Because sometimes a very wide lens is not wide enough...

Tsitsikamma Big Tree - Fuji X-T3 with Fuji 10-24 f/4 lens at 10mm. ISO200 - f/8 - shutter at 1/20 on tripod.

So on a recent breakaway weekend we did the proper tourist thing and went to see the Tsitsikamma Big Tree. It is a very very worthwhile visit to see this tree that is said to be about a thousand years old or so. The walk from the carpark to the tree is beautiful and presents a lot of photographic opportunities.

Forest floor fungi - Fuji X-T3 with 56mm f/1,2 at f/2 - ISO 800 - Shutter at 1/100.

When, suddenly, the tree presents itself it is actually quite a sight to take in. Be prepared to spend some time there to take it all in properly.

Forest floor fungi - Fuji X-T3 with 56mm f/1,2 at f/2 - ISO 800 - Shutter at 1/100.

Of course I thought I would take a few pics and I tried. I went in armed with my 10-24mm f/4 Fuji wide angle zoom and I was positive that I was going to ace this. I had my tripod too...what could possibly go wrong?

Now, just a bit of necessary nerd stuff for context quickly. The Fuji 10-24 is designed for a crop sensor which is smaller than the Full Frame D-SLR or film era 35mm format. The Full Frame sensor measures 24mm x 36mm which is the exact same size as a 35mm negative. In 35mm system film terms most brands if not all have a 16-35mm wide angle zoom. This lens is still available for the Full Frame D-SLR format. Those who wish to know more can read about it here. Fuji's 10-24mm lens is the Fuji X-series equivalent of that class lens built for the APS-C crop body camera.

Of course there are many wide angle lenses wider than the typical 16-35mm out there in both zoom and prime. All the big brands have their offerings. They are mostly very expensive and I simply can't justify spending that type of money on something I will not be using often.

Right, back to the outing, I thought I would have absolutely no issues shooting this tree because THIS lens is wide enough, right? Well, no...

A good few challenges presented themselves here. The forest floor is quite dark by midday blue sky standards. Pointing the camera up brought very interesting exposure scenarios. Washing out the blue sky above the canopy of foliage is very easy but not exactly desired. Since I don't believe in spending hours editing I will share some basic techniques I use in future.

Let's stick with the issue of (lack of!) wideness of the lens for now though.

Low down wide view of the Tsitsikamma Big Tree - f/5,6 - ISO 200 - Shutter 1/25 on tripod. Fuji 10-24mm lens at 10mm.

A quick reference to my 16-35mm days...I always disliked the bit of zoom between the extreme wide end of 16mm and about 20mm. The 20mm to 35mm end of the lens is ironically what I ended up using most of the time. For Fuji's 10-24 this translates to the 10-14mm end. Shooting such a wide zoom at the wide extreme brings some other challenges to the party. The corners show really bad distortion.

In this above shot at the wide 10mm end, note how the poles of the walkway converge to the top. This is particularly frustrating when shooting architecture. It is fixable in many ways. Perspective correction filters can be used. This opens up a new can of choice worms though. Sometimes you simply have to cut your losses.

The bottom line in reality is that some sacrifices had to be made here. As is mostly the case, I could not spend hours capturing a memory two hours down the road from home. It would have been a very different story if this was the Eiffel Tower or the Grand Canyon though, right? In that case you would move around until you had the right composition, exposure and all that.

So what am I really saying? Don't bother with a wide angle lens? No, absolutely not! You definitely need one in your bag but research well and try before you buy. A zoom lens is handy. They are flexible in offering differing persectives in one lens. Before you buy a premium prime lens be very sure this lens will be a long term winner for your style.

Until next time, happy shooting. Get out, go play!

Anton