The Photography Show 2022 + Trying the new Fuji 56mm F1.2 WR lens!
Gold Plated + Lizard Skin Wrap Nikon FA - Everyone should have one in their camera bag.
Check out old blogs from the 2015 Photography Show and the 2016 Photography Show
It was that time of year for the annual Photography Show at the NEC!
I’d not been for 6 years, between being busy with work and Covid meaning the event wasn’t on, it was great to finally be back and trying out new camera gear.
I took my Fuji XH1 + 33mm 1.4 lens with me to grab a few shots of some cool looking stuff (there’s a-lot of stuff at these shows)
My main reason for the visit was to try some of the new Fuji gear, here’s my first take on what I tried:
Fuji XH2 - REALLY nice, much quicker than the XH1, can do a crazy amount of shots per second and is just a really nice feeling fast to focus, snappy camera. - I’ll probably upgrade to this next season when the price drops a little.
Fuji XH2s - Very similar in format to the XH2, might be a little fast to focus and perhaps the eye tracking is smoother, but it’s really hard to tell from a quick go. It’s much more expensive, and I’m keen on the 40MP and 8k possibilities of the XH2.
Fuji 23mm 1.4 WR - Really tempted by this lens. It’s much quicker to focus than it’s counterpart and it feels really nice on the XH1 - but read on to see why I probably won’t get this lens.
Fuji 56mm F1.2 WR - This is also known as the 56mm MK2 and it is a BEAST! I tried it out on my XH1 so I’ve got a few sample shots here. It’s very fast to focus and much snappier than the MK1, tracking focus is nice too. The look feels very similar but the out of focus areas seems a bit smoother. The weather resistance is very welcome. I’ll be adding this to my kit bag to replace the MK1.
Testing the 56mm MK2’s focus speed - Shot on XH1
It’s quick to change from close to distant subjects - Shot on XH1
Ok, so where does this leave me in regards to my gear bag?
I’m going to keep my XH1’s - for now. The upgrade to the XH2 is expensive, not only the £1900 per camera body, but also a whole bunch of new batteries which would be about £300, then as it’s a 40MP camera I’ll need much bigger cards, again probably a £400 expense. I need to make sure my spending doesn’t outweigh my income and for now the XH1 can do everything I need in a professional capacity.
I’ll upgrade the 56mm MK1 for the 56mm MK2 - this one is a no-brainer, it’s a much faster lens, which means I can push it harder at weddings and get more shots for my couples. I can sell my current 56mm for about £300 meaning this upgrade will cost me £700 (it’s £1000 at the time of writing - Sept 2022)
I’ll get the 18mm F1.4 - This lens is going to fill a space in my kit bag and hopefully make my shooting more steamlined. At the moment I keep using the 33mm lens (it’s banging) so the 23mm doesn’t get much of a look in, instead using the 16mm 1.4. I’ll sell the 23mm + 16mm and use the money to buy the 18mm 1.4.
So, over the next few months my lenses will condense into a trifecta of:
18mm F1.4
33mm F1.4
56mm F1.2 MK2
Stay tuned for more on that and of course some gear reviews. For now here are some more shots from the Photography Show, tap me up in the comments if you have any questions, or pop me a message on Instagram @colinnichollsphotography
Cheers,
Col-
