Fujifilm X-Pro 1 personal review

This describes my first experiences with Fuji X-Pro 1 camera. The review is purely subjective. After all, what works for me, does not necessarily work for anybody else.

I wanted X-Pro 1 to replace my D700 for all around photography, especially for travels. Smaller, more portable, but having not only an equal or better quality, but also psychological feature of not feeling to have any compromise by not taking a full frame camera with me. That was the objective. Read on to find out, if it was a successful choice.

I have been a user of X100 for about a year, and I expected to have already learned how to use such camera.

The decision to buy it was accelerated by the fact I left my X100 on the table before going on a long trip to Japan. Without any camera, but iPhone, I felt almost naked. So I did everything to secure the possibility to use the camera already on the first day of my stay in Japan. It was possible thanks to Amazon.jp, and a nice local shop Akihabara Outlet Plaza.


Paradoxically, the cameras I buy over the years bring me better and better picture quality, but slower and slower performance.

Lenses

The First: Cosina Voigtlander 15mm 4.5 Heliar Super Wide

By accident, the first lens I got to use was not a native lens, but M-mount Cosina Voigtlander 15mm 4.5 Heliar Super-Wide II. I decided to get this lens instead of Fuji XF 18mm, and ahead of the announced Fuji XF 14mm.

Cosina Voigtlander 15mm 4.5 Heliar Super Wide II, photo by uaru

Being an M-mount lens means it is fully manual. In practice, as expected, it did not present any obstacle.

The DOF of this lens is huge... It is so huge, it does not really need any focusing when stepped down, and rarely when full open at 4.5. The blur that appeared on some photos I  attributed more to not fast enough shutter speed, then incorrect focus.

Recently I started to shoot Auto ISO with my Fuji X100, to keep ISO as low as possible, but not giving up on shutter speed and not having to change the ISO value all the time, which is problematic in fast changing situations.  Unfortunately, lack of the possibility to set the minimum shutter speed is a big and famous problems with the current implementation of the  Auto ISO setting in X-Pro 1. Going back to hand picking the ISO setting before shooting is necessary to get sharp pictures.

With its huge DOF of 15mm lens, it is tantalizing to open it to 2 or even more. Unfortunately, this lens is not that fast. Even if I find myself liking to shoot it on the street, in the late evening it is becoming more difficult to handle.

My first test picture:

The Second Lens: Fuji XF 35mm 1.4

Everybody is praising the quality of this glass, and it was obvious I will get it, even if it would be my only original Fuji glass.

The lens itself is larger then I thought. It is my largest glass so far for X-Pro 1. Even so, it is much MUCH smaller than my almost equivalent Nikkor 50mm f1.4 G. It is beautiful.

Shallow DOF  at 1.4  was the reason I desired it. It is especially important for APS-C sized sensor. To understand how shallow the DOF can be with this lens, I present two photos. One shot at f8, the other at f1.4.

Demonstration of XF 35mm Depth of Field: F11

Demonstration of XF 35mm Depth of Field: F1.4 - DOF is really thin.

And my then standard "wall" picture:

 

The Third: Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm f4

I wanted to have a third lens, longer, for close-up portraits and some special cases, when the usage of "foot zoom" is not possible.

I considered many options. 

• native Fuji XF 60mm macro f2.4
• Voigtlander Heliar 75mm f1.8
• Leica Elmarit 90mm f2.8
• Leica Elmar 135mm f4

In a way, it would be nice to have all of them for some reason or the other. All the above lenses cost at least equivalent of 500 euro, and I was short on budget at this moment.

Not giving up hope, I hunted in second hand photography shops in Ginza for something in M-mount variety, which I could use for the assumed purpose. I could not find anything below the said price level from Leica glass. The cheaper Elmarits were at the level of e-bay auctions, and Elmars commanded even higher price.

The fate brought me to a shop which existence I completely forgotten, even if I already bought something before. In a really small shop in backstreet in Ginza, I noticed an inconspicuous lens, which was quite cheap and its specifics were just appropriate. The description was Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm f4, and the price was a fraction of what Leica glass cost.

