I mentioned previously that one of the things I want to try and do this year is make better use of my Fuji X gear. I use the Fuji’s fairly regularly, particularly the Fuji X100T which so far this year has seen daily use, but tend to stick to a couple of lenses. However, the Fuji kit was my main camera system for several years and I do have a nice collection of lenses but today’s post concerns my most recent acquisition. It’s also a big favourite so is in no danger of being let go of!
All images: Fuji X-T3 / Fuji 56mm f1.2 R
When I pulled the lens, at random, from the drawer I was both disappointed and pleased. Pleased because I love using it, disappointed because I’ve been using it a fair bit recently and for this project I was intending to use lenses that haven’t been used for a while.
Fuji calls this the Fujinon Aspherical Lens Super EBC XF 56mm f/1.2 R, or XF56mmF1.2 R. I call it superb. Sharp, good bokeh, well made, relatively compact and auto-focuses very quickly. It may not have the weather sealing of its recently upgraded sibling but I’ve used it in inclement weather without issues.
Bags of detail
The lens grabbed focus very quickly – just when I needed it too!
The lens handled a little rain flawlessly
A 4 second exposure using a CPL to slow the shutter speed and balancing the camera on a concrete jetty
What is there to say about this lens apart from it’s a fabulous piece of glass that handles well, focuses quickly, is easy to manually focus and produces crisp, detailed images. It never missed a beat whilst out in the cold and rain as I walked along the canal in Elland, stood on the platform at Halifax railway station when I needed to very quickly grab an image before boarding my train nor on a walk along the Leeds & Liverpool canal with my wife when stopping for more than a few seconds to make images was not an option.
Above and below: K&F Concept CPL
Being more used to a 23mm lens (35mm in “old money”) I did find myself having to set backwards on occasion as I’d forgotten that the 56mm on my mirrorless camera is in fact a short telephoto (85mm equivalent). But that’s down to me not the lens.
Incidentally, Any vignettes you see have been added in post-processing
The images here were all made with the Fuji X-T3, all handheld and taken over a couple of days in Elland, Halifax and Leeds.
In January 2023 I set myself a theme for my daily picture, all 31 images for my 365 that month were made during the hours of darkness. For January 2024 I’ve returned to the theme, encouraged by others in my 365 group, and as I enter the final week of this themed challenge I’ve been looking back over the images I’ve made so far this year.
The one that started it all for 2024, a few minutes after midnight on the morning of 1/1/2024
And the one that started 2023 … virtually the same time and weather but taken one step away from the 2024 offering
The difference between 2023 and this year, at least thus far, has been in my choice of camera. I started 2023 with an iPhone and went on to use the venerable Fuji X100T, a 35mm film Nikon and a 5×4 large format film camera amongst several others. So far in 2024 I’ve used mainly just the Fuji X100T and the one or two that were not from the X100T have been made with the Fuji X-T3. My intention is to continue using just the X100T for the last week of January.
I used the colour version for my 366/2024
I remember both enjoying and slightly struggling with the challenge in 2023. This year I’ve got into a bit of a routine and mostly managed to get out around 7:15am before the grandsons come down for their breakfast and have generally had my daily offering in the bag by 7:30. One thing that has helped considerably is my greater knowledge of my local patch (thank you pandemic and lockdowns) and also the fact that I’ve pre-planned most of the daily images the day before so I can head to the chosen spot and make my exposures.
No Ball Games
Not one that made the 366 although a similar image did
One of the 366 group that I belong to has suggested I extend the nocturnal challenge into February and whilst I am tempted to do so I think I will refrain from formalising the extension as the one downside of this challenge is I cannot use anything from the daylight which means some interesting opportunities are being passed up.
For the final week of the challenge I chose to work with the square format
One camera that I very much enjoy using is a Bronica SQ-A film camera that creates 6x6cm square negatives. For the last week of the Challenge I decided to work exclusively with the square format and set my X100T in the appropriate mode. Rather than crop after the event I was going to frame and capture in the square format. It was ironic that the first of these final images was cropped (see above) albeit from square to square.
