GAS GAS: Please Share your Latest Acquisitions Big and Small

After milling over the question if I should get another Sony body just to have access to certain lenses for the umpteenth time, I finally caved (cracked?) and ordered the Megadap ETZ21; not only should this allow me the use of most E mount lenses, it should also work with both FX and DX bodies ... The funny part: At the moment, I don't own a single E mount lens - I sold them off. But I may invest in the odd one if I see a specific use case ...

M.
 
Ok, so this may sound weird...but I'll try and explain.

I got another Fuji 18-55/2.8-4 OIS lens.

I still have my Fuji 16-80/4 WR for now. I had sold the 18-55 a while back for the 16-80.
The 16-80 has been good, but not a great lens for me. Not in performance - it has been sharp, quick to focus...but I just not really gelled with it like I thought I would. It gives a 24-105 field of view, which I have used in the past on my Nikon DSLRs and liked it.

It balances and performs well on the X-T4, but less so on the X-Pro2. My future is still going to have Fuji in the mix, but it is going to go the way of m43 for me. Right now, m43 is a great "all-in-one" shooter for me. I can do most everything street with it, if I want with the EM1.2 and Oly 12-100/4. I can throw the Oly 75-300 in bag or pack and have a great range. I need good light for it, but most the time I will have that when shooting this kit.

I have a great sports shooting setup with the Nikon D500 and fast glass. I also have the Z6 and Zfc and honestly, once I got to grips with the AF system...those cameras have done well in shooting sports and action. My "Pro future" is still firmly entrenched in Nikon.

Where Fuji hits the sweet spot for me now is with the XPro2 and primes or smaller zooms. The 18-55 may not seem that much smaller than the 16-80, but it is in my reality. If I need 16mm, I have the 16mm f/2.8 WR.
The X-T4 is a great camera and works great - no complaints...but I don't "need" anything from it that I'm not already getting from the Nikon kit as far as AF speed, accuracy and performance. What I'm waiting for is to see what Fuji 1ill bring for us in the future for the XPro4. Honestly, if they did the XPro4 that they did with the X-T4, which is add IBIS and the updated way it handles film simulations save settings....I'll give up the X-T4 anad the 16-80 today to fund that! Then I'd be running an XPro2/XPro4 combo and would be extremely happy.

To that logic of running 2 XPro's, the more compact lenses make sense for where I want to go.

<end diatribe, and thanks for reading!!>
 
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MiguelATF said:
When I recently sold my X-Pro3, I included the XF35mm f/1.4 lens in the sale, with some misgivings: it was such a great lens, and it had helped me renew my appreciation for the focal length. After getting my much smaller (and, so far, eminently cool) X-T3, I realized I had a Fuji-mount lens in my bag which I really wasn't using, in spite of its surprising quality, a manual focus 50mm TTArtisan lens. As fate would have it, a photographer on FM forums was looking for a 50mm TTArtisan, and willing to trade its smaller manual focus sibling: a TTArtisan 35mm f/1.4. I said yes and... it arrived today.

View attachment 336330

The lens itself is rather compact, and appears to be very well built, including a click-stopped aperture ring which works nicely. It's not a pancake, but mounted on the XT3 body, it makes for a rather small package.

View attachment 336331

The real question of course is: can a manual focus lens which costs less than a fifth of its justifiably highly regarded Fuji-made competition... deliver anything close to what the XF35 did? Autofocus aside, I imagine only time will tell. But the focusing barrel is smooth, nicely damped and responsive - and the initial images look decent. Including this quick shot of my French camping knife (that I used for opening the package the lens was shipped in)--

View attachment 336332

And this shot of one of my favorite beer cans--

View attachment 336333

Even better is this shot of an old tractor which belongs to a neighboring farmer---

View attachment 336335

It (the lens) has got some big shoes to fill. Hopefully... it will grow into them.
Click to expand...

Dag...I think those look good! I was contemplating getting the TTArtisan 17mm f/1.4 for Z-mount...this makes the decision fall more toward a buy - especially at prices around $119-$139.
 