I investigated a little on the internet. I found out, that this is probably the only case in history, that a German company manufactured something for a Japanese brand. The glass was made by Leica for the join project with Minolta: Leica CL/Minolta CL. Its other branding is Leica Elmar-C 90mm f4. It has some nice reviews:

http://elmqvist.blogspot.jp/2009/05/leica-elmar-c-90mm-f4-on-m8.html

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1013&message=41489276


I thought the specs are OK for the price and it is not a bad idea to give Rokkor a try.

The lens is diminutive for a 90mm lens. For X-Pro APS-C sensor, it is equivalent of 135mm, which is longer then traditional portrait lens, but I think it is still usable. The minimum focusing distance is 1m.

Here is the test "wall" picture:

Who knows, maybe I will be able to use it for some action as well, even if it is manual;-)

I saw some sports photos on Steve Huffs blog, which were shot with manual M-lenses, so it is perfectly possible.

Street shooting

The camera handles differently then any other camera I had used. The AF is really very slow. It is not that I shoot out-of-focus - it is that the camera often captures picture just after the subjects left the frame! It is necessary to prefocus it - but it also does not guarantee the camera will not start thinking before capture.

Looking on the LCD or through viewfinder is not enough: you must predict and prepare in advance. The old saying, that when you see it, it is already too late, has never been more true with modern digital cameras. It simply is no compare to the faster-then-thought reaction of Nikon D4, my D700, and even my old Panasonic GF1. 

To GUARANTEE the prompt reaction, it is necessary to go to manual mode. And here is a catch: manual focusing requires as much prediction as AF, much more skill and experience and on top of it, the current Fuji glass is quite slow in manual focusing.

Just too slow... ;-)

To focus manually, I figure it is probably better to use a completely manual lenses, like M-glass, or any of the other manual lenses out there - one of the reasons for CV15.

I guess that by investing in M-glass you really cannot go wrong, given that it is currently supported by all mirror-less systems (including the awesome Ricoh GXR Mount, which I also considered). Manual focusing is not really that inconvenient, at the users of the aforementioned GXR prove… So it could be I should look into some 28mm/35mm M-glass for manual shooting, leaving the Fuji XF only to AF tasks?

All together, this camera is much more challenging to master then all the other cameras I used in the past. In a way, it is more challenging than the film cameras of old, which did not have any lag..

However, the X-Pro picture quality is awesome. I believe that when the camera usage is mastered, it is capable of extraordinary results.

And strangely, in spite of all the described problems, it is quite likeable. At least, I enjoy using it. I would like it to be better - but I do not feel like coming back to my old equipment.

The effort to predict how the situation in front of the photgrapher unfolds is also a demanding but good exercise. So I believe that using this camera will make one a better photographer altogether. And having captured a nice shot, I feel satisfaction.

Later, having exercised the clairvoyance and using ultra fast camera like Nikon D4 would produce miracles;-) Having said that, I would not bring Nikon D4 on any of those walks around the street.

Street shooting: Lenses

Which lens is my favourite? Surprisingly, CV15. It is the most reliable performance-wise. It is much wider then obvious 23mm (35mm in full frame equivalence), so I thought I cannot close to the subjects in normal street situation.

XF 35mm is however the best after dark. I cannot feel the right distance yet. It should be half a step further then with 23mm lens. But with practice, I still believe this lens has potential.

The most funny thing is, I am usually satisfied with the lens I have stucked to the camera at any given time. I went by for two years with one lens only for my Panasonic, even if I was thinking of buying other (which I never did).

X100 vs X-Pro 1

Here is the real contest, as those cameras are quite similar.

X100 has ultra quiet leaf shutter. I was afraid X-Pro to be too loud. In the street the difference is not really noticable, but it is, especially when you get close to subject (less then 1m). The camera click sounds nice, and even in a loud environment, like a street, I could feel exactly the moment, when the picture was taken.

There are circumstances however, I would not dare to take pictures with this camera, like in the absolute quiet room.

I must say yet, that currently X100 is much better companion for street shooting. Three main reasons for it are:

• The lens of X100 is an equivalent of 35mm. This is perfect for street shooting - right now I do not have such lens for X-Pro 1.
• The ultra quiet leaf shutter
• The reaction for shutter press is faster. I have the impression it focuses faster then X-Pro with 35mm lens.

