Once again I am writing about a change to my policy in my photography outlook and method and a general catch up about the goings on when there is too much time to think and not enough time to do. They say the devil finds work for idle hands..
It’s been a long damp, dismal and depressing winter with little or no chance of getting out with my camera. I know from what I read of other photographers I am not alone in these winter sentiments. There is nothing at all attractive about our winter weather, except maybe when it snows, but we have had no snow at all in my part of the world this winter..
I do live in a very nice rural setting and I have photographed it to death over the years. It is an attractive and historic town in the middle of some very nice countryside. Countryside that I have covered quite comprehensively in my walks with my camera and Max my Border Terrier. He is always keen for a walk and as soon as he hears the zip of a camera bag he comes to life and doesn’t leave my side for fear of being left behind. He can be a bit of a nuisance when we are on a photo walk though. The other day I stopped to take a couple of photos with a new lens (See Below) and when I looked around I couldn’t see him. I did eventually, he was a little brown dot at the far end of the riverside field and about to go through into the next field. No end of shouting or whistling would deflect him from his chosen path. So I had to run, or as near as I can get to running at my age and eventually caught up with him halfway across the next field where he had fortunately found something interesting to sniff at. Lesson learnt for me, I should have bought the lead that I can attach to my camera bag while I take a photo.
There have been some changes in the contents of my camera bag as well over the last few months. I have disposed of some very heavy, in terms of price and weight zoom lenses and replaced them with a set of prime lenses. I discovered the Viltrox ‘Air’ f1.7 primes. I was amazed at the quality of these lenses. After much research on YouTube I now have the 15mm f1.7, 25mm f1.7, 35mm f1.7 and 56mm f1.7 only one of them cost over £200 brand new. They replaced my Fujifilm lenses 10-24mm, f4, 23mm f1.2 and 33mm f1.2. I sold them on eBay and came out with a handsome profit.
The new lenses are extremely light, small and pocketable. Durable enough for anything I have ever encountered in my photographic journey and the picture quality is fantastic when attached to my 40mp Fujifilm XT-5. They don’t have waterproofing but I don’t see that as a major problem. I have retained for now, the Fuji 70-300mm zoom which I have kept for wildlife pictures and a Fuji 16-80mm zoom. That zoom covers the entire range of my new primes. I kept it for what reason I am not sure. It is a good lens though and I think maybe I thought I would just use it as a daily carry. We will see ! An added bonus this ne set up is that the focal lengths of these lenses coincide with focal lengths available on my iPhone 16. This enables me to look at a scene through my phone camera and decide what lens to put on the camera..
I am of an age now that I don’t need to be hauling a heavy camera bag around all day, or even half a day ! The new set up will fit in my Billingham shoulder bag very nicely so maybe there will be a backpack for sale soon. I will carry my tripod separately as and when required. Watch this space….
Brian Goldsmith Photography 
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