A Nikkor Auto 55mm F3.5 non-AI Micro with M2 for full magnification. Clean barrel and glass. Just CLA'd by previous owner for smooth focus and aperture changes. Probably pretty sharp too. Will have to find out.
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gryphon1911 said:
Ok, so this may sound weird...but I'll try and explain.

I got another Fuji 18-55/2.8-4 OIS lens.

I still have my Fuji 16-80/4 WR for now. I had sold the 18-55 a while back for the 16-80.
The 16-80 has been good, but not a great lens for me. Not in performance - it has been sharp, quick to focus...but I just not really gelled with it like I thought I would. It gives a 24-105 field of view, which I have used in the past on my Nikon DSLRs and liked it.

It balances and performs well on the X-T4, but less so on the X-Pro2. My future is still going to have Fuji in the mix, but it is going to go the way of m43 for me. Right now, m43 is a great "all-in-one" shooter for me. I can do most everything street with it, if I want with the EM1.2 and Oly 12-100/4. I can throw the Oly 75-300 in bag or pack and have a great range. I need good light for it, but most the time I will have that when shooting this kit.

I have a great sports shooting setup with the Nikon D500 and fast glass. I also have the Z6 and Zfc and honestly, once I got to grips with the AF system...those cameras have done well in shooting sports and action. My "Pro future" is still firmly entrenched in Nikon.

Where Fuji hits the sweet spot for me now is with the XPro2 and primes or smaller zooms. The 18-55 may not seem that much smaller than the 16-80, but it is in my reality. If I need 16mm, I have the 16mm f/2.8 WR.
The X-T4 is a great camera and works great - no complaints...but I don't "need" anything from it that I'm not already getting from the Nikon kit as far as AF speed, accuracy and performance. What I'm waiting for is to see what Fuji 1ill bring for us in the future for the XPro4. Honestly, if they did the XPro4 that they did with the X-T4, which is add IBIS and the updated way it handles film simulations save settings....I'll give up the X-T4 anad the 16-80 today to fund that! Then I'd be running an XPro2/XPro4 combo and would be extremely happy.

To that logic of running 2 XPro's, the more compact lenses make sense for where I want to go.

<end diatribe, and thanks for reading!!>
Click to expand...
I did exactly that gryphon. Traded in my excellent XF18-55 for a 16-80 for the same reasons as you did. And came to the same conclusion as you did. So I now have the 18-55 again, and, hopefully, we will live happily ever after!
 
Having tried to like the E-Md 5, handling-wise but didnt/couldnt, the obvious solutions was to buy another one...

OM-d5 batterigrep.jpg

mainly for the grip.

The body is somewhat iffy, slightly cracked screen (bottom right corner) and a split wheel on the front dial, it has 20something K shutter actuations. But with three batteries, a charger, the complete grip, a Oly 45mm f:1.8 a 9mm BCL, that tiny OEM flash and a 16 GB Toshiba Wi-fi SD card thrown in for good measure.

The plan is to sell off the 45 and 9mm. May even put up the body for a bargain basement price, the grip will eventually not be a worrisome expense, realistically somewhere in the vicinity of $0-30 out of pocket, depending on haggling, with even the possibility for turning a very small profit .

With either the half or the entire grip on, the EM-5 is a joy to both use and carry.

I also cracked and bought a complete bundle of a Pen Mini 1 with 3.5ish K shutter actuations,
Olympus E-PM1.jpg
with charger, battery, another one of those small flashes, a regular 14-42 MkII and a SD card, as well as a rather nice little Crumpler camera bag for the princely sum of $50. It is quite a bit larger than anticipated, but an interesting camera to finger-oogle anyhow, after oogling the ad over some weeks. I will run it with some of the pancakes to see how it fares.

Interestingly enough, none of these cameras came with the super control panel activated, which surprises me a bit, as I find it essential for smooth operation of the Olympus cameras.

Hopefully, the stint of rather looong workdays are spinning down late in next week, so that I actually get out and do some shooting and not just buy cheap stuff from the local classifieds. "Hurry up and wait" is where I am at for the moment.

I also hope the 10 pack of body and back lens covers finally get here, so that I can get cracking on selling some of the hoard as well.
 