On the other hand, X-Pro 1:

• the variety of lens makes it more flexible, with the notable exception of an equivalent of 35mm.
• I always now, when I took picture, and if I took it at all.
• I had better results with manual focusing

Considering all this, I prefer X100 for street photography at this moment.

The very good news is, that both X100 and X-Pro with one or two lenses are still lighter then D700 with just one bright zoom. An you have one camera as backup.

I am looking forward to yet not existing X200 - the camera with leaf shutter and lens of X100, and the sensor and some improvements of the X-Pro.

The grand test - Echizen Matsushima Aquarium

The ultimate test for me is how the camera works in aquariums. I bought this camera because I had a belief it could perform nicely.

If the focus is right, the quality is awesome. However, getting the focus right is a pain, especially with fast moving fish. Here we go again to manual focussing, like in the old days. In Nikon D700 I could do AF in 95% of situations.

Having said that, the photos came quite good. I am satisfied with the session. There are some types of photos I could not take with this camera, but I could take other, which I would not have taken with D700. With D700 I would not be forced to think how to compensate for focusing problems, so the photos might come more typical.

Hunting for prey in Echizen Matsushima Aquarium

Let us try, if we can swim out of this boring tank - a sea turtle (海亀) in Echizen Matsushima Aquarium.

Sneaky... an octopus in Echizen Matsushima Aquarium.

I still would like to go to an aquarium with D700, but this camera gets a passing grade. And it weighs so little, in some circumstances it surpasses D700 in practice.

Summary

I am not totally convinced I want to sell my Nikon D700 now (but mainly, because I feel attached to my tools). However, I am convinced, that normally I would use the X-Pro 75% of the time, with 22% going to Fuji X100. D700 would get the remaining 3% for special assignments. That means that Nikon D700 is almost obsolete for me at this moment, unless I will make photography into a job.

This review was written based on experiences in July, 2012. 

Hint: Fuji X100 charger with lost widget adapter

One of the peculiarities of Fuji X100 camera is the charger, which require a plastic widget adapter for the batteries to be blocked in the charger and charged. It is a part, which is easily lost.

What to do, when it is lost? The best is to use something that you already have with you. I always have one or more USB cables for external disks or cameras. I use a USB standard plug to block the battery in place. It works perfectly.

Photo picks #2: A portrait of an old man

dad by vrot01

First it caught my attention, because it looks WHITE. The whiteness of this photo stands out.

When we look at it, we notice that some of the elements are not white, but have different shades of grey. But still, when we look at it, it is white that we see.

There is a lot to like about this picture. The almost monochromatic character  makes it look very simple, but there is power in this simplicity. The background is white as well. It is blurred, as it is a usual trick for portraits to avoid attention to the noisy background. In this case, even if we get more depth of field, we would not seen anything more, because there is a white wall behind. But putting the focus on the old man's head provides an almost a 3D effect.

I feel also a kind of connection between the photographer, and the old man, even before looking at the description. The old man does not look into the camera, so he might not be aware of the photographer's presence. Just looking at the photo, we'll never know. But I feel this connection, especially that I also took a few of those "stop the time" pictures.

The portrait looks ethereal. Still here, but like the transition has already started. It is scary in a way, because when we look at it longer, it makes us thinking about our very own life.

Those kind of photographs I like the most. The ones, which convey a very strong feelings with the minimum of resources.

Photo picks #1: X-Pro 1 married with Leica lens for macro shot

I am starting a new series of posts. I would like to simply share impressions on the interesting photos I have found on photo communities websites, and to suggest my friends to see those photos for themselves.

Below I am presenting a very nice macro shot. Macro photos could be outstanding, and can be quite boring. This one is very pleasent to my eye, I like the colors of the leaf starting from red and going through yellow to green, with wonderful light reflections. It looks wet - maybe the rain just stopped? The background is very nicely blurred.

The gear used to shoot it is another reason for me to highlight this picture. The camera was Fujifilm X-Pro 1, and the lens was Elmarit-R 90mm 2.8. The author of this photo did, what I think I will do - buy a longer non-Fuji lens until Fuji releases nice tele lenses. This photo is a proof this approach actually works.

It gives me confidence that my impressions about the Fujifim X-Pro 1 camera were correct, and when I finally get it, I will not regret it.

