Digital Medium Format Thread

todders said:
Personally I don’t want anything in front of the gfx lenses that might degrade the quality. I use the lens hood for a bit of protection mostly.

I would stick to the higher quality brands if you do still want a filter you normally get what you pay for.
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There might be a tiny bit of extra flare in extreme conditions with best ones. I tested canon 70-200 f2.8 ii on 5ds at many many settings and could not tell the pairs apart.
Rubbish filter immediately destroys the image quality beyond recognition on that lens. So there you are. There is no reason to be afraid of cpl or nd, etc.
And I really hope you all use lens hoods either with or without a filter.

I have absolutely no respect but only total disdain for anyone who wrecks the front element and dares to claim it's in top condition as they decide to flog it
 
Mr Perceptive said:
@Topsy How is the 20-35??………..
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Excellent David, very nice to use and very flexible in tight areas. Quality wise I can't see any difference between it and the 23mm (I'm no lens tester though so don't quote me). I was out on Tuesday back to an old stomping ground on Dartmoor, the shots will be in my Blog on Sunday but just for you here's a preview.

006 Venford Falls 04-0099 PS Adj.JPG

Shot at 20mm with a polariser.
 
Topsy said:
Excellent David, very nice to use and very flexible in tight areas. Quality wise I can't see any difference between it and the 23mm (I'm no lens tester though so don't quote me). I was out on Tuesday back to an old stomping ground on Dartmoor, the shots will be in my Blog on Sunday but just for you here's a preview.

View attachment 369172

Shot at 20mm with a polariser.
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Not looking good for the wallet…….
 
Well all the stars seemed aligned today. The GFX50s I bought from Ebay on Tuesday for a very attractive price arrived this morning and it is in mint condition. Also the lens and tiltable EVF adapter ordered from MPB arrived half an hour later. I should have read the manual but couldn't resist popping out for a play.
New forest sunset-Edit.jpg by Gordon Ford, on Flickr
 
Fordsabroad said:
Well all the stars seemed aligned today. The GFX50s I bought from Ebay on Tuesday for a very attractive price arrived this morning and it is in mint condition. Also the lens and tiltable EVF adapter ordered from MPB arrived half an hour later. I should have read the manual but couldn't resist popping out for a play.
New forest sunset-Edit.jpg by Gordon Ford, on Flickr
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Welcome to the club. (y)
 
Fordsabroad said:
Well all the stars seemed aligned today. The GFX50s I bought from Ebay on Tuesday for a very attractive price arrived this morning and it is in mint condition. Also the lens and tiltable EVF adapter ordered from MPB arrived half an hour later. I should have read the manual but couldn't resist popping out for a play.
New forest sunset-Edit.jpg by Gordon Ford, on Flickr
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Right, that's it, I'm selling my A9.
 
I'm off to the Lake District for 2 weeks in my motorhome on the 16th October. It is my first visit and I will be based around Keswick.
I currently have the 35 - 70 mm lens and am fighting the urge to rush into buying the 20-35 as Wex have them in stock. I think they will drop in price once the likes of Efinity get them. I have an OM1 with a full range of lenses however the pull of Fuji is strong (and I am not)!.
For those of you that know the area would the WA lens really help or will the 35 - 70 be fine. I will not be doing long hikes up mountains.
 
I've had ad my 20-35 for a week now, I took it out for proper photography on Tuesday to a place I've shot before and found the 23mm just not wide enough. All I will say is that it was well worth the long wait from rumour-roadmap to arrival. It is such a versatile lens I shot it exclusively all day and am very pleased with my results. If I am out with the GFX I won't leave home without it along with my 32-64 but if weight is a real issue then I might leave my 100-200 behind (and probably regret it ;) ). I've been to the Lakes several times and a lot of the places that don't need a hike to get to I've used the wide end of the 32-64 or the 23mm, I'm sure if I'd had the 20-35 it would have been my most used lens.
 
Does anyone use their MF stuff as a replacement for a general walkaround/family camera? They seem comparable in size and weight to decent DSLRs (e.g., my 5D4) and so I'm thinking about it, but not too sure about AF. I'm not interested in shooting sports or anything that moves terribly fast, but would there be something that would be swift enough to capture pics of family in normal use (e.g., out and about, messing around at home etc.), or are they really landscape and studio things?
 
