A sort of gear review: The Fuji X-series

Ha Giang Province Vietnam: 1/125 @f/2 ISO 400, Fuji x100

The other day I had to make a call I never wanted to have to make. At 28 I needed to see a chiropractor - some would call it the photographers curse, a curse that unfortunately goes with the territory. Lugging heavy camera gear around, usually with it hanging from the neck, waist or one shoulder eventually takes its toll. This realisation along with some other vague and equally suspicious excuses was one of the reasons I'd been interested getting myself one of Fujifilm's X-Series cameras - the thought of having a camera that was small and light and could maybe even supplement my heavy old SLR was appealing. I knew they would probably never replace my SLR for work but as everyday cameras they seemed to offer a good compromise.

Halong Bay, Vietnam: 1/750 @ f/5.6 ISO 400, Fuji x100

Saigon, Vietnam: 1/2000 @f/2.8 ISO 400, Fuji x100

Saigon, Vietnam: 1/60 @f/2 ISO 2500, Fuji x100

Saigon, Vietnam: 1/60 @f/2 ISO 3200, Fuji x100

In 2011 I bought the Fujifilm x100, a camera I loved to hate, a camera that for me was so nearly there in terms of what I personally was after but somehow not quite. It looked fantastic (for some reason more of an appeal to me than it really should be) and contained pretty much my perfect carry around set-up; packing an equivalent of 35mm f/2 lens. It was almost too silent when it took a photo (to the point where at times I wasn't even sure it had taken) but is small size and discretion were a big plus for me, the whole thing could slip in my pocket and yet it felt good in the hand with a nice weight. The whole manual shutter and aperture operation were a total winner for me. 

Morocco: 1/500 @f/8 ISO200, Fuji X100

I think Fuji had finally realised that most camera manufacturers seemed to have failed to realise, photographers are creatures of habit, we are by and large dinosaurs, and we like what we know, and what we know works. So many cameras that come on to the market aren't aimed at dinosaurs, they are aimed at the mass consumer. Manual shutter dials and aperture rings disappeared from all but 'pro' cameras because they seemed archaic. This may well be the case but equally they were a tried and tested function that had been the norm for decades, and yet within a matter of years digital cameras had consigned them to the graveyard, much to the annoyance of the dinosaurs. 
 

The Fuji X100 in all it's original glory

Fuji it seems finally cottoned onto this and their x-series cameras are evidence of that – they’re a nod to a system that is tried and tested. Nevertheless with the x100 they still managed to get a few things wrong. They may have designed the hardware well but the internals, the menu system, was a generally nonsensical and the camera had a habit of not responding particularly fast, it was sluggish, not much but just enough, and it acted at time likes a despondent child. Luckily Fuji were a company that actually listened to its customers and the firmware updates did start to tackle these problems.

London, England: 1/80 @f/2 ISO 2500, Fuji x100

London, England: 1/60 @f/2 ISO 200, Fuji x100

Low Tatra mountains, Slovakia: 1/1000 @f/5.6 ISO 400, Fuji x100

Burgundy, France: 1/125 @f/5.6 ISO 400, Fuji x100

Around the same time I upgraded my phone to an iPhone 4S and for the first time ever found myself increasingly taking my snaps with that rather than a 'proper' camera. I guess as master self-publicist 'photo guru' Chase Jarvis likes to say, the best camera is the one you have with you. I found this to be true, my x100 was getting sidelined for a phone. 

London, England: 1/1600 @f/2.8 ISO 200, Fuji X-Pro 1(XF 35mm f1.4 lens)

Rome, Italy: 1/60 @f/2.2 ISO 1600, Fuji X-Pro 1(XF 18mm f2 lens)

Rome, Italy: 1/1000 @f/8 ISO 400, Fuji X-Pro 1(XF 18mm f2 lens)

Rome, Italy: 1/500 @f/8 ISO 400, Fuji X-Pro 1(XF 18mm f2 lens)

Rome, Italy: 1/250 @f/5.6 ISO 200, Fuji X-Pro 1(XF 18mm f2 lens)

The Fuji X-Pro 1

Then along came the X-Pro. I resisted it for awhile, and had told myself that I wasn't going to buy it. I then unfortunately went into one of my favourite little camera shops in London (London Camera Exchange on the Strand) and saw one sat there looking all flash and fancy in the second hand cabinet. 

