Category : My Gear

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2

Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2

The Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 has somewhat of a legendary status among Fujifilm X users. It is an excellent lens in the realm of traditional portrait focal lengths that has a gorgeous sharp-but-not-sharp quality about it that renders close-up portraits in a very flattering way. There’s also the gorgeous bokeh that lends itself well to those backlit foliage scenes that family and couple photographers love to use. Not to mention, once stopped down, it’s about as sharp as a lens […]

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 50mm f/2

Fujinon XF 50mm f/2

When it comes to the XF lens lineup, Fujifilm has given so many options for common focal lengths. For a short telephoto (only primes – there are countless zoom options), we can choose the 50mm f/1, 50mm f/2, 56mm f/1.2, 56mm f/1.2 APD. I already owned the 56mm f/1.2 when I bought the XF 50mm f/2 the first time. At that stage, I didn’t really understand the lens and ended up selling it off. However, as I looked over the […]

Fujifilm X-T3 and X-T4

Fujifilm X-T Series

These two cameras are my workhorses. They come with me to family sessions, corporate events, couple sessions, editorial shoots, and anything else I can throw at them. They are dependable and are a joy to use. Within the plethora of X-series cameras Fujifilm offers, these are my choice for their rugged build, button layout, and feature set. They have the best of everything Fujifilm has to offer in their X-series cameras and that makes them my go-to cameras for all […]

Fujinon 23mm f/1.4

When beginning with the Fujifilm X system, this was the very first lens I bought. It has stayed with me through thick and thin ever since. While I did flirt with the smaller, lighter, faster XF 23mm f/2, I didn’t ever fall in love with the images it made. I am not one to care about a manual focus clutch or marked focusing scale as I work almost exclusively in autofocus. The XF 23mm f/1.4 doesn’t focus quite as fast […]

Fujinon XF 35mm f/1.4

Fujifilm XF 35mm f/1.4

The XF 35mm f/1.4 is the second lens I bought for the Fujifilm X system and after leaving it in a taxi in Myanmar, I rebought it. This is my go-to walkaround lens for the Fujifilm X cameras. It’s not as quick, contrasty, or whisper-silent as its cheaper sibling, but it offers gorgeous image quality that is hard to match in the XF lineup. This is the focal length I feel most at home with. It is my walkaround focal […]

Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero D

Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D

This tiny little lens is a gem for cityscape and landscape photography. I’ve also found a love for up-close-and-personal street photography with this extremely wide focal length. It’s great for forcing yourself to get in close and frame things in interesting ways. While the Fujifilm offerings for extreme wide-angle come in the huge XF 8-16mm f/2.8 or the slightly smaller and lighter XF 10-24mm f/4, neither of them is a slip-in-your-pocket and go lens like this little Laowa. When I […]

Fujifilm X100V with Conversion Lenses (WLC & TCL)

Fujifilm X100V

This is my walkaround camera. It goes where I go. As I commute to my photoshoots, this lives on my wrist. As I travel internationally, this lives on my wrist. While photographing for Tattoos of Asia, this lives on my wrist. You get the point. This tiny little camera goes absolutely everywhere with me. Could you get a technically more capable camera for the money? Sure. Would it feel the same? Not likely. This is a camera that makes me […]

Godox AD200 XPro-F UC-29

Godox AD200

If I could choose a single product that has changed the images I can make over the last 5 years, it would be the Godox AD200 flash. This much power in a tiny package means I can take less gear and achieve more on location quickly and easily. When I first started my Tattoos of Asia project (my first book, Hmäe Sün Näe Ti Cengkhü Nu), I was working with Nikon SB-800 speedlights. I needed two of these at full […]

Fujinon GF 45-100mm f/4

This lens was purchased as a more versatile replacement for my existing GF 45mm f/2.8, a lens that while producing beautiful images, was not a focal length I could use continuously on the GFX system. The chance to switch out came when I had a series of commercial shoots that would require a zoom lens that offered a variety of focal lengths. I took the time to compare the GF 32-64mm f/4 and the GF 45-100mm f/4. In  the end, […]