Thank You, Thank You Fuji!

[Ysarex]

Third week with my new Fuji X-E2 and it just keeps getting better. When I got the camera I ordered a helical focusing adapter ($32.00!) that lets me mount and focus an enlarger lens on the X-E2. It came in the mail today.

When I closed up the darkroom years ago I sold and/or gave away a lot of darkroom stuff including lots of lenses, but I couldn't let go of my 60mm Rodagon. Now it's a 60mm macro on my new X-E2. Fuji makes using non-XF series lenses real easy. And, I LOVE THIS: they've added a split/image manual focus aid to the X-E2 to make manual focusing easy and accurate. Thank you Fuji!

So I quick put the Rodagon on my X-E2 and grabbed a snapshot of one of my CD holders. On the right is the center at 100%.

Joe

 

[Derrel]

$32 is a doggone pittance to pay for such a useful accessory! Glad to read about your delight with the new camera!

 

[cgw]

Third week with my new Fuji X-E2 and it just keeps getting better. When I got the camera I ordered a helical focusing adapter ($32.00!) that lets me mount and focus an enlarger lens on the X-E2. It came in the mail today.

When I closed up the darkroom years ago I sold and/or gave away a lot of darkroom stuff including lots of lenses, but I couldn't let go of my 60mm Rodagon. Now it's a 60mm macro on my new X-E2. Fuji makes using non-XF series lenses real easy. And, I LOVE THIS: they've added a split/image manual focus aid to the X-E2 to make manual focusing easy and accurate. Thank you Fuji!

So I quick put the Rodagon on my X-E2 and grabbed a snapshot of one of my CD holders. On the right is the center at 100%.

Joe

View attachment 61915

The X-E2 is a very sweet camera and shows how far MILCs have come. Just curious where you got a helical adapter for that price? They're usually just shy of $200.

 

[Ysarex]

$32 is a doggone pittance to pay for such a useful accessory! Glad to read about your delight with the new camera!

Thanks -- I'm really happy with the X-E2 so far. Took it out yesterday for 2.5 hours in sub-freezing temps and no problem handling the cold.

Joe

 

[Ysarex]

Third week with my new Fuji X-E2 and it just keeps getting better. When I got the camera I ordered a helical focusing adapter ($32.00!) that lets me mount and focus an enlarger lens on the X-E2. It came in the mail today.

When I closed up the darkroom years ago I sold and/or gave away a lot of darkroom stuff including lots of lenses, but I couldn't let go of my 60mm Rodagon. Now it's a 60mm macro on my new X-E2. Fuji makes using non-XF series lenses real easy. And, I LOVE THIS: they've added a split/image manual focus aid to the X-E2 to make manual focusing easy and accurate. Thank you Fuji!

So I quick put the Rodagon on my X-E2 and grabbed a snapshot of one of my CD holders. On the right is the center at 100%.

Joe

View attachment 61915

The X-E2 is a very sweet camera and shows how far MILCs have come. Just curious where you got a helical adapter for that price? They're usually just shy of $200.

Yep, the EVF isn't ideal but it's a whole lot better than earlier EVFs that I've seen, and Fuji really seems to have thought about it carefully. For example I wear glasses and the EVF has enough relief that I can see the entire frame with my glasses on. The X-Trans sensor really is a solid advance. The rendition of fine detail is superb with the AA filter removed.

When I got the camera I just went to ebay and searched on Fuji X adapter and here it is: Fuji X to M42 I figured it would be pretty cheap but it's not as bad as I anticipated (14 days from China). The connection to the camera is solid -- there's a slight rough patch when the 2nd helical kicks in that could wear badly over time, but for $32.00 hey. My 60mm Rodagon is sharp as a scalpel and again I have to give Fuji credit for not only making it possible for me to use it but for building in support, they sell a 60mm Macro that I'm not going to buy.

Joe

 

[sashbar]

So how is the AF compared to DSLR. We know it is slower, but how slower is slower? How do you feel it in various situations compared to you previous cameras?

 

[Ysarex]

So how is the AF compared to DSLR. We know it is slower, but how slower is slower? How do you feel it in various situations compared to you previous cameras?

Actually the AF is not slower compared to a DSLR. That's one of the problems that Fuji addressed and corrected with the X-E2. Now the AF is faster than any DSLR, at least according to Fuji it's the AF record holder. The reality is a bit different than Fuji's publicity claims, but they certainly did address the problem they were having with their earlier models -- AF is very fast.

I swapped a 5DmkII for this X-E2 and I'm really happy to have the reduced size and weight. I can see where a DSLR user who is accustomed to their OVF would quickly reject the EVF and as a result reject the camera. I'm adjusting to the EVF pretty well but it certainly is a compromise. On the other hand the removal of the mirror cage is why the camera is so much smaller and lighter -- we can't have everything.

