Yes, it’s the time of gift guide blog posts. So I thought I’d chime in and give you some gift ideas especially for those loved ones that use Fujifilm cameras, although some of these gifts are perfectly compatible with other camera brands. I’ve listed them by increasing price. I'm also assuming that your loved ones already have their share of X-cameras and lenses. Otherwise, these would be my first suggestion, obviously!
1. A remote control for the X-T1
This year, I've discovered the world of long-exposure photography (I know, I'm late to the party but better late than never, right?) Until last year, a long exposure for me was something like one third of a second! If you're doing a 4 minute exposure, you don't want to keep the shutter button depressed for all that time. That's where a remote like this affordable Neewer (Amazon link) comes in. It's actually marketed for Canon cameras, but it has the same plug as the X-T1's microphone jack, which does double duty as the remote control jack. This cheap and handy remote not only lets you do bulb exposures, you can also set it up for interval shooting or specify a delay.
Although marketed to Canon users, this remote works perfectly with my X-T1.
This remote helped me to capture this 240 second exposure. Shot with the X-T1 and my favourite lens: the 10-24 mm.
Price: $18.99
2. The Fujifilm X-T1, 111 X-Pert Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Camera
The X-T 1 is a fantastic camera. It's also getting more complex with every firmware update. This guide by Fuji expert Rico Pfirstinger helps you to unlock its full potential. It’s filled with tips you don’t find in the manual. For a limited time, code XT1240 gives you 40 percent off. Rico also wrote a similar book for the X-T10, available here. Until the end of the year, code FUJIRUMORSXT10 gives 30 percent off. Finally, there's also a book, Mastering the X100s and X100T. It's written by Peter Fauland and is available here.
Price: $24,95
3. A Lastolite Trifold umbrella
At $25, this is an unmissable accessory for anyone who's starting out with off-camera flash photography, whether it is on the Fujifilm system or on any other system. This lightweight umbrella folds down so compactly, you have no excuse not to put it in your camera bag or backpack. It will tremendously improve the quality of your off-camera flash light. The bigger the light source, the softer the shadows! One word of caution, though: because of its folding mechanism, this umbrella does not fit in every umbrella adapter.
The Trifold in action, used with 2 Godox Ving V850 flashes on a Lastolite Exybox II dual flash bracket.
Price: $24.95 (B&H link | Amazon UK link)
4. My Lightroom preset bundle
One of the joys of the Fujifilm raw files is that they allow for a lot of leeway in post-processing. Although there are some raw converters that manage to squeeze more sharpness out of a Fujifilm raw file, Adobe Lightroom is still my go-to software. I've created two preset bundles, one for Black and White and one for color grading. When you buy them over at Craft & Vision as a bundle, you get a 25 percent discount. By the way, Craft & Vision has gift cards, too!
The presets come with a detailed PDF manual that explains how to install and use them. By the way, the cover image was shot with the excellent 56 mm 1.2, one of my favourite Fujifilm lenses.
The Colour Grading presets are aimed to give your images a truly cinematic feel. This image was shot with the Fujifilm 55-200 mm. A lightweight yet versatile and high-quality travel zoom.
Price: $20 + VAT per set, $30 for the bundle of both.
From dusk to dawn with the click of a single button. That's the power of Lightroom presets for you!
5. Adobe Lightroom
To me, Lightroom is still the best all-round raw converter available and it also lets you manage your photos, share them, print them, publish them in a website or print them in a photo album. That makes Lightroom a great gift for any photographer who does not yet use it.
Don't you just love Fujifilm's fast prime lenses? Even at ISO 4000, an aperture of 1.4 and a shutter speed of 1/25th, this image shot inside a Buddhist monastery was still incredibly dark. After adding an extra stop and a half of Exposure in Lightroom and tweaking the Detail panel sliders a little, I got this perfectly printable image.
Price: there are two versions of Lightroom: the perpetual license costs around $129 ($89 for an upgrade from a previous version) but the better deal in my opinion is the Lightroom + Photoshop subscription, where $10/€10 per month (billable annually) + VAT or Tax gives you one year access to both Lightroom and Photoshop.
6. The gift that keeps on giving: The Fujfilm Instax Printer
I’ve started giving out instant prints to the people I photographed along my journeys as early as 2009. At the time, I used a Polaroid Pogo. Handing out prints allowed me to not only take a photo but give something back in return. And by doing it on the spot rather than on my return back home, it saved me the trouble of trying to decrypt hastily written addresses or trying to remember which photo I should send to which person. But what I hadn’t expected at first, was that handing out prints to people was also the perfect door-opener to photograph… even more people. More than once have I had the experience that someone did not want to have their photo taken, only to ask me to take their photo just minutes later after they had seen me give a print to someone else.
My buddy and co-workshop leader Matt Brandon with the Fujifilm Instax Printer. Read his review about the printer here.
The Pogo did have its disadvantages, though: the battery lasted for only 10 shots and color fidelity was clearly not high on the specs list. So for a moment I dabbled with the idea of bringing a Fujifilm Instax camera, but then Fujifilm announced the Instax Share SP-1 Printer. If you get only one of the accessories that I have listed in this overview, make it that little printer. Especially in remote areas where people don’t have ready access to photography, you’ll spread joy with every Instax print you hand out. And, as a sign of good Karma, you’ll be rewarded with more great photo opportunities, too. And you don’t have to take my word for it: check out the praise of Matt Brandon or Zack Arias in their reviews of the SP-1.
