Fuji X-E1 and Nikon V2 go on a trip

I just got back from a week's vacation in Bangkok, Thailand, with a short trip to Seoul, Korea. This is the first long trip for both the X-E1 and the V2. In an attempt to keep the kit light, I brought less equipment than when I went to Bali. 

For the Fuji, I had the 18-55mm f/2.8. For the V2, I had the 10-30mm PD, 30-110 VR, and the 35mm f/1.8 ED with the FT1. All the lenses got some use, with the 30-110mm having the least shots and the 18-55mm the most. 

The two bodies and lenses did a good job. There were a few times that I would have preferred a wider lens (too many reclining Buddah statues), or something faster. I thought about renting the Fuji 16mm f.1.4, but in my head, the $100 that would have cost is better spent towards buying the actual lens.

So I'm now looking at the 2k plus photos from the trip. I had to change SD cards once (a 32GB) on the Fuji, and never on the V2 (the advantage of smaller RAW files). Batteries of course were swapped frequently, at least once a day on the body that showed the most use. 

A few notes:

1. The 35mm ED shows a lot of chromatic aberration. There is no profile for this lens in the V2's firmware, so the JPEGs show no correction. A bit of a pain when you want to post photos during the trip and don't have ACR on your laptop.

2. The X-E1's AF can be a bit slow for stealth shots. The V2 never missed a beat.

3. Multi-metering on the Fuji gets confused by backlighting. Spot or average fixes that.

Year end musings

As 2015 draws to a close, it's time for a short review of my state of the photo nation.

1. I'm down to three camera systems: Nikon FX, Nikon CX, and Fuji X. M43 has gone away, and hasn't been missed.
2. The D3 is now on its eighth year, and still going strong. The batteries are due for a replacement though, as they are at the end of life per the indicator, and don't hold as much of a charge.
3. The D5200 gets the occasional use when I need the extra resolution. I'm still not as impressed with the high ISO IQ though.
4. The V1 is gone, replaced by the V2. I haven't had much time to use this camera, and plan to save it mostly for surfing and video. There is already a flaw in the plan though as the Sigma 500mm won't work with the FT1. I don't know if this is a problem with the V2 or with the FT1 as  I upgraded the firmware on the latter. The firmware upgrade allowed the FT1 to do continuous AF with the V2, but it seems at a cost. I'm waiting for a response from Sigma to find out if there is a fix. If not, I'm stuck with the 70-200mm + TC-14E for surfing (756mm 35mm-equivalent). Still not a bad combination, but not quite the 1350mm 35mm-equivalent I'd get with the Sigma.
5. The V2 also has some weird restrictions when shooting at 15fps. There's an aperture limitation (no greater than f/5.6) in this mode. Nikon wants me to call them to discuss this, but I haven't had the opportunity over the hectic holidays.
6. The V2 IQ is a bit grittier than the V1. Looks like I need to work on my sharpening settings.
7. The Fuji X-E1 has been a great walkaround camera over the last five months. Yes, the AF is dog slow, but I've been mostly using it with adapted lenses, so that hasn't been an issue. The IQ from the camera has been very good though, and it's a good balance between the IQ of FX and the portability of CX. Nikon, where is your mirrorless DX body?

So overall things are looking good for 2016. No new hardware is in the cards, for now at least.

Karting

First outing for 2015! I've been a little lazy, and haven't gone on a photo outing since last year.

So for 2015, it's off to Sonoma Raceway (formerly Sears Point) for some go kart action. I tried the V1 with the 70-200mm VR and TC-14EII. A little too much reach, and AF tracking wasn't as good as the D3, but it's great if you want to get up close. The camera correctly reports the focal length with the TC attached.

The D3 lacks a bit of reach (I was too lazy to bring the Sigma 500mm), but playing with 3D AF got some good results. Panning is still not my best skill though, and the 70-200mm really doesn't like it when you're shooting into the sun.

A slow, but not bad, start to 2015.

FX on CX

Time to put the 85mm f/1.8G on the V1. With the CX crop factor, this works out to a telephoto lens on a Nikon 1 series body.

It's not too heavy a combination, even with the FT-1. AF is limited to the center sensor, but it is snappy and accurate. There is chromatic aberration wide open, and it goes away by about f/3.5. This lens has very good contrast, with colors that are pretty vibrant. The included hood is a bit too shallow, especially on CX.

This is probably not a combination that I'll use often, but it's something to keep in mind if I need a tele with good low light capabilities.