The Fabulous Fuji X owners thread

I have only shot one wedding which was for an old work colleague last year. I told him that I didn't think I should do it and that he should hire a professional, as I am not experienced in Wedding photography and I didn't want to be responsible if the results didn't live up to expectation. He told me not to worry, and there was no high expectation as they planned it to be super casual regarding the photography, so just get whatever shots I felt like taking around the church ceremony and then I could relax as a guest for the rest of the day. (his fallback was going to be just guests taking photos on their phones!)

So I turn up on the day, and that seemed to have gone out the window... so much for casually taking some shots. It ended up being super structured (friends & family and even the vicar pulling me in every direction as to what they were expecting from me), with the full range of shots throughout the day that you would expect from a comprehensive wedding shoot - most of which I somehow made it though, despite using a camera (Nikon D610) that I had only owned for a few days prior... and was my first ever Nikon.

He was really happy with the shots, but I certainly wasn't. Messy / busy backgrounds, composition not great, some bad colour / exposures etc. All the things that under a normal casual shooting situation I would be actively looking out for... but all seemed to go out the window under this pressure. I have even more respect for professional Wedding photographers after this experience, that's for sure.

Moral of the story: If you are talking with a friend about his upcoming wedding, and he starts the conversation with the line "Do you still have a good camera...?" then exit sharpish! :exit: :LOL:
 
Cagey75 said:
I haven't done one yet with fuji gear, as i don't actually own any yet :D But I know it won't bother me in the slightest. Even when I used the D800E and fancy lenses, there was always 'Uncle Bob' with his canon 5D Mk III and 70-200 trying to bully me out the way. Thankfully I'm a big enough guy and have hard elbows ;) It doesn't matter the gear, with weddings it's about being dominant, let everyone know who the Alpha is. I've even used the "look toward the BIG camera" shout for groups a few times, when they were all being distracted by cam phones. Maybe there it makes a little difference? But I think even with Fuji gear you can do that, make yourself bigger, the gear will follow.
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This.

Interesting discussion. Started doing weddings 30 plus years ago. Then with a pair of Bronica ETRS, and large hard cases, that made the photographer inherently the guy with the biggest best badass camera etc at the wedding. Combine that with the assistant arranging dresses guests bridesmaids etc, and there was no doubt who was the photographer. Since 35mm format digital became good enough in quality terms, the differential in gear size is probably still aided by pro sized DSLRs, white lenses, multiple bodies. And gear at least as good as Uncle Bobs. I agree, if the kit size reduces, the photographer has work harder at being big themselves. I'm thinking for those who aren't naturally alpha, some level of corporate uniform, appropriately smart but brightly coloured - might help. You'll always get uncle bobs with bigger/better/more expensive gear, even if you have a brace of 5DIIIs. I used a Contax 35mm for informals then and a big flash on a bracket helped with bigness.

On the technical side - photographers have never had it so easy to do weddings. The nature of wedding photography has changed for sure, but weddings themselves are much the same!. And the key critical shots haven't changed. It is this accessibility of wedding photography to photographers that has changed since 35mm formats became acceptable and common. The kit has always been good enough. Manual focus on Medium Format, with changeable film backs to change every 12 exposures. Light metering to do etc. Manual flash. No preview or ability to chimp. And the inherent pressure that brings in not knowing until after the wedding if you had a single exposure. Somehow incredibly we managed. And that's with far fewer shots per wedding than the luxury that exists now. And we still had ring shots to do, dim churches, dim reception areas, B&G kiss, walking back down the aisle etc. The skill was in the photographer, not the kit.

All that said, I can see how brand snobbery from an Uncle Bob, could undermine confidence of an under confident photographer at worst, or be irritating at best and diminutive kit size could make it inherently harder to be big - but an awful lot of people will soon have XT2s judging by waiting lists. If you can't be big, be different perhaps. It's the results that count, so authority, management, assertiveness and planning will all help. But xt2 or 5DIII etc, there will always be someone with a better camera.
 
