I agree with the above comment that a gimbal head mostly would be best for a long telephoto.

What helps keep the cost down for the Sunwayphoto head is that two fold out cranks are supplied on the wheels that control movements. These foldout cranks (and comparatively frictionless gears) let one move the camera fairly quickly with this head although not as quickly as movements using the more advanced, but quite expensive geared heads.

I stand my ground that the Sunwayphoto head is a good deal and might well be better than the heads costing $350 or more although it isn't as good as the Arca Swiss D model heads that now start at $900 or $1000.

Cheers

I just bought the geared head in question. The workmanship seems superb especially considering the modest price. I don't have any lenses as heavy as the one you want to use, but when I placed my Nikon d850 with the latest Nikon F 70-200mm 2.8 lens on this head with a strong tripod underneath I could get a modest displacement with an unbalanced condition when the camera (not the lens) was supported and I tapped the lens. With support moved to a balanced condition on the first third of the lens, this modest displacement was diminished and a small bit may be attributable to a tiny flex in my tripod. In light of the fact that the lens you plan to use is heaver, my experiment is only suggestive. But I suspect that if you use a timer or a remote shutter release (like a cable), you should be OK. ln contrast to my Arca Swiss D model geared head, you can't turn off the gearing to move a camera on this head quickly, but I am quite pleased with this purchase as it if a good fit with my light travel tripod. Since I only photograph landscapes, I don't need quick camera movements. Hope this helps.

My experience selling to them has been OK, but I've waited until they sent a buyer to an Oregon city within about 100 miles from where I live. In fact, I've gotten slightly better offers compared to their estimated offers when they haven't seen the equipment in question. Of course, if they don't make yearly visits to a city reasonably close to where you live, this tactic won't work. And I don't think they sent anyone to Oregon in 2023.

Hi sabrejet,

So you bought a 100s. How do you like it?

I have a Really Right Stuff L bracket. It is probably much too expensive since I bought it new for $200 (I think).

In addition to fitting my camera perfectly, it also came with magnetized hex wrench.

But you can get one for much less.

I never used it, but the Nikon F1.4 35mm often got less than strong reviews. The reviewers claimed it wasn't good at the widest apertures. I did buy the Sigma F1.4 35mm instead. I found it to be sharp, but the 1.4 35mm Sigma (along with the 50mm F1.4 art lens) had front or back focusing issues. You supposedly could adjust my Nikon cameras to avoid this issue, but I never could get this adjustment to work well, so I sold that lens. This problem, of course, wasn't present if you used the lens for distant scenics. According to reviews, Sigma corrected their art lenses that were introduced later. For example, the front or back focusing problem doesn't seem to exist in my F1.8 135mm Sigma art lens. I don't know and therefore can't say anything about your Tamron alternative. Good luck!

In Oregon the local stores will only take used gear on consignment, which means they take a 25% cut out of the sold price. About once a year KEH, instead, visits one or two photo stores in cities about 60 to 100 miles away from where I live. I've found that drive to be most profitable. For example, had a 6 month old Fuji lens that I wanted to sell. By e-mail KEH gave an estimated offer of $970. When I drove to the dealer in Portland, the visiting KEH buyer offered $965 for the lens. I asked for $1000 and we had a deal along with a nice dinner at one of the excellent Portland restaurants.

Purchased one last Spring. Picture quality superb. Once or twice the camera wouldn't function, but turning it off then on sufficed. Unlike one or two reviewers, I haven't had to remove and reinsert the battery to get it working again. At 83 I'm not a fast learner, so the shift from a Nikon 850 (which I still use especially for long telephoto work) to the 100S was a bit daunting especially at first. And the 100S isn't good for sports or bird pictures. It, however, is a stellar camera for the Oregon scenics I mostly concentrate on. I suspect as well that the greater detail offered by the viewfinder in the extremely expensive GFX 100 (which is not available on the 100s) would be a great addition, but I haven't compared them.

Five lenses seem great, but the 100 to 200mm zoom could be sharper. I own the 23mm, the 45mm, the 80mm and the 110mm along with the 45 to 100 zoom. I'm thinking of selling the 45 and buying the 30 to fill the hole between my wide angles. And I'm waiting for the promised tilt shift wide angle that will probably go on sale next year. I'd like Fuji to offer something like a 180 or a 200mm f3.5 telephoto that I could use in place of the 100 to 200 zoom, but a lens like that hasn't been promised. The 250mm telephoto seems too long, heavy, and expensive although the reviews suggest it is a stellar lens.

