yokohama – Fujifilm Corporate Blog

Over the last few years, Fujifilm has invited professional photographers from around the world to meet with the product planning and R&D teams to discuss current and future products. Names you may or may not have heard of such as Zack Arias, David Hobby, Bert Stephani, Kevin Mullins, Gianluca Colla, Tomasz Lazar, Damien Lovegrove, Knut Koivisto, Chris Weston and more have all given their feedback and input into the “kai-zen” development mentality of the Fujifilm X system.

However, this process has actually been going on for longer than that.

Earlier in the year I was lucky enough to meet with Yukio Uchida, a famous professional photographer from Japan who had been speaking about Fujifilm cameras at the CP+ show in Yokohama. Yukio was one of the world’s first “X-Photographers”; his feedback has been instrumental in the development of the Fujifilm X system. I was able to get 10 minutes of his time to ask him a few questions about his involvement with Fujifilm R&D, and also his own photographic style.

XT1A1497 — Japanese professional photographer Yukio Uchida

MH: Thank you for taking some time meet me and talk about you and your photography.
Is this your first time presenting at CP+?

YU: No, this is my fourth year. Every year it gets better than previous. Four years ago very few people used X series but over time the amount of users has increased, and also the amount of people that come to watch me speak has increased.

XT1A0046 — Yukio Uchida draws one of the biggest crowds at CP+

MH: Could you tell me a little bit about your photography style and philosophy?

YU: I want to take a picture that expresses what I feel. If the audience see my picture and they like it, this is OK. But if they see it and think “I want to feel like that”, this is more important to me. I want to inspire.

MH: How did you get into photography?

YU: Before becoming a professional photographer, I worked for the city government. At the time I spent a lot of time on the street taking photos. Photography should be about good moments and beautiful scenery.

MH: When did you start using Fujifilm cameras?

YU: I started with the original X100 back in early 2011 when it was first released.

MH: What do you love about Fujifilm X cameras?

YU: Firstly, and very importantly is colour reproduction and lens resolution. But also, the R&D team in Japan have included me a lot during the development phases of all of the products.
I was invited to the original meeting for X100 before the X series was born. I told them right away that they were dealing with someone with high standards who was not going to be easy to win over. I told them that if they couldn’t convince me to buy these cameras and lenses, they should not be sold in the marketplace. For this reason I feel strongly attached to the whole system.
I love the fashionable and stylish design of the product. Many people can appreciate the X series without needing to be professional photographers.

MH: You’re also stylish, charismatic and unique, and you stand out in a good way. You sum up that aspect of the cameras.

YU: Thank you. I feel that creative people prefer the look and feel of X series. Certainly in Japan, big DSLR cameras have appeal to working professionals, but to normal people that just want to create some art, this sort of camera should be the “mainstream”.

XT1A1483 — Yukio Uchida has a very distinct look himself

MH: So you would say that a DSLR might be someone’s tool, but a Fujifilm X camera is their camera for them to express and “be themselves” with.

YU: Completely agree. The photographic industry was moving towards “bigger must be better” but mobility was being sacrificed. DSLR users forgot photography.
Digital technology has been progressing, and cameras with cutting edge technology will continue to come out. But to me it’s not the essence of photography. I think photography should be the tool to express my feelings towards the “beauty of the world”.
A camera that gives me the joy of ownership and the joy of shooting is much more important than one with the highest number of megapixels or highest ISO performance.

MH: I see you have a Fujifilm camera with you now. How many shots do you take every day for your own use?

YU: Maybe one hundred per day, although I’d like to take more. I see beautiful things everywhere and want to capture them. Everything I do, everything I see, I think about how it could be framed. I look at light and shadow and it helps distract my mind from other negative things such as being nervous because I am being interviewed by an English guy!
When I shot with a DSLR, everything was more technical. I was only interested in what was visible in the frame and the depth of field. Now with X series I think about sounds, smell, temperature. Everything can be part of the photo.

