PHOTO COMPETITION — COMMENTS THREAD

skullfunkerry

skullfunkerry said:

My entry for this month is from a few weeks ago, out with my wife in Suffolk, fossil-hunting. Well, she was: I took my camera and I was wandering around taking pictures with my 400mm lens. Snapped this dead flower which was way up on a cliff above us - it was only when I got home I realised that it was covered in ants.

Haych

^ 400m lens?  Which one is that, Kerry?

skullfunkerry

Haych said:

^ 400m lens?  Which one is that, Kerry?

Sorry, bit misleading - it's the XF 100-400. Absolutely cracking lens - it was my 50th birthday present: I asked everyone for money and got exactly enough for the lens and a polariser

Haych

skullfunkerry said:

Haych said:

^ 400m lens?  Which one is that, Kerry?

Sorry, bit misleading - it's the XF 100-400. Absolutely cracking lens - it was my 50th birthday present: I asked everyone for money and got exactly enough for the lens and a polariser

No, don't be sorry, I was hoping your reply would be exactly what it is - I know you shoot Fuji and I REALLY want that lens.  

How is it?  Superb I imagine.

Speaking of lenses I may have treated myself, this arrived yesterday.  Have yet to get out and shoot with it but when Chris Frost reviews a lens and concludes that it must have fallen from a spaceship or was sent back in time from a technologically idilic future, I tend to sit up and notice.  And I've gone right off short zooms and have wanted a wide prime for a while.

skullfunkerry

Haych said:

skullfunkerry said:

Haych said:

^ 400m lens?  Which one is that, Kerry?

Sorry, bit misleading - it's the XF 100-400. Absolutely cracking lens - it was my 50th birthday present: I asked everyone for money and got exactly enough for the lens and a polariser

No, don't be sorry, I was hoping your reply would be exactly what it is - I know you shoot Fuji and I REALLY want that lens.  

How is it?  Superb I imagine.

Speaking of lenses I may have treated myself, this arrived yesterday.  Have yet to get out and shoot with it but when Chris Frost reviews a lens and concludes that it must have fallen from a spaceship or was sent back in time from a technologically idilic future, I tend to sit up and notice.  And I've gone right off short zooms and have wanted a wide prime for a while.

Nice! I'm getting into primes, but apart from the Fuji 35mm F/1.4 all of mine are Viltrox or TTArtisan. I've just had a tax refund and I'm toying with the idea of treating myself to the Viltrox 56mm F/1.7, although I do want the XF 10-24 as well...

The 100-400 is fantastic. It's not too heavy, I've happily carried it around all day, and the image quality is stunning. Whereabouts are you? If you're anywhere near Essex then I'd be happy to meet up and you can try it - or failing that, you can do a free two-day hire from Fuji House of Photography (which is what I did, to help me decide between my lens or the 70-300). You can get some good deals on used ones: mine was £899 I think, from LCE - it was literally mint too, not a mark on it.

Haych

skullfunkerry said:

Nice! I'm getting into primes, but apart from the Fuji 35mm F/1.4 all of mine are Viltrox or TTArtisan. I've just had a tax refund and I'm toying with the idea of treating myself to the Viltrox 56mm F/1.7, although I do want the XF 10-24 as well...

The 100-400 is fantastic. It's not too heavy, I've happily carried it around all day, and the image quality is stunning. Whereabouts are you? If you're anywhere near Essex then I'd be happy to meet up and you can try it - or failing that, you can do a free two-day hire from Fuji House of Photography (which is what I did, to help me decide between my lens or the 70-300). You can get some good deals on used ones: mine was £899 I think, from LCE - it was literally mint too, not a mark on it.

Viltrox are making some excellent lenses these days!  I don't think you'll go very wrong with the 56mm.

I did toy with acquiring the 10-24 even though I've gone off zooms, but in the end I know I just wouldn't get the use out of it to justify it.  I do like wide angle lenses but between 10 - 16 mm I'd probably never use it, and composing ultra wide shots is a challenge.  After the honey moon period I think it would get used very little.

My next photography challenge is going to be birding, I think, when I can afford the appropriate lens.  The 100-400 is just about perfect for that.  I'd love a poke at the 200mm prime but I doubt that would be long enough and I can't justify spending that much on a singe piece of gear!

At that focal range zooms start to become very useful and I hope I won't find the same claustrophobic frustrations as I do using short zooms in normal situations.

Unfortunately I am nowhere near Essex but thank you for the kind offer.  If I ever find myself that way for any reason I'll let you know, would be nice to meet for a coffee and chat about all things Fuji.

dazzajl

Haych said:

At that focal range zooms start to become very useful and I hope I won't find the same claustrophobic frustrations as I do using short zooms in normal situations.

I don’t think you will, I’m not a big fan of zooms either but the 100-400 is one those stand out Fuji creations that’s a joy to shoot with. 

The 10-24 is one of those even rarer lenses, a Fuji that’s just unimpressive and a bit joyless. Probably a good pass. The 8-16 is superbly sharp if an ultra wide zoom does start to appeal again. It’s also massive for an aps-c lens and not exactly cheap. 

skullfunkerry

Haych said:

skullfunkerry said:

Nice! I'm getting into primes, but apart from the Fuji 35mm F/1.4 all of mine are Viltrox or TTArtisan. I've just had a tax refund and I'm toying with the idea of treating myself to the Viltrox 56mm F/1.7, although I do want the XF 10-24 as well...