NATURE IN TRIO by iHuraba

Wireless cable release for X100/XPro1

I have become a fan of the Fujifilm X100 camera. This is fine camera, but it makes one thing impossible: use of a remote other than a venerable cable release. No wireless solution. And a wireless trigger is needed if you really want to make fine group photos with you included.


Why cannot someone make a wireless/mechanical cable release coupling, that can be use with the abundant wireless triggers on the market?

Those cable release cameras are more and more popular on the market, thanks to Fuji. Also, there are thousands, and maybe hundreds of thousands of people using old fine cameras, like Hasselblads V or large format, who would surely appreciate such a release.

Please, someone make such a device, and it should prove a hit. I do hope some Chinese manufacturers, whoc started to build fully manual flashes for the Strobist community, will finally make one.

A flash exercise

One evening I went for a walk in Scheveningen. I decided to take a photo of a lantern in the ambient light only.  On the spur of the moment I decided to make it into a flash usage exercise. I did not have my ordered Metz lamp yet, so I had to rely on the D700 built in flash. It turned out, that there are times, when even such limited flash is of great use.

The first photo I took turned out quite dark.



I put the flash compensation to -2, to avoid that the flash will dominate the picture. It would be useless anyway, since it has not reach to get up to the horizon. The result was this photo.



It looks much better to me, even if I used only the D700 built in flash. I decided to take one more photo, this time with the flash compensation set to -3. The result you can see below.



This cannot be called a Strobist exercise though. The flash was on camera, and I did not tweaked it in manual mode;-)

Strobist inspiration

Recently, I found a very interesting site on the web. The title is Strobist (http://strobist.blogspot.com), and generally, it is all about using light to enhance photos. I must admit the site and presented thinking are very close to my thinking, only that I have not got so much knowledge as the author(s). As I understand, there is quite a crowd of followers, large enough to alter market prices on e-bay, and to make some Chinese manufacturers to start making flashes which, according to common wisdom, should have long belonged to the past.

The philosophy of strobists is very appealing to me. The strobist believe you should always think about light, and ways to enhance it in your photos. The pocket size flashes are the best way to achieve it, because of their flexibility and portability.

Right now I am working through their Lighting 101 section. This is very nicely written tutorials, with many examples. I find some problems with them, I will come to it later.

The strobists seem to favor working with flashes in the manual mode. I can say only embrace that. As an aquarium photographer, I already invented my portable aquarium studio as a set of four simple manual flashes, which I would trigger via those radio triggers. In aquarium the usefulness of highly advanced metering and focusing is problematic anyway. The smaller the objects, the more useful is manual mode. So I thought I would set my flashes as close to te glass as possible, fire them by radio, and check the result. After it is OK, I would go on taking the real photos.

So, when I stumbled upon the Strobist blog I was really ready to take over their philosophy and apply it in my shooting. Unfortunately, I do not have my aquariums at hand, which is really pity. And the public aquariums are out of question anyway.

So I am looking for fish models in the Hague, Netherlands. If anyone would like to risk their fish as photographic guinea pigs, let me know.

The problem is it is not always possible to use flash. One such example is sports competitions. I find the examples of sport photos with flash a little disconcerting. At the sports events in my disciplines, kendo and iaido, it is strictly prohibited, at least in my country.

The other situation involves the public aquariums. The aquarium photographs are the only ones which I have ever published in a printed magazine, so this type of photography is special to me.

Most public aquariums prohibit to use flash. It is understandable. A single photographer with a flash is not a problem for the fish and does no harm (usually). However, thousands of them, every day, it is a completely different thing. No wonder the prohibition holds. The occasions I could use a flash in the aquarium were the exceptions.

It is a pity, because using a flash can really make a wonderful photos, especially in such dark environment, like in the aquarium. I was taking nice photographs in the Wilhelma Aquarium in Stuttgart, with flash. This was in the era of film cameras. I could not imagine how it would be possible without a flash at all.

I mentioned already that aquarium photography with a flash is exceptionally hard because of the possible reflections from glass and the water, and that is why the strobist thinking of flash off the camera agrees very well with aquarium photographers.

