Fujifilm GFX50s, Mamiya 200APO
1/3200 ISO 400
Before we begin speaking directly about the Fujifilm GFX50s
we'd like to introduce a great camera store.
Foto Care is located in New York on 41-43 West 22nd
Street. Foto Care has been on our radar
for some time however we’ve only recently begun shopping there and more
importantly recommending them. There are a few things (actually more than just
a “few”) we like about Foto Care. First, our colleague Anthony Festa works there. Anthony is a great photographer as well as
being a highly skilled technician; he’s our go to guy for anything we screw up on
our cameras or software.
The second reason for liking Foto Care as much as we do is
their diversification of products offered. From cameras of all types, to tripods, bags,
storage,and of course service.
While Sandy still prefers to shoot with a 35mm camera Don prefers
medium format and Foto Care can offer Don a choice of platforms ranging from Fujifilm,
Hasselblad, Mamiya, Leaf, and Phase One. For
35mm shooters the offering is just as wide with selections ranging from Canon
to Nikon, Fujifilm and Leica.
You can visit Foto Cares website by clicking here or follow them on Facebook by clicking here. Neither of us are employed by or are affiliated to Foto Care in any way. We neither receive payment nor other compensation and are recommending them as we feel they are an excellent source for camera gear.
1/400 ISO 160
We plan on writing more on Foto Care soon. In the meantime…
We recently visited the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson. The primary purpose was for Sandy to test her
new FE100-400 with her Sony A7rII. (we’ll
be sharing this soon). Don decided to use the Mamiya 200 AP attached to the GFX
50s via a Fotodiox pro lens mount adaptor. The 200mm is
currently his longest available lens and he is very patiently waiting for the
Fujifilm GF 250 to be released. Okay maybe not so patiently. Don has cut his emails
down to once a month to Anthony on this subject. Don’s biggest fear is that it’ll be released in June
while we are in Scotland and he’ll have to wait until we return to try it out.
1/400 ISO 160
The above image shows the full-frame version while the bottom
is a 100% crop. This as well as all the
other images in this blog were captured handheld. The processing was all accomplished in Adobe
ACR and Photoshop CC. I’d like to point
out that the amount of processing was kept at a minimum and in all cases I used
“Shake Reduction” either at 100% or 50% depending on the file.
Full-frame 1/3200 ISO 200
100% crop
The Mamiya 200 APO was kept attached to the camera the
entire time in the zoo and shot without the extender. While Don could have used
the 1.4 extender on some occasions he found the resolution to be more than good
enough to allow for cropping in. Since he was shooting animals, most of which
were moving Don decided to do a continuous capture (or burst mode) thus
allowing to take several frames at a time. There’s a trade off with this type
of shooting which is volume. Don keeps 2-64-BG cards in both slots at all
times; ending up using 1-entire card before it automatically switched to the
second for a total of 566-frames. Don hadn’t done that much shooting since we
were in Alaska several years ago
shooting bald eagles as they were feeding.
1/400 ISO 250
1/400 ISO 640
Don found the overall weight of the camera and lens to be
more than manageable while walking around the zoo for several hours and
miles. This is something Don would not
have attempted with his older medium format kit as it was much heavier and
slower.
Yes, its a crop!
1/4000 ISO 800
As is this one
While Don carried a spare battery he never had to
change. Beginning the day with a freshly
charged battery that showed 4-bars on the indicator; he ended the day with the
same battery showing 3-bars. It was a pleasant day with partly cloudy and temps
in the mid 60’s.
1/640 ISO 400
1/500 ISO 200
We had a lot of fun photographing at the zoo and are looking
forward to our trip to San Diego later this year hopefully after Don gets his
Fuji GF 250.
It was an interesting exercise as the range of movement was
either glacier slow or very fast. The
Mamiya 200 APO is a great lens to use as it is totally manual from the aperture
to the focusing. Don is still excited
about being able to capture with a longer lens that offers the choice of
auto-focus.
Capturing this guy was more luck than anything else. Don is
still uncertain if he was posing or just showing off.
1/500 ISO 200
We have more to share with the next blog showing how well
the Sony FE100-400 works with the A7rII so please stay tuned.
Thanks for visiting
Sandy & Don
