As an instructor, teacher, motivator, I’m always looking for ways to share my knowledge and help my followers become more confident, skilled and creative photographers. With this series, I figured I’d address the exact topics that YOU want to know about specific camera and creative techniques.
So, in this new video series, which you can watch on my YouTube channel, I will draw from questions that you can post here, and answer them in my typical no-nonsense, real-world “Dan-stye,” that’s based on my 30+ years of photography experience.
Each episode will feature a number of questions, as they’ll be formatted with “video chapters,”, which means you can see the list of questions I answer in each episode, and easily navigate between them. This gives you the option to mange your time and only watch the parts of the video you’re interested in, although you might learn something new from the insight I devote to each and every question.
I’m super excited about this new series, so check out the first episode and stay tuned for more. As always, feel free to leave me a comment on the video, (this helps other people find my channel), and if you see a question in the comment section that you know the answer to, feel free to jump in and answer it yourself. Let’s make this a community effort!
Today, I start a brand new series: Instagram Reels with original music. My first clip below is a scene from yesterday’s very chilly afternoon walk along the trails in Anchorage with my Fujifilm X-T4 and XF70-300mm lens.
During the past couple of years, I’ve become more intrigued with creating and scoring short videos, and I’ve posted a handful of them on my YouTube Channel. This has long been a creative interest for me (I actually took an intro to film scoring class in college), and with today’s video and audio recording technology, this process has become so much more accessible.
I see this little “Reels” project as a great way to combine these two passions, keep me motivated, and experiment with new sounds and styles on the guitar and keyboard. I like the idea of creating very shot musical passages, as opposed as always thinking “full song.” Plus, this gives me an excuse to play even more music during the “working day” while sitting at my desk.
I don’t do Black Friday sales very often, and I’ve never done one with this big of a discount. Consider this one a thank you for being such a good reader.
This is your chance to grab one or more of these titles at the lowest price you’re ever going to get, so dive in and stock up on some incredible, time-tested outdoor photography tips and insight!
Any of these tiles is going to help make you a better, more well-rounded photographer. Guaranteed. If you buy any of my ebooks and doesn’t meet your expectations, I’ll give you a full refund.
$24.95 $12.50
BEHIND THE LANDSCAPE
A Manual for Seeing, Composing and Processing Captivating Imagery
In this comprehensive eBook, I take you behind-the-scenes during the creation of sixteen of my favorite landscape images I’ve made in the past five years.
For each example, I walk you through the entire process. I let you look over my shoulder as I outline the exact gear I had with me, the specific concept I had in mind, my creative approach, potential problems I faced, and how I solved them.
I describe my compositional techniques, my lens choice, how I used the light, specific exposure information and any other details that went into the process of bringing the image to life. I also highlight the types of challenges that you might face when shooting a similar style of imagery, and I show you how to overcome them so that you can walk away with a great photograph.
Over the years, I’ve learned that great images are not just plucked out of the air as you pass through a scene. They’re crafted with a blend of vision, technical skills, a bit of luck, and a specific approach that’s unique to each photographer. Essentially, it’s the method that makes the image.
Through my own learning process, I’ve come to understand that more than anything else, studying the methods of photographers who you admire is one of the best ways to advance your own skills and creative technique
Learn By Looking Over My Shoulder
Behind The Action is all method. It lays out the exact step-by-step process for 12 specific adventure and outdoor type images.
Essentially, I take you along with me on a number of shoots and let them look over my shoulder as I scout the location, gauge the light, choose my equipment, come up with an approach, execute the final image and reflect on how it all went down. I even show you a number of outtakes so that you can follow along and see how the final shot eventually came about.
A Conceptual Guide To Creating Stronger Photographs
As photographers, the process of capturing light and moment drives us with powerful creativity and personal fulfillment. However, in the end, it’s the strength of your images that matters if you want them to have an impact on your audience.
