Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: mshea on May 01, 2013, 07:36:14 pm

Title: Experience with X-Pro 1 body & non-Fuji fast optics?
Post by: mshea on May 01, 2013, 07:36:14 pm
Hi All,

I'm interested in the X-Pro 1 body, but not particularly the lenses. I do quite a bit of night-time street work and the Fuji's wouldn't be fast enough for me. Has anyone tried lenses in the f/1.4 or less range with the Fuji body, also at higher ISOs? And I'm trying to go as wide-angle as possible.

Thanks,
Merrill
Title: Re: Experience with X-Pro 1 body & non-Fuji fast optics?
Post by: Ed B on May 01, 2013, 07:48:34 pm
You might want to avoid using the XP1 period if you are shooting street stuff at night. It does have issues focusing in poor light and manual focusing is difficult as there is no peaking. It has a magnify mode for MF but that is really only good for static shots.

But the 35 1.4 is a sweet lens.
Title: Re: Experience with X-Pro 1 body & non-Fuji fast optics?
Post by: Alan Smallbone on May 02, 2013, 12:30:19 am
The Fuji will do just fine for street photography. I have used my Canon 50mm f1.8 quite a bit, the magnify works great. Focus peaking is ok but not needed, it does not work well, in my experience, with real shallow dof, magnifying is the way to go. Also with older manual lenses the focus distance usually on the barrel so you can preset distances, using the live view in the eyepiece I can do pretty well even without magnification. As with anything, practice will make it easier and more accurate. The Fuji high iso is wonderful.

Alan
Title: Re: Experience with X-Pro 1 body & non-Fuji fast optics?
Post by: Petrus on May 02, 2013, 01:06:09 am
I'm interested in the X-Pro 1 body, but not particularly the lenses. I do quite a bit of night-time street work and the Fuji's wouldn't be fast enough for me. Has anyone tried lenses in the f/1.4 or less range with the Fuji body, also at higher ISOs? And I'm trying to go as wide-angle as possible.

Which lenses are you thinking about? Fuji has the "normal" 35mm f/1.4 which is better than great. Then there is the 18mm f/2, which is good. I do not know any faster lenses with shorter focal lengths which you could fit on the X-Pro1, except with the Metabones SpeedBooster. Which is one way of approaching this problem. No AF, but with wide enough manual focus lenses the good old zone focusing works fine.
Title: Re: Experience with X-Pro 1 body & non-Fuji fast optics?
Post by: mshea on May 07, 2013, 01:24:01 pm
Exactly. Wide angle, MF, and zone focusing is my preferred way of street shooting.

Merrill
Title: Re: Experience with X-Pro 1 body & non-Fuji fast optics?
Post by: Petrus on May 07, 2013, 02:10:23 pm
So what is you answer to fast WA question I posed? Do you actually know any lenses shorter than 18mm and faster than f/2 which you can fit into a X-Pro1? I do not.

If you get the Metabones SpeedBooster adapter, a 24mm f/1.4 Leica lens for example would turn into a 17mm f/1 lens. Is that fast enough? About $7000 total. Also a 21/15mm Leica with adapter for $8000. So it is certainly possible.
Title: Re: Experience with X-Pro 1 body & non-Fuji fast optics?
Post by: Ed B on May 07, 2013, 10:12:41 pm
Wait, you want to zone focus at F1.4? Seriously?
Title: Re: Experience with X-Pro 1 body & non-Fuji fast optics?
Post by: Petrus on May 07, 2013, 11:55:59 pm
Wait, you want to zone focus at F1.4? Seriously?

f/1.4 is not fast enough for him, he wants to zone focus a f/1 lens...
Title: Re: Experience with X-Pro 1 body & non-Fuji fast optics?
Post by: mshea on May 08, 2013, 12:42:24 pm
So, as far as you know, there are no lenses shorter than 18mm at f/2 that will fit the X-Pro 1. That answers my question! And this Speedbooster looks to be quite intriguing.

Thanks a lot!

Merrill