Friday Tidbits: Fujifilm, M1 & Quarantines
All images shot with the X-Pro3 and XF 14mm f/2.8 R
If there was ever a week to bring back Friday Tidbits: a slew of announcements from Fujifilm, wrapping my brain around my new M1 Air setup, our kiddo quarantined... Let’s get to it.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter, I feel like we’re living a time of expansion in technology: not so much wild inflexion points anymore but quieter, less flamboyant iterations. Or in the case of Apple Silicon, a groundswell meant to feel like an iteration.
M1 Days
The biggest hurdle I’ve faced so far with the new MacBook Air is related not to the novel chip inside the machine, but to its expansion ports: 2015 is eons ago in tech years. Thunderbolt 2 is gone. USB-3 is goneish. That and having only two Thunderbolt 3/USB-4 slots has given me a new appreciation for...let’s say less minimal design.
Hubs are fine and useful...but boy can you kill performance if you’re not careful. I knew I was having issues in this area, so I bit the bullet and bought a TS3+ Thunderbolt 3 hub, made by a California company called CalDigit. This is a 15-port device (that includes audio and SD), and I’m incredibly impressed so far: I moved large files around after it was delivered yesterday and witnessed a whole new world. Nice and sturdy piece of gear too.
I still have to deal with the older Thunderbolt 2 drive, but a new cable should fix this. It’s clear however that a Thunderbolt 3 SSD is in the cards, especially if motion work becomes a steadier part of my job in the future.
But hardware aside: the Air is giving me a new understanding of Apple’s vision. It’s not that I’m learning anything I didn’t previously know... I’m just using this machine very differently. Not in terms of mobility (that’s a given) but in the way I interact with the OS. The so-called “iOS-ification” of the system makes so much more sense on this smaller, faster device:
I’m using Spaces a lot more, with full-screen apps, to quickly move from one to another with a quick fingers swipe. This means that individual windows have become much less central to the way I navigate and use the system.
I haven’t activated the Documents and Desktop option in iCloud, but I’m seriously thinking about it. It’s a transition I’d already begun with a few iCloud projects folders; now I may jump in altogether.
Launchpad: never used it, but I’ve now taken the time to organize my apps and assigned the feature to a hot corner. That’s valuable territory. The idea is to pare down my dock and treat this like the home screen on my iPad. Which was surely the idea all along? My reflexes aren’t there yet, but it seems like a logical extension.
For years now, I viewed my Mac as an isolated object, desk-bound and stuck to old paradigms. New OS versions were like wallpaper, adding colour and motifs to a structure that remained dated. Is it the new car smell that makes me feel so differently about this computer? That’s probably part of it. But I believe it’s the sum of many small details—Touch ID, Sidecar, the snappiness of the M1—contributing to a sense of wholeness. The result is that I’m moving towards a unified set of interactions, across all devices. I’m using the trackpad on the iPad’s Magic Keyboard more often than I did before too, so this goes both ways.
Now, if I can only train my brain, once and for all: “the iPad has a touchscreen; the MacBook doesn’t; the iPad has a touchscreen; the MacBook...”
100MP
The GFX 100S is a major achievement. And it shows how committed Fujifilm is to medium-format as a seriously viable alternative to full-frame cameras. I’ll have to see it for myself, but if my KAGE buddy Jonas Rask’s in-depth review is any indication, the company seems to have hit it out of the ballpark.
I admit that I first recoiled at the sight of a PSAM dial. But then I remembered how easily I’d adjusted to the lack of an Exp. Comp dial on the GFX 50S. And how setting this to either M or A would allow me to work pretty much the same way I’m used to. We always adapt. I am, however, very attached to the modular viewfinder and tilt-adapter on the 50S, so that would be an issue for me.
But bottom line: while this isn’t throwaway money by any means, it is possible. A 100MP medium-format camera is now possible. That’s throwing down the gauntlet in my book.
The X-E4 is lovely. I had the chance to shoot and direct a promotional film for it, so I’ll have more to say on this after it’s released. The GF 80 mm f/1.7? damn.
More Quarantine
Last Sunday evening we received an email from Héloïse's school: there was a confirmed case in her class. So, she’s home until February 8 (along with all of her classmates) as a precaution, quarantined in her room, the whole bit. Anaïs had to move out of their shared bedroom and is now camping downstairs—making Watson a happy dog.
No symptoms so far. All good.
Life in 2021.
Have a great weekend everyone :)
