CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Nissin i40  Last week I received the new Nissin i40 flash for the Fujifilm X-Series cameras from Cambrian Photography , a superb customer focused independent photographic retailer located in Colwyn Bay, North Wales.   One of the criticisms of the X-Series has been the lack of a credible flashgun for the system.  While Fujifilm have produced three flashguns (the EF-42, EF-20 and EF-X20), these have been lacking in the flexibility that professional and enthusiast photographers have been demanding. I bought the EF-20 for my X100 in early 2013 and while this is a great little flash, it doesn't allow me to get very creative due to it's limited controls.   The EF-42 Fujifilm flash is more flexible with manual overrides and user settings.  I did look at this flash when I bought the X-T1 but the size of the unit was a deciding factor and the plastic construction wasn't to my liking either.  The dimensions of the EF-42 are - 116 (H) x 64 (W) x 102 (D) ...

The Fujinon XF60mm f2.4R is a really nice short telephoto prime lens and was one of the original three lens that was launched back in 2012 with the 18mm and 35mm alongside the Fujifilm X-Pro1.  The 60mm is also badged as a macro lens but only has a 1:2 magnification, where true macro lenses are 1:1 or better.  I was ready some of the Fuji orientated blogs and I came across a post about some third party extension tubes that provided full automation when used.  Unlike the DSLR lenses where you can use cheap extension rings with no electronic coupling between the lens and the camera body, the 'fly-by-wire' manual focusing on the XF lenses requires the lens to be coupled to the Fuji camera body to work. I ordered the Neewer Metal Bayonet Automatic Macro Extension Tube Set, which has a 10mm and 16mm tube that can be used individually or together to increase magnification, from Amazon and they duly arrived two days after placing the order. The price was £34.47,...