X-T2 order placed this morning and a grip from @Stephen L (which will arrive long before the camera)
Jessops gave me a surprisingly good trade in on my X-T1 which with the £100 made it hard to resist any longer.

Ideally I should get rid of the Pro2 now and pick up another T1 as my spare/Mrs Sprout's camera.
Not sure I can justify keeping the Pro2 but it's not getting a whole lot of interest in the classifieds so it might end up staying with me.
 
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Simes123 said:
This.

Interesting discussion. Started doing weddings 30 plus years ago. Then with a pair of Bronica ETRS, and large hard cases, that made the photographer inherently the guy with the biggest best badass camera etc at the wedding. Combine that with the assistant arranging dresses guests bridesmaids etc, and there was no doubt who was the photographer. Since 35mm format digital became good enough in quality terms, the differential in gear size is probably still aided by pro sized DSLRs, white lenses, multiple bodies. And gear at least as good as Uncle Bobs. I agree, if the kit size reduces, the photographer has work harder at being big themselves. I'm thinking for those who aren't naturally alpha, some level of corporate uniform, appropriately smart but brightly coloured - might help. You'll always get uncle bobs with bigger/better/more expensive gear, even if you have a brace of 5DIIIs. I used a Contax 35mm for informals then and a big flash on a bracket helped with bigness.

On the technical side - photographers have never had it so easy to do weddings. The nature of wedding photography has changed for sure, but weddings themselves are much the same!. And the key critical shots haven't changed. It is this accessibility of wedding photography to photographers that has changed since 35mm formats became acceptable and common. The kit has always been good enough. Manual focus on Medium Format, with changeable film backs to change every 12 exposures. Light metering to do etc. Manual flash. No preview or ability to chimp. And the inherent pressure that brings in not knowing until after the wedding if you had a single exposure. Somehow incredibly we managed. And that's with far fewer shots per wedding than the luxury that exists now. And we still had ring shots to do, dim churches, dim reception areas, B&G kiss, walking back down the aisle etc. The skill was in the photographer, not the kit.

All that said, I can see how brand snobbery from an Uncle Bob, could undermine confidence of an under confident photographer at worst, or be irritating at best and diminutive kit size could make it inherently harder to be big - but an awful lot of people will soon have XT2s judging by waiting lists. If you can't be big, be different perhaps. It's the results that count, so authority, management, assertiveness and planning will all help. But xt2 or 5DIII etc, there will always be someone with a better camera.
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Good advice their Simes123. I found one wedding everyone listened another they didnt at all.
I do think an assistant is great to have, as i see so many shots where the dress looks terrible the women or men in the photo arent doing the same thing when they are supposed to be on. Sun glasses in shots all the usual stuff that can ruin photos even if you take the best photo it just takes Auntie Sandra (slight alcoholic, hungover) wearing her sunglasses and ruining what would have been a great shot not just for the bride and groom but for the portfolio as well.

Im attending my friends wedding in December I dont usually as a rule of thumb take my camera to weddings as i feel they have paid for someone and who wants my shots! but im going to take my fuji because i could do with the practice
 
Barrysprout said:
X-T2 order placed this morning and a grip from @Stephen L (which will arrive long before the camera)
Jessops gave me a surprisingly good trade in on my X-T1 which with the £100 made it hard to resist any longer.

Ideally I should get rid of the Pro2 now and pick up another T1 as my spare/Mrs Sprout's camera.
Not sure I can justify keeping the Pro2 but it's not getting a whole lot of interest in the classifieds so it might end up staying with me.
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That's good to hear Colin, and looking forward to seeing some of your work with the new camera.(y)

George.
 
Remember shooting a wedding about 30yrs ago (yes, I am that old) with a Mamiya C330S twin lens reflex and three Mamiya lenses (65mm/80mm/135mm) - Fuji 160 asa NPS 120 film - manfrotto tripod - Metz flash - Minolta Autometer IV. Twelve shots on one roll of 120 film, shoot about six rolls of film and nervously waited til they got processed/developed.

