To sum up

It just occurred to me that in total I spent about 10,000 dollars on my digital cameras and lenses, spare batteries, memory cards, filters, tripods etc. Probably slightly more than that. In other words,  slightly less than $1000 per year. I might get a few bucks back from selling off my 4/3 gear but not much.

I lost Olympus C2020, and C770 and E500 went into good hands long time ago. I still have Olympus E30 but rarely use it since acquisition of Fuji X10 and X-E1.

Past and present

Bird of Paradise | Fuji X-E1 & XF60mm Macro

Olympus C2020 > Olympus C770 > Olympus E500 > Olympus E30 > Fuji X10 > Fuji X-E1

I used to read DPReview but some time ago switched to rumors sites. It is slightly worrying development. Frankly, in these days I don't see any reason for me to follow progress of the camera world, let alone its potential development. Fuji X-E1 offers more than I need except for macro, but X10 is quite good for flowers shots. I'll get XF55-200mm, and may replace XF18-55mm with XF10-24mm next year. I might be interested in a compact with 1" sensor, bright lens with 4-5x zoom and good macro capability but nobody want to make such camera. So, I plan to talk less about cameras and take more pictures.

Entry-level mirrorless camera from Fuji, again

It seems that an entry-level mirrorless camera from Fujifilm is real, and it might be announced soon (before summer in Northern hemisphere). The rumors about the "X-M1" circulate around the for quite a while.It is expected that the camera will be in class of Olympus E-PL5 or Sony NEX-5, somewhat above the entry level. Note that the cameras in this segment generally do not have fixed screens :) Expect to see tiltable screen...

The current X cameras are very popular. It is reasonable for the company to add product in extremely popular segment of the mirrorless market to compete with cameras such as Olympus E-PL5 or Sony NEX-5. However, Fuji does not have a cheap compact zoom lens for a mid-range market. The available XF18-55mm F2.8-4 lens adds a lot in price, size and weight to the kit, so it wouldn't be cheap, compact or light. In Australia the price of the Olympus E-PL5 single lens kit is essentially identical to price of Fujinon XF18-55mm lens. The same true for Sony NEX-5R. Obviously, Fuji can heavily discount the kit and price it at around $900. Or it might combine it with the new XF55-200mm lens. While it sound odd, it would make an attractive package for me: I am interested in the zoom lens and don't mind to have a spare body. Obviously, I can buy just the lens, but in Australia Fuji has a strange(?) price policy: the X-E1 zoom kit costs ~$150 more than the body, while the lens itself is priced at $730. In other words, buying the kit ($1250) saves over $550, or close to 80% of the lens price. While I am interested in the zoom lens, the current price policy is a very strong demotivator for buying the lens. I'd rather wait or grab it on eBay.

BTW, here is a link to the official samples from XF55-200mm F55-200 F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS lens

Blackmagic

It is old news but it is still interesting: Blackmagic Design created a small video camera with an 'active' m4/3 lens mount and a Super 16 sensor (see the table). The sensor is smaller than the standard (Micro) Four Thirds sensor. In fact, it is similar to 1" sensor used in Nikon 1 or Sony RX100 cropped to wide ration (~16:9). After all, it a Pocket Cinema Camera, and 4:3 ratio is not useful. Why it is interesting? It looks like a very capable movie camera at democratic price: it can record footage at 220 Mbps, with promise of getting lossless CinemaDNG format later through the firmware update and all this magic is priced at 1k USD. It does not substitute a professional video camera but it should have a better quality than a consumer camcorders. It also would add to m4/3 consortium and add to sales of high-end lenses.

New 1" sensor from Aptina

Aptina has announced a new 14MP 1" sensor with even faster shooting speed. I wish Fuji X30 would have it... I dream about all-in-one weather-sealed camera with good bright lens, viewfinder and supermacro options on both ends of zoom. It does not need to be tiny.  Fuji X10 / X20 is significantly smaller than Olympus C-8080. OK, C-8080 has slightly longer zoom, but Fuji has very bright lens. I don't care about optical or hybrid viewfinder, EVF more than enough.

Fujinon XF55-200mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS: announcement, samples etc

Fuji announced the first mid-tele zoom lens with image stabilization for the Fujifilm X system, XF55-200mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS. The zoom range is equal to 83-300mm, and the minimal focusing distance is 1.1 meters, so it might have a nice close-up ability. Some people already tested the lens, and it seems that the autofocus speed is on par with XF18-55mm lens - that's very good news for me. The sample photo taken with Fuji XF55-200mm lens are also available. 

It is the biggest and the heaviest lens in their current lineup, 118mm long, 580 grams / 1.28 lb. The lens wouldn't be available for some time. The prices should be around $700 in the US. The lens is positioned between cheap "standard" plastic tele lenses and high quality lenses such as 70-200mm F4 from Canon and Nikon or ZUIKO 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 from Olympus. The XF55-200mm is slightly faster than a typical kit zoom, but the major difference supposed to be in the quality. I cannot recollect any other high quality tele lens for mirrorless cameras except for Panasonic Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm F2.8 OIS but the zoom range is quite different from the Fuji's.

