More comments about the Fringer Pro adapter (EF to X)...

Hello all...

I've obviously talked quite a bit about this awesome 3rd party EF to X adapter - the Fringer Pro version. In particular, I talked about ways to mate specific very inexpensive lenses that Canon offers - that when mated effectively with Fuji cameras can save you quite a bit of cash over their Fuji counterparts.

In particular, I've often referred to the ridiculously inexpensive (yet optically superb) Canon EF-S 10-18 F4.5-5.6 IS STM wide angle zoom lens - giving you an equivalent of a 15-27 MM focal range. I've used this combo quite often now - in fact, I keep it permanently attached to an older X-E2 with the Fringer adapter.

As an aside, I'll be testing the newly announced Commlite adapter (different company also of Chinese origin) and it's enroute to me now. It is relatively inexpensive - around $139 to $150 - but to be honest, after using the Fringer, the Commlite has a tough act to follow. Will report on that Commlite adapter later once I receive it and use it.

OK - the other day I went to a banquet at an exclusive, higher-end country club known as the Governor's Club located in Chapel, Hill, North Carolina. I happened to have the X-E2/Fringer/Canon EF-S 10-18 combo in the car. Since I arrived an hour early (I can never be late to anything - ole' Marine Corps habits y'know - drives my wife nuts), I just started shooting.

Here are some results below. Now mind you, it was around 3:30 PM - and it was not the best time in the world to take photos - but I did anyway. All images shot in RAW mode, converted with Iridient X-Transformer. Images are resized to 2000 x 1359 x 24 - large enough to fill most screens, yet small enough to be manageable. I then converted the resultant files using Irfanview (with is a superb batch converter) to resized JPG's for web usage. Unfortunately, although Irfanview is a superb (free) program, when converting from TIF to JPG files, all of the Exif data is striped. So for those of you Exif freaks, blame it on the Irfanview software. Strange though - when converting from JPG to JPG, the exif data is retained - go figure?

All scenes (with the exception of the indoor dining hall scene) were shot in Aperture Priority Mode, ISO 200, F8, 1/200 - 1/400 sec.  The indoor banquet room scene was captured in Aperture Priority Mode, ISO 1250, F6.3 at 1/80 sec.  All shots in AWB.

These photos are nothing exceptional - rather, I'm just including them here to provide some images that were the result of this combination. For those still considering purchasing the Fringer Adapter, it is well worth the money!

This was a tough one to shoot as I was shooting more or less directly at the late afternoon sun. The original RAW file was completely dark - but luckily, the X-E2 had enough DR in those files, allowing me to balance things out.

If you want to live in the Governor's Club community (this place is like a town within a town), be advised that the cost of purchasing a home here ranges from 800K to a smaller cottage to 6.5 million for the stately residences. Sigh...far too much for my abilities (and tastes).

I even snuck inside to take a photo of the banquet room before anybody arrived. I didn't have a flash with me, so I couldn't balance out the lighting in the windows coming in. But you get the idea here.