Making The Imageis a 50 page eBook that will guide you towards making more powerful photographs. By exploring how the human visual system responds to the world, it breaks down imagery into individual concepts, such as light, color, balance and viewpoint and shows you not only how, but why you should apply those concepts to your own photos in order to make them stronger.
Put simply,Making the Image lays out a clear and concise approach to more effective composition. Since the concepts are universal, the techniques outlined in the book are sure to inspire you create photos that will capture both you and your viewer, no matter what style or subject matter you shoot.
ZEN PHOTOGRAPHER is a collection of essays, photographs and insight that have been pulled from my decades as a photographer, 30 years of which I’ve spent as a working pro in a very tough industry. My goal with this book is to help you turn your passion for photography into a dedicated focus and reduce some of the bumps along your own journey.
There’s something for everyone in this book, regardless of style, ability, gear or pro/amateur status, because it’s not about hardcore technical information that’s specifically targeted to one level or another. It’s about ideas, concepts, approach, methods and general attitudes towards photography and the craft of image making, whether for fun or profit.
Here’s an excerpt from the foreword, which was written by a professional photo industry editor, who also happens to be an amateur enthusiast photographer. She found the book to be highly motivational and useful on both levels.
“This book conveys the true energy of Dan. It is honest, straightforward, inspiring, and—quite frankly—a motivational kick in the butt. The pages you are about to read are a culmination of years of photo journaling, self-teaching, ups and downs, and epiphanies that Dan has kept track of and is now able to share with photographers asking similar questions in an ever-changing industry.
You’ll learn very quickly some of the life and business lessons that Dan had to learn the hard way on his career path… You’ll read this book over and over if you start to feel stuck or lazy. I hope your camera battery is charged because you’ll want to run out and shoot immediately after consuming these honest and open thoughts from Dan. Listen to him.”
In this short tutorial, I show you a number of image examples that illustrate how using a single flash can make a huge difference in the overall look of your imagery.
The truth is that most of my work is shot in the outdoors, or at least under natural light, and if you comb through the EXIF data in my image library, you’ll see that the majority of images that I’ve shot over the years are tagged “Flash did not fire.” In fact, if you took all of my flashes away, I’m sure I’d get along fine for the rest of my life without them.
After all, there is nothing so beautiful, magical, wonderful, serene, dramatic, calming, forceful, edgy and peaceful as the varying types of illumination that comes from our sun.
Think about all the ways that natural light, whether its from the sun or the moon can illuminate our scenes. Between warm light, cool light, harsh light and soft light, there really are endless possibilities. Certainly enough to keep ourselves busy for a lifeme of photography.
So Why Use Flash?
Because in photography, everything is about the light. Light makes the picture. Light defines the personality of your subject matter, and it’s how you translate your vision to the rest of the world.
Using flash allows you to take a great subject that’s lit with challenging light, and turn it into a great photograph that’s lit with remarkable light. It allows you to take control during those mes when you don’t have the luxury of great natural light.
Fortunately, a single flash takes up no more room in your bag than a mid- sized zoom lens, so there’s no reason to think that you can’t take one of them into the outdoors when you go out to shoot.
Over the years, I’ve developed a number of systems that work for me and my adventurous, quick moving style. In fact, I even wrote an ebook about this subject, called Going Fast With Light that teaches you how to incorporate flash and minimalist-style lighting techniques into outdoor photography, and more importantly, how to do it without burdening yourself with too much gear. The truth is that flashes make a difference, but they don’t have to slow you down.
The brand new 2nd edition even lists a huge amount of new and affordable flash gear that’s available for all camera types, both mirrorless and DSLR.
Reasons for Using Flash
Typically, when I’m using flash, I’m either trying to reduce or increase the overall contrast, or add additional creative interest to the scene. In most cases, though, it usually does both.
You can have a subject that’s perfectly exposed, but due to the quality of the available light, it just lacks punch, which unfortunately makes for a boring image.
This often happens when shooting in dim or overcast light. Even if you don’t have harsh shadows to deal with, this can leave your images looking pretty bland because there’s no dynamic quality to the ambient light.
