OSP Magazine – November

Content:

• Tamron 18-300mm VC for Fuji X – it’s out and I bought it !
• NEW ! PictureFX CineStill 800 T Lut and 3DLut
• More about Luts and this Magazine
• Past Bushcraft Weekend October

Tamron 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD (Model B061)

Finally it’s here and I bought it, the new Tamron 18-300mm for Fuji X. However, I have to wait a little longer, because when they came in the store they were sold out immediately, so I pre-ordered one with a scheduled delivery at the end of October.
But why did I buy the Tamron 18-300mm?

I already have a whole series of Fujifilm, vintage and other brand lenses that span the entire range from 7.5mm to 500mm.
Well, what I missed most is a really “all in one” lens, as it used to be very popular in the good old days.
Back then, to give just one example, you had the very popular telephotos from 18 to 200 mm, every brand had one, whether it was Sigma, Tamron, Nikon, Canon…, they still do, but not for Fuji – that is until now.
With the standard Fujifilm kit and pro lenses you always need a set of two: XC16-50 and XC50-230 or XF18-135 and XF70-300, and yes there are a few other possible combinations, but still two lenses.
And this is where the new Tamron 18-300 lens brings the solution.

In the next writing I will certainly give a first review.
But for now here are some strong points:

• filter diameter same as Fuji XF 18-135 and XF 70-300 : 67mm
• same lens diameter : 75mm
• shorter length : 125,6 (Fuji 70-300 = 132.5)
• min. focus distance 0.15m (Fuji 70-300 = 0.83m)
• only 40 grs more weight – 620 grs (Fuji 70-300 = 520 grs)
• weather resistant
• optical stabilization
• whopping focal length : 18-300 (27-450mm in 35mm equivalent)
• price range same as fuji 70-300mm ( +- €750)

Last minute add : It will probably take a little longer, because until today October 29, I still haven’t heard anything about delivery.

New ! PictureFX CineStill 800 T Lut and 3DLut

It took a while, but here it is finally, a new PictureFX Analog Film Simulation : PictureFX CineStill 800 T, go directly to the article and download there.

More about Luts and this Magazine

And yes, there is more film simulation …
An update for the “Largest Collection of Haldclut/Luts“,
at the same time an update for the “Largest Collection of Presets/Profiles“,
and from the same author, analog film grain plates download -> the website is TDCat.com, the author Torsten Dettlaff. all links can be found on this seperate page.

On top of that more PictureFX film simulations – I have started a brand new series : PictureFX Pro 5, click here to go to this NEW page.

Also more PictureFX on FreshLuts.com ! click here to find 30 Free PictureFX 3DLut files – more added soon.

And it’s not over yet ! here is the Spotlight Recipe for November : the MGA Realistic Pro !

One of my favorite recipes created by my friend Mark G Adams from OneCameraOneLens.com

Go straight to Mark’s article here.

Or visit “The Largest Collection of Recipes brought together”

MGA Realistic Pro

I would like to add something personal here though, everyone knows there is a lot to like about the original Fujifilm Recipes, of which Classic Chrome and Eterna are probably the most loved and discussed.
I almost always shoot Raw + Jpeg myself, and in the past I usually used Classic Chrome as a film simulation, well, that has changed.
A much more subtle and balanced film simulation is Pro Neg Hi, and let that be the Fuji recipe where this new MGA Realistic Pro is based on.
I think Mark thought the same thing, because Realistic and Pro is exactly what I think of this recipe Mark created.
I design Luts myself, and if I want a somewhat different look in my pictures I use a Lut,
if I want SOOC jpegs that are “Real” and look “Pro”,
then i would use MGA Realistic Pro, What Else !

About this Magazine

Why not only a magazine like last time ? why the extra pages ? well, I noticed that there was less search for new Luts, Recipes or Presets, while blog posts about new film simulation updates in the past always attracted more people – so I now added those as a separate page, this way they appear in Google search or any other search engine, and can be found by people who are only interested in film simulations and not my OSP magazine.