I have ZUIKO 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 SWD lens, and I do like it. ZUIKO is significantly brighter at long end, but Fuji cameras are less noisy, so I can use iso 800 instead of 100 on my Olympus E-30, and in-lens image stabilization may help, too. Generally I am not interested in shallow DoF. The Fuji lens is twice lighter, too.

The solo reason to chose Olympus OM-D E-M5 over Fuji X-E1

Blackfellow Falls | Fuji X-E1 & XF18-55mm

The track goes behind the waterfalls. It was very sunny day but the place (Springbrook national park, near the border between Queensland and New South Wales) got 30-40-50mm of rain in previous couple days. I went on the Twin Falls track, and it was quite wet. Obviously, I kept the camera in the bag near the waterfalls but occasional drops from trees and rocks made a few very unpleasant moments.  This short track passes behind several waterfalls, one cave and several overhanging rocks... In such situation I dream about OM-D E-M5 with 12-50mm lens. Weather sealed camera and lenses....

This year is quite wet in Brisbane. In three and half months the city got close to 800mm of rains, more than half of its annual rainfall. The start of the wet season was pretty dry, but it was compensated later.

Twin Falls | Fuji X-E1 & XF18-55mm

Fujinon XF55-200mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OS in three days!

Yes, the lens is  coming! The short tele option for Fuji X mount. According to the rumors the new XF55-200mm lens has dual linear motor, so hopefully the autofocus speed will be similar to XF18-55mm lens. The announcement supposed to be at April 17, and the release is scheduled for May 2013. The big question is: how much?

The third zoom, wide-angle XF10-24mm F4 R OS is still planned this year. The wide-angle lens does not dual linear motor, but it is wide angle, so it should be a big problem. Actually, I may end up with XF10-24 and XF55-200: I don't need fast autofocus in rainforest, and 200mm might solve the problem of flowers on tree :)

UPDATE: according to the rumors XF55-200mm has four linear motors. Sound like SUV, or FWD :)

Another day with Fujinon XF60mm Macro

I rented XF60mm F2.4 R Macro lens early this week. The lens came with an old firmware, so yesterday I updated software for the camera and lens. It did not help with the autofocus speed. The problem is at least partially in local weather: it is windy. More than half of my shots are out  of focus. But when it is focused - wow! It is good. Obviously, wind is the one of the worst enemies of macro, and yesterday I mainly tried macro. On top of it, I went for shooting after the work, and the light was somewhat suboptimal. But again, this is my common "real life" situation. Photography is a hobby and recreational activity for me. It is not test for lens. I am trying to figure out an optimal solution for my macro shooting, so, it is "lens and me" thing.

The lens has two faces: on one hand, it produces great images. On other hand, the autofocus takes time. I guess the lens requires certain skills, as any other specialised device.

Rainbow Warrior

Fuji X-E1 & XF18-55mm

The famous Rainbow Warrior was docked in Brisbane, and I went to see the ship. Obviously, 60mm Macro lens on camera with APS-C  sensor is not the best choice for street shooting, so the macro was replaced by 18-55mm zoom, and off I went. It was an open day for the ship, and it was advertised in local press, so it was croudy.

Switching between 60mm and 18-55mm was very interesting experience for me. I do like convenience of the zoom. The XF60mm can produce amazing photos, but I am satisfied with pictures taken with XF18-55mm lens. While I appreciate the quality, it is not an absolute requirement for me to have the best possible resolution or sharpness or local contrast. And the autofocus speed is just lightning fast :)

Fuji X-E1 & XF18-55mm

Fujinon XF60mm F2.4 R Macro

Fuji X-E1 & XF60mm F2.4 R Macro

Just couple shots with Fujinon XF60mm Macro lens. It easy to complain about autofocus speed on this lens but the image quality on close-up subjects is simply amazing. Images at the original resolution are available on flickr.

The pictures were taken on my first day with the lens. Last time I used a prime (macro) lens a long time ago, on a film camera.

Fuji X-E1 & XF60mm F2.4 R Macro

Fuji X100S in Australia

Yesterday I visited a local camera shop in Brisbane, and it turned out that 1) the shop already got Fuji X100S and 2) it was sold out. I mean cameras, not the shop.

Anyway, I've grabbed Fujinon XF60mm F2.4 R Macro for one week. I am not a professional photographer by any means. I am not even a photographer. While I am very satisfied with Fuji X-E1 and XF18-55mm lens, the close-up inability of XF18-55mm F2.8-4 OIS is a bit disappointing, so I investigate various options in this area. The easiest way to solve the problem would be a camera swapping: X-E1 on even days, and X10 on odd. Or opposite. But I was curious about XF60mm Macro, a highly recommended lens (photozone), so I rented the thing. My first impression after two days of an opportunistic shooting: it is slow. I mean the focus speed, of cause. Actually, it is very super slow. It is also noisy. On some subjects, e.g. red flowers, it just refuse to focus. I must to admit: these were tricky flowers. On top of it, it does not focus very close: it is not 1:1 macro. Yes, the macro mode was enabled through the Macro button. It still covers a fairly big area.

The lens has an old firmware, so, maybe this can explain the slow autofocus.

The only good thing: it will save me $600 :)