Fujifilm X100, off camera flash & mountainbiking…
Or more reasons to like the X100.
One of the things that got me into back into photography a few years ago was the desire to take pictures of me and my friends mountain biking around Surrey Hills or Wales. I even went on a course to learn a bit more about it. At that time I had a slightly knackered D70 which then turned into a D300 and then onto a D700 which is my current camera. All the time the cameras were getting bigger and more expensive. So I ended up with a full frame camera, 28mm prime and SB-600 flash with remote triggers in my bag along with water, tools, jacket, food etc. Not that much fun and I didn’t enjoy riding as much with it – heavy and worrying about damaging the kit. However I do still enjoy taking riding photos and the ability to have a little off camera fill flash certainly helps.
D300, 18-70, SB-600 hidden behind rock. eBay triggers.
As I’ve just got the Fuji X100 I thought I’d have a quick try of the remote flash. The eBay trigger fits on easily and I tried it out with an old SB-24 I have. I tried it at 1/200s then 1/250s (my D70 could sync this fast) and then thought I’d go for 1/500s to see what happened? Perfect flash sync at 1/500s which is brilliant. Will make it much easier out on the trails. Shot this quick picture of my F810. Lovely and sharp and also very impressed with the lens so far.
So now the only problem is that the flash is bigger than the camera! Might try and get a smaller Chinese no name flash unit to take with me. All it needs is manual controls and a PC sync port & it’ll be golden. That and a few ball bungees to hold the flash on the nearest tree and I’m set.
Although the 35mm lens isn’t the widest as favoured for a lot of MTB shots I think I can probably make it work. It’s not that far off the 28mm I’ve been using recently.
