CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Earlier this year Fujifilm announced that they had developed a tele conversion lens for the X100 / X100S that would turn the Fujinon 23mm f2 lens into a 33mm (50mm equivalent) by multiplying the focal length by 1.4x.  I already own the wide angle converter (WCL-X100) that converts the focal length to 19mm (27mm equivalent) and the addition of the TCL-X100 completes, what is for me,  the perfect lightweight travel camera kit.  I decided  to take the X100 and the converters down to Dunbar Harbour to demonstrate the differences between the three focal lengths now available on the X100. 19mm - WCL-X100 23mm - no converter 33mm - TCL-X100 As can be seen from the images above, the difference is not dramatic but then this it is not meant to be.   X100 with TCL-X100 Tele Conversion Lens fitted When using the X100 I tend to choose the focal length I will be using and then leave that lens on the camera for the duration mainly because the meth...

Last Sunday I wrote about the Fujinon XF 18mm f2R lens which I felt was the underrated gem of the Fuji X-Series system.   Since I got my X-Pro1 and five lenses, including the 18mm f2, I have still used the Fujifilm X100 with its superb fixed Fujinon 23mm f2 lens but have rarely used the WCL-X100 adapter, which turns the 23mm f2 into a 19mm f2, over the past few months.   I decided to go out to Ravensheugh Sands with both the X-Pro1 + 18mm f2 and the X100 fitted with the WCL-X100 to do a direct comparison between the two set ups. XF18mm f2R 23mm f2 with WCL-X100 adapter Obviously there is a slight difference in focal lengths of 1mm but the reality is there is little difference in the field of view.  It is also easy to see that the quality of the WCL-X100 adapter is on a par with the 18mm f2 lens, I certainly don't have any complaints with the quality of the images from either camera / lens. XF18mm f2R 23mm f2 with WCL-X100 adapter The bigges...

Just down the coast from Dunbar and Torness Point is the little harbour of Cove, a beautiful little fishing port almost carved out of the rocky shoreline.   A beautiful spring like day in East Lothian had us heading down the coast to Cove for our first exploration of this part of the world.  I decided to only bring the Fujifilm X100 for this first visit with a view of returning should we feel the need to with the Nikon and X-Pro1. The harbour is still in use but like all the fishing ports on this coast it is a shadow of its former self. History of Cove (words courtesy of BBC Scotland Website) Since the 17th Century the naturally sheltered shore has been used by fishermen, as well as for exporting local coal.   During the 18th Century various efforts were made to improve the harbour. This included the creation of a tunnel through the headland down to the shore. This tunnel still provides access to the beach. The present day harbour was constructed i...

Armed with my trustyFuji X100, WCL-X100 wide angle converter, ND grad filter and a tipod we headed down to White Sands for yesterday evening's sunset.  Long exposures have added movement in the surf and also in the clouds. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION If you like what you see on this blog please visit our  Facebook  page and click 'like'

One of the many things that impresses me about the small but perfectly formed Fujifilm Finepix X100 Black is the low light ability of the sensor.  For a crop framed camera the way the camera handles high ISO settings is amazing and, in my opinion, is on a par with Nikon's full frame cameras, which are renowned for their low light abilities. Take these shots taken on Friday night in Budapest around midnight.  This little church was lit by street lights and the statue of the Virgin Mary on top of the colomn was in deep shadow.  Despite these limitations I was able to get usable shots without the use of a tripod and handholding the X100.  The camera was set to 3200ISO and the Fujinon lens w as wide open at f2.  The results, while not perfect, are very usable and I am very happy with the images. All images taken on a Fujifilm Finepix X100, 19mm f2 (WCL-X100 converter fitted) --------------------------------...

After all the colourful images I have posted from the trip to Austria I decided that I need to return to a mono theme for today's post.  Walking around the village of Rattenberg where we stayed during the recent European Le Mans Series race at the Red Bull Ring, situated 6km from the village, I photographed some of the typically Alpine houses and working buildings.  I decided to work these images in black and white as the olde world feeling of the village suited the mono look.  What do you think? All images taken on a Fujifilm Finepix X100 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

The little village of Rattenberg is where the small family run hotel we stayed in for the 3 Hours of the Red Bull Ring is situated.  On the Sunday morning before we headed back to Vienna to catch the plane home I decided to get up before breakfast and go for a walk around the village. Not far from the hotel I came across what must be one of the smallest churches in the world so I had to stop and take some images.   The plaques on each side of the door is names of the fallen in the two world wars, the one on the left is for the 1914-18 war and the one on the right is for 1939-45. I'm not sure how many people would fit into the church but it would be rather cosy, especially in the recent hot weather. I continued my walk around Rattenberg and will post some more images of the beautiful part of Austria tomorrow. All images taken on a Fujifilm Finepix X100 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

I love photographing patterns; whether they are clouds in the sky, buildings, layers in rocks or marks on the ground.  Take these tyre marks on the outside of the first corner at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.  I spotted these during my track inspection on Thursday, this is where I get to look at the photographers facilities and where the danger zones are.  As I'd never been to the Red Bull Ring before it is also a chance to get to know the track, the different corners and the general lay of the land. Anyway I stopped to take a shot of the tyre tracks left by cars doing donuts as I liked the patterns that had been left on the tarmac.  The image was taken on the Fuji X100  and on the WCL-X100 wide angle converter. Image taken on a Fujifilm Finepix X100 and 19mm f2 lens ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOG...

This image was taken on our way back from the Isle of Mull at the start of June while we were waiting to board the Corran Ferry at the mouth of Loch Linnhe.  This old fishing boat was beached on the shore near to the ferry terminal and is starting the decay.   But as with my favourite derelicts in Salen Bay on Mull, the old Puffer provide a good photographic subject for my little Fuji X100. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE NEW GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION ...

I have already posted some images from the old part of Le Mans on one pf my previous visits but I never got a good shot of the cathedral.  On Saturday night I went for dinner with my colleagues at a nearby restaurant and saw this scene on my way back to the car.   Le Mans Cathedral (Cathédrale St-Julien du Mans) is a Catholic cathedral situated in Le Mans, France. It is dedicated to Saint Julian of Le Mans, the city's first bishop, who established Christianity in the area around the beginning of the 4th century.  Next door is the Restaurant La Maison D'Elise which is also a hotel. I didn't have a tripod with me for these shots, so I was forced to crank up the ISO to 3200 on the Fuji X100.  Once again the little Fuji came up trumps, with the results showing little noise. All images taken using a Fujifilm Finepix X100 with a standard 23mm f2 lens or with a WCL X100 wide angle converter fitted (19mm f2) ----------------------------------------------...

This shot is of the Porsche Motorsport gantry in the FIA WEC pitlane and it carries the air hoses for the wheel guns for the pitstop crew.  Each gantry has the name of the team and number of the car so the drivers know where their pit box is located. This was taken on Saturday morning at Paul Ricard while the track was still fogged in and the moisture in the air left lots of water drops on the sign and on the gantry boom. Fujifilm Finepix X100 - 19mm f2 - 1/680 @ f4 - ISO 400 The second shot was taken as the Porsche engineers prepared the car for the start of the four hour morning test session. Fujifilm Finepix X100 - 19mm f2 - 1/140 @ f4 - ISO 400 The two images were taken on the Fuji X100 with the WCL-X100 wide angle converter fitted to the standard 23mm f2 lens, making the lens a 19mm f2 or 28mm equivalent angle of view on a full frame camera. The shots were converted to black and white using Silver Efex Pro 2 software in Photoshop Elements 11. --...