Natural light only! Camera gear shooting 2.0
Fujifilm Inc. has been relying on one name for years when it comes to new camera gear shooting - Jonas Rask, he is the measure (and master ;-) of camera gear photo porn - period. For me he is not only a gifted street photographer, he has also taken camera gear photography to a whole new level. He is a master in omitting and he lets the shape of the cameras and lenses speak for themselves with very little light. I think he'd also make a fantastic nude photographer ;-)
Click here for his website: https://jonasraskphotography.com/
I just take some elements from Jonas Rask and integrate them into my own style. I replace the black background with natural elements like wood. Jonas Rask uses two artificial lights to get the effect of reflection in the lenses. I only use natural light and I still get some light reflection in the lenses. The disadvantage with natural light is that I cannot play with higher aperture numbers. In return, I would have to raise the ISO and we know the disadvantage.
I mostly worked around aperture 6.4 and ISO values between 1600 and 2500, so I still achieved the desired depth of field to a certain extent - but this is not optimal. I will do further tests with an additional LED continuous light, so I can fine-tune Kelvin, brightness etc. and mix it with natural light. This has the advantage that I can work with higher aperture and lower ISO values. Update follows here...
I did the tests with my GFX50R, the Fujifilm Fujinon GF 50mm F3.5 R LM WR and the Fujinon GF 110mm f/2 R LM WR. For the GF 110mm I ordered the macro adapter Fujifilm MCEX-18G WR. This has the advantage that I can go closer to the object. As soon as I have the macro adapter, I will add further photos and experiences to the tests here.
All images were edited in Capture One 20 to my taste.
But see for yourself. I am curious about your feedback.
Update, April 16, 2020: New X-Pro 3 shootings with artificial LED Light at the end of this entry.