MH: Finally, if you could only have one body and one lens, which would you choose?

YU: The X-Pro1 and XF56mm. I can be on equal footing with the X-Pro1. I don’t have to rely on the camera too much, nor deprive the joy of photography from me. I feel a kind of closeness with X-Pro1 and that’s why I love it the best.

See more of Yukio’s work

Check out some of Yukio Uchida’s work on the official Fujifilm X-Photographers website
Gallery 1 | Gallery 2 | Gallery 3

Title image: 24.0 mm (in 35mm: 36.0 mm) 1/8 sec; f/4.5; ISO 6400

By Gianluca Colla

I generally do not like to write reviews of products without a long and intensive field test. And by long I do not mean days – I mean several months.

I also don’t like writing first impressions of a camera or lens, because in a few days, even shooting many hours, I do not have enough time to get perfectly tuned with the gear I am using. I still remain a stranger and there is still the excitement of the new toy.

It’s almost like in real life, with couples. You can (almost) never tell after a first date or two if your partner will be “the one” but after several months of dating, you get a quite good idea if your relationship will go for a long run.

That’s why, although I’ve been one of the first and privileged people in the world to get my hands on the X-T1, long before it was announced, I didn’t write anything about it yet.

This was all true until one night in Yokohama, Japan, where a group of X-Photographers are gathered to speak at CP+, I went out with some friends and colleagues, and coupled the latest X-series with the Fujinon XF10-24mm F4 R OIS.

13.8 mm (in 35mm: 21.0 mm) 1/8 sec; f/4.5; ISO 6400 — 13.8 mm (in 35mm: 21.0 mm)
1/8 sec; f/4.5; ISO 6400

Love at first sight
I guess this is what is known as love at first sight. A perfect match. When you know there is no need to further test, or to “date” a little bit longer because you simply know it will be a long-lasting and happy relationship.

There are plenty of detailed reviews online and plenty of technical data sheet about the camera and the lens, there is no need to cover again that kind of information.

11.5 mm (in 35mm: 17.0 mm) 1/32 sec; f/4.0; ISO 3200 — 11.5 mm (in 35mm: 17.0 mm)
1/32 sec; f/4.0; ISO 3200

All I can say is that the camera is designed to fit perfectly in the hands and to have that kind of tactile feel that only a vintage camera could offer and is designed with a lot of technology inside but with a simple usage in mind. And the lens, is just amazing: wide open is razor sharp, it has an impressive OIS that can easily hold 5 stops, all you have to do is get out and shoot. And this is what the X-T1is made for: to simply take beautiful picture, to forget about the technical race and to focus on what should be every photographer’s main concern: making stunning images.

I want to add is this:

3200 or 6400 ISO
1/8th and 1/4th of a second, handheld (yes, you read it correctly, handheld – God bless OIS and the small weight of the camera)
f4

You judge the result your self. All of the images featured here were taken on the X-T1 with a (pre-production) XF10-24mmF4 lens and are JPEGs straight out of camera. I dare you to find me another combination like this.. 😉

10.0 mm (in 35mm: 15.0 mm) 1/4 sec; f/4.0; ISO 3200 — 10.0 mm (in 35mm: 15.0 mm)
1/4 sec; f/4.0; ISO 3200

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About Gianluca

An in depth knowledge of photography has led Gianluca to travel to many diverse destinations around the world, from the Arctic Polar Circle to Africa’s deserts, from the Far East to the Amazon. Gianluca’s photographs have appeared in various publications including National Geographic Magazine, New York times, Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, CondèNaste, Bloomberg News.

His images are represented by National Geographic Creative.
His series of images from India has been projected at Musèe de Elysèee in Lausanne.

Gianluca is also a member of NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) and he has an intense lecturing and teaching activity counting various seminars and workshops: he teaches reportage at European Institute of Design of Milan, and is a Photography Expert and teacher for National Geographic Expeditions.

When not on assignment Gianluca spends his time in Switzerland and in Italy.

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