Senegal, West Africa: 1/640 @f/8 ISO 400, Fuji X-Pro 1(XF 18mm f2 lens)

I couldn't face leaving it there, so I decided to adopt it there and then, fishing out my wallet like a total sucker. The X-Pro1 comes in significantly larger than the x100. The lenses for it are all much larger than the fantastic 23mm f/2 (35mm equivalent) on the x100 and x100s. 

Delhi, India: 1/500 @f/5.6 ISO 500, Fuji X-Pro 1(XF 18mm f2 lens)

This places it in a weird category, it's not quite a point and shoot and it’s not an SLR. The responsiveness of the camera wasn't quick enough for me to warrant replacing my SLR with it, it would hunt for focus and I just didn’t feel it was snappy enough for me. The lenses I have for it (equivalent of a 28mm and a 50mm) are not my favourite focal lengths, and besides for me I feel the lenses are too big. 

Portsmouth, England: 15s @f/11 ISO 400, Fuji X-Pro 1(XF 35mm f1.4 lens)

I'm now left eagerly awaiting the 40mm equivalent pancake lens - which I keep telling myself, 'will make everything right'. I’m also still left waiting to see if Fuji will bring out any other firmware updates that will maybe improve the manual focus amongst other things. 

Goodwood, England: 1/250 @f4.5 ISO 200, Fuji X-Pro 1(XF 35mm f1.4 lens)

Goodwood, England: 1/1000 @f/2 ISO 200, Fuji X-Pro 1(XF 35mm f1.4 lens)

Goodwood, England: 1/125 @f/8 ISO 200, Fuji X-Pro 1(XF 18mm f2 lens)

Then came along the Fuji x100S. At first, like with XPro1 I told myself I didn't need it or want it. Then I started to read reviews. And then I made the same fatal mistake I did with the XPro1, I dropped into London Camera Exchange with the aim of getting a new backup up SLR body. Instead I came out of the shop with a new x100S. Damn, how did that happen? Unfortunately for me Fuji had listened to the gripes people had with the x100 had had taken a brave move, they had released a new camera in pretty much the same body but with some hardware improvements. My other camera company, seem to only react to their customers when they're forced too, Fuji it seems cannot do enough to try and please their customers. It's a fundamentally different mindset, but one that's refreshing. A few years ago, the thought of a camera company actually updating firmware for free was almost unthinkable, especially if it didn't really have too. What Fuji showed was that they were prepared to show respect towards their customers who had invested in their camera system. It may also be an example of the Japanese business philosophy of Kaisen as alluded too by this blogger. Either way let's face it, in today's digital camera age buying into a camera system is an investment to which you will see little return. Camera bodies depreciate in value so quickly you are literally throwing away cash unless you're going to get a lot of use out of it. Granted there are plenty of hobbyists out there with disposable income that like buying different cameras and that's fair enough, but I make my living from photography. I need to trust the cameras I have, and trust the company that builds them. I want a company that listens and actually improves a camera. The x100S seems to show that Fuji may well be that company - I certainly hope so.

London, England: 1/250 @f/2.8 ISO 400, Fuji X100S

That being said I haven't had a chance to really get to grips with the x100S. I'm yet to have taken it away on assignment with me, and when I'm in transit is when I tend to use this camera the most. It still vies with my iPhone for snaps though; the phone is just so damn convenient. Besides I tend to Instagram a lot - until Fuji introduce wifi then I'm sure the phone will still be used for that (it does have Eye-Fi transfer however which I haven't tried yet). 