The end results were simply stunning, punchy colours and that exquisite 6x6 format.


:)
 
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macvisual said:
Remember shooting a wedding about 30yrs ago (yes, I am that old) with a Mamiya C330S twin lens reflex and three Mamiya lenses - Fuji 160 asa NPS 120 film - manfrotto tripod - Metz flash - Minolta Autometer IV. Twelve shots on one roll of 120 film, hoot about six rolls of film and nervously waited til they got processed/developed.

The end results were simply stunning, punchy colours and that exquisite 6x6 format.


:)
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That brings back some memories Peter.(y)

For me those old C330 series Mamy's were the best ever tool for wedding work, 120 or 220 films, flash sync at all shutter speeds (good for flash fill), no black out when firing the shutter, very quite to work with, much easier to change a film than a Rollieflex (no need to take the flash off). I used to use one buttoned to a Metz 45CT5 Hammerhead Flash Gun and just shoot with the standard 80mm Lens. I attached a little blocking plate to the X/M contact slider on my lenses to prevent me from knocking the flash sync to M while working.:D(y)

George.
 
Thanks George, I recall ordering a huge 30"x20" colour re-print from one of the captured Mamiya C330S wedding shots and it was simply magnificent colour/quality/clarity from the 135mm Mamiya lens!
 
Anyone else experienced this - my XF18-55 X-T10 combo seems to have gone a bit loopy - it doesn't seem to be registering the focal length properly so apparently I can shoot at f2.8 at 55mm (when it should be max f4.0) and when looking in LR the exif says all 55mm shots are at 19.6mm in the quick test I just did???

Any thoughts/ideas???
 
Last night I wrote about how I'd found the Fuji cameras in a professional environment. I wasn't quite prepared for the wedding photographer bashing that followed. Especially from folks who have little or no experience in the field.

Personally I don't think wedding shooters are gear snobs at all (and I know a LOT of them). On a personal level I've just replaced a D4s for a Fuji. Does that sound like the behaviour of someone who wants to look big and flashy? The pictures are the only thing that I'm remembered for, not the camera I used.

With regards to putting a camera & lenses to the test I do actually think that shooting a wedding is a VERY good test. Low light, bright sunshine, moving subjects are all a good test. That's why I thought my little resume was worth writing. I know we're not talking speeding cars or birds in flight but a moving subject in poor light is (and was) a really good test.

I'm sure many people are interested in how the X-system performs at weddings and I'll therefore continue to update as I see fit. For anyone who doesn't care about professional wedding photography and the suitability of the system please ignore anything I write. It'll save you getting stressed out and/or embarrassing yourself.
 
Well I hope nothing I said came across as bashing and I apologise if somehow it was taken that way.

I'm always interested to read about others experiences and even more so how they overcame them.

Keep the posts coming :)
 
ryanyboy said:
I don't mind at all.

1) Speeches - X-T2, bride and groom walking down aisle - D750.
2) I didn't notice any major difference between the two Fuji's in terms of AF although I tended to use the 35 F2 on the X-Pro 2 and a mix of longer lenses on the X-T2. So in terms of AF I guess the X-T2 had the bigger challenge.
3) Ultimately I intend to shoot solely with Fuji's going forward so I preferred to carry on using the fuji's throughout the day. I was getting enough in focus shots that it didn't matter if the occasional one missed. And this was nothing different to what I'm used to with Nikon. As you can see for my answer above, it was the D750 that missed the aisle shots. The number of times I've seen the D750 lock on to someone in the background when I've shot an aisle shot is ridiculous. I nearly always continually re-focus on shots like this to try to force focus onto the subject in case it's missing.

