Fujifilm ix-30
I have been juggling a lot of things lately, and there are many loose ends - that needs attending to. I have been busy with my job, tending to family, planning my next hike (100km in Sweden), coming up with new ideas for this blog, and working on my project “Et døgn”, whilst it’s been what feels like a million degrees outside. I have been shooting a bit of film as well, and have some rolls, not yet scanned for a future entry on this blog.
I want to start a series of the cameras currently in my possession, and why I (for now) are holding on to them, starting with the Fujifilm ix-30. Finding information about the Fujifilm ix-30, turned out to be harder than I immediately thought. But I managed to dig a little information up.
The photos above were shot on the Canon 5D IV with the EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM.
Let me just give you a quick presentation of the camera, and why I chose to buy it. We are looking at a camera from around 2001. One of the first ever mass produced cameras out of china. It packs a whole 1,3mp sensor - and for what I could find on the internet, a lock f3, with a shutter speed between 1/15 and 1/500 of a second. The camera comes with a build in flash, and uses SM cards, for storage.
I was lucky enough, that mine came with an 8mb card, because these seems impossible to track down otherwise. SM cards, or SmartMedia cards, were own by Toshiba, and where primarily used in digital cameras, in the early 2000s. What really struck me with these cards, is how thin they are, coming in at only 0.76 mm thick compared to the 45 mm in height and 37 mm in width. Really unpractical.
shot on the ix-30, and converted to black and white in lightroom
The cards hold about 48-58 shots, not that far from a roll of 35 mm film, and just like an old film camera, the ix-30 comes without an LCD screen, so there are no way of knowing if your photo turned out, the way you intended to - before you have a chance to upload them from the card.
The camera, takes two regular AA batteries, but after some testing - I see that the flash drains the batteries quite fast, but maybe that’s just a problem with my model. The build in flash actually does a great job, with what its giving - compared to its age and size.
There are two huge flaws with this otherwise fun and playful camera, the first thing being when you press the shutter, there is a delay before the photo is taken, I haven’t measured how long, but when you shoot with it, it seems like ages. It’s something you really need to have in mind, when using the camera. And it brings me to an even bigger issue for me, personally. The sound of the shutter…. beep…. the camera has this weird digital beep, when you press the shutter button. There is no sound of a mirror moving, nor a curtain going anywhere or any other sound, except for a little tiny beep… And it really bothers me a lot. Coming from old film cameras, and my Canon 5D, where you really hear the mirror slap, I really find it hard just settling with a tiny beep.
I believe that there are a micro project hiding inside this camera, and that’s the reason I still keep it around. regarding the flaws, I still enjoy taking it out for a spin once in a while. And hopefully someday a project will appear.
Below are some photos unedited taking with the ix-30
The photos were taken on a couple of walks in Aalborg.
If you have any questions, or just want to give me any feedback, feel free to write below.