I expected some loss in overall IQ between the full frame sensor on my 5D and the X-E2's APS sensor. I'm happy to report that the loss is less than I had anticipated or that one would expect. Fuji's X-Trans sensor array makes a real difference. So do Fuji's lenses. I shot a bunch of photos yesterday with the XF 14mm f/2.8 and the performance of that lens is just jaw-dropping. Here's a photo from yesterday taken with the 14mm.

Joe

 

[Derrel]

Looks like you might be off-square by a millimeter or two...dude, you're slipping these days...

 

[Ysarex]

Looks like you might be off-square by a millimeter or two...dude, you're slipping these days...

Well I do have another birthday coming next month, but two millimeters is pretty damn extreme -- how many beers have you had huh?

Look at this:



I did not remove an iota of barrel or pincushion distortion from that photo. That lens has an 89 degree angle of view and it's damn near distortion free. I said jaw-dropping without exaggeration. I haven't seen this kind of wide angle optical performance since I sold my last Biogon. It has become commonplace now for companies like Canon and Nikon and etc. to rely on software to cover their *sses. Fuji and this lens are kicking some *ss.

Back in the day we used to have rule #1: Lenses take photos; cameras hold film. So what mattered was that you got yourself an 80mm f/2.8 Planar. That it was mounted to a Rollie or a Hassy or a Graflex was a secondary concern -- that was the film holder. In the digital age that rule has been weakened as the camera/sensor has become increasingly important. I see this lens as reasserting rule #1 which is making this old timer feel like proper order is being restored in the universe.

Joe

 

[Derrel]

Pretty sweet. Sooooooo many zooms (and primes too) these days have pretty high amounts of distortion. One of the funniest lenses I have is the Nikon 35/2 AF-D...clicking the Lens Correction Profile On and Off on files shot with that lens is almost like watching a simple animated .GIF...it's like, "oh...my...Gawd...it's so...distorted....do things...really,look....like ..that?" (said with a Moon Unit Zappa Valley Girl voice delivery). Mind-boggling distortion.

Fuji's really doing well with their X-series cameras. I've heard that "film holder" reference applied to some of the new MILC shooters who are pretty stoked about what it has done for "lenses". My only Fuji is a Funjinon-W 150mm f/5.6, and it's pretty good. I know Hasselblad contracted Fuji to build all the lenses for their 35mm X-Pan panoramic cameras, and also Fuji makes the "new" lenses for the Hasselblad digitial medium format systems. THom Hogan has nothing but praise for the Fuji lenses for the X-series...he just loves their quality.

 

[cgw]

"I know Hasselblad contracted Fuji to build all the lenses for their 35mm X-Pan panoramic cameras, and also Fuji makes the "new" lenses for the Hasselblad digitial medium format systems."

Fuji made the XPan bodies, too. Same goes for the H series bodies.

 

[sashbar]

Re the lack of distortion: Is it the lense itself or is it this new Fuji Lense Modulation Optimisation in-camera soft?

 

[amolitor]

Actually, building lenses with distortion is probably a good thing these days. With digital, who cares about distortion? With a good lens profile, it's trivial to fix in post.

Since every lens is a set of compromises, if you can make it better in hard-to-correct dimensions, at the cost of making it produce more distortion, well, awesome. Just as a for instance, which strikes me as likely to be realistic, if you can make it vignette less and distort more, you should. Vignettes are also fixable in post -- to a degree -- but shadows lost to noise are shadows lost to noise, and pulling them back up in post just makes them look bad.

 

[Ysarex]

Re the lack of distortion: Is it the lense itself or is it this new Fuji Lense Modulation Optimisation in-camera soft?

It's the lens itself. Fuji's new Lens Modulation Optimizer is a function of the camera's software image processor and has no effect on raw files. PhotoNinja does not automatically apply any corrections for optical distortions.

Joe

 

[Ysarex]

Pretty sweet. Sooooooo many zooms (and primes too) these days have pretty high amounts of distortion. One of the funniest lenses I have is the Nikon 35/2 AF-D...clicking the Lens Correction Profile On and Off on files shot with that lens is almost like watching a simple animated .GIF...it's like, "oh...my...Gawd...it's so...distorted....do things...really,look....like ..that?" (said with a Moon Unit Zappa Valley Girl voice delivery). Mind-boggling distortion.

Fuji's really doing well with their X-series cameras. I've heard that "film holder" reference applied to some of the new MILC shooters who are pretty stoked about what it has done for "lenses". My only Fuji is a Funjinon-W 150mm f/5.6, and it's pretty good. I know Hasselblad contracted Fuji to build all the lenses for their 35mm X-Pan panoramic cameras, and also Fuji makes the "new" lenses for the Hasselblad digitial medium format systems. THom Hogan has nothing but praise for the Fuji lenses for the X-series...he just loves their quality.

Yep, I used some of Fuji's view camera lenses back in the day as well. I had a SW 90mm on my Arca that was a very solid performer. I always wanted one of their 617 cameras but never could scrap together the $$$.

Joe