In the times I was more serious about it, the main problem was to fire the flash off camera. I had Minolta Dynax 5, which could do it, but I could not afford those flashes anyway. Well, I could just afford one Sunpak flash, which I later changed for the more powerful Minolta 5400xi. Using the camera build in flash as a commander usually ruined the photo anyway. The currently popular e-bay triggers were not available. The e-bay was not available in my country at all. In spite of the fact, I learned quite a lot about reflections, angles, and I did some pretty nice pictures.



In aquarium photography the more powerful the flash, the better. The photos I took with Sunpak with guide number 40 were underexposed at 100 ISO, and barely acceptable at 400. Those taken with Minolta 5400xi were acceptable at ISO 100 and very nice at ISO 400. But good ISO 400 slides were very expensive.

I was carrying that flash anywhere I was taking picture. Of course, I was bouncing from the ceiling or walls, but I did not think of using flash off camera – at least until I have some means to use it wirelessly.

When I upgraded to digital camera in the year 2005, it changed a lot. I tried to use some flash light, but at public aquariums I could not. I took pictures at ISO 800, and sometimes at ISO 1600. At really desperate time I could use ISO 3200 - but the results were almost useless. And then using the same settings at other opportunities was very tempting.




Changing the camera to Sony A700 was nice. I got very nice results at ISO 800. I gradually I started to use flash less and less outside of public aquariums as well. It was to easy to get high ISO on the camera, and not to carry a flash – especially, that my most portable bag did not have place for it. To have a flash was becoming a bother. Of course, I never went to use the internal flash – the quality of the pictures are so horrible. I had one experience of photos taken with the help of the internal flash, and that is enough.




When I switched to Nikon, flash was actually the last thing I thought of buying. After all, the main reason for this swich was the exceptional low light abilities of the D700.

But this thinking belongs to the past now. This site convinced me to embrace flashes again.

And, additionally, it inspired me not to sell my Minolta 5600 HSD lamp – but to buy an ISO hot shoe adapter, and use it in manual mode as part of my portable aquarium studio. Actually, It saves me many problems (although, if someone offers me two of those LumoPro 120 lamps in exchange I won't say no - it is always better to have two than one).

A few words on the batteries

I admit I have had no idea when the world was going recently. One such thing was the rechargeable batteries. I started to use them when I bought a battery pack for my Minolta 5 in ancient times, and also for power up flashes.

When I went digital, those cameras had their own format of lithium batteries, and recently I rarely used flashes, so I gradually ceased using the reachargeable accus. So I overlooked the introduction of such thing as Sanyo eneloops, which I am buying for my flash.

Geotagging issues

I am deeply disappointed with Nikon GPS GP-1. I thought it was a very cool idea to have my photos geotagged, with convenient on camera unit, with the data going directly to the EXIF without any additional effort.

The practice is not so nice. It turns out the unit has big difficulties with staying on track. In Japan, where I actually wanted to tag my photos, I could only occasionally get the position. And when the position was lost, it took a huge amount of time to get the satellites back. I see no reason for that in places, where other GPS devices work without problems.

I was waiting for 4 minutes with camera taken out in front of Madurodam in the Hague, until I got the position, in spite of the fact I put the camera on long time before. If I am in a company, I simply cannot afford waiting.

Entering the buildings – forget. It is understandable, that the device loses satellites. But is has no function „last position” to tag the photos, when it loses track. It would be sufficient to do so, since it is reasonable to tag the photos taken inside a building as one position. However, the unit does not remember, where it is. So the camera cannot tag the following photos as taken in the same building. Shame.

Of course. I can take the photo at the entrance, and then tag the subsequent photos manually. But to take a photo just it could contain a tag, and then tag the rest is not the way I wanted to do it, when I decided to buy the device.

Another problem is ergonomy. The camera with this accessory attached feels clumsy, and it is not possible to put it easily inside a bag. I used to put camera on the left side, for easy catching the grip. It is not possible. Keeping it always off the bag is also impractical – sometimes you just have to put it in, like you going inside a shop and the security is concerned with your camera ready to take photos.

If you think that attaching and detaching it is a solution, you are wrong. It takes too long, for the operation, and for it re-aquiring position.

Those issues are the reason it is good device only for people, who arrive into the photographing location, have lots of time before starting shooting, and rarely move to other location before the shooting is over.

