Landscape photography with X-T1, an ex Nikon user opinion
My interest to photography developed when I was in college, I studied computer graphic design, including a very basic brief of photography lessons. but I started to take what people considered as ‘photography’ 3 years later in 2008 when I bought my first DSLR camera. It was nikon D60 kit. I was Nikon enthusiast since then. My last Nikon camera is D810 and I still have it.
I love and take all genres of photography, including portrait, street, landscape and culture. In 2011 I was really into the 360VR panorama photography, I was using nikon D80 with Samyang 8mm fisheye and Nodal Ninja panohead. My preferred genre now is Landscape and nature. Nature is unique, challenging, mysterious!
I bought my first fuji (which is also my first mirrorless camera) about a year ago, because I wanted to try something different, something small and light. I was too tired to carry big and heavy DSLR gear in difficult location for landscape shooting. No energy means no good photos. With Fuji system, I just need to carry small shoulder bag and a tripod, so simple!
My current setup is Fujifilm XT-1 body, Samyang 12mm f/2.0 arguably the best wide angle lens for fujifilm, maximum f/2.0 perfect for astrophotography too. Fujinon 35mm f/1.4, handy small lens, perfect for almost anything. Some Lee GND and ND filters and Haida 10 stop ND (Lee bigstopper color cast is horrible).
I use Sirui N-3204X tripod, this was my DSLR tripod but I like how high it can get. If I want to super light travel, I bring my compact tripod Sirui T-005RX.
There is one (ridiculous) reason why I can’t leave my D810, or in this case, full frame camera. And that is The Bokeh! I know it’s a stupid and many people will disagree with me. But it’s a personal choice, I love the shallow DOF from fast lenses in full frame camera. I can’t get this from crop sensor camera without using fast and longer lens. Maybe I’m still in transition, who knows.
Then why do I not buy the mirrorless fullframe? I don’t see the benefits of it, size is still big, still expensive, still power hungry.
Many asks me will you upgrade to XT-2? From what I know, the huge differences are that XT-2 has better AF system, better ISO sensitivity, higher MP, 4K video. In landscape shooting I don’t rely on those, so, maybe not for now. Better to invest on lenses.
In the end, I still use my Nikon gear for portrait shooting. I’m 90% fuji user now, I always bring my fuji everywhere I go because of how light it is, never did that with my D810. I feel the XT-1 is more ‘fun’ camera to shoot with.
Some tips for Fujifilm landscape shooter:
– Shoot RAW for better control of dynamic range and noise.
– Always bring extra batteries, mirrorless system needs more power, you don’t want to lose the moment just because this tiny battery is dead.
– If you use manual lens like me, set your Mount Adapter setting in the menu to your proper focal length. This make easier to determine what lens you use from the exif data. And for some lenses, lightroom can automatically do the lens correction for this.
– Remove your camera strap, it will get caught by the wind and cause little shake during long exposure. Or just use small wrist strap.
– Be creative with unique angle, use the articulating screen that some fuji bodies has as an advantage.
– Go out and shoot more, it’s fun!
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“I was born and raised in Bali. Working as a CG Artist for more than a decade. Taking photos as a hobby to refresh my head from working at the front of computer for 8 hours 5 days a week! Love landscape, nature, and astrophotography, have been doing it for 7 years. And converted (or still in transition?) to Fujifilm system for more than a year now.”
runbei
April 11, 2020 @ 2:50 am
Hello Eggy. Thanks – I enjoyed the photos and the discussion, also the idea of using “just enough” when it comes to camera gear. Like you, my best portraits were taken with full frame, in my case a Canon 6D. Few lenses can compete with the Canon 135/2 for portraits, it’s absolutely magical. That said, I am gearing up to do high-speed sync portraits with Fuji X-T20; we’ll see!