By adding a little bit of light in the right place, you can add flavor, texture and additional dynamics, which can turn a photo of a good subject into a great image.
Just like when using natural light, you’ll find that side-lighting is a very effective lighting strategy. It outlines the shapes and contours of the subject and translates the three dimensionality of the subject into the two dimensional medium of a photograph.
No Flash
Shot with Flash
Flowers in the garden, shot WITHOUT flashFlowers in the garden, shot WITH flash
The key to all of this is using radio triggers, which have come a long way in the past ten years. There are other ways to fire a flash that’s off-camera, but there are numerous reasons why radio triggers are the best method.
Nissin and Fuji’s dedicated wireless flashes both work on the Nissin AIR system, and they’re interchangeable, so you could use a the EF-60 with Nissin triggers, or Nissin wireless flashes with the Fuji trigger. This stuff used to be pretty expensive, but these days, you can get a Nissin wireless flash and trigger for just under $200.
Either way, today’s affordable radio triggers the open up the door to off-camera flash photography in a huge way, but they’re nice and small, so they easily fit in your bag. Or your pocket.
Radio triggers let you put the flash anywhere. It doesn’t have to be line of sight to the camera, and these new triggers have a range of 100 meters, which gives you a lot of creative flexibility. You could shoot across a football field with a long telephoto lens and still light your subject.
Here’s an example. These photo was shot under overcast sky, or in the forest. It works; no contrasting shadows, no real problem areas, except for the fact that it’s nothing special, just plain jane vanilla. Under this light, it’s mere snapshot quality.
However, bring in a single light and it suddenly becomes a nice photograph. A single light, placed anywhere from a few feet to 20 feet away at an off-angle from the camera can really give you a nice sense of depth and definition.
Cyclocross race, Goose Lake, Anchorage, Alaska
Cyclocross race, Goose Lake, Anchorage, Alaska
Just like when using natural light, you’ll find that side-lighting is a very effective lighting strategy. It outlines the shapes and contours of the subject and translates the three dimensionality of the subject into the two dimensional medium of a photograph.
Often times when shooting things like portraits or close action, I’ll hold the flash in my left hand, but much of the time, I’ll just place it on something. Doesn’t even have to be a light stand. It could be anything. Sometimes I just place it on the ground.
Theres’ a lot you can do with flash, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money. In future videos, I’ll give you more off-camera flash tips, but for now, if you want to grab my ebook,Going Fast With Light, visit this page to see what it’s all about and get a limited time discount on this helpful guide.
It all started back in October of 2011, when I shot some photos of some racers, most of who I didn’t even know yet, as they were racing and carrying their bikes through the deep sand at a park near my house. I got in some people’s way, but managed to get some pretty cool shots, and in the process, became totally hooked.
The next fall, in 2012, I shot the first two races of the season, and then decide to join in the fun myself. Starting with race #3, I spent the next five Saturdays racing the beginner race on my mountain bike, and then photographing the open mens’ race.
By the end of the season, I’d already bought a proper cross bike and ended up finishing third place in the beginner class. The next year, I moved up to Open class and have spent most Saturdays since then shooting the beginner men and the women’s races, and then racing with the really fast guys. Not saying I’m really fast myself, but it’s an awesome workout trying to keep up with some of them!
When I started back in October 2011, I had no idea where this would lead. Not only did I fall in love with the excitingly spastic nature of CX racing, I ended up becoming good friends with a huge group of people in the Anchorage cycling community. And, the process of shooting hundreds of frames every weekend made me a better action photographer.
Photographing this kind of activity on a regular basis has worked my sports shooting chops like nothing else in the past 10 years. It’s allows me to experiment with different techniques, showed me how to deal with fast breaking situations, challenging light and hard-to-shoot scenes and helped me become an expert at autofocus and capturing motion.
It also gave me the chance to test new gear. Over the years, shooting cyclocross each fall became one of my favorite testing grounds to put new bodies and new lenses through the paces. I’ve gotten to know many of my Fujifilm cameras very intimately by shooting cyclocross.
