Category: Photography

So this summer I finally got a polaroid back for my Mamiya RZ67 camera (aka the brick). After being mildly disappointed with the films from the Impossible Project in a $3 polaroid 600 camera I’ve started shooting the two remaining peel apart instant films with my Mamiya. Fujifilm FP-100C (iso 100 colour) and FP-3000B (iso 3000 B&W) are both pretty awesome.

FP-100C has rich warm tones which I really enjoy.

And FP-3000B produces a super contrasty positive and a sharper, less contrasty negative which can easily be scanned with a typical flatbed scanner.

Of course, now that I’ve grown fond of this type of photography Fujifilm has announced the upcoming discontinuation of FP-3000B. I’m sure FP-100C can’t be far behind. I’ve already missed the boat on shooting FP-100B which was discontinued a few years ago.

I get why they’re doing this, you can’t sell something that doesn’t make money if you want to survive but I’m really bummed out by it. I guess I’m going to spend the majority of my film budget stocking up on FP-3000B.

EDIT: If you are sad about the end of FP-3000B, please go here and sign the petition. I’m not sure if it will have an effect but it’s worth a shot.

I’ve had the Fuji X-E1 for two months now, I’ve taken around 600 frames with it. So far my impressions are generally good with the camera. The combination of the 18-55 f2.8-4 lens and the Xtrans sensor in the camera have produced some excellent results. The camera’s ability to take a great image far outshines my own.

I love the size of the camera, small enough to fit in my messenger style bag but big enough to properly fit in my hand. The electronic viewfinder is crisp and didn’t take much time to get used to. I like the ability to review my photos through the viewfinder, a great feature in bright light.

Working with a circular polarizer requires a little extra effort since the EVF adjusts the exposure as you turn the CPOL. The result is you can’t properly see the effect the CPOL is having on your image. The fix is to simply lock your exposure with the AE-L button or hold the shutter button down halfway to lock the exposure. Once this is done you will be able to see the changes in the EVF.

The sensor on the Fuji X-E1 is quite good. It’s super crisp (no AA filter) and it’s low light performance is pretty incredible. I can comfortably shoot at iso 3200 and 6400 and still get a usable image, great for street work at night.

I also love that if you choose to shoot with any of their film simulation modes or adjust your image aspect ratio; these changes are immediately represented live in the EVF. If you shoot B&W square cropped images the EVF displays a square image in B&W. Great for previewing how things will look ahead of time.

My next step with this camera will be to get another lens, something really wide for portraits. Maybe the 35 f1.4 or the new 56 f1.2 that’s supposed to come out soon. The Fuji lenses have a lot of awesome packed into a small package.

I have had Nikon DSLR’s for almost 8 years now, they’ve served me very well. In fact, I can’t recall a single time where the camera was the reason an image didn’t turn out. I started with a Nikon D50 and progressed into a D7000 a few years ago.

Recently after a vacation back home to the east coast I was sorting through my lightroom catalogue and noticed that with the exception of the recent trip, I hadn’t taken more than a handful of images with my Nikon DSLR in 2013. Obviously not the fault of the camera’s, I just haven’t had the camera with me much this year. Most of my 2013 work is sitting undeveloped in the crisper of my office-fridge on rolls of 120 and 35mm film. (Lets not talk about my darkroom tardiness)

Generally the only time I seem to make for actual photography is before and after work days when I’m at my downtown office. As a result of this, I’ve been choosing a smaller, more portable Nikon FM2 film camera to take with me and leaving the D7000 at home to collect dust. It’s not that the D7000 was obscenely large but it just seemed to be too big to lug with me on the train along with all the items I drag around with me. The FM2 with a small 50mm lens is the perfect size to grab and go.

With this in mind I’ve recently sold my D7000 and associated bits and picked up a smaller mirrorless camera. I researched the different options and narrowed the field down to the Sony NEX-6 and the Fuji X series cameras. The Sony NEX options are compelling for their ability to take great stills and video. Unfortunately the NEX-6 was a little too small in my hand and they don’t seem to have the quality lenses like Fuji does with the XF series.

Ultimately I opted for the Fuji X-E1 with the XF 18-55 kit lens. The camera fits well in my hand and seems to be designed for serious photographers with it’s controls and lens lineup. I’ll do a post on my thoughts about the camera in a bit once I’ve had a chance to really use it.