Fordsabroad said:
I'm off to the Lake District for 2 weeks in my motorhome on the 16th October. It is my first visit and I will be based around Keswick.
I currently have the 35 - 70 mm lens and am fighting the urge to rush into buying the 20-35 as Wex have them in stock. I think they will drop in price once the likes of Efinity get them. I have an OM1 with a full range of lenses however the pull of Fuji is strong (and I am not)!.
For those of you that know the area would the WA lens really help or will the 35 - 70 be fine. I will not be doing long hikes up mountains.
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Love the Lakes - hope you have a lovely time and the weather plays ball.

Having been a few times I'd say 35mm on a medium format sensor is going to give you very lovely wide images to play with.

There are a few lovely walks that don't require hours of hiking (e.g. catbells).
 
Py6km, I am sure that you will get plenty of good advice from long term users but as a very new user of the format here are my initial views.
The GFS 50 with the tiltable EVF attached is fairly bulky, not too cumbersome to carry around but certainly not as nimble as smaller formats.
My intention is to use this camera when I have a definite shot in mind or am actively looking for a landscape image.
I have an OM 1 and a good range of lenses which I will carry for general outings.
I feel that the 50s will lead to a more considered, tripod based approach to my photography - which is no bad thing. However when the dog wants her ball throwing then the lighter system is probably more appropriate!!
 
py6km said:
Does anyone use their MF stuff as a replacement for a general walkaround/family camera? They seem comparable in size and weight to decent DSLRs (e.g., my 5D4) and so I'm thinking about it, but not too sure about AF. I'm not interested in shooting sports or anything that moves terribly fast, but would there be something that would be swift enough to capture pics of family in normal use (e.g., out and about, messing around at home etc.), or are they really landscape and studio things?
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Mine are purely for dedicated photography outings, mostly landscape. For travel/walkabout I have Leica M9s and for general stuff or long distance scouting trips I use Fuji X-T2s. I wouldn't use my GFXs (50S) for walkabout (I almost never handhold them anyway) but I think the newer 50S2 or 100S might be a bit better at it as they have the IBIS.
 
py6km said:
Does anyone use their MF stuff as a replacement for a general walkaround/family camera? They seem comparable in size and weight to decent DSLRs (e.g., my 5D4) and so I'm thinking about it, but not too sure about AF. I'm not interested in shooting sports or anything that moves terribly fast, but would there be something that would be swift enough to capture pics of family in normal use (e.g., out and about, messing around at home etc.), or are they really landscape and studio things?
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I’ve used mine as a general purpose camera, shoot a lot of handheld (walkabout), but I don’t normally do people (inc family). Where weight or security is an issue I take my X100F. I often take a messenger type bag, GFX50S, GF45mm and GF30mm. I’ve also attempted motorsport (see earlier in this thread!!)

AF is pedestrian compared to a DSLR, certainly the 50MP cameras is akin to mirrorless from about 7 years ago.
 
py6km said:
Does anyone use their MF stuff as a replacement for a general walkaround/family camera? They seem comparable in size and weight to decent DSLRs (e.g., my 5D4) and so I'm thinking about it, but not too sure about AF. I'm not interested in shooting sports or anything that moves terribly fast, but would there be something that would be swift enough to capture pics of family in normal use (e.g., out and about, messing around at home etc.), or are they really landscape and studio things?
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I’ve only shot my GFX hand held. Done a bit of walkabout. Wouldn’t bother to shoot anything moving with it. Certainly wouldn’t consider it as a one and only camera. The AF just wouldn’t keep up with my youngest granddaughter.
 
It seems that my 50s from ebay may not be as mint as I thought. When I change the battery all the settings revert to default. Has anyone else had this problem?
 
py6km said:
Does anyone use their MF stuff as a replacement for a general walkaround/family camera? They seem comparable in size and weight to decent DSLRs (e.g., my 5D4) and so I'm thinking about it, but not too sure about AF. I'm not interested in shooting sports or anything that moves terribly fast, but would there be something that would be swift enough to capture pics of family in normal use (e.g., out and about, messing around at home etc.), or are they really landscape and studio things?
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I use an X1Dii as a general-purpose walkaround camera with the 45mm P lens which makes it very small and light to carry if I want the one-lens experience. The AF isn't going to be as quick as a DSLR or mirrorless but it's not far behind, and the results are leagues ahead!
 