In fact, this history of photos is a perfect documentation of my transition from Nikon to Fuji and how the X Series gear become more capable along the way, from the little X10, all the way up to the X-T4.
Arctic Cross cyclocross race, Harvard Park, Anchorage, AlaskaArctic Cross cyclocross race, Government Hill, Anchorage, Alaska
In addition, it was the perfect opportunity to practice and push my own creative boundaries. Each race, I’d usually restrict myself to one or two lenses and see all the ways I could use them to create exciting photos.
I’d also experiment with different looks for my photos by using the different Fuji film simulations, shooting modes, ADV filters, or playing around with different angles, vantage points and shooting styles.
Shooting cross even gave me a chance to refine my own fast and lightstyle of shooting outdoor subjects with flash. It was one the inspirations for writing my Going Fast With Light ebook, which I published in 2011.
In ten years, I’ve only missed a few races. In the fall of 2015, I did my 5 week cycling trip through Romania, so I missed the entire season, and I missed most of the 2017 season, since I was off bikepacking in Scotland. This year, I’m nursing a shoulder injury, so I sat out half of the season, but I still shot photos at almost all of the races.
I figure that I’ve spent hundreds of hours shooting cyclocross photos, and in addition to expanding my skills over the years, as I look back, I have so many fond memories of awesome memorable, races. One of my favorite things about all of this is making my friends look like heroes, and enjoying their own excitement when the see photos of themselves when I post them on Monday after each race.
Last week, I posted a retrospective “Best Of” collection of some of my favorite cross photos from the past decade. It was hard to narrow down, since I can easily end up with 185 fun photos from every race, but this at least gives you an idea of some of the different styles and technique I’ve used over the years.
As with any kind of craft or skill, if you spend enough hours doing it, you’ll eventually become really good at it, and hopefully you’ll have a lot of fun in the process. That’s what shooting cross has been for me. I’ve spent so many hours taking these photos, it’s made me a better photographer, but it’s brought me endless amounts of pleasure.
However, I can’t even begin to describe the level of fun and camaraderie I’ve enjoyed during the past ten years photographing the Anchorage cyclocross races.
I hope that you have something like that in your life. In the meantime, enjoy this fun look back through these photos, and I hope it inspires you to find an awesome outlet for your own creative enjoyment and practice.
I’m excited to announce that I have just released the newly revised and updated 2nd Edition of my “Going Fast With Light” eBook.
First published ten years ago, Going Fast With Light shows you the fundamentals of how to use off-camera flash and apply lightweight speedlight-style lighting techniques in your active outdoor photography styles.
In this brand new, totally revised 2nd Edition, I expand on this fundamental idea and give you a number of advanced tips and real-life solutions to common problems when shooting a variety of subject matter.
With a host of brand new images added, new pages, new techniques, and a completely rewritten gear section to include the amazing new affordable and powerful advancements in flash technologyand wireless radio triggers we’ve seen in the past few years, this update brings my popular ebook into the modern era.
“Going Fast With Light" covers the full gamut of what you’ll need to know in order to get really beautiful off-camera lighting in outdoor photography situations. Best of all, it teaches you how to get that lighting without having to hire assistants to carry all your gear.
Janine Fugere, Denver, CO
In this book, you’ll see specific flash gear and light modifiers that are both affordable and easy to pack, and compatible with every major camera brand, well as techniques that will help you dramatically improve the quality of your imagery.
You’ll learn different lighting schemes using a single flash or multiple flashes, which methods work best for triggering off camera remote flashes and see a number of lightweight lighting rights that you can adapt and use in your own work, depending on your style.
You’ll see how to effectively use colored light without having it look too obvious and learn how to take your photography to the next level of creativity, style and professionalism.
I also share my very simple flash workflow that will totally de-mystify the whole flash thing, and show you how you can use even a single inexpensive flash to dramatically improve the quality of your portraits, people, travel and sports pictures as well as nature, closeup and still life photos.
