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My first impressions of the Fujifilm 50mm f/2

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Following my recent controversial dilemma on the future of my Fujifilm 56mm f/1.2, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to test out both the 50mm f/2 and the 90mm f/2 thanks to the lovely people over at Fujifilm. For those that haven’t read the post about the 56mm f/1.2 (it’s here if you want a read), I was genuinely tempted to trade it in for something that was a little more travel friendly eg the 50mm f/2. I was also tempted by the 90mm f/2 to replace the excellent portrait abilities.

For this post however we’ll concentrate on the 50mm f/2 and my short two weeks with it. Unfortunately, we got off on the back foot as I’d just had two weddings booked in this year and I absolutely love the 56mm f/1.2 for weddings; that was nearly my decision made already but let’s give the little lens a chance.

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Does This Budget Friendly Telephoto Lens Deliver Quality Results?

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Since late November, I’ve been shooting with a new Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD lens. I bought this lens to replace my Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (the old version with the push-pull zoom) I’ve been using for wildlife photography since 2012.

I’ve loved my Canon ever since the day I unboxed it. This lens has everything I wanted, long reach, fast autofocus, reasonably lightweight, and since I bought it after the Mark II version came out the price was much more affordable. I’ve taken thousands of images with this lens and it served me well over the years. Any images shot with this lens I wasn’t happy with certainly were not the fault of the lens. I planned to keep using this lens for as long as possible as I was completely satisfied with my investment.

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Fujinon XF 90mm f/2.0 – Too good to be true (for me)?

I think lens decisions are even more of a personal choice than the camera system. In the 30 days I had to use the Fujinon XF 90mm f/2.0 R LM OIS on loan from Fujifilm USA, I learned a lot about the capabilities of this lens, and was reminded about my personal preferences in creating photos.

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Up Close with the Fujinon XF 80mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR Macro Lens

One of my favorite ways to create more interesting photos is to get closer to the subject and fill the frame, eliminating or reducing background distractions. Often, I am unable to get as close as I would like to the subject due to the minimum focusing distance limit of the lens. This is where macro lenses, such as the Fujinon XF 80.. f/2.8 R LM OIS WR with their ability to focus when close to the subject, enter the picture (pardon the pun.)

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Fujifilm X Prime Lens Review – Viltrox AF 23mm f/1.4

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Until recently, if you were a Fujifilm X-Series camera owner, your options for fast prime lenses (f/1.4 or wider) were limited to (relatively) expensive options from Fujinon, or less expensive third-party manual focus lenses. Fujifilm has recently opened its autofocus protocols, and we can expect more third-party autofocus fast prime lenses soon. Until then, Viltrox has filled the gap of autofocus fast primes with their reverse-engineered 23, 56, and 85mm f/1.4 lenses. Let’s take a look at the Viltrox AF 23mm f/1.4 lens to see what you get for lots less money.

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Fujifilm X-E4 and XF27mm f2.8R WR first look – Sleek and sensible

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Well well well. It sure looks like the X-E line isn’t dead afterall. One of the most pocketable APS-C Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras just got even more pocketable, and even more sleek and stylish. All of it without compromising features of the models that comes before it.

But is there really a place for a camera in 2021 that doesn’t have any form of weather resistance? Well, I guess we’ll have to find out, cause one thing that Denmark has had a lot of these past 3 months is shitty weather. And I brought the X-E4 into most of it!

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First review of the new Nisi 15mm f4 lens

Nisi is best known for its high–quality filters. The company recently changed its name to Nisi Optics, showing a new and extended vision geared towards producing quality lenses.

The Nisi 15mm f4 has been long in the making, but these days finally hit the market. The lens is available in full-frame mounts for Nikon Z, Canon RF, and Sony E. It also comes with a Fuji APS-C X mount. The lens offers a whopping 112 degree of field of view for full-frame cameras, which equals a 14,5mm focal length.

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Another fast fifty? – The TTartisan 50mm f/1.2 review

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2020 finally seems to be coming to an end! And let’s be honest here – This hasn’t exactly been the coolest year in recent history. But right before we close shop and welcome, a hopefully improved, 2021, a Chinese lens manufacturer apparently decided that we needed something cool to play with for our APSC cameras!

On December 18th, TTartisan announced the immediate availability of their new offering, the 50mm f/1.2. I was fortunate enough to try out the lens for about 3 weeks prior to release, and I thought I wanted to share my experiences with you here. But do we really need yet another fifty? Well, this lens does bring a couple of nice things to the table, including a ridiculously low price point at just 98$USD, so let’s have a closer look at it.

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This 5x macro is possibly the strangest lens you’ve ever seen

There are a lot of oddball lenses out there these days. And I mean that in the nicest possible way. Look at Laowa’s crazy lookin’ 24mm f/14 2x macro probe lens, for example. I’ve played with that one myself and it’s a lot of fun and pretty awesome. The Yasuhara Nanoha Macro Lens for Sony, though, takes the reach much further, going all the way to 5x. And the best bit? It costs a mere $399.

You might wonder what’s so unusual about it. Well, for a start it’s got a strange removable hood thing that houses several LED lights, powered by USB (yup, it’ snot for firmware updates, just powering LEDs).  But that’s not all. This thing… Well, Arthur Reutov’s made a video about it. So, why don’t you have a watch?

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Tamron 70-180 vs. Canon 70-200: Lens review for Sony

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The non-photographers might want to skip this blog post as it is a fairly detailed Tamron 70-180 v Canon 70-200 lens review for Sony E-mount cameras. There have been lots of reviews comparing the new Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD (A056) against the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS (SEL70200GM) and Sony FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS (SEL70200G) zoom lenses. These reviews are great, but I feel there’s a bit of gap as they assume you already have one of the big white Sony zoom lenses. I know many people that have switched to Sony over the last few years from Canon who have held onto some of their Canon lenses to use with an adapter. With the Sony 70-200 f2.8 currently costing £2149.00 quite a few I know have held onto their Canon 70-200 f2.8 lens, put off by the huge cost of the Sony equivalent. This was definitely the case for me.

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