Closest Focus. Handheld. Wide Open.
I recently bought a Fuji 50Sii from a friend. It looks brand new. I thought I'd use it for portrait work. It came bundled with a Fuji 50mm f3.5 lens which is like a 40mm on full frame (24x36mm) cameras. That's a nice focal length for casual work, and walking around. But I thought I might want more range. I bought the Fuji 35-70mm on sale for $495. It's a great lens. Like a 28-55mm lens on FF.
For a while I tried to convince myself that I would want to continue doing portraits with my Leica gear and would only use the MF camera for fun, personal work (meaning I'd stop buying lenses for it) but that fell by the wayside with stunning speed. I shot a couple of portrait assignments with the 35-70, shooting square and cropping in to the final result but it wasn't as satisfying for me. I couldn't fill the frame the way I wanted since the 70mm long end of that lens is about 55mm on a FF. Not long enough for my taste when shooting studio portraits... Maybe for someone of a more recent generation, raised on the 26mm equivalent that comes with a basic cellphone. But not for me.
I did a bit of research and read good things, generally, about the TTArtisan 90mm f1.25 lens. I was hopeful that it would be the right answer as it comes in a GFX mount, as well as other mainstream mounts. It was a big step in the right direction but still not in that focal length zone that makes me really happy. The 90mm is sharp and easy to use; especially easy to focus with Fuji's focus peaking engaged. But at a FF equivalent focal length of 70mm it still is not close enough for my use in making classic, formal portraits. I bought a used 90mm for $400 in the GFX mount and love it so it stays in the inventory but... in a perfect world..... remembering the Nikon 105mm 2.5. Now there was a great portrait lens. And fashion lens. And all around short telephoto lens. Could I find something in that equivalent range without paying a fortune?
A few weeks ago, when I was circling in on the 90mm purchase at B&H Photo, I took a break to see if there was anything else I might be interested in as far as longer focal lengths go. I assumed that eventually I'll end up buying the famous Fuji 110mm f2.0 but I nearly always tend to do things in smaller steps... I found a product description for the Zhongyi Creator 135mm f2.5 lens. It would be available in a GFX mount but was not yet available. I left a request to be notified when it came into stock.
After a couple more assignments using the MF camera and the 90mm I was pretty sure I still wanted something a bit longer. So when the email alert came in I was ready to give the Zhongyi lens a try. I figured that at under $300 for one in a GFX mount I wouldn't do much damage --- even if I hated it.
I got the lens yesterday. As far as imaging performance goes we're in the early days of testing but it exceeds my expectations --- so far. It's a big lens, originally looks as though it was designed for DSLRs and got some barrel lengthening to compensate for mirrorless cameras' flange distance difference.. It weighs a tiny bit less than 2 pounds and it's built completely of metal and glass. The lens is totally manual and has absolutely no way of communicating anything (information wise) to the camera. I'm fine with that but if you need AF and shutter priority or program automation then this is absolutely NOT the lens for you.
I grew up cutting my manual focus teeth on slow, dark Hasselblad lenses, bayoneted onto cameras with dim, vague waist level finders. The use of focus peaking and the ability to magnify frames for fine focusing with modern cameras is just fabulous for the way I work.
I couldn't book a portrait subject yesterday because we were busy watching the "Barbie" movie with friends (a must see) and I couldn't do a session this morning because of swim practice but I was interested in the basics and wanted to at least do a quick test of the lens for sharpness and basic operation within the two day window BHPhoto suggests --- to make sure there's no shipping damage...
When I got home from the pool this morning I grabbed the camera and lens and shot stuff around the compound. Easy as pie. And sharp too. I'm keeping this lens and am very excited to book some art portraits for myself in the coming week.
Here are some samples from my quick run through --- some with 100% punch ins.
chimney rock work. 7:6 frame aspect ratio.
100% magnification of rocks in the center.
Plant at f11.
Plant at f11 + 100% view.
Same plant at f4.0 to check "Bokeh"
Mailbox "Bokeh" check. F4.0.
Kirk's moldy pool buoy getting sterilized in the hard UV rays of the morning sun.
Nandina bush.
Nandina leaf from the center of the frame as seen in the image above this one.
see 100% crop just below.
100% of the frame one above. Point of focus on the two "Minimalist Lighting" books in the center of the frame. To the right of "Photographic Lighting Equipment."
Wide open, handheld, manually focused.
The "Barbie" movie was great. And hilarious. And wise.
Loved every minute of it.