Dan’s written an comprehensive textbook on lightweight flash photography outdoors...
...peppered with his knowledge and enthusiasm on what, for many, can be a complex and demanding subject. Dan simplifies this and brings flash to life in an interesting and practical way, providing a perfect reminder for photographers like me - who often battle with the challenges of lighting on location when you’re on your own - that you don’t need the kitchen sink. Carry just what you need to make great pictures and make the most of what you have. Learn how to go ‘fast with light’ with Dan and I’m sure you’ll improve your own photography.
I know that a lot of photographers are intimidated by flash; I used to be one of those people, and that’s exactly why I wrote this book. It’s designed for anyone who is willing to try new things, learn some basic skills and add some significant new looks and styles to their photography. The original edition was quite popular, and this new version is even better!
Whether you shoot action, adventure, sports, travel, portraits or kids playing in the backyard, this book will change your photography. With over 100 images and over 20,000 words of text, this practical manual contains a tremendous amount of information and ideas that is sure to inspire your creativity and advance your skills and confidence with off-camera flash.
Special Introductory Deal – Use Promo Code FASTLIGHT15 to save 15% – (Through Oct 31.)
Tim Snow
Professional Montreal Photographer
“A great resource for exploring the strobist life. I can see it being a great help to those who are new to using off-camera flash. Wish I had [a book] like this when I was just starting out!”
Chance Woodridge
“Going Fast with Light,” has a great straight forward and simple approach. The traveling light part without a ton of gear, helps reduce the intimidation factor of using flash. It’s full of great techniques, example photos, and proven methods used in the field regularly. I am excited to try these methods for myself, and share my results in the “Going Fast with Light” group on Flickr. I also look forward to seeing others images in the Flickr group too.”
Janine Fugere, Denver, CO
“Going Fast With Light" covers the full gamut of what you’ll need to know in order to get really beautiful off-camera lighting in outdoor photography situations. Best of all, it teaches you how to get that lighting without having to hire assistants to carry all your gear.
Dr. Tracy Anderson, Austria
I just did a photo shoot [and implemented] some stuff I learned from your e-book. I stood out from the other photographers, because I was prepared to “Go Fast with Light”. I am serious! Nobody else brought flash because we were told we had to move quickly from Gondola, to Piston Bully, and then on foot. There was minimal room for gear. Thanks to you, I had everything in my backpack. I am now finding myself getting high profile work as the “cool American photographer.”
Today officially marks my 25 year anniversary for being a self employed pro photographer. It’s an incredible milestone for me, and as I contemplate all of the steps, events, decisions, personal interactions and adventures that have brought me to this point, it blows me away to think that I made it this far.
On that fateful afternoon of October 4th, back, in 1996, after being fired from my job at a digital photo lab in Fort Collins, Colorado, I pedaled home to my basement apartment in disbelief and took stock of my life as a 28-year outdoor junkie and aspiring photographer, having no idea what lay in store for me.
At that point, I’d already done two photo trips to the Himalayas and worked as an editor at a stock photo agency in Boston. I’d been shooting quite a bit of climbing and other adventure sports during the past year, after moving to Colorado in the fall of 1995, and I felt pretty good about the direction and increasing quality of my imagery.
Client: The North Face/La Sportiva
I knew that I wanted to follow in the giant footsteps of Galen Rowell and become a pro adventure photographer, I just didn’t know exactly how I’d make that happen.
Turns out, getting fired by a boss I really didn’t have any respect for in the first place, ended up being the push I needed. That was my launch pad.
Shortly after that, I started sending out promo cards and sheets of 35mm slides to prospective clients, and within months, I had my first photos published in outdoor magazines and catalogs. After that, it just took a quarter century of work, dedication and never-ending perseverance.
Client: Holland America LineClient: Outdoor Retailer Magazine
As I look back on 25 years, I can remember almost everything that happened to me, and that I made happen along the way. I remember all the ideas, the decisions, the personal connections, the assignments, the “big breaks,” the little achievements, the cover photos and the incredible experiences that have contributed to this quarter century of a successful photography business.