The 100-400 is fantastic. It's not too heavy, I've happily carried it around all day, and the image quality is stunning. Whereabouts are you? If you're anywhere near Essex then I'd be happy to meet up and you can try it - or failing that, you can do a free two-day hire from Fuji House of Photography (which is what I did, to help me decide between my lens or the 70-300). You can get some good deals on used ones: mine was £899 I think, from LCE - it was literally mint too, not a mark on it.

Viltrox are making some excellent lenses these days!  I don't think you'll go very wrong with the 56mm.

I did toy with acquiring the 10-24 even though I've gone off zooms, but in the end I know I just wouldn't get the use out of it to justify it.  I do like wide angle lenses but between 10 - 16 mm I'd probably never use it, and composing ultra wide shots is a challenge.  After the honey moon period I think it would get used very little.

My next photography challenge is going to be birding, I think, when I can afford the appropriate lens.  The 100-400 is just about perfect for that.  I'd love a poke at the 200mm prime but I doubt that would be long enough and I can't justify spending that much on a singe piece of gear!

At that focal range zooms start to become very useful and I hope I won't find the same claustrophobic frustrations as I do using short zooms in normal situations.

Unfortunately I am nowhere near Essex but thank you for the kind offer.  If I ever find myself that way for any reason I'll let you know, would be nice to meet for a coffee and chat about all things Fuji.

That sounds great, actually; I don’t really have many people I can do that with. Just had a look at your profile: I’m doing quite a bit of work in Wales at the moment, so if I get some spare time near you I’ll give you a shout. I might be in Pencoed next week as it goes, but I don’t think I’ll get much in the way of spare time.

skullfunkerry

The other shot I thought about submitting this month was from a couple of weeks ago, walking the dog one evening:

Haych

This was my other contender for this month's theme but when I thought about it I figured it wasn't entirely unexpected that nature would do this.  I also had a play around with an Aerochrome sim, which I quite liked, but equally was possibly a bit OTT.

Haych

skullfunkerry said:

Haych said:

skullfunkerry said:

Nice! I'm getting into primes, but apart from the Fuji 35mm F/1.4 all of mine are Viltrox or TTArtisan. I've just had a tax refund and I'm toying with the idea of treating myself to the Viltrox 56mm F/1.7, although I do want the XF 10-24 as well...

The 100-400 is fantastic. It's not too heavy, I've happily carried it around all day, and the image quality is stunning. Whereabouts are you? If you're anywhere near Essex then I'd be happy to meet up and you can try it - or failing that, you can do a free two-day hire from Fuji House of Photography (which is what I did, to help me decide between my lens or the 70-300). You can get some good deals on used ones: mine was £899 I think, from LCE - it was literally mint too, not a mark on it.

Viltrox are making some excellent lenses these days!  I don't think you'll go very wrong with the 56mm.

I did toy with acquiring the 10-24 even though I've gone off zooms, but in the end I know I just wouldn't get the use out of it to justify it.  I do like wide angle lenses but between 10 - 16 mm I'd probably never use it, and composing ultra wide shots is a challenge.  After the honey moon period I think it would get used very little.

My next photography challenge is going to be birding, I think, when I can afford the appropriate lens.  The 100-400 is just about perfect for that.  I'd love a poke at the 200mm prime but I doubt that would be long enough and I can't justify spending that much on a singe piece of gear!

At that focal range zooms start to become very useful and I hope I won't find the same claustrophobic frustrations as I do using short zooms in normal situations.

Unfortunately I am nowhere near Essex but thank you for the kind offer.  If I ever find myself that way for any reason I'll let you know, would be nice to meet for a coffee and chat about all things Fuji.

That sounds great, actually; I don’t really have many people I can do that with. Just had a look at your profile: I’m doing quite a bit of work in Wales at the moment, so if I get some spare time near you I’ll give you a shout. I might be in Pencoed next week as it goes, but I don’t think I’ll get much in the way of spare time.

Got married in Pencoed!  Lovely little place called Coed Y Mwstwr (I think).  

By all means if you're ever out this way then I'd be only too pleased to meet up somewhere.

skullfunkerry

Evening gang. Winner has just been announced over in the competition thread

euan

Rightful winner 

boogieman

Not surprising, great shot @dazzajl ;

Haych

It is indeed a worth winner.  Nice one @dazzajl ;

Once again I'm tempted to send all my kit to MPB!

dazzajl

Haych said:

It is indeed a worth winner.  Nice one @dazzajl ;

Once again I'm tempted to send all my kit to MPB!

You’re not a real artist if you don’t have days like that. 

Besides, your shot was the pick of the bunch! 

Jaycee

Well done @dazzajl the question now though is "did you save her from the wasp"?

Haych

dazzajl said:

Haych said:

It is indeed a worth winner.  Nice one @dazzajl ;

Once again I'm tempted to send all my kit to MPB!

You’re not a real artist if you don’t have days like that. 

Besides, your shot was the pick of the bunch! 

Bunch of weeds, I hope.  The missus hasn't said anything about the demise of said plant but if it had been important I think I'd have known about it by now!

Ozzie744

Congrats @dazzajl . Well deserved!

skullfunkerry

Evening all. New competition thread is up