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Friday, February 2, 2018

A podcast show about current Fuji X cameras and lenses

I still get many questions regarding which Fuji cameras and lenses to buy. Or which one is better for this or that kind of photography?

So I have decided to dedicate a whole photography podcast episode of the PPN "More Gear Show" to current Fuji X cameras and lenses. http://www.photopodcasts.com/podcasts/more-gear-show-10-ppn-january-31st-2018


You can listen to the episode right here on the web player or you can subscribe via:

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ppn-photo-podcast-network/id1225034740?mt=2

Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen?t%3DPPN_-_Photo_Podcast_Network

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5sfdUWBKtw6jzJha8Iw3S0?si=o3sDSFk1TkGLfORM1xG9lA 

Or just search for PPN in your favorite podcast app 





I've captured the Fuji X100 with the X-Pro1 and XF 16mm f1.4 lens

If you have any further questions or want to share your Fuji-X experiences just leave a comment below, Twitter me @HamburgCam or visit my Homepage at www.MarcoLarousse.com

And if you liked my post I am always happy if you spread the word and retweet, like or google +1 it :-)

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

We have started the "PPN - Photo Podcast Network"

I've been producing podcasts about photography for the past four years. And after more than a million show downloads and a thorough review of the listener feedback, I have teamed up with Scott Bourne and founded PPN - Photo Podcast Network.

We produce four different photography shows each month and put them all into one free and simple to subscribe to feed for our listeners to download, listen online or subscribe to on your favorite podcatcher app.

You can subscribe to the show inside of your favorite podcatcher app by searching for "PPN Photo Podcast Network" or use the links below:

Direct iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ppn-photo-podcast-network/id1225034740

Direkt RRS link for your RSS reader: http://photopodcasts.libsyn.com/rss​

Direkt link to the PPN podcast website: http://www.photopodcasts.com/podcasts



The four shows cover a diverse field of photography and currently consist of these shows:

1. We Shoot Mirrorless

The title says it all. This show is about mirrorless photography from all different brands. As long as it does not have a mirror, we'll be talking about it. We cover news, opinions, and experiences from the world of mirrorless photography. And we sometimes have interesting interview guests sharing their mirrorless story, too.

Here is the collection of the We Shoot Mirrorless show episodes that were published so far:
http://www.photopodcasts.com/podcasts/category/we-shoot-mirrorless


2. Q&A

We get lot's of interesting questions regarding all different topics in photography and we answer them on this show. Feel free to drop us your photography related question through our contact form. And maybe we'll be answering your question on the next show?
http://www.photopodcasts.com/contact.html

Here is the collection of the Q&A show episodes that were published so far:
http://www.photopodcasts.com/podcasts/category/qa


3. More Gear Show

On this show, we cover a particular style of photography gear, how to use it and how to pick it for the right purpose. Think of it as a special show on i.e. camera bags, teleconverters, tripods, lenses etc.

Here is the collection of the More Gear Show episodes that were published so far:
http://www.photopodcasts.com/podcasts/category/more-gear-show


4. Camera and Inspiration

This show is mainly about what moves us to pick up a camera and the importance of photography from the past to the present and future. We cover creativity and vision as well as some tips and tricks on how to grow as a photographer.

On each episode, we also introduce you to an inspirational photographer of the month and share and inspirational photo book of the month with you.
If you are serious about creating images with your camera and love photography, you should not miss this show!

Here is the collection of the More Gear Show episodes that were published so far:
http://www.photopodcasts.com/podcasts/category/camera-and-inspiration



We hope that you'll join the PPN audience and enjoy the shows :)

If you have any further questions just leave a comment below, Twitter me @HamburgCam or visit us at www.PhotoPodcasts.com


And if you liked my post I am always happy if you spread the word and retweet, like or google +1 it :-)


What our listeners say about our show


A look into the PPN production studio




Friday, April 29, 2016

The Fuji X70 audio review - does Marco like this camera?

