Update from Greg (Been a While)

The Mods were nice enough to let me post this last week of DPR. Like all of you, I was very sad to see the news. I have followed the MF Board these past 18 months or so since my last post and have enjoyed reading the forum.

I've been shooting the GFX system a lot on trips the past 18 months and I think I have all of the GF lenses now. My most recent purchase was the lens I now love the most - the 20-35.

Teresa and I leave for Rome and then Jordon, Israel and Crete next week and it will be a 6-to-8-week trip (God willing). I might only take two GF lenses (I usually pack 7). I'm thinking of taking only the 20-35 and 45-100. I'll take the Q2 too. Might take the converted 50r because I love the IR look. Fun to shoot.

I was in North Carolina, Long Island and Manhattan the past two weeks and the 20-35 never left my camera. On top of that, 95% of the 500 shots I took were at 20mm. The Midtown Manhattan shots are in post right now in LR and I will probably post 50 of them in the next couple of days on Flickr.

Shooting that wide has its drawbacks and challenges but it is sort of my style I suppose.

The foreground is sometimes a problem (but can be cropped away) and of course the stretched objects and people on the edges can look funny, not to mention the keystoning when the sensor is taken off plane even slightly. But when it works it is fantastic. I think the great 23 is semi-dead to me now because the 20-35 has it covered.

I traded my well-worn GFX 100 straight up even for a brand new GFX 100S about 6 months ago with Fuji in NJ. They cut me a break because I had been having some issues with the tilt EVF flickering and some other problems over the life of the camera. I got it the week it came out.

I miss that tilt and swivel EVF and its better res, look and feel, but I like the 100s much better. It is better for my travel shooting. But I also liked the feel of that GFX 100. I loved that camera.

I hope we can stay in touch, and I will miss a whole bunch of you. I don't want to start naming names but I could list 50 usernames of guys I learned a lot from and talked a lot to here on this Board. So sad to see it go.

Teresa and I are healthy and doing well in retirement. I hope we can all converse somewhere on some site.

We should never argue because there are so few of us left. It's like the last 6 gladiators left alive in the arena arguing who has the best-looking breast shield. Anyone shooting our level of gear (or any camera that is not a phone really) is an enthusiast or pro, and any camera on the market these days is a really good camera. But still, that said, there is a Medium Format Lxxx. Just kidding!

Too soon?

I will say one thing about GFX IBIS.... All that MF stability stuff we used to freak out about and obsess over is moot now. I remember shooting my first GFX 50r and every shot was on a monopod because I couldn't stand the thought of blurring those beautiful pixels at F8 and hand-held speeds. Now? I shoot hand-held inside church shots at 1/20 sec, F4 and ISO 1600 that look like tripod shots they are so sharp.

I shot inside 50 churches in Rome last Fall (see the album) and worked hard to do it. I was amazed at the GFX 100s and the 23mm at F4 and ISO 1600. It was like being on a tripod, except on a tripod I would have shot at F8 and thus long exposures to get some better close-in sharpness (DOF).

My email is gj19751979@gmail.com if we lose touch.

Best wishes to all and hope you are well and still shooting.