When you use this accessory, you cannot use a remote control. The battery drain on the camera is smaller issue (but if you want to have the GPS on most of the time, and you probably want, because otherwise it is never ready when you want to take some action shots, it depletes the battery quite quickly).

The last issue, I plan to add small Panasonic GF1 camera to my gear for use when D700 feels too big. I would also like to geo tag those photos as well. It is probably impossible to do with GP-1.

Summing those thing up, I have a GP-1 for sale.

However, I got already hooked into geotagging my photos. There are other solutions on the market, like a hot shoe synchronized JoboGPS. This would work with GF1, but it would still feel clumsy, and I would still need to run my photos through external program.

I suppose a simple GPS logger comes the closest to the ideal solution.

• It is very small, so you can carry it anywhere.
• It is very discreet. Nobody would even notice it.
• It can provide accurate position e.g. each 10 seconds. The probability you move fast enough, that photos taken in the 10 seconds time frame should be tagged differently, is zero.
• It will work with any digital camera.
• It does not attach to the camera, so the camera operation, like putting it in and out the bag is not affected in any way.
• If you carry more than one camera, one device is enough for all. It can serve also for your companions cameras, too.
• It can be useful not only for geotagging photos, but for other purposes, like marking you jogging route on Google Earth.
• It works on its own batteries, so it does not interfere with your camera battery, and camera operation cycles (on, off).
• The log gives basically the „last position” feature, when it loses satellites.
• Typical logger weighs less than 100g, so it is not bad for you back.

There are many different loggers on the market. I put additional requirements on the list:

• Works with standard AA or AAA batteries
• Operates in the driverless mode: it is visible to a computer like a storage device.

After some research I think the small Amod AGL3080 will fill my needs completely.

Switch to Nikon

Decision to switch systems always is a difficult one. Buying new camera is not a problem. Replacing the existing repository of lenses, flashes and other accessories is difficult and expensive. And then there is the factor of just being used to the ways of doing things.

Since that beginning of my photographic adventure I have been a user of Minolta. My first camera was Minolta Dynax 5, and then it continued to Konica Minolta Dynax 7D and Sony A700. In case of A700, I could not even read the menu properly, but almost from the beginning I could operate the camera almost with my eyes closed. A900 would be a logical choice.

Nevertheless, quite recently I have decided to switch systems. The main reason for switching the system turned out to be rumored unsatisfactory high ISO performance of the A900, which could be the possible expansion for my Sony/Minolta gear. It has brilliant performance in the normal condition. But in the low-light high ISO shooting, there was too much noise on the pictures. And really high percentage of my photographing was low light. Actually, recently I was not even using flash in the conditions that would justify using it. I put ISO640 or 800 and took pictures. Of course, they could not probably get to the National Geographic – but they were quite OK.

The original reasons for taking up photography was to photograph aquariums, both public and private. This almost always requires high ISO.

It turned out that the champion of low light shooting is Nikon D700. It offers a fantastic maximum range of ISO 25600. It will probably be of not much use, but that means, that ISO 6400 should be much more usable than on the body, that provides such option only at maximum boost. And it seems, that common sense is right here.

Nikon has made a very bold step not packing a 20+ megapixel in the full frame sensor of D700. On the first sight it is making D700 looking a little bit outdated. However, this is just the price for the unparalleled performance in the high ISO.

There was other minor reason. I was looking in Japan for a very cheap second hand film Minolta body – and could not find anything satisfying. The relative lack of second hand Minolta gear on the market made me a little uneasy. I could find lots of Nikon second hand gear. In end out I bought a second hand medium-format Mamiya 645 Pro. But this in another story.

For some time I am already enjoying my new D700, and I am generally very happy with it. I am generally happy with its low light performance. The colors also look nice.

From 毎日写真

Nikon body is not supporting image stabilization. You have to have a special lens to have it. Sony supports in in their all bodies. Sometimes it can be useful.

Fortunately, it is alleviated by the faster lenses and higher ISO supported. Image stabilization helps with static pictures, but not with the dynamic ones. Te dynamic pictures require anyway faster shutter times in order not to blur the motion. I do not consider it very serious problem.

I have the impression the dials for exposure compensation work the other way round than in Sony/Minolta. I still need time to get used to it – usually I am doing opposite to what I want.

