Zeiss Touit 12mm & 32mm

In the month of June 2014, there is a ongoing insane sale in USA. The combo lenses of Zeiss 32mm and 12mm (Sony E mount and X-Fuji mount) is going at USD$919.

 A year ago, the 12mm f2.8 cost about USD$999 and the 32mm cost around USD$799.

This sale prove a hit to most of the Sony and X fuji users. It is like buying a 12mmf2.8 and the 32mmf1.8 come as a free gift.

I bought it at my usual online store B&H USA and it was delivered within 3 working days. I finally sold my Olympus EP-1 and 9-18mm & 17mmf1.8 as I will focus on one system which is the Fuji X system.

 FUJI X system started out shakily with AF issues. However with Fujifilm commitment to it's clients, they made lots of improvement to the current models and old models too. My Fuji XE-1 with the latest firmware upgrade made my AF speed and lock on much positive and I have no complaints. It is sufficient for normal and fast motion street shots.

I was holding on the m4/3 until this dual lens sale came and focusing on Fuji X make sense for me. The lenses at Fuji X is always at a affordable price (vs other systme lens quality/class) and image quality is top notch. Even the so call kit 18-55mmf2.8-4 is creating great images.

I have faith in Fujifilm and currently with 4 lenses for FUJI, I will be patiently wait for the next X-Pro body.


Update on 17 June 2014- The twin lenses sale has ended on 15th June 2014 which was supposed to end on Aug 2014. This must be due to the overwhelm demand. Did you get yours?

EP-1 Landscape

Got up in the wee hours of the morning and get my foldable bike into action. I ride from my home to the beach and came across this area. Setup my tripod and EP-1 with 9-18mm, I am off for a shooting spree.

The advantage of mirrorless camera like Olympus EP1 is that it is small enough to be kept into my waist pouch. My tripod was secured on my bike's rear rack.No need any camera bags and I can ride in a small bike for 2hrs. If I am to pack a DSLR and the lens and tripod, that is not so simple.

The tide was low today and the sun came out nicely with some clouds infront. This magic moment last only 5mins.

Beijing with Fuji Xe1

Packed with Xe-1 and 2 lens (18-55mm & 55-200mm) into a F-6 Domke, I am off to Beijing for an incentive trip by the company I represent.

The Domke is like the Lowepro Passport Sling. Able to put my photo gear and a sweater plus passports and other things into the zipper compartment. It is much useful  than the Lowepro due to the zippers. The material of the Domke is soft and comfy too.

Beijing is a great city and is filled thousand years of history. Here are some of the street shot gather by the Fuji XE1. The AF speed is good enough for such application. The setup is much lighter than DSLR and carry the load for a 12hrs period is no issue.

I find zooms lenses of Fuji are of serious good quality. The variable apertures(f2.8-4)are reasonably good for low light to good light situations. The 18-55.mm f2.8-4 is good for all situation including indoor as combining with XE-1 good high ISO performance, it is great combo for low light situations.

The 55-200mm F3.5-4.8 is super great for"sniper"shoots in a foreign country to capture the candid. This tele-zoom as seen in many reviews, never fail to impress. The bokeh is great looking and it makes my subjects to "pop" up. This lens main setback is the size and weight for a mirrorless lens.

Olympus and Panasonic m43 I personally feel they should come out a mid range zoom lenses like the Fuji instead of a constant aperture of f2.8 lens to cater for hobbyists like me. Their constant aperture zooms 35-100mmf2.8 etc is great but the price is not too good for hobbyists.

18-55mm

55-200mm

55-200mm

18-55mm

55-200mm

55-200mm, colorful umbrella

55-200mm

18mm (18-55mm)

18-55mm

18-55mm

55-200mm

55-200mm

55-200mm

55-200mm

55-200mm

18-55mm

18-55mm

18-55mm

18-55mm

18-55mm

18-55mm

18-55mm

18-55mm

18-55mm

18-55mm

18-55mm, iso 6400

18-55mm

Pulau Ubin Island

Waking up at 430am and make my way to the Changi Village Jetty reaching by 545am. This was the plan with some of my photography friends on the 1st of May 2014 Labour day holiday. 4 of us paid the full ferry price to bring us to the island at the wee hours. The usual capacity of the bump boat was 12paxs.

The weather initial was quite bad. Lighting and dark clouds were everywhere. We proceed with the plan and reached the island about 6am. We continued to setup our gear onto tripods in preparation for the sunrise which I personally felt will not be good due to the bad weather. But thank God the sky cleared and we are able to enjoy the sunrise shoot. We proceed for breakfast in the island after the sunrise shoot. After which we continued to explore some of the island's interest spots.

Equipment used- Olympus Ep-1 w 9-18mm and Fuji XE-1 55-200mm/18-55mm