#457. Forgive my unseemly haste Pascal…

By Paul Perton | Opinion

Feb 22

…but I think a little indulgence might be appropriate. Don’t draw a line under your 90s just yet.

 

My conversion to Fuji user is far from complete. The Nikons remain in the cupboard – unless I’m travelling in the Land Rover to lug their mass. The Sony NEX are alongside them on the shelf. Unlike you, I’m feeling exhausted by manual focussing, adaptors, unwanted vignetting and having to think about stuff.

 

Texting - Woodstock

Texting – Woodstock

 

So, my recently acquired X-Pro1 nestles in the bag, it’s bought with 35mm f1.4 more recently having been joined by a 16mm f1.4 and a 90mm f2. The X100T is a permanent fixture in the bag too and jolts me back into the real world every time I shoot it against pretty much anything. It’s brilliant at what it does, unassuming and I know I’m going to press it into your hands to try out during the Paris workshop. Then you’ll know.

 

Junk shop - Woodstock. One of my earliest shots with the Fuji 90 f2

Junk shop – Woodstock. One of my earliest shots with the Fuji 90 f2

 

More of that later. This is about Fuji’s 90 – a sort of response to your Towser adulation.

 

Sewejaartjies

Sewejaartjies

 

Brunia albiflora

Brunia albiflora

 

Fynbos

Fynbos

 

My 90 is now about month old. Bought before the plummeting South African Rand turned a reasonable price into little more than a wish. On the X-Pro it’s big. And quite heavy. But then there’s a lot going on in there, including an all-metal body, lots of glass and I suspect, many optical elves doing their magic.

 

So, indulge me if you find these early images lacking in one way, or another. I’ll get better with the lens/body combination, learn its foibles and maybe even tire of it’s paper thin depth of field at f2. But, for now, this is why I bought this sublime monster.

 

A name? Nope. But pushed; The Equaliser.

 

Quiet moment - the wind stopped for just long enough to grab this shot

Quiet moment – the wind stopped for just long enough to grab this shot

 

Despatch bay, de Trafford estate, Stellenbosch - part of the upcoming InSight Cape Winelands guide

Despatch bay, de Trafford estate, Stellenbosch – part of the upcoming InSight Cape Winelands guide

 

Net float, Gordon's Bay harbour

Net float, Gordon’s Bay harbour

 


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  • pascaljappy says:

    Ah! A challenge gladly accepted. A battle of the 90s. And an opportunity to compare the rendering of Sony and Fuji on identical subjects over 4 days. Interesting article to follow, methinks.

    About your 90: I really love “Net float” at the bottom, as well as “Junk Shop”. High contrast, to be sure, though that may be PP. Quite amazed at the flower/vegetation shots too. How close does that thing focus?

  • David Mitchell says:

    But surely the Fuji 90 should battle it out with…….the Apo Sonnar 135mm f2; same angle of view (slightly thinner DOF wide open on the Sonnar)

    Or the Sony 90 can battle it out with the Fuji 56mm….

    • paulperton says:

      These are early days, David. I don’t get to see Pascal often – the Paris workshop is my next opportunity. So, when we’ve stopped congratulating ourselves for whatever preoccupies us at the time – usually having made it through another year – we’ll compare 90s and as Pascal himself said. “Interesting article to follow.”

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