Has anyone tried GFX close up tubes? There are Asian knock offs that sell for about $100 while Fuji offers them for about three times more. Do the Asian knock offs work as well as Fuji tubes?

Many internet reviews of the camera exist that should be check outed if you are considering buying, but GFX lens reviews that spell out both strengths and weaknesses are not easily found; GFX lens evaluations by other users therefore might be instructive.

I'll be interested in what others say.

Sorry to be disagreeable amfoto1, but Phase1 now offers two cameras with 151 megapixels.

Unfortunately, they cost as much as a luxury car, so you probably thought they weren't worth mentioning.

Cheers.

After a great experience with a Pentax 6x7 purchased in the late 1980s, I recently bought a Fuji 100s with five lenses. So far I've been impressed by picture quality and the lenses.

But the camera is a bit "buggy". Last Friday, for example, I was on the Oregon coast in a cold wind. Couldn't get the front wheel that controls ISO to work until I turned the camera off and then back on. I've had similar problems with other controls maybe two or three times; once I couldn't get the camera to work until I turned it off and pulled and replaced the battery. I've never had these difficulties with my digital Nikons (started with a D800e; now have a D500 and a D850).

I've seen only one review (out of many) that reports a similar 100s problem. Do I have a copy that needs a fix or have other owners had similar difficulties?

Especially for advanced camera set ups, Maarten Heilbron can't be beat. His presentations are comprehensive, extremely useful, but often quite long.

Matt Granger gives candid reviews along with valuable information about photography in general. He should be included on any list.

I've learned a great deal from the Northrups, but perhaps there could be less click bait in their titles. E.g. titles like "camera type x or brand x is dying".

Gordon Liang (sp?) is another you tuber I try to keep up with.

Rockwell is controversial; for example, he only shoots in jpeg (which might not provide the best example for beginners) and sometimes is prone to extreme claims not elsewhere found.

Finally, although he probably could give more attention to brands other than Nikon, I've learned much from Thom Hogan. But you have to go to his site; I don't think he's appeared on You tube.

Keep on clicken.

I just purchased a Fuji 100s medium format camera.

The pockets on my older vest are too small for the thicker medium format lenses.

Are there any reasonably priced vests with more than two large pockets that overcome this problem?

I realize there are some expensive (over $200) special order vests sold by B&H, but I'd prefer to spend less.

Thanks in advance.

I just bought a Fuji 100s w. 4 lenses.

The pockets on my vest are too small for the larger diameter Fuji medium format lenses.

What vest model can you recommend that would handle this problem?

A while back (maybe last year) I saw an advertisement for this conversion process on a Nikon 850 on this site. The example images were absolutely stellar. Although these pictures probably had been modified in post, I still was quite impressed. The $8,000 Leica black and white only camera provides strong black and white images as well. And it has an added advantage. It apparently provides reasonable pictures at ISO 100,000--which seem to be roughly equivalent to what an 850 would produce at something like ISO 6,400 or 12,800.

I think the questioner (and I) are asking if anyone has had experience with process. Does it interfere with auto focusing or other important camera functions??

One problem with not using the bottom more narrow legs to obtain maximum stability concerns mud and/or sand in the lower three joints. After finding sand difficult to remove in these joints after a trip to the Oregon coast, I've changed my mind about this practice.

I use a ProMediaGear Katana Junior Gimbal combined with either a D850 or D500 and the 500mm PF. Advantages: light weight (about 2 lbs) and less expensive (about $500 and they also throw in about a 6" plate). Disadvantages: When you tighten it down, the lens moves slightly and it isn't the most rigid system when tightened down and combined with my 3/4 ProMediaGear composite legs. This head wouldn't be the best solution for landscapes or macro, but I use an Arca Swiss D4 gear head for this purpose.

There are some heads that may provide a reasonable compromise for all three purposes. I'd look into a Flex Shooter pro ball head. It uses a ball within a ball design that can be set up to restrict movements and thereby function as a Gimbal. I haven't tried this one and again you'll have to pay $500 plus. Another possible compromise is a head made by Acratech, which costs about $100 less and is lighter. My memory may be flawed on this, but I think when this head is used as a gimbel, the camera-lens combination is moved to one side so the tripod-camera-lens combination may become a bit unbalanced. Again however I have no experience with the Acratech. Hopefully others will comment on the latter two alternatives.

Hope this helps.