Canon to Fujifilm X-mount adapter

Fujifilm doesn’t have big glass. I think that’s pretty much common knowledge, cited often as a “deal breaker” by Canon or Nikon users. I think its a very fair criticism and as usual, the harshest critics are those shooting with kit lenses, but that’s another issue.

The reason I am even mentioning it is the fact that I’m revisiting my family photography images. I want them to show a more polished and professional look. I love candid images, but they don’t differ from snapshots enough to arouse people’s interest. Not to mention to encourage them to use our services for their family photography needs.

I noticed the images from a family photographer in the US, Lisa Holloway. Her work is fantastic, and her portraits are extremely eye catching. She uses Photoshop to make her images stand out from the ordinary. She also uses a great Canon lens. 200mm f2. The bokeh from that lens is extraordinary, but the price of it is not far behind. over $6K.

Shot with Fujifilm X-T2 with Canon 70-200mm f2.8 lens

I have a 50-140mm f2.8 from Fuji, which is similar to the Canon 70-200mm f2.8, but 200 f2 is in another league. I trolled the internet for a solution and I think I may be able to achieve a look similar to the Canon 200f2 with the their 70-200 lens, by using a Canon – Fujifilm adapter.

The Canon 70-200mm on a Fuji will be more like 100-300mm. I tried the combination on the weekend and came home with some very encouraging results. The bokeh from it is much creamier than on the 50-140, when shot at 200mm. Don’t know if it can compete with the 200 f2, but its not far behind.

The adapter makes the Canon lens completely manual. Manual focus is not something that I had to deal with for a very long time, but the Fujifilm X-T2 has a pretty good focus peaking feature which makes manual focusing more than possible. Unfortunately, the lens loses it’s magnificent Image Stabilisation when used with the adapter. That part is a bit more disappointing, because I have to shoot at at least 1/250s to hope for good sharpness. The first batch of images I shot with X-T2 at 1/125s came out blurry. At 1/250s they were sharp. I will have to do a few more tests to confirm that.

I will take this lens on my next family shoot. Hope I can get the great bokeh that makes the images pop so much. I will also be much more careful with choosing the location for these shoots, as the distance of the background to subject makes a huge difference in the look of the bokeh. Will spend next few weeks looking for good spots. The Centennial park is still a good option, but Bicentennial park is good too, and I’ll check the Hurstville area for something decent. Plan for the next few weeks.