Past Bushcraft Weekend October

Camera Gear :

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
• Olympus TG-6

Shelter :

• Obelink River Tent – technical cotton tent for 3 persons
• DD Hammocks Tarp XL multicam 3×4.5m

The “Great Bushcraft Weekend at Meerdaalwoud” of the organizer Natuurpunt.be, which always takes place in October, aims to bring people closer to nature.
Over the years, more and more people come to visit this three-day event, many of whom have never spent the night in a forest.
The intention is that the organizer provides instructors in the form of seasoned Bushcrafters, but also people who can transfer certain skills such as making a torch or climbing a tree.
In recent years, this event has attracted between 600 and 1000 visitors.
Belgium is a late bloomer in this – and a slow one too – in the UK this is a much bigger event as well as in many other countries, but in a more professional way and with famous names like Ray Mears, Paul Kirtley, Ed Stafford and many others. On the other hand we bring the general public to Bushcraft, and especially children so that they learn to live with and in nature and to respect it. Normally i’am an instructor to, but this time I went for just exploring the event, and it was the first time after the covid lockdowns.

The bushcraft weekend actually starts two days before the event, but this is reserved for people who want to specialize in certain skills.

Day 1 – The first day is meant for everyone to come to the site and set up accommodation. In the evening around 8:00 pm the first sessions started – sessions are given by an instructor and are a kind of training, that can be about anything, as long as it involves living in and has to do with nature. Unfortunately it started to rain that evening, luckily not too bad, but it rained all night until morning.

Day 2 – In the early morning my granddaughter arrived to stay until Sunday. All day long sessions where given like fire making, packrafting, archery, tracking and a lot more. One of the things we tried is eating insects. Worms and crickets fried together in an omelette, or a grasshopper satay. It’s an experience and something you have to get used to. My granddaughter tried a course with foot baths, herbs and massages while I had a bushcraft beer. We also planned to do a bit of tree climbing, but that course turned out to be full. We did make torches with candle wax and cloths wrapped around dead branches. At the end of the afternoon marshmallows over a camp fire. All in all a busy and fun Saturday.

Late afternoon it started raining, and it didn’t stop – worse, it started to be very windy, code yellow was predicted for this zone.

We retreated to my safe zone – my tent that I had pitched out of the fall zone of thick branches – when staying in a forest in a tent set up – always look up for dead/withered branches (they are called widowmakers) – if possible stay out of the fall zone of the circle of a tree.

Day 3 – The storm continued all night, the tent was hit numerous times by chestnuts in their husks because we were close to a chestnut tree. Fortunately no damage was done. Early in the morning everything was soaking wet and muddy but it didn’t stop raining, it was also the last day of camp, and I had to break camp around noon.

It was a completely different Bushcraft experience, the first time after many covid lockdowns in almost two years – and I have to admit, it also didn’t feel comfortable with so many people – the weather didn’t help either, but I don’t regret it and look forward to the next one, hopefully under better conditions.

Camera experience : The Olympus TG-6 is a great little camera to take with you, small and light, you just put it in your pocket, it fits everyware. And even if it gets completely under water or covered in mud – no problem – wash it under a bottle of clean water or a stream and it’s ready to shoot again.

It has great macro capabilities, and even takes pictures so close (shortest distance 1cm) that you would expect professional equipment.
While the macro photos are great, the regular shots are a bit less in my opinion, the jpegs are a bit smeared – whether this is due to noise from the iso or the development engine, I don’t know. Fortunately, the camera can also take RAW photos, so my camera is set to both, and afterwards I can still re-develop less good photos from RAW. The camera has a zoom lens that not extends and goes from 25 to 100mm – 35mm equivalent, which is not bad.
A few more specs:
12MP
3″ TFT
Zoom 4x (25-100mm 35mm equiv.) – f2.0/4.9
ISO 100-12800
Burst 20Bps
Raw-Jpeg
253gr – 113x66x32.4 mm
It is not a Pentax K3, nor is it a Fuji X-T2 or X-T3, but that is not the intention of this camera.
The TG-6 is a camera intended for people who want to take pictures under extreme conditions, without having to carry around a heavy and large weatherproof camera.

In Partnership With Mark G. Adams

Check out his latest article Here

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