I have been using the new Fuji X70 compact camera daily for over a month now. And as there are a lot of written reviews about already, I have decided to give my first hand feedback on the Photofocus Mirrorless podcast that I co-host and produce.

I am covering (amongst other points): handling, feel, buttons, usability, touch LCD,  35mm & 50mm digital tele converter, lens quality, AF, important firmware improvement wishes and my final verdict.


Sit back, relax and listen to the episode right here on Soundcloud. The shownotes to this episode can be found here.

And if you enjoy the show, you can subscribe to it for free via iTunes right here.




Fuji X70 - Street Photography by Marco Larousse


If you have any further questions or want to share your Fuji-X experiences just leave a comment below, Twitter me @HamburgCam or visit my Homepage at www.MarcoLarousse.com

And if you liked my post I am always happy if you spread the word and retweet, like or google +1 it :-)

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

The Fuji LH-X16 lens hood for the XF16mm f1.4 lens - Review


Most of my regular followers and readers know that I am a big fan of square shape lens hoods. And while I only attach a lens hood for a specific purpose (protection from rain, external force or stray light), I do like to have options when I do attach one.

Fuji gives us two options for my favorite and most used Fujinon lens, the XF 16mm f1.4. Now we can choose between the standard tulip style plastic hood (that comes with the lens) and the new optional LH-X16 square metal lens hood.

In this short video I compare the two and tell you what are the advantages and disadvantages of each one:




If you have any further questions or want to share your Fuji-X experiences just leave a comment below, Twitter me @HamburgCam or visit my Homepage at www.MarcoLarousse.com

And if you liked my post I am always happy if you spread the word and retweet, like or google +1 it :-)

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

New Fuji Podcast - the WeShootFuji Podcast

Scott Bourne and I have teamed up to start an international Podcast for the Fuji community. It is called the WeShootFuji Podcast.





We will talk about Fuji news, gear, tips & tricks and our wishes for future cameras and upgrades. And we will be interviewing other X-Photographers who use Fuji X cameras for their daily work and ask them to share how they get the best image results. We will also invite official people from Fujifilm to give us a little insights on the photo division of the company.

The podcast is set to air twice a month on the 1st and 15th of each month. And it is free for you to listen to.


Please subscribe and download it via iTunes:






Alternatively this ist the RSS / XML feed:


http://www.cyberears.com/podcasts/podcast_6133.xml




About your hosts:

Scott Bourne is widely recognized as bird, nature and motor sports photographer. He started his photography career in the early 1970's. And he is a pioneer in the digital audio field. He is the founder of the Photofocus.com website and podcast, and famous as a co-host of the the TWiP (This Week in Photo) and MacBreak Weekly podcasts. Scott also started the WeShootFuji website as a resource for the Fuji community.

For more information on Scott follow him on Twitter: 



I (Marco Larousse) am a fine art street and documentary photographer and one of Fuji's official X-Photographers. I have more than 30 years of experience in photography and use both, analog and digital cameras for my daily work.

For more information on me follow me on Twitter: 



My studio where I record the WeShootFuji Podcast - captured with my X-Pro 1 and XF 16mm f1.4 lens


If you have not started to listen to podcasts yet, I suggest that you do it today. There are many great and free resources on photography out there. Download your favorite shows for the topics that you are most interested in. And learn about your passion while you are on your daily commute, exercising, going for a photowalk or post processing your photos.


Floating on the checkerboard - Fuji X-Pro 1 with XF 16mm
Take your audio podcast with you on your daily commute - captured with the X-Pro 1 and XF 16mm f1.4 lens



If you have any further questions or want to share your Fuji-X experiences just leave a comment below, Twitter me @HamburgCam or visit my Homepage at www.MarcoLarousse.com

And if you liked my post I am always happy if you spread the word and retweet, like or google +1 it :-)

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Paris street photography - traveling X-Photographer style


Every time before I pack my travel photo bag, I try to envision what kind of photos I expect to take on location for the job or portfolio work. In my early days of photography I was prepared for every possible photo situation by bringing most of my gear. I recall one time where I lugged 20 kg (40 lb) of DSLR gear in a backpack through Paris. That was an awful experience!