Nikon has always had better battery management. Comparing A700 and D700, it is also true. One of the reasons could be, that parameter adjustments in Nikon usually do not require using LCD, whereas most of parameter adjustments start up the LCD on A700.


The lenses are one of the most important factors. There is no problem with lenses for Nikon. Nikon has probably the largest systems of lenses available. This is because of the fact, that Nikon did not gave up on the mount, when it came time to produce autofocus cameras. All other manufactures has split system, on manual and autofocus lenses.

The problem with Nikon mount is, that because of large focal plange it is not very well suited for using other system lenses with an adapter. For example, I saw adapters for Nikon lenses for Canon. The other way round is not possible without an optical correction elements.

Some of the Nikon lenses has built in focusing motor, the other use camera body engine. The difference is silence. The AF lenses with motors, like Nikkor 50mm 1.4G AF-S, are very, very silent when comparing to classic, camera-body focusing lenses. I have made a test using the above mentioned lenses, and my friend's Nikkor 50mm 1.8D – the result was very audible.


I have acquired following lenses:

• Nikkor 50mm 1.4G
• Sigma 24-60 2.8
• Sigma 70-200 HSM II

In the beginning I was using the Sigma standard zoom. However, very soon I switched to the Nikon prime. I was going to a place, where I needed a rather silent operation. And the I was using this standard prime. On one occasion I switched to the 70-200 zoom, when taking pictures of the dolphin show. I was very happy with it, it was much more usable than on a 1.5 crop body – I mean, 70mm was wide enough for than application.

Glyptopterichtys gibbiceps

Glyptopterichtys gibbiceps, originally uploaded by Uaru.

It has been long since I published anything here. I am experimenting now with a new ways of publishing my photos. I took this picture in my aquarium a few month ago. I hope you will like it.

Autumn impressions - Colours

Please follow the link to see the full gallery of autumn pictures. I hope you'l like the pictures. I also hope someone finally will leave his comments here;-)

New plfoto.com account

I have created an account on the plfoto.com website. I will put some of my photos there.
You may see them with the following link:

• http://plfoto.com/uzytkownik.php?authorid=20318

Please have a look, and if you have an account on the service, vote;-)

New lenses: Sigma 24-70 3,5-5,6 D HF Aspherical

I have just received my new lenses. It is Sigma 24-70 3,5-5,6 D HF Aspherical. It has some advantages over my Minolta 28-80D 3,5-5,6:

1. It is compatible with Minolta D lenses.
2. It has inner focusing system.
3. It is 4mm wider, than my current lenses - very important, when you have to deal with 1.5 crop factor. I will not miss this 10mm on the narrow end - this is not a big issue for D7D.
   
4. It looks nicer on D7D body;-)
5. It was really, really cheap: roughly equivalence of $60.
   

Here is a link to the official detailed description.

Of course this is not the end of spending, unfortunately. I need at least a UV filter, a circular polar filter, and P adapter for my Cokin system.

I wonder if I should buy a UV filter from the top shelf, or cheaper one... For the time being, I have read that multicoating is very important in digital photography...

Fortunately, I have a polar filter 58mm. I will use a reduction 62mm -> 58mm- I hope vignetting will not be a big issue. The CCD matrix is smaller than film, besides, even if sigma has 62mm filter diameter, than the diameter of glass seem to be smaller than on my Minolta 28-80 with 55mm filter diameter.

Since I bought this lenses, now I can have my analog Dynax 5 in working state at the same time.

ZOO BOTANICA 2005

The pictures I published today were taken at ZOO BOTANICA. It is a fair organized annually in Wrocław, in town where I live. The Wrocław Aquarists' Association, which I am a member of, also takes part in this event. This year I took a couple of good pictures, and I plan to put here some more...

There were some very peculiar people at ZOO BOTANICA... 

I like the shape and colour of this fish... 

Undersea beauty? No, you can see it in the aquarium... Aquarium exhibition at ZOO BOTANICA 2005 in Wrocław. 

After a while

As you see, it's been a long time, since I published anything. Lack of time...
But that does not mean I did not take photos - to the contrary, I took lots of them.
I even made a small photo exhibition in my home town. Perhaps I put some of those photos here.

Sunset on the Oder. Picture taken from the barge. 

The cloud