Episode 369: Back Home Again and New Fujifilm and Apple Gear

Show Transcript

Greetings, you’re listening to the Liam Photography Podcast, I’m your host Liam Douglas and this is Episode 369 for Thursday September 21st, 2023. In today’s episode, Tina and I are back from our most recent trip to New York to visit family. We had a nice time up there, spent quality time with both of our moms and our kids and grandkids as well. While up there my son Alex and I got the remaining two sets of LED lights added to my 2021 Toyota Corolla and they look really cool! You can see what we did on my Youtube channel and I’ll link the videos in the show notes.

Youtube video here.

So, while we were gone both Fujifilm and Apple had their latest events and new product announcements on September 12th, 2023. At the Fujifilm X Summit, they announced the next GFX 100 body which they have named the GFX 100 MKII, which makes no sense to me as it is the third body in the GFX 100 line. The following are the specs for this new body.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1784860-REG/fujifilm_600023590_gfx_100_ii_medium.html

Now this new body does have some nice improvements over the past two bodies especially with the crazy 8 fps, but they have also started going back up in price. The original GFX 100 was $10,000 and then the GFX 100S was $6,000 and now they’ve gone back up to $7,500 with this newest body. This means of course I will NOT be buying one anytime soon. I will most likely still look to get the GFX 100S as it will keep dropping in price now that the GFX 100 MKII is out. In addition to this new body, Fujifilm also released three new GF lenses for their GFX line, the 55mm F/1.7, the 30mm F/5.6 Tilt Shift and the 110mm F/5.6 Tilt Shift as well. The following are the specs for each of these new lenses.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1784861-REG/fujifilm_600023613_gf_55mm_f_1_7r_wr.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1785585-REG/fujifilm_600023617_fujinon_gf_30mm_f_5_6.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1785586-REG/fujifilm_600023620_fujinon_gf_110mm_f_5_6.html

Now keep in mind with the crop factor these three lenses are 43mm, 23mm and 86mm in full frame field of view, which are a bit of an odd set of focal lengths. The nice thing is we now have some tilt shift glass for the GFX line that would come in handy for architectural photography for sure as they would allow you to have your tall buildings straight instead of warped in your images.

The 55mm F/1.7 is selling for $2,299 and the 30mm Tilt Shift is $3,999 and the 110mm Tilt Shift is $3,499. To me personally, they are a bit pricey, especially since I do not have a pressing need for any of them but I am sure they will hit a positive note with other photographers who want to use their GFX body for certain types of work. I personally only use my GFX 50R for landscapes, my Forgotten Pieces projects and portraits of family and friends so I have no need for any of these new lenses.

Apple also help their latest Apple Event called Wanderlust on September 12th, 2023 as well and at this new event Apple announced their new line of iPhone 15s as well as the Apple Watch Ultra 2. The big announcement here was that the iPhone 15 models will ALL finally have USB-C charging ports instead of the older Lightning ports and that the new iPhone 15 Pro Max also sports a new 6x optical zoom ability, which can be very handy for photography. The updates in the Apple Watch Ultra 2 were minor and nothing that would make me run out and buy one. I personally think as I have stated before on this show that Apple would do better to only release a new Ultra model every two years and then give us massive updates in this new model.

Remember I now have my own discount code for all Platypod branded products at http://www.platypod.com using my code LD20 you can save 20% off on ALL individual Platypod branded products EXCLUDING Bundles, which are already discounted and Square Jellyfish or Lume Cube branded items.

I also now have my own affiliate link for Think Tank Photo, use the link to guy any of their gear, get a free gift and free shipping!!!

https://www.thinktankphoto.com/?rfsn=7232819.5f5392&utm_source=refersion&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=7232819.5f5392

Also be sure to join the Liam Photography Podcast Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/liamphotographypodcast/ You can reach the show by call or text @ 470-294-8191 to leave a comment or request a topic or guest for the show. Additionally you can email the show @ liam@liamphotographypodcast.com and find the show notes at http://www.liamphotographypodcast.com.

You can find my work @ https://www.liamphotography.net and follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @liamphotoatl. If you like abandoned buildings and history, you can find my project @ http://www.forgottenpiecesofgeorgia.com. and http://www.forgottenpiecesofpennsylvania.com.

Please also stop by my Youtube channels Liam Photography

Forgotten Pieces of Georgia Project

Forgotten Pieces of Pennsylvania Project