Canon vs Fuji

Now, as per the title you may or may not expect a bit of brand bashing. I'm sorry but I will have to disappoint you a bit there.

Read more about how I shot this image hand-held in very low light in the Cango Caves near Oudtshoorn in South Africa.

I used Fuji's X-T1 with the XF 10-24mm f/4 R OIS lens.

Settings were 1/30 second shutter, lens wide open at f/4 and 10mm. ISO at 6400.

In post I corrected colour using the white balance slider and a minute bit of hue/saturation slider in Adobe Camera Raw. In Photoshop I corrected the lens distortion. I also used one action by sleeklens to bring up detail in the foreground. It must have taken less than two minutes to do all of that.

That is it!

From this

To this

I am a big fan of Canon's D-SLR cameras and have used them since 2005 when I took the plunge into digital.

All major brands available today produce very nice cameras and some exceptional lenses. In fact, they are so good that it often comes down to looks or some other subjective feature when you buy.

Enter my good friend Mardee Maree. We entered the murky waters which was early day D-SLR purchases together. He went Nikon, I went Canon. The hours of banter and mutual loving brand bashing that ensued were unreal. To this day I am convinced that the script writers of Top Gear MUST have listened in and copied us.

Time went by and Mardee went mirrorless with Fuji. I stayed with Canon. I am not big on change. Also, the more lenses and other equipment you end up buying over time, the deeper you lock yourself into a brand. Oh wait, I mean system. Did I say BRAND?

You see the good people at camera company X know that very well. They like it when you spend more and lock yourself in deeper and deeper.

The other problem is that camera bodies progress quicker and quicker. New upgraded models are launched much like mobile phones and similar devices.

Good lenses are worth investing in though, not bodies. Great glass lasts a lifetime.

Sadly, with time comes newer technology and you will be forced to upgrade a camera body.

So since the days of Nikon Mardee tried his level best to get me to change brands. When he started using Fuji mirrorless it got worse. MUCH worse. I humoured him and played around with the Fuji gear. It got my attention almost straight off the bat . Oh I was hesitant at first.

Mirrorless? Really? You mean it is not a D-SLR? Look how small that thing is. Is it really a camera??

That was what my mouth was saying.

Then one weekend not too long ago we went to Calitzdorp for a quick getaway and I took his X-T1 with a XF 10-24mm f/4 R OIS lens. To say that this little lens has impressed me is a huge understatement. Those of you who know me well will agree that I am not easily impressed. It is wide. VERY wide. At 10mm it is about 15mm in 35mm film and Full Frame D-SLR equivalent.

The original plan was to shoot the X-T1 alongside my Canon EOS 5D MkIII. Somewhere on Redstone Hills or Swartberg Pass, who knew.

I ended up taking it with me everywhere.

Shot at about 13.2mm which is not quite the widest yet. Somewhere around 13-14mm nicely equates to my 21mm Zeiss. This lens goes even wider.

A good reason why my old school approach never allows me to do portraiture with wide lenses.

Sure, my wife's face is out of focus and distorted but the focus is on the food.

Speaking about food, you really should not drive past Jemima's next time you are in Oudtshoorn. Stop there and grab a bite. Better yet, find a reason to drive to Oudtshoorn so you can stop at Jemima's for a bite.

But back to the story...

This image was shot handheld at Jemima's. It is at 20mm, almost the long end of the 10-24. As is off-camera except for white balance correction to taste.

This lens is as sharp as I have seen. Don't take my word for it. See what Photozone says about this lens.

I trust these guys for honest, independent and say-it-like-it-is reviews. They also tell you exactly why the love or hate a lens in understandable language.

Well, I will let the images speak for themselves from here on.

I love the film heritage Fuji built into their cameras. Fuji's Velvia was my favorite slide film and the digital version in Fuji's cameras come fairly close to it. Overdoing it is not good either.

You can, of course, also play around and apply any of these film techniques in post.

Shoot it right into midday sun? No problem!

So the bottom line to me?

Fuji and their mirrorless cameras are already a major player. With the amazing X-T2 launched late last year they are bound to improve on this by huge leaps and bounds.

Oh wait, I did promise a comparison, didn't I? Below is a small version of what I believe is a fair comparison. Fuji on left and Canon on right.

All efforts were made to obtain objective comparison images. Images were shot in Raw and resizing was the only change made.

Please scroll down for 100% views of cropped sections.

Fuji X-T1 with FUJINON XF10-24mmF4 R OIS lens. ISO 6400, f/4 and 20 second exposure.

Canon EOS 5D MkIII with Zeiss 21 Distagon 2.8 at f/4. ISO 6400 and 20 second exposure.

I will leave it there !

Happy shooting and take care until next time!

Anton