Hope this answers your questions :)
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Thanks very much, interesting and surprising that it was the D750 that missed the shots. I can't say I've ever experienced this with my D750 tbh with it locking onto the background or someone in the background in any situation, not good :( So would you say that the X-T2 can go toe to toe with the D750 in terms of AF and keepers in a wedding environment then? I'm certainly hearing good things about the X-T2.
 
untitled-8725.jpg


From a walk along the Thames.
X-T1 and 18 - 55

I took this as it was like 3 panels in one. It might be a bit distracting, but these things have to be explored.
 
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I have to say I'm finding this discussion about a wedding togs camera gear quite surprising. I had no idea what my wedding tog shot with (wasn't into photography then) and it's only recently that I checked the EXIF and found it was an older APS-C Nikon, does it make any difference? Nope. Also, at none of the weddings I've been to have guests questioned or even passed comment on the gear. Maybe if you turned up with a consumer compact or iphone they might say something, but otherwise as long as you look and act professional I can't see it making a difference. However, by comments on this discussion it seems like it does :eek: One thing that I have heard commented on on several occasions though is when the tog looks scruffy.
 
Well my X-T2 arrived two days ago its been sitting on my desk taunting me. And alas my lenses arrived today the very tidy 56mm and the tiny little 18mm which looks amazing on the camera.

I have started to take some shots, im really struggling with the camera and setting but its my first day so expected it. I will get used to it, first findings, its super lightweight and small, I had a d750 before and its like night and day. It feels better quality as well. The EVF is new to my world and its good. The camera just takes photos when i hit the button lots of photos too many sometimes! i need to look into this more.

But who wants to read what i have found, here is my hound (hes only 6 months old 8kg now and called Nelson)


fuji testers 2 by Neil Hinder, on Flickr

fuji testers by Neil Hinder, on Flickr

fuji testers 1 by Neil Hinder, on Flickr
 
Nuzik said:
Well my X-T2 arrived two days ago its been sitting on my desk taunting me. And alas my lenses arrived today the very tidy 56mm and the tiny little 18mm which looks amazing on the camera.

I have started to take some shots, im really struggling with the camera and setting but its my first day so expected it. I will get used to it, first findings, its super lightweight and small, I had a d750 before and its like night and day. It feels better quality as well. The EVF is new to my world and its good. The camera just takes photos when i hit the button lots of photos too many sometimes! i need to look into this more.

But who wants to read what i have found, here is my hound (hes only 6 months old 8kg now and called Nelson)


fuji testers 2 by Neil Hinder, on Flickr

fuji testers by Neil Hinder, on Flickr

fuji testers 1 by Neil Hinder, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Move the top left dial to single shot. Will save you letting rip at 11 fps
 
ashtennisguru said:
Anyone else experienced this - my XF18-55 X-T10 combo seems to have gone a bit loopy - it doesn't seem to be registering the focal length properly so apparently I can shoot at f2.8 at 55mm (when it should be max f4.0) and when looking in LR the exif says all 55mm shots are at 19.6mm in the quick test I just did???

Any thoughts/ideas???
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My version of this combo is fine. Then again, I haven't updated to the latest firmware. If you have, I might not. :D Then again, if you haven't it might be worth a try.
 
ashtennisguru said:
Anyone else experienced this - my XF18-55 X-T10 combo seems to have gone a bit loopy - it doesn't seem to be registering the focal length properly so apparently I can shoot at f2.8 at 55mm (when it should be max f4.0) and when looking in LR the exif says all 55mm shots are at 19.6mm in the quick test I just did???

Any thoughts/ideas???
Click to expand...
First thing I'd try with a lens/body communication issue is clean the contacts. After that check firmware and update it and see if that cures it. After that send it in to Fuji.
 
