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Cameras and lenses
I’ve tried a good few cameras and even more lenses over the years. Am I content enough never to want something new? Of course not. I sometimes hanker after the low light capabilities of a full-frame camera, especially in the depths of a Scottish Winter. The pin-sharp returns from a giant Sony 61 megapixel sensor. The clean, professional colour science of a Canon R5. I’d love to try out some of latest Nikon cameras and their huge blunderbuss lenses. But ultimately, I can’t afford them, and don’t honestly need them. My wee Fuji X100V got me back in love with photography, so I’ll repay the favour by sticking with the brand. The kit here is my latest iteration after considerable trial, error, and cost, and suits my needs as a landscape photographer who doesn’t need video capabilities, and values portability as much as technical excellence.
My “big” camera. A Fujifilm X-T5 with a 40Mp APSC sensor. It combines manual dials for a retro vibe, all of which can be overridden to use to electronic settings instead. Small, lightweight, great image quality, superb in-body image stabilisation (IBIS), weather sealed, with a horizontal or vertical tilting screen, it’s pretty much perfect for landscape stills photography. I would recommend buying the body only with the lens(es) that you actually want, although the standard 16-50mm kit lens is supposed to be pretty good as a starting point. The black version I own is a little cheaper than the model with the silver top plate and dials. Link: https://amzn.to/4ablOD2
A Fujifilm XF16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR ii. A mouthful of a title. An absolute joy of a lens. Its f/2.8 aperture lets in lots of light when needed and it can deliver surprisingly smooth background blur (Bokeh) for an APSC camera. It’s sharp across the frame (unlike the 16-80mm which I once owned), and as a result practically lives on my camera. R stands for aperture ring, the clicks for which can be turned on or off. LM indicates a linear motor for fast focusing - not a priority requirement as I use back-button and manual focus. WR means weather resistant - which it is (tested!). ii Means it’s the second iteration of this much loved “bag of primes” zoom lens. It’s much smaller and lighter than the previous version and fits neatly in a camera backpack or even a sling bag. The best non-prime Fuji lens by far. Link: https://amzn.to/4abghfG
A Fujifilm XF70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS. My big zoom lens is surprisingly light, compact and sharp, especially at the lower end of the zoom range. Unlike many telephoto lenses, it doesn't take a tripod collar, so it can put weaker tripods under droopy stress when fully extended to its full 300mm range. I’ve begun to use a nodal slide to help better centre the balance point over my tripod. Despite the lengthy plastic zoom operation, the lens is fantastically weather resistant and the Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) works brilliantly with the X-T5 to make handheld telephoto shots perfectly possible. It has a close focusing distance of just 83cm, so even works well as a makeshift macro lens. Its sheer flexibility and light weight (588g) mean it’s always in my backpack. Compared to other telephoto lenses it’s also fantastic value. Link: https://amzn.to/3YX6iEE
A Fujifilm XF10-24mm f/4 R OIS. A really wide angle zoom lens is something of a luxury for most, but for creative landscape photography, this lens is also always in my camera bag, effectively completing the “holy trinity”. It’s a beautiful, tiny lens that eats up massive vistas. The image stabilisation is excellent, but I rarely use it handheld as most of my wide angle shots require a degree of focus stacking to capture the entire scene. It’s razor sharp at f/5.6 particularly. It’s 72mm thread is the same as my 16-55, so I can handily share my magnetic lens filters. Pricey for the relatively limited role it fulfils but it’s an absolute thing of beauty. Link: https://amzn.to/3NAFRlH
My “wee” camera. A Fujifilm X100v. I bought mine just before the world went crazy for them, and despite now being superseded by the even better X100vi, prices are still higher for second hand copies than I originally paid for a new one. This beautiful little camera is responsible, directly and indirectly, for all of the images on this web site because it made me love photography again. Like the X-T5, the tactile, manual dials can also be set to electronic operation. It has a 26Mp APSC sensor, a built-in ND filter, a small flash that works brilliantly with the leaf shutter, and a terrifically sharp, 23mm f/2 pancake lens. Fujifilm recipes can produce characterful photos straight out of the camera, but I tend to work with the lovely RAW files it produces. The newer X100vi adds the 40Mp sensor as used in the X-T5, along with In-Body Image Stabilisation (IBIS) for better videos. I cannot recommend this camera enough. Link: https://amzn.to/3ZhMEn3
The fixed, though excellent 23mm lens (35mm equivalent on a full-frame camera) on my X100v is generally perfect for day-to-day photography, especially for portraits and street-style shooting. For ad-hoc landscape shooting, wandering around with the camera around my neck, I often prefer something a little wider. This tiny Fujifilm WCL-X100 ii Wide Angle Adaptor screws onto the lens to provide an immediate and crystal-clear conversion to 19mm (28mm full-frame equivalent). There’s no loss of light or image quality and filters can simply be transferred to the adaptor as it has the same thread size as the lens. It may seem silly to buy a fixed lens camera and want to change it, but this simple, albeit pricy, adaptor is all that’s need to convert the X100 into a truly capable landscape camera. It easily fits into my pocket when I don’t need it. Link: https://amzn.to/49VVnA3