The diptych above was the 366 offering for the 28th whilst the mono below it was earmarked for the 29th
Back in January 2023 I’d intended creating a zine from the images but never actually got around to it. I wonder if I will fare better this year and perhaps create a zine covering both months? Time will tell.
I’m in an irritable mood. Domestic responsibilities, the weather and most recently a severe bout of norovirus have really constrained my photography thus far in 2024. Two rolls of film in twenty-four days, one of those retesting a film back, attests to my poor productivity. I have kept my daily 366 alive however and have made a point of using a “proper” camera each day for this.
Plenty of “rules” broken here I’m sure
One thing I’ve done a fair bit of, especially during the storms we’ve had over the last few days, is reading and also watching photography related videos on YouTube. I clearly need to refine (if I knew how) the recommendations from the YT algorithm though as I’ve seen a plethora of videos whose main (contradictory) themes have been:
Digital photography is easy.
Film photography is real photography.
Everyone is a photographer.
Film photography is dead.
Sensible people only use digital.
It’s not real photography unless it’s printed in the darkroom.
Real photographers use film
Only luddites use film.
Blah, blah, blah. If you are even remotely interested in photography as either a hobby or a profession you will recognise most, if not all of these statements. You might also agree with some, all or, if you’re of the same mind as me, with none of them. You can probably think of many more but in my view though none of them even remotely matter. It’s like the interminable brand wars that drove me away from virtually every online camera group – Nikon vs Canon I’m looking at you. Different strokes for different folks as the saying goes. I use both film and digital cameras as well as a hybrid film/digital workflow alongside a traditional darkroom practice. What matters to me is that I’m creating something. The tools are just that – tools.
Whilst I’m in this frame of mind I might also say that I am wary of pretty much every “rule” of photography and most of the “secrets” to success. Sticking the lens on f11 for maximum sharpness is one “rule of thumb” I particularly dislike. It encourages a herd mentality especially in the homogeneous world of modern landscape photography. It also discourages experimentation.
“But”, I hear you cry, “that [tedious] exercise to determine how an individual lens and camera combination performs at various apertures can really help the user’s understanding of their kit” – but does it really? Encouraging the use of a single “optimal” aperture setting across all lenses is unhelpful at best. It is also misleading.
When most folks talk of optimal aperture they are thinking of image sharpness. But depth of field plays a huge part too. Setting the lens on a small sensor camera at f11 will provide a far different depth of field than the same aperture on my 5×7 field camera. On a micro four thirds camera it will give a fairly large depth of field whereas on my large format camera the same aperture provides a fairly thin depth of field. I have some Canon lenses designed for full-frame cameras which, because the lens mounts are compatible also fit on a crop sensor Canon camera. The same lenses behaves differently on each; given equal framing and using the same aperture and focal length, the depth of field is greater on the crop sensor camera. Focal length also plays a part. A wide angle lens has an inherently larger depth of field at all apertures compared to a telephoto lens. However, I have digressed, at length it seems, from my original thread. Nothing new there.
Colour film … and a hybrid film/digital workflow. Shot on colour film that I home-developed before scanning the negatives, processing in Lightroom and exporting a digital file for sharing on my blog
To try to get back on topic. I always choose the right tool for what I’m wanting to achieve. Not necessarily the “best” or “easiest” though. It is sometimes very rewarding to deliberately restrict choice (we’ve all done the 50mm challenge I’m sure) and sometimes it’s the challenge of using a particular technique or medium that appeals. Long exposure seascapes on a digital camera which builds the picture up live on the LCD screen as the exposure progresses are one way and putting a strong neutral density filter on the lens of a 5×4 film camera is another. Each is capable of capturing a long exposure seascape but some might argue that one is easier than the other. For me the important element though is not ease but satisfaction.