MiguelATF said:
Some things work out well, others not so much. Including my recently acquired and surprisingly good (given its dirt-cheap price) manual-focus Chinese TTArtisan 35mm lens, for my XT3. After using it for awhile, I came to my senses and remembered that I really like autofocusing lenses. So the TTArtisan has been sold and recycled, and replaced by a lens that I am already enjoying immensely more, though I've only had it for a week or two: one of the small 'Fujicrons', the Fujinon XF 35mm f/2. It's the right size for the camera I'm using it on--
Click to expand...
Congratulations. I replaced my 35/1.4 with the f2 several years ago. It's a great little lens. I can also recommend the companion 16/2.8 and 23/2 lenses. I don't have the 50/2 (yet) but it's on my list. What I would love to see is a 70/2.8 to match.
 
I visited our local photography bookstore yesterday and came away with another couple of items. I didn't intend to buy another Moriyama book, but it was the last copy in the store and that seemed reason enough. I also picked up volume 6 of Vacuum, a quarterly produced by a group of Osaka based photographers. And so my collection of Japanese street snappers continues to grow.

Latest.jpg
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olli said:
Congratulations. I replaced my 35/1.4 with the f2 several years ago. It's a great little lens. I can also recommend the companion 16/2.8 and 23/2 lenses. I don't have the 50/2 (yet) but it's on my list. What I would love to see is a 70/2.8 to match.
Click to expand...
The 50/2 is a great Fujicron, often overlooked or seldom discussed. One of my favorites for walk about along with the 27/2.8.

I’ve often wanted Fuji or someone to make some affordable, f/3.5 or f/4 long tele lenses like 135mm or 200mm about the size of the old Nikon AI. I would acidity love that and would have me digest from my 70-300 Zoom for those.
 
rayvonn said:
It’s not like you’ll be that close to them…..or maybe you will😳
Click to expand...
I'm taking my 100-400 with me and that will give me quite a bit of working room. I think that at 400mm I'd be pretty comfortable with most of the venomous snakes there, except the fer-de-lance. I want to see one, but am also anxious about an encounter.
 
gryphon1911 said:
The 50/2 is a great Fujicron, often overlooked or seldom discussed. One of my favorites for walk about along with the 27/2.8.

I’ve often wanted Fuji or someone to make some affordable, f/3.5 or f/4 long tele lenses like 135mm or 200mm about the size of the old Nikon AI. I would acidity love that and would have me digest from my 70-300 Zoom for those.
Click to expand...
The two cameras that I always have ready to go are the GR and the XS10 with the 50 f/2. That focal length works for me in a rural area where a little extra reach always helps. I have 35 f/1.4 but the 35 f/2 would work so well on the S10. Then I could also get the 33 and have the full Fuji Fanboi trinity. :geek:
 
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A few small items.

1. A lens hood for my Sony FE 4-5.6/28-60mm. More than once the lens got bumped by someone else in a dense crowd, which is where this lens is used for. As the front element is almost flush with the front ring, I want some extra protection, hence this rather modest hood. The vented design is of course irrelevant, but it was the smallest hood I could find.

S02-20221016-007.jpg
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The lens without the hood, to show its exposed front element. I'm not sure if I ever showed this lens here already; I acquired it some months ago.
S01-20221016-006.jpg
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2. A red filter, to experiment with black-and-white conversions.
S03-20221016-008.jpg
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Two and a half years late to the party, I ordered a mint used Olympus 12-45 Pro for my E-M5 II. It joins my only current µ4/3 lens, the O 25/1.8. A capable lens, but sometimes I find myself wanting a little more reach, and I detest swapping lenses while out in the field, hence the decision to grab a zoom.

I also have an old X-T2, also with a single prime lens. Fuji needs to get on the ball and make an XF 15-45 WR. The 16-80 is way too big for me.
 
Ad Dieleman said:
Don't you guys do presents at Halloween? If not, start with this one, only a few weeks to go.
Click to expand...
Or on second father in law's day, or whatever else the marketing department has invented in order to compel the largely meaningless spending of money that would be better placed into the family mortgage or education fund ...

What?
Me?
Cynical?
Never ... :rofl: :ROFLMAO: ...
 

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