Studio_M Move to Fuji
Repetitive point and shoot, that is how we were beginning to feel after years of shooting with Canon, which although are great cameras and cameras we continue to use in certain situations. We felt that we had become automated in our approach to visual story telling, something had to change.
Tether capture on location with a Fuji GFX 50s and Elinchrom lighting at Samphire Jersey.
Passion. This is what we have rediscovered after a refreshing change to using Fujifilm cameras. A refreshing new approach and challenge has reignited our passion and excitement for our work. Immediately we were impressed with the image quality, but more importantly the feel of the camera through the intuitive dial controls gave us a new level of control at Photo shoots with a great old school look and feel. A slight change of shooting style was required but we loved the way the camera performs, its compact size allowed unobtrusive shooting for intimate portrait shoots and its portability especially when travelling. From this we upgraded all the gear with everyone converting to Fujifilm in the space of month purchasing XT2s and XPro2s.
At the same time as purchasing these cameras we were actively searching for a medium format camera primarily for studio work and advertising campaigns. Performance of the XPro2 and the XT2 had done enough to swing us to purchasing a Fujifilm GFX 50s. We had originally been looking investing in the Phase One but after some helpful advise by the team at The Flash Centre educating us on the half price cost, half the weight and with the same image quality it was an easy sell.
At first we were blown away with the image quality whilst shooting portraits in the studio, we soon started shooting the GFX on location, with is compact and light weight lens and body, it soon became our go to camera, with both on location flash and natural light. Since then it has been with us high in the French Alps up to 3000m in temperatures down to -15 degrees, it continued to shoot with out an issue even after days of tumbles in a wet bag as we battled with this winters deep powder. We also tested it in the Morocco dessert, out at Sea around the coast of Malta, and to the Humid climates of the Caribbean without missing a beat and always returning great shots.
On Location with Sunseeker around the coast of Morocco
It is much more adaptable and easier to use than we had anticipated, and has replaced a lot of work which we would have done with our DSLR. As with the smaller Xseries cameras a great ‘old school’ vinyl feel combined with best image quality when used correctly means we have been left awed by the results. Seeing the exposition of the shot through the viewfinder is a nice way to shoot and allows you to be more fluid and natural in our approach. Although we don’t use exclusively Fujifilm, still going back to Canon when shooting underwater work because of the high speed tracking speed and low light quality, we have now switched to Fujifilm for everything else. The XPro2 and the XT2 do a lot of have really raised our level whilst the GFX 50s has been an absolute game changer for us.
Recent Work