Since my switch to Fuji X cameras 3.5 years ago, thankfully my travel photo bag has become a lot lighter. The night before this trip to Paris I decided on the following gear to bring:

- Fuji X100S
- WCL-X100 (wide conversion lens) for the X100S
- Fuji X-Pro 1
- Samyang 8mm f2.8 fisheye lens
- Fuji XF 14mm f2.8

That's 2 camera bodies plus 4 fast prime wide angle focal length weighing around 1.6kg (3.5 lb)!!! Add spare batteries and ND filters and you're still well below 2 kg (4lb) in your bag. That is only 10% of the weight of the gear that I took along a few years ago!


Paris streeet photography gear
My Paris streeet photography gear

Everything plus my iPad Air and battery chargers fit comfortably into my ThinkTank Retrospective 10 bag. With the small bag and photo gear there have been no hassles at airport security for me any more. A great way to start my trip quite relaxing despite the early red eye flight.

For my style of street photography I prefer wide angle lenses. I want to be close to the scene while still providing enough space around my subject to explain the situation to the viewer. In terms of 35mm film equivalent field of view I covered 12mm (8mm fisheye),  21mm (XF 14mm), 28mm (WCL-X100) and 35mm (23mm on X100S).

I stepped off the plane at Charles de Gaulle Airport with my X-Pro 1 + XF 14mm and X100S ready for action and right there was already my first frame to be captured. Always be ready is important in street photography!


the lone traveler - Fuji X-Pro 1
The lone traveler - Fuji X-Pro 1

For a street photographer to start the day with a portfolio keeper is equivalent to an athlete who manages to get a great result in his first attempt. Unposed street photography is like a box of chocol... I guess you already heard that analogy too many times ;)

Off to downtown for breakfast and more street photography:


La Cigale Paris - Fuji X-Pro 1
La Cigale Paris - Fuji X-Pro 1


Bulldog roaming the city - Fuji X-Pro 1
Bulldog roaming the city - Fuji X-Pro 1

Comparing the Fuji X-Pro 1 autofocus to the improved AF on the X100S, the X-Pro 1 AF feels a bit long in the tooth now. While you can still get good results - especially when following some of my AF tips from a previous post - I really wish for a X100S or X-T1 style performance boost on Fujifilm's top of the line camera carrying the "Pro" in its name.


Industrial Bird Production - Fuji X-Pro 1
Industrial Bird Production - Fuji X-Pro 1


Don't ignore photo art - Fuji X-Pro 1
Don't ignore photo art - Fuji X-Pro 1


Shadow walk and talk - Fuji X100S
Shadow walk and talk - Fuji X100S


"2" - Paris Street Photography - Fuji X-Pro 1
"2" - Paris Street Photography - Fuji X-Pro 1


Paris is a giant catwalk - Fuji X-Pro 1
Paris is a giant catwalk - Fuji X-Pro 1

And while the X-Pro 1 AF is slower than the one on the X100S I still used the X-Pro 1 for most of my photos in Paris. The XF 14mm with it's 90° field of view feels very natural to me and it gives me enough surrounding environment of the scene to put my subject into a context - like the girl in the photo above looking at the Eiffel Tower in the background.


Victory anniversary celebrations Paris 2014 - Fuji X-Pro 1
Victory anniversary celebrations Paris 2014 - Fuji X-Pro 1

And the XF 14mm has the wonderful manual focus mechanism that allows me to zone focus the "traditional way" with the focus distance on the lens instead of the "virtual distance scale" in the viewfinder. This is a huge advantage and I really hope that future wide angle lenses (besides the XF 14mm and XF 23mm) and maybe even a future X100 will get this great feature, too.


