fujifilm - Grant Corban Photography Sdn Bhd

15 January 2024

Fujifilm X-Pro1 as a wedding camera

A heavy kick of rice wine in traditional Kadazan bamboo cups shot with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF35mm F1.4 R shot at 1/50 sec F1.4 ISO2000

Back in September I covered a wedding in Kota Kinabalu and had the FujiFilm X-Pro1 along with me. While relying on my main DSLRs I wanted to test out the viability of using Fuji’s retro styled camera for weddings. My background was from way back when we used film, including the Leica M series of cameras. Since those days cameras have gotten bigger and heavier. I weighed my gear the other day and blanched when I realised I am usually carrying 30lbs on me at every wedding for 8-10 hours. No wonder I am fit! However we are always looking for ways to reduce the weight, so we thought we would give the camera a trial along side our normal “beasts”.

Ease of use: Once you forget about your DSLRs and relearn the controls, the X-Pro1 is quite quick to operate. There are some annoying quirks such as the lack of diopter adjustment for the viewfinder and trying to decide whether the optical or electronic viewfinder is more useful. Both of these gripes have been rectified in the newer X-E1.

Autofocus was sluggish, REALLY sluggish. Fortunately Fuji have been listening to photographers and have fixed this with a firmware upgrade. Yes, REALLY! The lenses are firmware upgradeable and with the update they focus positively and quickly. No matter what you may have heard before, the focus speed is no longer a major problem.

Write speed when shooting RAW is not spectacular, however its not really an issue if you shoot like we do. “Spray and pray” photographers will not like this camera. Move along nothing to see here for that crowd.

Lenses: REALLY GOOD. They seem to be more flare resistant than the Nikon and Canon pro-glass that we use on a regular basis. I am NOT a camera or lens reviewer, so I have no tests, only real world images taken when the fleeting moment occurs, so I have no side by side analysis of this. I would love to see a proper test done on this as this may be Fuji’s “ace-up-the-sleeve”. Many people don’t know that Fuji has a long and illustrious lens making history, and their lenses all pretty much shine here. Some people have found the 18mm to not be a stellar lens, but I haven’t had any clients complain. Sharp is irrelevant as long as the photos sell!

As this was before the lens and body firmware upgrade it was not easy to shoot with, but that has CHANGED. Will do a post on this soon so do not allow any of my negative comments above sway you from not buying into this system.

So on to the photos: The following were taken with Fujifilms X-Pro1 camera, along with the XF18mm F2 R, XF35mm F1.4 R, and the XF60mm F2.4R Macro. I have included relevant exposure and lens data.

Brides shoes photographed with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF35mm F1.4 R shot at 1/50 sec F1.4 ISO250

Bridal gown photo taken with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF35mm F1.4 R shot at 1/50 sec F4.0 ISO200

Brides sister applying makeup taken with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF35mm F1.4 R shot at 1/110 sec F1.4 ISO200

Shoes and veil photo taken with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF35mm F1.4 R shot at 1/140 sec F1.4 ISO200

Make up of the bride taken with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF35mm F1.4 R shot at 1/80 sec F1.4 ISO200

Overview of the church ceremony taken with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF18mm F2.0 R shot at 1/40 sec F2.0 ISO200

Bridesmaids taken with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF60mm F2.4 R macro shot at 1/90 sec F2.4 ISO1000

Bride’s bouquet taken with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF60mm F2.4 R macro shot at 1/90 sec F2.8 ISO1250

Bride and Groom portrait taken with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF60mm F2.4 R macro shot at 1/90 sec F2.4 ISO500

Wedding cake shot with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF35mm F1.4 R shot at 1/50 sec F1.4 ISO640

Bride in traditional Kadazan outfit shot with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF35mm F1.4 R shot at 1/50 sec F1.4 ISO1600

Bride’s sister singing shot with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF60mm F2.4 R macro shot at 1/90 sec F2.4 ISO3200

Bride’s sister singing shot with the Fuji X-Pro1 and XF60mm F2.4 R macro shot at 1/90 sec F2.4 ISO2000

2 December 2023

Behind the scenes at Martin Yans Asian Favorites on the Asian Food Channel

chef martin yan in malaysia on TV set for the asia food channel

Chef Martin Yan was in Malaysia to shoot a series of shows for the Asian Food Channel called Asian Favorites. The link to the show can be found here and you will see a lot more photos I took for them. I wanted to put up some of the behind the scenes photos on my web site as it goes to show all the behind people and work that goes into a TV show like this. Guest chefs on the show included Chef Datuk Fazley Yaakob and Vietnamese Chef Hoang Minh Nhat.

