A Day at Murrayfield

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Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF50-140mm f2.8
On Saturday afternoon I had the pleasure of joining fellow photographer Rob Gray on the touchline at Murrayfield for the first of the three Autumn Tests where Scotland would be taking on the might of Australia.  

 The last time the two teams met was in the quarter finals of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and Australia won by just one point when the Wallabies were awarded a controversial penalty in the dying seconds of the game to win 35-34 and a place in the semi finals against Argentina.  

 So this was a rematch that everyone was looking forward to and Murrayfield was packed with over 64,000 fans anticipating a great game of rugby.  They duly got their wish as the the game was one of the best I have ever witnessed but, once again, it was Australia who triumphed by a single point.
Fujifilm X-T1 + Samyang 8mm f2.8 fisheye

I was given a green bib, which meant I could shoot from behind the touchline in front of the south stand.  In the first half Scotland were playing towards my position and I duly captured the first two tries scored by Scotland's no13 Huw Jones in only his second game for his country.

 The second half Australia were playing towards me and I also captured the crucial last try of the game.

 I was using the game as a test of the X-T2s AF functions (CLICK HERE for the blog on this test), which was fitted with the XF100-400mm.  I also had the X-Pro2 at my feet fitted with the XF50-140mm f2.8 and the X-T1 with the Samyang 8mm f2.8 fisheye to capture something slightly different from the match.
Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF50-140mm f2.8
The biggest issue shooting in a floodlit stadium is light. While the floodlights at Murrayfield are bright I was still having to push the ISO settings up to 6400 using the f5.6 maximum aperture on the 100-400mm and as the light dropped as evening set in I was also under exposing by 1 stop to keep the shutter speed at around 1/1000 to freeze the action.  

 This is the one area that the 100-400mm lacks the ability that the f2.8 lenses have.  While I was shooting 1/1000s @ f5.6 the ISO was at least 4000, whereas a colleague shooting on a Canon or Nikon 400mm f2.8 with the same shutter speed will be shooting at 1000 ISO.  However the X-Trans III sensor copes very well with noise and I was very happy with the results I was getting from the camera, even at 6400.

 The X-Pro2 was also a star performer and the new updated AF system was excellent, locking onto the  players and tracking them without losing the lock.  The X-T1 was only used with the manual focus fisheye lens as a third camera body.

 The X-T2 and X-Pro2 were set to AF-C with the X-T2's custom AF setting selected to Set 2 (Ignore obstructions).  I also set the AF to Zone with a 3x3 square which I could move around the EVF with the toggle switch.  The drives were set to 11fps on the X-T2 and 8fps on the X-Pro2.

 Here is a selection of images from the match which resulted in a 23-22 win for Australia.
Fujifilm X-T2 + Samyang 8mm f2.8 fisheye

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6
Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF50-140mm f2.8

Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF50-140mm f2.8

Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF50-140mm f2.8

Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF50-140mm f2.8

Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF50-140mm f2.8

Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF50-140mm f2.8

Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF50-140mm f2.8

Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF50-140mm f2.8

Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF50-140mm f2.8
The Final Try - Fujifilm X-Pro2 + XF50-140mm f2.8
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6
Fujifilm X-T1 + Samyang 8mm f2.8 fisheye
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ALL IMAGES (UNLESS INDICATED) ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION

MacLean Photographic run Tours and Workshops in East Lothian and the Borders of Scotland.  CLICK HERE for more details and availability

Jeff Carter is an Official Fujifilm X Photographer and was named as a Fujifilm brand ambassador in June 2015. In 2016 he worked with the company on the launches of the Fujifilm X-Pro2 in Tokyo and the Fujifilm X-T2 in Paris in July 2016.  You can view his profile and gallery on the Fujifilm website HERE



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