I also remember the struggles, the hard times, the projects that didn’t quite pan out, the big assignments I didn’t get, the times I got turned down, the three major economic crashes I’ve weathered along the way, and the adaptations I’ve needed to make in order to keep sailing in an ocean with constantly shifting winds and waves.
Client: Mountain Gear
The photo industry looks a whole lot different that I did a quarter century ago, and so does my own business model. When I first started out, it was all about selling stock photos and getting assignments. Those weren’t my only two sources of income, but they were my main outlets, and the two areas where I spent the most energy.
25-years later, the stock photo industry has dried up to a mere trickle of what it was back in its heyday. Most of the big agencies are gone, and usage rates have generally tanked. Many of the magazines I used to shoot for have since folded, or at least have changed hands and have entirely new, younger staffs, and social media has entirely changed the way that companies advertise and pay for photo use.
And, of course, I’ve changed.
Client: Patagonia
After years of chasing assignment work, I find myself no longer driven by that particualr business model, for a number of reasons. Halfway through my career, I started writing, and that grew into a much different machine, where my focus was based more on teaching and inspiring other photographers, through blogging, books and ebooks, and now video lessons.
Not only did that prove to be an effective strategy to get me through the oncoming and monuments shifts in the industry, it has proved to be a much more fulfilling direction for me.
In the past few years, I have have come to believe even more strongly in the incredible human capacity and power of creativity. In this crazy, mixed up, uncertain world that we live in, the simple process of being creative, combined with our own successes with our creative endeavors, can be a powerful force that can change not only our own mindset, being more creative can ultimately make us happier human citizens. And I believe that it can help bring about change in others that can ultimately lead to a better world for everyone.
Client: Alaska Magazine
I know I’m a pretty good photographer and teacher, and so I’ve come to see my place in this world as being less about trading my time and creative efforts for dollars and a month’s worth of space in a magazine to advertise some product I may not even believe in, and more about helping other people become better, more confident and skilled photographers.
Maybe it’s age, maybe it’s my own maturity or disillusion with the current state of affairs, but I just find that to be a much more enjoyable and fulfilling use of my time and efforts these days. I know how much happiness that photography and creativity has brought to my life, and I just want other people to experience the same kind of happiness and fulfillment that I’ve been able to enjoy along the way.
Client: Digital Photo Pro Magazine
So as I look back on my 25 years of being self employed, I want to extend my deepest thanks and gratitude for the support of everyone who has believed in me along the way, gave me a chance, used my photos in a project, hired me to shoot a job, published my work, bought my books and eBooks, or even read a few of these blog posts. It’s all made a difference.
And finally, I want to share the message to all of you, that if you believe in yourself and you have the dedication and willingness to persevere, then whatever you imagine might be possible for you to achieve in your own life can come true. I’m living proof that this is a reality. Anyway, it’s been a pretty awesome quarter century. I wonder what the next one will look like…
If you’ve seen my last couple of posts, then you’ve know I’ve been immersing myself in the creativity of closeup photography. A combination of two factors has inspired this, they first being the fact that we have a wonderful collection of blooming flowers in our garden this summer, and the second being the incredible close focus capabilities of Fujifilm’s new XF70-300mm f/4-5.6 OIS WR lens.
A third component is adding in Fuji’s 1.4x Teleconverter, which works with the 70-300, and one of Fuji’s MCEX Extension Tubes, which turn ANY Fuji lens into a macro lens.
Well, last week, I added a fourth component: Flash.
I’ve experimented with flash quite a bit through the years, especially back when I shot Nikon. An arduent follower of guys like Joe McNally and David Hobby, I’ve learned a lot of techniques for shooting with off-camera flash, which can add a significant amount of style and life to your shots.
These days, I’m using Fuji’s new EF-60 flash and EF-W1 Wireless Commander, which is a powerful, but easy to use radio remote that uses the Nissin Air System (NAS) to control any number of remote flashes. The NAS system is compatible with both the Fuji flash and any of Nissen’s AIR flashes, like the i60A or Di700A, which means you can use either or mix and match. Nissin also has their own dedicated commander, the AIR 10S Wireless Commander.
