A little “action” photography with the Fujinon XF100-400mm lens

In a great departure from what I normally shoot and what equipment I normally use, I recently made some photos at two local waterborne races. Fujifilm Canada has graciously loaned me an XF100-400mm lens to use next month, when I will be photographing an international paddling race. To test the lens, and myself, I spent the last two Sundays shooting at a couple of local races. The first, was a small boats paddling race, featuring surfkis and outrigger canoes. The second event, was the start of the fourth annual Race to Alaska (R2AK), which features an assorted collection of human/sail-powered craft. And given the conditions (no wind), it turned into a paddling/rowing/pedaling race.

To make these photos, I stuck the large telephoto lens onto my newish X-H1. I supported both on a monopod to help stabilize my shots. Fortunately, I was shooting in bright sunlight, so the variable aperture of the lens didn’t pose a problem. I set the shutter speed to a minimum of 1/400 sec. and shot between f/5.6 and f/8. After a bit of practice, I was fairly successful at taking sharp images. Shooting at the long end of the zoom makes for interesting compositional challenges. Any small movement on my part or the subject’s, will immediately turn a good shot into a totally useless one.

The next test for me will be shooting on the water for a downwind paddling race. Stay tuned here to see what that looks like through this very impressive lens.

R2AK

NB: Images captured with the Fujifilm X-H1 fronted with the Fujinon XF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. Paddling images shot as RAW, while the R2AK images were shot as JPEGs. More R2AK photos.