I don’t know about you but my email in box has been flooded with email over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. It has though provided me with two opportunities:
- A great time to unsubscribe from a lot of lists of people who only want to sell me stuff but don’t provide additional value.
- Some investment opportunities to purchase new equipment and software. My wife tells me this is called shopping but I think it’s investing.
One of the investments I was able to make was a new Fuji 50-200mm lens. I was able to purchase this little gem new, for the same price as a used model when you take into account Fuji’s cashback.
Now, I have owned one of these lenses before, but it was returned for repair following poor results. To cut a long story short, it was eventually traded towards a new 50-140mm lens with extender. This is an excellent lens which I still have and use. This last statement may cause you to wonder why I have now purchased the 50-200 lens.
The answer is a simple size and weight. The 50-140 lens is great but it’s very big and heavy whilst the 50-200 is smaller and lighter. Next year I’m planning a few longer treks and backpacking trips with the Fuji X-T2. I therefore wanted to invest in the smaller and lighter lens.
At the weekend, I had the opportunity to try out this new lens. So far, the results look very impressive. The lens has captured a huge amount of detail and is very sharp when viewed on screen or printed.
The only area which I haven’t been able to test properly is the 200mm focal length. Whilst I did shoot some images at that focal length, they appear a little soft. I do though think this is due to poor lighting conditions, causing a longer exposure of several seconds. Whilst the camera was tripod mounted the wind was very strong. I think much of the softness is related to the conditions rather than the lens.
In addition to the lens, I made a couple of software investments with upgrades to both On 1 Photo RAW and Alien Skin Exposure. I will be sharing my thoughts about these in the near future; there are a couple of surprising developments in both to mention.
The Lightweight Photographer 
I added a few new lenses to my gear too. B & H had some fantastic prices on mft lenses so I had to upgrade to some newer and better lenses.
Yes, there were some bargains to be had but Ifound I needed to look harder this year than before.
Got to agree with you on point 1) – I’m now minus about 15 companies including 2 who were managing to send 3 per day and still claiming their manager / admin / IT etc had made a mistake so the ‘sale’ would continue for another few hours / days / lifetimes perhaps.
In fact I didn’t see anything I really needed remotely near a true bargain, but I did get a good deal from one of my more regular shops on panasonic’s new 100-400 lens.
That does seem to be their favorite tactic at the moment. Send out multiple duplicate emails then apologise with an extended discount. If I didn’t buy when you sent me the first three emails, why do you think I will buy now when you make the same offer again. I have been through my emails and unsubscribed from around 50 lists which were sending me mail daily. It’s made quite a saving on time.
I’m interested in the new 100-400 lens myself. I still have my EM5 MFT gear and love it.
Yes. I received way too much spammage over the last week. I should unsubscribe and save the electrons.
Yes, the internet is getting heavier all the time – last time I looked it was up to 50g. It may have gained anotehr 10g from black friday.
I too took advantage of Cyber sales and finally invested (I agree with you on that!) in the Fuji x-t2. I’ve been a Nikon shooter for 25+ years and am now struggling with lens decisions. I just go the kit lens as it’s my first foray into mirrorless shooting but so far I love it. Interested in the 50-140 vs 50-200 comments as I’m thinking of one or the other as my next purchase. Love your photo on this one!!
I’m pleased you like the Fuji, it’s a great camera.
Both the 50-140 and 55-200 are excellent lenses. I use the 50-140 with a 1.4x converter and the results are great across all focal lengths and apertures. In that respect it’s superior to the 55-200 where there is a slight softening at the long end (but hardly noticeable). The advantage of the 55-200 is that its smaller and lighter. I tend not to use the 50-140 off a tripod but the 55-200 I will shoot handheld. You probably need to handle both to make up your mind (assuming price isn’t a problem).