Fordsabroad said:
It seems that my 50s from ebay may not be as mint as I thought. When I change the battery all the settings revert to default. Has anyone else had this problem?
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Not a common issue with Fuji’s - have heard of a few X series cameras suffering - if it’s not in the latest firmware, I would suggest upgrading and then seeing if the problem persists - if it does then either it goes back to the seller or if you have to bite the bullet to Fujifilm UK Service who do fixed price repairs on cameras - it’s a good service - you will get your camera back in a few days.
 
py6km said:
Does anyone use their MF stuff as a replacement for a general walkaround/family camera? They seem comparable in size and weight to decent DSLRs (e.g., my 5D4) and so I'm thinking about it, but not too sure about AF. I'm not interested in shooting sports or anything that moves terribly fast, but would there be something that would be swift enough to capture pics of family in normal use (e.g., out and about, messing around at home etc.), or are they really landscape and studio things?
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I take 50R on holiday for general use and very happy with the results. I'm not normal walking about though, usually have an image in mind that I'm looking to capture. As above AF is slow and needs practice or pre-set zone focus etc.
 
magicolor1 said:
I use an X1Dii as a general-purpose walkaround camera with the 45mm P lens which makes it very small and light to carry if I want the one-lens experience. The AF isn't going to be as quick as a DSLR or mirrorless but it's not far behind, and the results are leagues ahead!
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I use mine all the time as a walk about camera, it really is not that much bigger than a normal dslr. I paid too much money for it just to sit around until i have an image in my mind. I have the GFX50S with the 35-70 lens and it all fits in my think tank restrospective 5 bag. There is no right or wrong answer really, everyone is going to be different in how they use their camera ultimately.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
The only time on my Scottish jaunt where I could have done with the 20-35 - two shot (handheld) pano of The Old Man Of Storr with the GF30mm


Old Man Of Storr by David Yeoman, on Flickr
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I went there not long after I'd got my GFX, shot this one with the 23mm.

Old Man of Storr-0939PS adj.jpg

Also went tio Neist Point another 23mm shot.

Neist Point Lighthouse Bay-0996 PS Adj Resized.jpg
 
Topsy said:
I went there not long after I'd got my GFX, shot this one with the 23mm.

View attachment 369531

Also went tio Neist Point another 23mm shot.

View attachment 369532
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Nice! We only spent a day on Skye and it was a long day (16 hours) - 2 hour drive in pouring rain and high winds in the dark (50% on single track roads!), but the forecast worked a treat, starting clearing from 8.30am, went to Old Man Of Storr, Fairy Pools and Elgol, followed by a curry just before leaving Skye!!
 
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Mr Perceptive said:
Nice! We only spent a day on Skye and it was a long day (16 hours) - 2 hour drive in pouring rain and high winds (50% on single track roads!), but the forecast worked a treat, starting clearing from 8.30am, went to Old Man Of Storr, Fairy Pools and Elgol, followed by a curry just before leaving Skye!!
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I love Skye, first time we went we only had 1 day but on the trip I got these shots we had a week. We went up as part of a morotcycle tour (Devon to Scotland round trip) but when I was on Skye I parked the bike and hired a car so I could go farther from the road without worry, it worked a treat and we had good weather/light. The problem with flying visits is you have to take what's there at the time. I'd love to go again drive up (can take more gear) and spend a couple of weeks just weather watching and planning depending on the conditions, sadly it probably won't happen.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
Not a common issue with Fuji’s - have heard of a few X series cameras suffering - if it’s not in the latest firmware, I would suggest upgrading and then seeing if the problem persists - if it does then either it goes back to the seller or if you have to bite the bullet to Fujifilm UK Service who do fixed price repairs on cameras - it’s a good service - you will get your camera back in a few days.
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I have contacted the ebay seller and so far he has been brilliant. I believe that he didn't know about the fault. The camera has been left unused for a year and it seems that the internal battery is done for. He has agreed to pay for the repair when i return from my trip to the Lake District.
 
Fordsabroad said:
I have contacted the ebay seller and so far he has been brilliant. I believe that he didn't know about the fault. The camera has been left unused for a year and it seems that the internal battery is done for. He has agreed to pay for the repair when i return from my trip to the Lake District.
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Good Result!!
 
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