By adjusting my camera exposure and dialing in the flash output on the wireless commander, I can easily, and very quickly create a variety of lighting effects. For most of these shots, I used manual exposure on the camera to underexpose the background, then fired a single flash that was set off to the side to light the flower. Controlling the flash output was as simple as turning the dial on the EF-W1.
Note the mosquito on the top of the opened poppy.
In some cases, I fired a bare bulb right at the flower; with others, I fired the flash through a hand-held diffusion panel. I use the Lastolite TriGrip Diffuser, but you could use a white pillow case or white grocery store bag if you don’t have a real diffuser.
I also played around with different in-camera settings, like Highlight and Shadow Tone and Clarity, to create different looks for my final images, all of which are straight JPGEs.
During one of the sessions, it started to rain, and before it came down too heavy, I was able to capture this photo of a wet zinnia. I love the incredibly luscious look that it has. The light background was created by firing the flash through the diffuser from behind the flower instead of from off to the side.
There’s a lot you can do with a single flash, it just takes experimentation. It’s a lot of trial and error until you get a feel for the look you’re going for and how to dial in the proper amount of light and camera exposure. That’s the fun part, though, you get lost in the process of creating and before you know it, you’ve wasted a huge amount of time making pretty pictures.
Even if you don’t have a radio remote, you can still make some compelling photos with a single flash and an inexpensive sync cord. The wireless commander just make the process a while lot easier and it gives you options for firing multiple flashes, which can all have different light outputs and zoom settings.
If you want to take your closeup photography to the next level, I recommend looking into a simple flash setup and checking out my Going Fast with Light eBook. If you don’t need a lot of range, the Nissin Di700A Flash with Air 1 commander kit gives you everything you need to get started with off-camera flash for a very reasonable price. It’s available for multiple camera systems.
I’ve been having a ton of fun with Fujifilm’s new XF70-300mm f/4-5.6 OIS WR lens during the past couple of weeks. With its very long focal length zoom, relatively lightweight design and incredible image quality, this new 70-300 is a real winner. It would be an excellent choice for anyone who shoots nature, sports, landscapes, portraits and travel.
One of the most intriguing features about the 70-300, though, is that it has a minimum focus distance of only 32.7 inches (83 cm), which gives you wonderful closeup looks. Add in the 1.4x or 2x Teleconverters, and you magnify the image even more.
But what happens when you add in one of Fujifilm’s dedicated extension tubes, either the MCEX-11 or MCEX-16? These are very small and affordable accessories that allow you to turn any Fuji lens into a closeup lens by further decreasing the minimum focusing distance.
I’d been wondering this myself, since I already own the MCEX-11, so the other day, I brought it into the mix. I stacked the MCEX with the 1.4x TC, just to see what would happen.
The result was even more dramatic closeups, with absolutely no loss of quality. The MCEX extension tubes don’t have any glass; they’re just hollow tubes (with electronic contacts) that bring the focusing elements of the lens further away from the sensor. When you increase that distance, you increase magnification prosperities of the lens.
I’d already seen how well the 1.4x TC performs with the 70-300, and with the MCEX, the results were just as good. There was no noticeable loss of sharpness and absolutely no vignetting. It’s almost as if all this stuff was made to work perfectly together.
Even with both of those stacked together, the 70-300 still focused quickly and accurately, which made it really easy to capture bugs and bees as they landed on the flowers in my garden.
I also shot a few frames with just the MCEX-11 extension tube on the 70-300, without the 1.4x, and even though the magnification level was reduced a little bit, this combo still gave me wonderful close-ups.
Overall, the 70-300 is one super fun lens to use, and when you add either (or both) of the teleconverters or the extension tubes, the fun is only magnified. Even if you don’t have the budget to spring for both, the little MCEX tubes are only $99. They’re a really good deal for how much macro potential they add to all of your Fuji lenses.
