The X-T10 Grip

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In my review and comparison, perhaps my biggest criticism with the camera was its grip, or lack thereof. This potential issue is easily addressed by way of a half case, or MHG-XT10 grip that also provides Arca Swiss tripod compatibility. Both maintain battery and SD card access, which is nice.

Fuji’s X-T10 with MHG-XT10 hand grip – Image courtesy of Fujifilm Canada

Fuji’s X-T10 with MHG-XT10 hand grip – Image courtesy of Fujifilm Canada

Historically, I haven’t been thrilled with Fuji’s grips, and have preferred to attach a Really Right Stuff L-plate for my Arca Swiss needs, but this is a camera where a little added grip would do wonders. On the other hand, if the grip on the X-T10 is too small for you and you’re considering an MHG-XT10, the price of your X-T10 is now $930 (USD), just $270 less than the price of an X-T1. Less than $300 gets you a grip you’ll be more comfortable with out of the box, superior build, weather sealing, better continuous shooting, etc.

If an X-T10 arrives in my home as an X-T1 owner already, it would be the sort of camera that would stay off the tripod for the most part, and this may be the first Fuji half case I test. Anyone want to send me a Luigi half case to compare?

X-T10 Preorder Bonus for Canada

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For my fellow Canadians—and I suppose my American friends who don’t mind the extra shipping costs—X-T10 preorders come with an official Fuji half case that would normally set you back $100 CDN. I have to say, this setup looks awfully sweet.

I recommend my good friends at Aden Camera for all your Canadian preorder needs.→

Fuji’s X-T10 with half case – Image courtesy of Fujifilm Canada.

Fuji’s X-T10 with half case – Image courtesy of Fujifilm Canada.

New 90, “Old” Stephani→

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Bert Stephani has a nice impressions video on the XF 90mm f/2 →. My favourite part is at 0:29, but keep watching until around the 4 minute mark, where Bert takes the lens outdoors to shoot, and provides some great sample images.

The 90mm f/2 looks like it will have no trouble creating separation for your subject, and rendering busy backgrounds as creamy, blurry, bokeh backdrops. Wedding photographers are going to be all over this thing.

The Fuji XF 90mm f/2 WR

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Fuji Fujifilm XF 90mm f/2 WR.jpg

The other big news along with the X-T10 was the official announcement of the XF 90mm f/2 WR.

WR FTW

The 90mm marks the the fourth officially announced XF lens from Fujifilm in a row that is weather sealed.1 I really hope this is a sign of Fuji’s intentions going forward; that every new lens will be weather sealed. Based on the mockups we’ve seen, we can be pretty sure the yet-to-be-officially-announced XF 35mm f/2 and XF 120mm Macro will also be weather sealed.

Quad Linear Motor

It seems like it was just yesterday that Fuji announced the “The World’s First” Triple Linear Motor in the XF 50-140mm. That lens is pretty swift already when it come to AF speed, so this Quad LM ought to help the 90mm focus quickly. Going by Fuji’s own numbers, which rank the 90mm at 0.14 seconds, it won’t be quite as quick as the XF 16-55mm f/2.8, at a mere 0.06 seconds.

Close Focus

There were some rumours that the 90mm f/2 would get us to 1:2 macro levels like the 60mm f/2.4, but it turns out 0.3x magnification is as close as we’ll get. Pairing the 90mm with either of the extension tubes will help, but I still have every intention of waiting for the XF 120mm Macro for my serious close-up needs.

Compact and Lightweight?

I suppose compared to other ways of getting to 90mm it’s reasonably small and light, but this will be Fuji’s heftiest prime to date. Fuji’s reported weight is 540g without the caps. That makes it heavier than even the 10-24mm f/4 and 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6.

Bokeh

I’ll wait until I can do some testing with my own copy before I weigh in on this, but it’s bound to be great. The first comparison will be how it fairs next to the 56mm f/1.2. It may have a shorter focal length, but that extra stop+ of aperture on the 56mm just might even things out.

APD?

During Photokina, I tweeted this:

Fuji advised that I not look too far into it, but if there’s another lens that an APD filter might make sense for, it’s the 90mm f/2. I suppose the only trouble is that with a maximim aperture of “only” f/2, the drop off in light gathering might slow the lens down too much for it to be as useful.

Conclusion

This is a focal length I was on the cusp of buying in my DSLR days many times. With the 90mm f/2, I’ll finally have it. At $950 USD, it’s going to make the choice between it and the 56mm a tough one. Look for a Versus comparison article after its release.

  1. The last 3 being the XF 16-55mm f/2.8, XF 50-140mm f/2.8, and XF 16mm f/1.4.↩

Inspiration: Marco Larousse

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If there‘s one person I follow on Twitter who makes me feel inadequate about my street photography skills, it’s Marco Larousse, who is perhaps equally well known as “HamburgCam.” Marco’s eye, patience, and post processing, be it digital or darkroom, add up to some incredibly clever photography that routinely makes me stop and think, “Holy shit, that’s nice.”

I had the good fortune of meeting Marco in person and he’s as nice a guy in real life as he is on Twitter.

You can see lots more of Marco’s work here, read an excellent interview with Marco here, and you can follow Marco, a.k.a HamburgCam here.

UPDATE: It turns out my friends over at MirrorLessons had a similar idea. Another great interview with Marco can be found here. Crazy coincidence.

Fuji XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR

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Fuji have officially announced their latest prime, the FUJINON XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR,→ the first prime in their line up to offer weather resistance. You can count on a Versus article involving this lens once I get my hands on it (and have ample time to do my testing and analysis), but for now, you can check out a few initial impressions posts on the lens.

The first is from Tomasz Trzebiatowski over at Fuji Love. It’s a nice overview, however there is one statement that has me genuinely stumped on its meaning:

Images are crisp, but still not overly sharp.

I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of over-sharpness being a problem on the hardware level. I’d be interested to know what Tomasz means by that.

Next up, Neill Soden, despite admitting he’s not a fan of wide angles, appreciated the 16mm, and has a good size comparison photo of the new wide angle next to what was previously Fuji’s chunkiest prime, the 56mm f/1.2. Neill’s impressions are a testament to the impact 2mm can have on wider focal lengths.

Max Demartino has posted full resolution JPEGs over on his site. Full crops from a pre-production lens are a rare find.

Flemming Bo Jensen has probably the most interesting to read impressions on the new wide angle. If I had to choose one review to read this would be it. The astro capabilities in particular have my interest piqued.

Björn Moerman has gone to town, posting test charts, product shots, bokeh samples, the works.

UPDATE:

Ivan Joshua Loh has posted his thoughts on the 16mm as well. It won’t be replacing his 23mm f/1.4 anytime soon, but that will be the case for just about anyone who owns the 23mm. Ivan references the weather sealing of the 16mm though, which could end up being a big reason why I have it attached to my X-T1.

Ben Cherry is another recipient of a pre-production unit. I’m happy to see him address the potential duplication or even triplicating of adding this lens to your bag, and he calls attention to the size difference between it and the 14mm, which is substantial.

Conclusion

Fuji has really gone to town on shipping out samples to get the word out about their new kit. There’s a bit too much gushing for my taste, but it’s tough to get beyond the initial excitement of a new lens and get the feel of it, warts and all after only a few days. Sometimes you need weeks to really get a sense of whether or not it’s something you reach for regularly.

I’m looking forward to having my own impressions of this lens. It will be interesting to see how it compares to the 14mm f/2.8, and both the 10-24mm f/4 and 16-55mm f/2.8 at 16mm.