A solution for architecture photography for Fuji X-Pro 1

A theoretical approach

Taking pictures of high buildings requires some perspective correction. There is an ongoing discussion, if it is necessary to have PC lenses and not do everything in post processing. I belong to a school that prefer to get everything right in the camera. How nice it is to have PC ability in camera lenses I fully appreciated, when I started to use 4x5 Tachihara view camera.

I could never afford to buy a perspective correction lens. Too expensive for my little use - architecture is just a minor interest for me.

However, with recent market offering it could be possible to obtain a proper optical perspective correction solution without robbing a bank.

 

Samyang perspective correction lens

Samyang announced 24mm perspective correction lens. While it almost certainly will not cost peanuts, it is expected to be significantly cheaper then Nikon or Canon.

It will not be available in Fuji X mount, but adding a Nikon F adapter will not increase the cost significantly.

Of course, the world is not perfect. 24mm is very good for full frame cameras, whereas for X-Pro 1 APS-C sensor it is equivalent of

I would prefer something that is equivalent of 28mm.

 

 T/S Adapter

 

I noticed that you can buy a Tilt or Shift adapters on ebay. The idea is, full frame lenses have a bigger circle of view than APS-C ones - it should be feasible to apply a little tilt or shift.

Kipon shift adapter. From http://www.dl-kipon.com

For Fuji X only Nikon F adapters are available. Those adapters are only shift, not tilt. However, I believe that shift is much more important for a camera like X-Pro 1. Tilts are necessary for 4x5 to control focus, but an APS-C camera should do well with controlling depth of field with aperture only.

When you use a lens like Nikkor 18mm 3.5, it would provide an angle of view of a lens of aproximately 27mm - probably as good as it gets. I think it is quite an interesting option.

This solution can be probably cheaper then Samyang, but not much. The shift Kipon Nikon-Fuji X adapter is about 100 EUR, depending on where you buy, then Nikkor 18mm is a few hundred.

Double shift

Interesting point, if you put a Samyang PC lens in such shift adapter, it should be possible to get "double shift" - maximum shift on full frame lens should still cover much more than required for X-Pro sensor.

 

Conclusion

There are some options for using Fuji X-Pro for architectural photography, which I am going to explore further when I have funds available. 

Using manual Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm F4

As I wrote in one of my previous posts, I bought a very small Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm f4, which I intended to use as a telephoto, at least until there are no native Fuji lenses. It was not expensive.

I have taken some nice photos with it. However, using it on Fuji X-Pro 1 is not that easy. Last month I did a photostory on a iaido seminar, which took place in Wrocław, Poland. 

Test

I did want to have some closeups (or semi-closeups), and because you cannot move freely around during the tournament, I decided to use this lens - the longest I had. I saw some sport photos taken with similar lens on Steve Huff's blog, so this is in principle possible...

Conflict of opinion. Fuji X-Pro 1, Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm f4.

Sensei. Fuji X-Pro 1, Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm f4.

Unfortunately, it turned out that many of the photos were not focused correctly.

Incorrectly focused photo, X-Pro 1 with Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm f4.

Maybe some of those incorrectly focused photos could be saved by stopping down to get more depth of field, however, it was not possible because of the available light level and the required shutter speed - most of the photos presented some action, and I did not wanted to set up very high ISO. Besides, 90mm requires shorter shutter times than 50mm.  
Also, for some photos such DOF is not required - I did similar photos in the past with 2.8.

Focusing wide open and stepping down to working aperture was quite difficult, and in most cases, I just did not have the time to do so.

Also, it was almost impossible for me to focus in aquariums by another occasion...

Using magnifying view was very problematic (not possible for action), by this magnification my hands are too shaky (All the photos were taken without a tripod). Generally, it was a hit or miss, with more misses.

I did much better while taking more stationary landscape photos.

Echizen Matsushima, Fukui. Fuji X-Pro 1, Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm f4

Echizen Matsushima, Fukui. Fuji X-Pro 1, Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm f4

Warning

I have two M lenses, this and Voigtlander 15mm 4.5. With Fuji adapter it is easy to change the camera setting which lens is used, so that the correct EXIF is written. However, it is easy to forgot when you do not use OVF for a particular shot. I forgot a few times to switch the lens type after I switched the lens...

Otherwise, I have no complaints against the Fuji adapter. I wish the aperture could be written into EXIF data though...

Conclusion

The lens is capable of very nice results. However, it is not an easy-to-use lens. It requires some skill and a lot of practice, and with firmware 1.1 does not fit to action shots.

Disclaimer

The text applies to using M-Rokkor 90mm with X-Pro 1 with firmware 1.1. All the photos mentioned in this post were taken with firmware 1.1.
I will make another test with firmware 2.0.

Fuji X-Pro Firmware 2.0: Quick Test

The upgrade process was smooth. No nasty surprises.
 I updated the body first, and then the lens: 35mm 1.4.

The overall performance is not worse, maybe better. However, I did not have the impression that the AF speed is stellar fast. I think it did not improve much. I can easily make a situation, in which I press the shutter, and the camera takes picture after a long time, possibly seconds.

However, I was able to almost focus on my fish without that much difficulty I recollect from Epson Aqua Stadium. So there could be an improvement. Still, the photos do not look as sharp as those from D700.

Both photos were taken with the lens wide open.

Glyptopterichtys gibbiceps. Click for enlarging.

Uaru amphiacantoides en face. The photo looks pretty soft, even if taken at 1.4.