The opinions, encouragement and wisdom of fellow enthusiasts mean so much more than any “rules”
I do not intend to take every item on that initial list but let’s turn to the “digital is easier” trope that, despite being predominantly a film photographer, I really and heartily disagree with. Sure, if you stick the camera on auto you will get consistently acceptable results but the same could be said of my Canon EOS 3 35mm film camera. Granted, and apologies for another digression, with digital you do get instant feedback and that’s great, especially when you’re learning. Indeed, I wish I’d had a digital camera in the 1970s when I was learning; it’s a great learning tool especially once you take it off Auto. But, once you understand the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and film speed/ISO, between depth of field, focal length and aperture, all of the various technical aspects pertaining to your kit and the laws of physics, then we move into the truly exciting part – creating the images that you want to produce.
Regardless of kit, regardless of your chosen medium, photography is about what you create not about how you create it nor how easy or difficult you made the process. As I’ve already said, I use both film and digital, a hybrid film/digital workflow and a purely film workflow culminating in the darkroom.
These are my choices. Neither right nor wrong – but simply mine.
Soapbox away!
Let’s end on a brighter note … courtesy of a pinhole camera and a roll of colour film given the old hybrid treatment
One of the things I want to try and do this year is make better use of my Fuji X gear. Sort of use it or lose it if you like. I use the Fujis fairly regularly but tend to only use a couple or three lenses. As the Fuji kit was my main camera system for several years I do have various lenses though that haven’t seen the light of day for quite some time.
All images: Fuji X-T3 / Samyang 85mm f1.4
The rain to the right of the frame was heading my way
Firstly, just to clarify, I’m not planning on reviewing any of these lenses, I’m planning on using them!
All of these images, taken over the course of three walks on three days, were made with the Fuji X-T3 and a manual-focus Samyang 85mm f1.4 lens. It wasn’t expensive when I bought it and can be found for a fairly modest price on the secondhand market these days. Incidentally, this is the manual focus version, the auto-focus version is apparently (I’ve not tried one) a decent upgrade on this manually focused original.
So, a mixed bag image-wise. The lens was heavier than I remembered but still not an issue to carry on my walks this week. Will I love it or list it though? Jury is out at present but with the 85mm focal length covered by the excellent 50-140 zoom lens which is one of my favourite Fuji lenses I’d not bet against it being listed.
I’ve mentioned before that I’ve set no formal resolutions for 2024. I do however have a few broad objectives to keep in mind throughout the year.
1. Continue to regain the fitness I lost during the pandemic and following that through ill health in 2022
2. To make more use of my Fuji X kit
3. To use less film whilst improving the ratio of “keepers”
Both images iPhone
During 2020/2021 I had large spells of being confined to my home (shielding in the parlance of the time). My health wasn’t the best through 2022 but 2023 saw me taking strides towards returning my fitness to 2019 levels. I started 2024 therefore with a three mile walk from which I’d just returned as I started writing this. Largely because this post was writing itself in my head as I walked.
It’s no secret that whilst I am a committed film photographer I do also retain and use my Fuji mirrorless kit. However, I tend to use just a few favourite lenses which leaves quite a few sat unused in the cupboard. I’m going to change that in 2024; I might even shift a few of them out of the door! I started the process on my walk earlier today but that’s a story for another post.
QUOTE
“I have a habit of finishing the roll, especially 35mm, which I’m hoping to break in 2024 and in doing so increase my percentage of keepers”
Extract from BoF online conversation
The final objective is partly aimed at reducing the financial costs of my film habit. I certainly don’t envisage returning to a mostly digital workflow as I still prefer the so-called hybrid analog/digital workflow, but I will try to break the habit of always finishing the roll even if it means the last third of the roll are just “fillers” and unlikely to become keepers. I’m also going to use the 617 back and large format cameras more which automatically slows things down and reduces the rate at which film is consumed.
2024 – the year of taking it SLOW
So, some fairly modest objectives although the fitness goal will hopefully have major benefits beyond 2024. As ever I will be using this blog to record progress and document what I’ve been up to throughout the year.
Dave's Place 
You must be logged in to post a comment.