A few thoughts about glass

Fujinon GF 30 1:5.6 T/S lens, FUJIFILM GFX 100 II

The (technical) quality of the image is more defined by the lens than the camera used - That’s nothing new or really surprising.

Most Photographers (assuming they did not start their passion / job yesterday) will have experienced changing habits and preferences when it comes to the gear used in general or the preferred lenses in particular. I was no different: A huge backpack with a “nice but heavy” selection of wide angle all the way up to tele-photo lenses was with me on each shoot. Sometimes one or two lenses less in exchange for a water bottle or some energy bar might have been a better decision. Today, I most often work with one, maximum two lenses on the job and never take more than three lenses with me when taking pictures for fun with family and friends during an extended stay abroad.

How cool would it be to have and use only one lens and still be able to shoot all desired subjects?

During an event recently, my participants and co-shooters were in a similar situation: We had only one 44mm full frame equivalent lens our cameras. A rather limiting choice, you might think. Actually not so much in the end. Use this lens on a 100 MegaPixel camera and you are pretty much set for anything from a (moderate) wide angle panoramic view all the way to a (moderate) tele like view.

Let me explain: Cropping in while still retaining more than sufficient resolution would be no problem. This makes the 44mm easily a 100mm or slightly more tele photo lens. Turning your camera in vertical orientation and take anything from 3 to 5 exposures in fast succession gives a ‘panoramic’ or let’s call it wide angle view of the scene in front of your camera. Et voila let’s call it a 24mm lens.

For me (and many of my fellow Photographers) that would be an ‘one can do it all’ kind of lens.

FUJINON GF 30 f5.6 T/S , FUJIFILM GFX 100 II

Another ‘magic tool box’ in form of a lens is the recently released GF 30 mm 1/5.6 Tilt Shift lens for the Fujifilm GFX system. A dream come true for any ambitious architecture (landscape, product Photographer (there is also a 110mm version). Once the lens is attached to the tripod using the dedicated lens support bracket, the possibility to shift the lens horizontally or vertically give the options to shoot the original 4x3 aspect ratio as well as 7x5 and even 20x9 panoramic mode when using the camera in ‘landscape mode’

The lens itself can be shifted plus/minus 15mm, which gives a nice ‘not too extreme’ wide angle view by simply rotating the camera by 90°, especially when cropped a little to a 2x1 aspect ratio.

You can see, endless possibilities with just one lens.

As usual - The right tool for each specific job!