As everyone knows I love using my trusty Fujifilm 56mm, I just feel comfortable with this lens and the thought of not using it doesn’t really work for me, but the weight of the lens is becoming a problem.
I knew that this past Friday I was going be to meeting up with Tom Jeavons and we were planning to visit the Sky Garden in London and then I’d be meeting up with a Christian Cross on the Saturday, so I thought it would the perfect time to try something different. I decided to borrow a Fuji X-Pro 2 with the 23mm F2 lens from Fuji.
For the first time in a year, I left my 56mm at home. The idea was to take myself out of my comfort zone, I didn't like the idea of leaving my 56mm at home, but I did like the idea of coming out of my comfort zone and seeing what would happen. So now here I am heading to London with a very different focal length and a different camera.
Now I feel it’s important to push myself and improve on one's photography, I believe this is what makes me better as a photographer. I thought of the wider focal length as I was thinking ahead to the kind of photos I wanted to capture. I've also been thinking about selling my X-T2 as the weight of the camera (and lens) had become an issue for me, yes I know the camera isn't heavy but when carrying it all day with the 56mm it really plays on my health. However, could I really live without my 56mm lens and tilt screen? not an easy question for me to answer, I do love going onto the streets with nothing but my camera and a few spare batteries. I always try to travel light, that way I concentrate on my street photos without worrying about my gear. Because of the very different focal length on this trip, I also had the idea of shooting in monochrome, this really was going back to my roots, up to year ago I shot everything in monochrome and I have to say that I miss shooting like this, on this day we planned to stay in and around the business city of London which would fit in with my look and the ideas I had.
Let's start with the X-T2, after using the Pro 2 for the past 2 days I will say that it feels so much better in my hand, I feel it’s a far better camera for the streets and the X-pro 2 weights less than the X-T2 which is also a bonus for me. So you might be asking why did I buy the X-T2 over the Pro 2? Well, this was because of 2 things (3 actually):
• The tilt screen on the T2
• ISO dial on the Pro 2 which I just didn’t think I was going to get on with.
• The wife, she talked me into the X-T2 (yes that’s right I’m going to blame the wife)
With regards to the screen, I love using the tilt screen on my camera and I really thought I would miss this, I didn't and this surprised me. As for the ISO dial, now I had heard so many bad things about it from other photographers, however, I found it to be a pleasure to use, nice, quick and easy what more could I want. After 2 days using the Pro 2, I did something that surprised me, I put my X-T2 up for sale, I have to say that I really didn’t see it coming, the Pro 2 is just going to be a better fit for what I want. The camera fits in my hand better and I love the placement of the viewfinder and not once did I think “I wish I had a tilt screen” and again this really surprised me.
As for the 23mm lens, I want to start by saying that I have shot with a 35mm, 50mm focal lengths and I've only been shooting with my 56mm (82mm focal length) since March 2017. Now I love shooting wide open and I really enjoy the look that the F1.2 gives me, so I don't think its the focal length I enjoy as much as it the beautiful bokeh. Could the F2 match this and the quick answer is no, but it does come close.
I've also never had any problems with the focus speed of the 56mm, I've never found it be slow and I didn't really find the 23 F2 to be that much faster. But there were a few things about the lens I loved:
• The lens is sharp, even when wide open
• The weight, god it’s so light. 300g lighter than the 56mm
• It's also small and discreet, perfect for streets
• Bokeh is beautiful, Fuji has done an amazing job with these F2 lenses.
But the real question for me, could I live without my 56 and the answer Yes, I really think I could. A few of my friends like Chris, Christian, and even Tom say just get the 23mm as well as the 56, however, I don't want 2 lenses, I’ve always been one lens, one camera photographer and I don’t want that to change.
My son Indiana has a Fuji X-T10 and the lens he uses is Fuji 35mm F2, this was my only lens for over a year and I replaced it with the 56mm. I loved it 35 F2 was perfect for me, so before I have to return the 23mm to Fuji, (unless Fujifilm UK, would like to gift it to me? Well I can hope can’t I) I will go out and try both the 23 and 35 F2 lens and see which focal length is my preferred.
Anyway, let’s get back to the conundrum of my 56mm, after using the 23mm all day with Tom and the second day with Christian I was surprised how much enjoyed it and I didn’t start to miss 56mm until it started getting dark, saying that, the 23mm worked really well in the dark and it forced me to think outside the box. I started to use the light from the shop windows in order for me to get a photo without pushing the ISO too high (let’s save that for another blog).
I enjoyed shooting with the X-Pro 2 and 23mm lens so much so that I decided to have a second day in London and this time I would meet up with Christian. Again this would be a relaxing afternoon and early evening in central London. Again the camera and lens didn’t disappoint and I was really finding my stride. I’ll be heading to Cambridge over the coming few days with the camera and lens and lets see how I get on. All going well I’ll end up with this great combination.
I’ll post the photos from my trip with Tom and I’ll save the ones from the Saturday for next weeks blog.
Enjoy