Cambridge, England: 1/1600 @f/5.6 ISO 400, Fuji X100S

My other gripes with the x100S are small. The playback mode for the multi-shot mode is an annoying gif type system, you need to go into the files to see them individually. This to me seems pointless and should be something you can switch off in the menu. The view mode cycle should also be able to be adjusted, I rarely if ever use the eye sensor and I'd like to be remove it from the cycle so that it would jump from back of the screen to the OVF/EVF.

Sussex, England: 1/30 @f/2 ISO 3200, Fuji X100S

 
With my SLRs I use back button focus, it makes life a lot more simple. The Fuji allows this with the AFL/AEL button when in manual mode but I'd like it if this button were bigger. That being said the camera can now always be found either in my bag or slung round my shoulder – I walk around all day with this thing and hardly notice it’s there. It’s not the camera for everyone – but I think it’s the camera for me.

The Fuji X100S

 

Tearsheet: Le Monde, Weekend Edition

 

I was very fortunate the other day to receive a call from a fellow photographer and friend Ben Roberts. He'd been asked to shoot a portrait for Le Monde and wasn't available to do it and so he'd put me forward for it. The subject was the academic, critic, essayist and all-round intellectual power-house George Steiner. I took a trip up to Cambridge to photograph him at his home. It was full of interesting anecdotes and stories but the best part was that he insisted I stay for coffee and we proceeded to debate all manner of things. It's moments like that which make me realise how much I love my job. 

Tearsheet: Lost Boys of BMX, The Red Bulletin

These are some tearsheets from a feature I've got in this months Red Bulletin magazine. I shot it towards the end of last year in Dumbarton, Scotland. The assignment was to follow the young guys who make up Unit 23, a set of hardcore BMX riders many of whom left home so that they live at the skate-park and ride pretty much 24/7; a methodology that was paying off as the story of Kriss Kyle highlights. You can see my edit of the feature in images online on my website here.

Tearsheet: Youssou N'Dour, The Red Bulletin

I was recently commissioned by Red Bull's magazine The Red Bulletin to go to Senegal in West Africa and to track down and photograph the singer and politician Yossou N'Dour. It was a fairly epic assignment involving a 1200km journey across land on African roads in a rental car...against the clock. The pages above were the resulting spread in the magazine.

Slaughterman, Spain

 

This was one of those moments of rare beauty you can sometimes find with natural light. It came streaming through the window of the barn, upstairs to where the main activity was taking. I took the opportunity to pull this slaughterman aside and get a quick portrait whilst it lasted.

Recent Tearsheet: Cover, Institutional Investor

This was a recent cover I had for the American publication 'Institutional Investor'. It formed part of a 6 page spread inside the magazine involving a studio shoot of some of Europe's top Investor execs, which I shot for them back in January.  

Recent Tearsheet: FT Weekend Magazine

This spread was in the FT Weekend Magazine about Iberico ham and was the result of a few days shooting on a remote farm in the Extremadura region of Spain. Tim Hayward was the writer behind the brilliant piece. Read the story online here.

Tearsheet: Outdoor UAE

 

From a shoot I had with the Finnish climber Atte Miettinen last year. This shot recently made the cover of Outdoor UAE.

Tearsheet: Guardian G2 Cover

From a commission I was asked to carry out right at the beginning of the year. The challenge: to make a grey skied, wind blown, freezing Portsmouth (which was still draped in Xmas decorations) look like sunny Spring. The solution: Shoot at night!

New: I'm on Tumblr!

So in an effort to catch up with the 21st Century I've recently signed up to Tumblr. I'm going to be using this as a 'daily' section of the website and eventually it will be integrated into the site itself. For the time being you can find me here: http://gregfunnell.tumblr.com/ The plan is that all my instagram feed will go there along with all the shots that never make it onto this blog, the behind the scenes bits and bobs, the singles and snaps from trips. This blog meanwhile will remain and will be the source of news, updates, reviews and the like for Greg Funnell Photography. In doing so I hope to keep bright the flame of enthusiasm I have for 'snapping' everyday, exploring things visually, and it will give me somewhere to display all that visual outpouring! Hope you like it.