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Built with a very similar style, Fuji’s 70-300 expands on the design with an even longer range, weather sealing and compatibility with Fujifilm’s 1.4x and 2x Teleconverters.
It also has an even more capable OIS image stabilization system, 5.5 stops, vs. 4.5 stops for the 55-200. I’ve been really impressed at how low I can handhold the 55-200 and still get sharp shots, and with the newer OIS technology, this is improved even further.
In 35mm equivalent terms, the 70-300 offers a very long, 107-457mm angle of view. That’s quite impressive on its own, but when you combine it with the 1.4X TC, your range becomes 147-630mm. This is amazing when you consider the compact size and weight of this lens. It’s only slightly a half inch wider and longer than the 55-200 and ONLY 8 grams heavier. (1.3 lbs/588g total.)
70-300mm straight.
The first thing I did with the 70-300 was take it out into my garden, which, right now, is if full bloom. I was pleased with the feel and balance of the lens, but what blew me away, is that it has a minimum focus distance of only 32.7 inches (.83m). That effectively gives you 1:3 magnification ratio and makes it an incredible lens for shooting close-up subjects.
I spent the next half hour shooting zinnias, Mexican sunflowers, poppies and the flurry of bees that are raiding the giant mat of thyme that we have growing in the front yard.
The first few frames were straight, with he lens zoomed all the way out to 300mm. Then I put the 1.4X Teleconverter on and things got REALLY interesting. The closeup capabilities become even more magnified, with even more long lens compression.
70-300mm w/ the 1.4x TC
Even at full zoom with the teleconverter, focus was incredibly precise and the image quality was absolutely stunning. I’m absolutely blown away by how sharp this lens is. I guess that by now, 9 years into the X Series and over 5 decades of experience with lens design and production, Fujifilm has this stuff down.
Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. Budget priced zooms aren’t always awesome, and with some models, you pretty much know that if you want top quality, you have to spring for the “professional” models.
However, with todays optical technology and lenses that are specially designed to maximize the performance of their own camera sensors, this is no longer the case. We saw it with the excellent 18-55mm lens, and now we see it again with the 70-300mm, where a sub $1K lens can get you the equivalent of a 400mm lens, with fast, precise autofocus and image quality that will blow you away.
Built with 17 elements in 12 groups, two extra-low dispersion elements to reduce fringing and chromatic aberrations, and one aspherical element to control distortion and spherical aberrations, Fuji’s new 70-300mm delivers in a big way, but without a big price tag.
With a 9-bladed aperture, compared to the 7-bladed design of the 55-200mm, the new 70-300 gives you some amazing, out-of-focus looks and wonderful, mouth watering bokeh. From that standpoint along, this makes the 70-300 an incredible fun lens to use for isolating subjects.
After a very brief time spent with the 70-300, I had so much confidence with it, that I set out to photograph an entire series of bee photos using single shot mode, while zoomed all the way out, with the teleconverter on, and got a number of really cool frames and very sharp bees.
Overall, the XF70-300mm f/4-5.6 OIS WR lens is another home run from Fujifilm, and it hits all the important benchmarks: It’s super sharp, it has fast AF, 5.5 stops of OIS, it’s not very big and it’s not exceedingly expensive. And you can use it with the teleconverters to extend your range even further.
Seriously. This thing is long lens heaven, wrapped up in a nice little compact bundle that you can carry everywhere. This could easily be your next backpacking, travel, portrait, sports, or even walk around-street lens, if you don’t mind a little bit of length on the front of the camera. It’s certainly light enough, and it doesn’t scream “LOOK EVERYONE, I’M A PRO!!”
I plan to take it on an all day mountain bike ride tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to getting some nice detail, closeup and long lens landscapes up on top of the pass after climbing about 4,000 feet. Best part, I won’t even notice it’s back there in my pack until I take it out and start shooting.
Then I’ll be really glad I have it.
So yea, the 70-300mm? Highly recommended. Happy summer.