Price: $179 (B&H link) | GBP 124.99 (Amazon UK link) | 149 € (Grobet)
The Instax Printer helps to break the ice and is a great way to give something back to the people you photograph.
The Instax printer. Instax prints, instant fiends.
7. Nissin i40 Flash (Fujifilm version)
The i40 is the perfect mid-size, mid-power companion for the Fujifilm X-cameras. Not as powerful as, say a Godox V850, but also a lot smaller and lighter.
The i40 fits the 'functional retro' style of theX cameras really well. I love the old-school dial on the back that quickly lets met adjust Flash Exposure compensation or manual power.
I use a number of flashes on my Fuji cameras. When I want something unobtrisive and lightweight, I reach for the i40. I love its manual dials: they let you quickly switch from manual mode to TTL mode and adjust flash exposure compensation without diving in to the camera menu. Especially in combination with the X100T (and when shooting at its 1/2000th sync speed) this little flash can even overpower the sun.
Price: $269 in the US (B&H link) | GBP 140,49 (Amazon UK link) | only 189€ at this retailer in Belgium.
Kids playing. All I had with me were the X-100T, the Lastolite Trifold and the Nissin i40.
8. A backpack to stow it all away: the F-Stop Loka UL.
The Loka UL is the perfect lightweight backpack for a lightweight mirrorless system like Fujifilm's. I especially prefer it to a shoulder bag when I know I'll have to hike a lot. Image © Serge Van Cauwenbergh | www.fotografieblog.be
I really like the concept of an outer shell, in which you put an ICU of your choice, depending on the job or the hike (and gear requirements) at hand. There are straps on the side to fit a travel-sized tripod or a small light stand such as the Manfrotto Nano.
I've never been much of a backpack user until I discovered the F-Stop Loka UL. UL stands for Ultralight and with a base weight of around 1 kg, that is exactly what this backpack promises. I say 'base weight' because there's also the weight of the modular camera insert. F-Stop calls these these ICUs or Internal Camera Units. Depending on their size, these add about half a kilo to the bag's weight. The idea is that you can use a bigger ICU (possibly even with a laptop sleeve to carry your gear to a destination and switch that out for a smaller one to carry parts of your gear around while in that destination. The smaller the ICU, the more room you have for other items, such as a jacket, a fleece or other hiking essentials.
As far as I can tell, the F-Stop Loka UL only has one disadvantage, and that is that it's often out of stock!
Not all ICU's fit in all F-Stop backpacks. This is the compatibility table for the Loka UL.
Price: $199.95 for the bag, $50 to $89 for the ICU, depending on size. Benelux importer is Disnet.nl. In the Netherlands, Cameranu.nl has the bag in stock at the moment of writing this.
9. Roboshoot X-triggers: Wireless TTL Flash Freedom for your Fuji cameras
The MX-20 is the trigger
The RX-20 is the receiver
Ok, I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a flash photography geek (which you'll no doubt see reflected in this gift guide) but I did not want to leave this one out: it's probably the newest and most hi-tech of all of the gift suggestions in this post. In fact, it's so new it might not be out yet by Christmas but you can always give your loved ones a self-made voucher. These triggers are the first that let you wirelessly, remotely trigger a Fuji flash in TTL from your camera. Yes, you read that right. Wireless TTL support! And what's even better, it also works with selected Nikon flashes like the SB900 and the SB910. So, if you've just moved from Nikon to Fuji and you have a couple of those lying around, you can trigger them in TTL from your Fuji. I've been testing a beta version of this system (I recommend the MX-20 and RX-20) and it works as advertised. The system supports up to 4 different groups, the manual power or TTL Ev compensation of which you can set from a smartphone App.
This image was shot with the Fuji X100T and a wide-angle conversion lens (which also makes a great gift for any X100 user, by the way! An MX-20 trigger on the camera and a Nikon SB-900 attachad to an RX-20 receiver.
Price: The triggers are currently available for pre-order at a price of $299 for an MX-20 + RX-20 set. In the Benelux, these triggers will be distributed through VDH Photo. Please contact them with your questions re: availability and estimated price.
10. North India Fuji X Photo Workshop
Ok, this is the sort of gift you give to people you really, really love, such as... yourself :-) All the gear in the world does not mean anything without you putting it to use. And what better way to do so than with like-minded people in one of the best countries to photograph in the world: India. After successful workshops in Rajasthan and the Indian Himalayas, fellow Fuji X Photographer Matt Brandon and I have teamed up again for a fantastic 10 day photo workshop in India.
Who said 'If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough?' Shot with the XF 14mm prime.
From February 14th to February 24th, we'll roam the small alleyways of Delhi's fascinating Chandi Chowk district (where the cover image of my Black and White preset bundle was shot), we'll explore the majestic Taj Mahal and finally, we'll spend 5 days in what seems to be the most photogenic city in India, maybe in the whole world: Varanasi. With two seasoned travel photographers, who know their way around the Fujifilm X-system as your guides, you're bound to learn a tonne. Matt focuses on storytelling and composition and I will be teaching you all about off-camera flash and postprocessing images. Workshops like this might be more expensive than your average package bus tour with selfie-snapping tourists, but they'll leave you with an impression and a portfolio that will last long beyond next year's Holdiay Gift Guide!
Below are some typical shots from similar workshops Matt and I ran.
Price and details: check Matt's info page on the North India, Delhi, Agra and Varanasi Workshop.
Testing the X-Pro 1...