OOS

E-infin have it for £669.

https://www.e-infin.com/uk/item/4215/fujifilm_xf_70-300mm_f/4-5.6_r_lm_ois_wr_lens_(black)

Snaggle · 18 Aug 2021 at 18:49

Captain said:
E-infin have it for £669.

https://www.e-infin.com/uk/item/4215/fujifilm_xf_70-300mm_f/4-5.6_r_lm_ois_wr_lens_(black)

Never heard of them ? How trustworthy are they ?

dave28 · 18 Aug 2021 at 18:51

Snaggle said:
Never heard of them ? How trustworthy are they ?

Grey dealer who give 12 month warranty, generally considered safe but most prefer panamonz who cost a bit more but give 3 year warranty

Captain · 18 Aug 2021 at 19:07

Snaggle said:
Never heard of them ? How trustworthy are they ?

Very.

LiE · 18 Aug 2021 at 19:07

dave28 said:
Grey dealer who give 12 month warranty, generally considered safe but most prefer panamonz who cost a bit more but give 3 year warranty

Panamonz is basically UK price so the small saving isn’t worth it imo.

Captain · 18 Aug 2021 at 19:09

Plus the 70-300 isn’t on the Pana moz website

dave28 · 18 Aug 2021 at 19:32

LiE said:
Panamonz is basically UK price so the small saving isn’t worth it imo.

it varies i guess, i have not looked at specific gear so cant comment on that but panamonz were £610 less for a canon r6 than UK price

dave28 · 18 Aug 2021 at 19:33

Captain said:
Plus the 70-300 isn’t on the Pana moz website

just trying to help

GMac11 · 18 Aug 2021 at 21:37

Captain said:
E-infin have it for £669.

https://www.e-infin.com/uk/item/4215/fujifilm_xf_70-300mm_f/4-5.6_r_lm_ois_wr_lens_(black)

Snaggle said:
Never heard of them ? How trustworthy are they ?

E-infin are all well and good so long as you are 1) definitely not in a hurry and 2) willing to accept that there’s a chance the item may not turn up at all. Caveat on the latter as they are good at refunding etc.

I used them quite often up until last year when my 16-80 ‘got lost’ 3 weeks after ordering. Credit to e-infin they offered to either send a replacement or issue a refund which they did promptly. It was however a little fishy in that they never questioned my claim nor made any attempt to follow up with the courier to verify my claim.

A quick look on trustpilot shows there were a litany of similar experiences from customers in the UK. It almost seemed like they were totally incapable of meeting demand (combined with pandemic related logistics issues) and as a result I believe they were taking orders they knew they would never be able to fulfil - just my hunch.
They also stopped taking PayPal as a payment option which I always liked as I could use the 4 month BNPL option which meant I wasn’t out any money at the outset - especially if something goes wrong.

Anyhow, to sum up, I wouldn’t warn anyone against using them, just be prepared that it may not go smoothly and that it will almost certainly not go quickly.

Snaggle · 18 Aug 2021 at 22:33

well it would seem nobody has one other then E-infin .. soooo not many choices

Barks · 19 Aug 2021 at 17:28

GMac11 said:
A quick look on trustpilot shows there were a litany of similar experiences from customers in the UK. It almost seemed like they were totally incapable of meeting demand (combined with pandemic related logistics issues) and as a result I believe they were taking orders they knew they would never be able to fulfil - just my hunch.
They also stopped taking PayPal as a payment option which I always liked as I could use the 4 month BNPL option which meant I wasn’t out any money at the outset - especially if something goes wrong.

Anyhow, to sum up, I wouldn’t warn anyone against using them, just be prepared that it may not go smoothly and that it will almost certainly not go quickly.

This is exactly what I thought. They were just taking orders they couldn't fulfil to boost their cashflow but I haven't heard of anyone actually losing money.

I've bought three lenses, saved an absolute fortune and they've all been flawless - very happy customer. You just have to drop entitlement to fast delivery and be patient as they take 1-2 weeks to arrive.