I thought I’d put down my thoughts on the latest wedding I’ve shot with the Fuji system. I don’t shoot weddings full time, so it’s a been a little while since the last one and a lot has changed. I have a different lens line up for starters, plus there has been a major firmware update since the last wedding I shot ( sadly not the 4.0 one which I think will be a game changer for some wedding shooters ).
Here is a list of the gear I took..
Fuji X100s with TCLX100 mounted
Fuji X-T1 – one with the 56mm and a second one with the 16mm 1.4.
10-24 mm f4
50-140 mm 2.8
Cactus triggers and Nikon SB700 flash ( didn’t use it in the end ).
I’ll start with the bridal prep..I shot a lot more on the x100s than I did last year, using the TCLX100 to make it a 50mm equivalent lens. I really appreciated the silent operation and discrete form factor, although I did miss a fair few shots so I need more practice with this camera. Here are some of the shots I took with the x100 before the main ceremony. I have to say, I love the TCLX100, it didn’t seem to slow the camera down at all and there is no loss of sharpness. I shot in raw and then did most of the post work in lightroom ( there was almost no post work, but I did find a cool user preset that mimics Classic Chrome really well, so I used this to bring the colour shots in line with the ones from the X-T1s I was using).
Next up..the 50-140mm 2.8. I wasn’t sure how I would use this lens on the day but it turned out to be incredibly useful. I used it for the processional ( although my second shooter was concentrating on the B&G as he had a better angle, I got the bridal party ). I also used it to pick out members of the congregation doing funny stuff during the service, and to get some good shots of the B&G at the altar.
During the reception I used it to take shots of the speakers and also to capture members of the audience doing fun stuff ( especially when the bubbles made an appearance..see below!!). I used this lens way more than I expected to and it performed amazingly.
The 16mm 1.4. I love the sense of context this lens gives. Its very sharp and just a great all rounder. For much of the wedding I had this lens on my backup X-T1 body and it proved very useful. It really came into its own when shooting the dancing though, which is one of the main reasons I bought it. I’m amazed how many keepers I got from the dancing shots, its a big improvement on last year when I was limited to the 56mm 1.2. When the new autofocus firmware comes in this lens will be even more useful. Here are some of the images from the 16mm.
The 56mm 1.2..I don’t need to say much about this lens…it is still my go to lens for weddings and produces such beautiful, sharp images. If I had to take just one lens to a wedding it would be this one, without a doubt. For the sake of completeness, here are some 56 1.2 images.
OK time for some stats!
My most used lens was the 16mm 1.4, at 837 shots, followed by the 56m 1.2 at 400 shots, then the x100s at 310, and the 50-140 at 120 shots. The stats are skewed by the fact I shot the dancing with the 16mm 1.4 in burst mode, which I didn’t use for the other lenses. Still, it shows how useful the 16 was, its just a great general purpose lens. Overall I was happier with the results from this wedding than any of the ones from last year, I think the Fuji lenses we now have access to are really amazing and I’m looking forward to seeing the effect of the new firmware.