Cliché Citroën 2CV and Sacré-Cœur photo - Fuji X100S
Cliché Citroën 2CV and Sacré-Cœur photo - Fuji X100S



Spaceship hiding in a Paris metro station - Fuji X-Pro 1
Spaceship hiding in a Paris metro station - Fuji X-Pro 1




Circle of trust - Fuji X100S
Circle of trust - Fuji X100S

I went to Paris with a very light photo bag and only wide angle lenses. If I would go back tomorrow with a street photography assignment, would I pack differently? Not at all! It was very pleasant to move around freely with a light back and small unobtrusive and quiet cameras. And those are important requirements for successful street photography!

If you have any further questions or want to share your Fuji-X experiences just leave a comment below, Twitter me @HamburgCam or visit my Homepage at www.MarcoLarousse.com

And if you liked my post I am always happy if you spread the word and retweet, like or google +1 it :-)

Monday, May 12, 2014

I am an official International Fujifilm X-Photographer now :)

I had been contacted by Fujifilm in December 2013 where they invited me to become an official Fujifilm X-Photographer. And now my profile and portfolio have been posted on the official Fujifilm X-Photographer website:



My special thanks go out to Fujifilm Middle East and Fujifilm Germany who supported me in the process. I am honored and happy to join the official Fujifilm X-Photographer community. It feels humbling to be part of this awesome group next to highly respected and famous photographers like Zack Arias, Kevin Mullins and Mr. Strobist himself: David Hobby. But there are so many other talented and creative photographers in this group, too. It is certainly worth to browse around and look at what other photographers worldwide create with Fujifilm X-Cameras!

What will change about my FujiXfiles blog now?
My FujiXfiles blog has been read by more than half a million readers since I started it in mid-2012. I have gotten a huge amount of positive feedback and got to know so many great photographers from all over the world through it.

My main reason to start this blog was to show what these little Fuji-X mirrorless cameras can do and to post tips and tricks on how to get the most out of them. And I will continue to do it in the future, too! :)


Hamburg Marathon 2014 - Fuji X100S with WCL-X100
Yes, you can get good sport action photos without a big DSLR :) - Fuji X100S


The most read post on my blog so far has been the one about the X system AF focus tips. And while the overall performance of Fuji X-Camera AF has been constantly improved via FW updates it may still be worth to take a look at it again to get the best possible results from your X-Camera.



Fuji X100S SOOC B&W JPG look great!
Remember that the Fuji X-Cameras give you great B&W images straight out of the camera?


I will continue to write about my experiences with Fuji X-Cameras and show photos that I have taken with them. And I will still speak freely my personal opinion about Fuji-X products. I have no problem to point out things that I feel can improve the products. After all, I want the Fuji X-Cameras to be the best cameras as possible for me. And Fujifilm has shown in the past that they listen to us photographers and customers in order to built a long lasting customer relationship. And that is what inspired me to write this blog post after 3 years of using Fuji X-Cameras: "Domo Arigato Fujifilm and Ganbatte Kudasai!"


Hamburg rain street photography - Fuji X100S
Fuji does not let their X customers stand in the rain. I love the  FW feature updates :)


And one more thing! If the X-Photographer status will ever get me to test gear that is not announced, I will naturally not talk about it! 100% certain, so don't even ask! And if I'll ever speculate about future Fuji X products this will be based 100% on my personal opinion without any inside information or knowledge. In that respect my guess is as good as yours :)

With that out of the way, I hope that I can be of help to Fujifilm and all X-Photographers in continuing to make the Fuji X-System the best it can be.

 
Leica M6 - Ilford Delta 400 captures Fuji X-Pro 1
I am a rangefinder style camera guy - Here my Leica M6 captures my Fuji X-Pro 1 with XF 56mm lens




If you have any further questions or want to share your Fuji-X experiences just leave a comment below, Twitter me @HamburgCam or visit my Homepage at www.MarcoLarousse.com

And if you liked my post I am always happy if you spread the word and retweet, like or google +1 it :-)