snerkler said:
I have to say I'm finding this discussion about a wedding togs camera gear quite surprising. I had no idea what my wedding tog shot with (wasn't into photography then) and it's only recently that I checked the EXIF and found it was an older APS-C Nikon, does it make any difference? Nope. Also, at none of the weddings I've been to have guests questioned or even passed comment on the gear. Maybe if you turned up with a consumer compact or iphone they might say something, but otherwise as long as you look and act professional I can't see it making a difference. However, by comments on this discussion it seems like it does :eek: One thing that I have heard commented on on several occasions though is when the tog looks scruffy.
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I'd stick to your original beliefs. What you've read here is daft :)
 
snerkler said:
Thanks very much, interesting and surprising that it was the D750 that missed the shots. I can't say I've ever experienced this with my D750 tbh with it locking onto the background or someone in the background in any situation, not good :( So would you say that the X-T2 can go toe to toe with the D750 in terms of AF and keepers in a wedding environment then? I'm certainly hearing good things about the X-T2.
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I've found this with my D750 on many occasions and I sometimes wonder if it's the 35mm 1.4 that's back focusing. But when I'm shooting closer up to the subject (bride getting ready for example) it never seems to miss!

Yes I would say the X-T2 can match the D750. For me I'd happily use either.
 
Nuzik said:
Well my X-T2 arrived two days ago its been sitting on my desk taunting me. And alas my lenses arrived today the very tidy 56mm and the tiny little 18mm which looks amazing on the camera.

I have started to take some shots, im really struggling with the camera and setting but its my first day so expected it. I will get used to it, first findings, its super lightweight and small, I had a d750 before and its like night and day. It feels better quality as well. The EVF is new to my world and its good. The camera just takes photos when i hit the button lots of photos too many sometimes! i need to look into this more.

But who wants to read what i have found, here is my hound (hes only 6 months old 8kg now and called Nelson)


fuji testers 2 by Neil Hinder, on Flickr

fuji testers by Neil Hinder, on Flickr

fuji testers 1 by Neil Hinder, on Flickr
Click to expand...


Test shots or not Neil, these look pretty good to me. Let's see some more.(y)

George.
 
trevorbray said:
Panamoz have Silver XT-1 at £615. They have one less now..

...better start figuring out which lens to buy..
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That sounds like a result Trevor, I seem to recall you were one of the first on the forum to have an X-T1 when they first came available. Be nice to have you back on board.(y)

George.
 
trevorbray said:
Panamoz have Silver XT-1 at £615. They have one less now..

...better start figuring out which lens to buy..
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That's a really good price, was £656 when I looked a few weeks ago.
 
snerkler said:
So would you say that the X-T2 can go toe to toe with the D750 in terms of AF and keepers in a wedding environment then? I'm certainly hearing good things about the X-T2.
Click to expand...

Yes !!! Without a doubt Toby, and I still have a D750 that I've not even looked at since last autumn.(y)

George.
 
G.K.Jnr. said:
That sounds like a result Trevor, I seem to recall you were one of the first on the forum to have an X-T1 when they first came available. Be nice to have you back on board.(y)

George.
Click to expand...

Thanks and well Remembered George.
Hoping to hang on to this one.
 
G.K.Jnr. said:
Yes !!! Without a doubt Toby, and I still have a D750 that I've not even looked at since last autumn.(y)

George.
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Hmmm, interesting. Thanks for this (y)
 
ryanyboy said:
I just got home from today's wedding and I thought I'd write some thoughts. Especially as someone previously mentioned they didn't think Fuji was good enough for pro-work.

Today I went into the wedding with an X-pro 2, an X-T2 and a Nikon D750.

D750 with 35 F1.4
X-pro 2 with 35 F2 (50mm equivalent)
X-T2 with 56 F1.2 (85mm equivalent).

I also used the 90 F2, 23 F1.4 and 50-140 2.8

Out of interest I've had the D750 for a couple of years, I've had the X-Pro 2 about 7 months and I've had the X-T2 a week.

I thought I'd mainly use the 750 and X-T2. How wrong I was. Within minutes I was mainly using the two fujis. Here's some initial (random) thoughts....