On TV and movie sets anyone using a camera MUST be silent otherwise the sound of the camera will be picked up on the microphones. There are two ways of doing this. The traditional method was to use a large and unwieldy sound proof casing known as a blimp. The second method is to use a mirrorless camera like Fujifilms excellent X-Series cameras. These are small, silent, and very easy to handle. Image quality is also superb. The Fujifilm X-T2 as my camera of choice on set.

7 November 2023

Fujifilm 56mm F1.2R vs 56mm F1.2 APD Bokeh Comparison at a Wedding

Now it’s time to go to a wedding with the final installment of this real world test. As weddings are incredibly fast moving there are limited opportunities to actually set up a tripod and play lens switching with a bride and groom waiting around for me. So this set of photos is strictly limited to while we were waiting at the dinner venue.

I DID shoot the bride and groom’s portraits with the 56mm F1.2 APD and at other times during the day but as this is a comparison I am not including the photos here. You can see the portraits in this post.

If you missed part one, the introduction and corporate shoot then click here. To see the model comparison, click here.

The “plain” 56mm F1.2R’s bokeh

56mm F1.2 APD. Note the difference to the left of the cake.

56mm F1.2R Control. Note the slightly “onion” bokeh

56mm F1.2 APD. Again the difference seems obvious.

Conclusion: I entered this test a wee bit skeptical. I had read other peoples reviews and they seemed to indicate that the difference between the two lenses was not that noticeable. The first few photos I took left me feeling similar but as I continued the differences became more apparent, perhaps because I knew what to look for. Would a paying client notice? Not likely. Would you as a photographer notice? Yes.

I fell in love with the lens and it did not take long for me to be leaving my “normal” 56mm 1.2R at home and using the APD version exclusively. When it came time to return the lens I tried to delay doing so as long as I could. But all good things come to an end. So there is my endorsement. If you can afford it, get it.

6 November 2023

Fujifilm 56mm F1.2R vs 56mm F1.2 APD Model Shoot Comparison

This model shoot was a really fun project. Having an experienced model really helps the shoot run smoothly. As before all photos taken at F1.2 in aperture priority on a tripod. Let’s see how the 56mm F1.2 APD stacks up against the R.

56mm F1.2R looks nice

56mm f1.2 APD – Subtle improvement over the standard 56mm.

56mm F1.2R again nice.

56mm f1.2 APD – Look at the detail/bokeh in the flowers behind the model.

56mm F1.2R looking good again

56mm f1.2 APD- Compare the yellow on the lanterns in the area to the left of the model.

56mm F1.2R

56mm f1.2 APD Subtle but noticeable difference in the lanterns at the top right.

56mm F1.2R. Again a pretty effect.

56mm f1.2 APD – again a nicer control in the out of focus bokeh.

End of part two. Lets move to part 3 where we get some wedding detail shots. Click here for Part 3

If you missed part one, the intro and corporate shoot, please Click here.

6 November 2023

Fujifilm 56mm F1.2R vs 56mm F1.2 APD Corporate Shoot Comparison

Fujifilm 55mm F1.2R and APD Comparison test

I had an opportunity recently to compare the Fujifilm 56mm F1.2R with the newer APD version. They are both currently in production so the Fuji user has a choice on which to purchase. The APD version is about 60-70% more expensive. That’s about USD600 which may or may not be a major factor in your decision to purchase the lens. It is designed for the portraitist with the goal of controlling bokeh. Some disclosure. I own the original 56mm F1.2R and like it a lot, so had high expectations.

Outwardly the lenses look nearly identical. The giveaway is the “APD” on the lens barrel and orange T-stop markings. T stops show the actual light transmission. The special APD lens element does two things. The first is a positive and the second not so much. Firstly and most importantly it makes the bokeh more pleasing to the eye and secondly it absorbs some of the light going through the lens. This means that shooting wide open at F1.2 you are only going to get the same amount of light transmission to the sensor as if you were shooting at F1.7 on the normal 56mm F1.2R. This is not an issue when shooting as todays sensors can simply bump the ISO a little. Please note that at F5.6 the effective T stop transmission is the same on both the lenses so the T stops markings cease at that point.

As shooting brick walls is not my thing I decided to take the lenses out on some actual photo shoots over a couple of weeks. My methodology was to shoot using a tripod so as to keep the subject and backgrounds similar while I changed lenses alternating between the R and APD versions. All photos were taken in aperture priority with the aperture set at F1.2 which is likely the most common scenario when using this lens.

Please also note that the differences appear more subtle on this web page than they do on a 24″ screen or in a print. The first four images below left me nonplussed. The differences were only obvious after very close scrutiny on a large screen. On the back of the camera I couldn’t see any differences so was feeling “ho-hum”. However when we started to shoot outside the difference in the background foliage was very apparent.

All photos taken with the Fujifilm X-T1.