1) Images are sharp, even wide open.
2) I mixed between single and continuos focus using the shutter button to focus and fire (I'd always used back-button focus with Nikon). Hit rate of in-focus images was very high!
3) As the bride and groom walked down the aisle after the service I missed a few shots (in AF-C obviously). I get the point people make about the "black-out" but I can't blame this. At least I don't think I can. I should have been able to keep them in focus intuitively. This is something I'll have to work on.
4) The only time I used the 50-140 was during the speeches. The brides father paced around throughout his speech and this really tested the AF. Performance wasn't great. I used Single Point mode and in hindsight I wonder if Zone or Wide/Tracking would have yielded better results. Light levels were pretty rubbish at this stage.
5). This is a biggie - during the speeches I set up two flashes in the corner of the room. I shot in manual on the Fuji bodies and accepted under exposure knowing the flashes would illuminate the scene. This is where I had a big problem - looking through the EVF everything was nearly pitch black. Obviously this is the cameras way of telling me my shot would be vastly under-exposed. But I knew this and had flashes in place to fix it. So my question is - can I use the EVF without the camera showing me the under exposure. Like with a regular DSLR where what you see through the OVF isn't related to the final exposure.
6). Colours and skin tones are great.
7). Image quality is great - especially at lower ISO.
8). Loved the primes. Can't see myself using the zoom anytime I don't need to.
9). Later in the evening as light levels dropped I felt that the exposure I saw through the EVF was brighter than the resulting picture I captured. In fact I'm not sure that it's overly accurate in good light either.
10). I loved being able to place a focus point just about anywhere I wanted in the frame. I loved some of the compositions I got which won't need to be cropped like they would have with the D750.
11). I'm downloading today's pictures as I type this. But I already know I've shot far fewer images than I would have with my nikons. This is good.
12). I had to change the X-T2 battery today but I wasn't changing batteries every 5 minutes like I feared I would.

I'm sure I'll think of other things to add to the list. Especially once I get editing the shots.

I was pleased I didn't play safe with the D750 like I thought I would and I really enjoyed shooting with the Fujis, especially the X-Pro 2.

I hope this little résumé is of use to someone.
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Really interesting to read. In a way I would like to lose the Nikons and get smaller Fuji bodies, love my X100T and liked the XPro1 (although AF was slow). Being able to pack 2 smaller lighter bodies to go out with would be lovely, and do like primes anyway so could easily put a few of those in a bag and not be carrying as much as i do now.

In fact, if I was shooting just for pleasure i could see myself doing this tomorrow, but do paid work too so great to hear other peoples views on this. Only do the odd wedding, most is family portraits either on location or in peoples homes. 2 problems for me flash and perception. The nikon flashes are excellent, using 2 SB900s and they are great to work with and so easy to use. Fuji really do lag far behind on this (unless I have missed something). Perception I appreciate is me sounding vain but I do think customers expect you to have a 'big camera' and would have more confidence in you to do your job. At a wedding it helps to stand out, and even on small family sessions would the person be quite so relaxed if they don't have as much confidence in you as you should. Maybe I am totally wrong on this, customers will have always seen your website and your work, but I still struggle with this in my head.
 
Pug
tester 3 by Neil Hinder, on Flickr

56mm closest you can get to get it in focus

tester 4 by Neil Hinder, on Flickr

18mm closest in focus depth
tester 5 by Neil Hinder, on Flickr


few more, need to check settings as these were well below my shaky hand ss than I would ever do, I'm usually no lower than 100
 
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Nuzik said:
Pug
tester 3 by Neil Hinder, on Flickr

56mm closest you can get to get it in focus

tester 4 by Neil Hinder, on Flickr

18mm closest in focus depth
tester 5 by Neil Hinder, on Flickr


few more, need to check settings as these were well below my shaky hand ss than I would ever do, I'm usually no lower than 100
Click to expand...
OIS on the Fujis is very good so you can manage slower speeds. I can hand hold the 18-55 @ 55mm at 1s if I'm careful.

Edit: Just seen your lenses don't have OIS so ignore that ;) Might be simply due to the lower weight, or maybe because there's no mirror slap.
 
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