Why I bought the world's most boring lens... 

Hey everyone, thanks for watching. Sorry that some of you seem to be seeing loads of ads during the video. I turn mid-roll ads off because I think it's too annoying to watch, so if you ever see them please let me know because either I've made a mistake or youtube is just taking control.

definitely a james popsys video when the title says "new photography stuff" and it opens with you talking about a bicycle

It’s the waffling that makes the videos fun. Good to see you out and about again. Blue wall is the best so far.

Love how calm your videos make me feel. Thanks, James! 🙌

I've only now realised, I've been a photographer nearly all my life. I had my first photography stuff before I could even walk. Admittedly not the best photography stuff, it was plastic and had three wheels, but I couldn't balance myself so balancing proper two wheeled photography stuff came at a later date. I didn't get a camera until just over two years ago. I wanted to master my other photography stuff before jumping in fully. I can't wait to go back to snowdonia, August, definitely...... Probably.... Maybe

Have I reached the point in which I can like the new video of this channel before start watching? Well yes. Yes I have.

Someone’s lovin their tripod 🤣👍

The non-edit to edited transition with the puddle shot was so cool. Nice addition that it said the preset used

That teeth mount (?) for the gopro looks very uncomfortable. Be careful when you're cycling with it. Seems to me like it'd be a good way to knock your teeth out.

A mouth mount for a GoPro, I had to check the calendar to make sure it was not April 1. Nice bike.

As someone who will never be going mountain biking in the wilderness, I love going on these adventures with you!

I always enjoy your videos. You actually share photography information that an average person can understand and apply even as a amateur photographer. Keep up the great content.

Man, these videos are gold, so relaxing to watch.

Good to have you back after a short break. RU-vid photographers have kept me going during this lockdown...one week to go in England thank god. 👍🏻

Hey James! Great video and I really like the bike. Enjoy! I finally broke down and purchased the Peak Design Capture. Really loving it already. It is and will be a game changer, especially since I am tuning my bike finally so I can get back on the road too. I have an older Motobecane mountain bike with full suspension (easier on my 57 year old joints). Have a fantastic weekend and I'm happy that you get to explore again. Cheers!

650b grvl bike in snowdonia. stuff dreams are made of. that mason bokeh is a beaut too. was going to get one when gcn did a big ride in wales on them a couple of years ago but ended up with a topstone. jealous of the pd tripods, ideal for bicycle adventures.

Great choice with the Mason Bokeh, superb bike and they are all named with photography references which is apt

Congrats on the gravel whip James and nice choice with the 650b's. We love our gravel riding here in Santa Cruz, Ca. Totally enjoy your photo videos too!!

Photography, cycling, and a reference to roadie helmet strap/sunglasses order. By far my favorite channel now.

20 miles, 18 of which where spent going through the same puddle.

When I see a new James Popsys video first thing in the morning, I know it’s going to be a great day! Love that orange bike and enjoy exploring locally!

On my last bicycle (12 speeds, I think), decades ago, my dad installed a kickstand (dads enjoy being helpful like that when visiting). I also added a carrier rack over the back wheel and considered a basket in front. I added the kickstand because I didn't want to leab my bicycle against a wall or lay it down on the sidewalk, street, etc., risking it being run or tripped over, and the carrying devices saved my back. Also, of course, I got a good lock to slow down thieves and a pump to fill low tires. Your bike wasn't cheap so I hope you have taken some precautions and not worried about what little extra weight the add-ons add on. I'm glad you have a good helmet to protect your head if you ever fall.

Great video! Any other people in Wales wondering, the stay local message is so people can visit newly opened facilities such as hairdressers and outdoor areas. Free travel doesn't start till 27th. But how far you travel is up to interpretation in rural areas where nearest shops may be over 5 miles.

Sweet bike and great photos! I don't care for the GoPro mount, because your "waffling" is one of the things that I enjoy about this channel. Keep up the great work! Thanks!

Glad you're able to get out. As for the wall, 18% gray and some different color accent lighting will give you endless options. I suspect most of the painting was therapeutic during lockdown anyway. Enjoy the new lens and don't swallow the camera. Carry on!

Great to see you back outside! I have noticed this a few times. When you found the chocolate, you said "yeessss". I've got to know, are you channeling Jeremy Clarkson? He's the person I think of when I hear an extended "yes". I like the timed pics, nice to see again of how you did these. I hope to try it myself before too long! Thanks for the ideas and the humor.

New channel coming “ Popsys Pink Wall” . Great vid as usual James. Great pics.

I love watching your videos the way you take those photos hits different

Thanks for another great video James! How are you finding the peak design tripod?

So YOU’RE the one that bought the GoPro mouth mount - your purchase probably saved a product designer’s job. ;) Just having fun, of course. :) The bonus bike content was appreciated - I bought my first “proper” road bike (Trek Domane SL 4 - 20 pounds of carbon fiber delight) yesterday and plan to set it up very similarly to yours. Love the title on this one and have to say you inspired me to pull out my G9 and the Panasonic 12-35 f2.8 and have a little fun. Sure, MFT, but that camera is just such a joy to shoot. :) Hope things are good on your side of the Atlantic.

Wow, love the gravel biking/photography crossover! That Mason is absolutely delicious, particularly with the Ekar on it. Mad respect for lugging all that gear around too!

Hi James, I like the colours of your shots! They are film-like with no digital excessive saturation. Superb work !

Olympus 12-100mm, or the Canon 24-105mm. Two very versatile walkaround lenses, depending on which system I'm packing. That said, my E-M1 has finally quit after many years and many shutter releases, so I'm stuck with the EOS R for the time being. Also, as nice as orange is, yellow is where it's at! Cheers.

Just chroma key the background green, and you can have whatever colour (or background!) You want!

The green dark wall looked the best I think. Embrace the darkness and all that. As for walking vs cycling - the faster you go, the more shots you might miss!

I notice priorities on this channel. Bike is way more important than the table. Awesome ride mate! Keep it up!

Great to see you out and about.

Loved the photos James, some great ideas and food for thought regarding selfies. Bike looks great and super choice of colour, good luck.

Well done on the bike mate! I love it and I know you will too. Listen to you using all the gravel lingo too.

I'm a bit late to the party with my comment, but I noticed your tripod was very visible in this video! Great photos while you were using it though and your part of the world is on my bucket list thanks in part to your content. Cheers James!

Back to vicariously living through you! Well done as always 👍🏼

Hey James...another great video and the blue wall is the best by far:-). It really does look good as your background. Looking forward to more content.

Of course a photographer picks up a bike called Bokeh... :D Love it, nice color too.

Nice bike and the painted wall looks fabulous

Great shots. Love the blue wall instead of white or green

As a dentist seeing this "thing" you put in your mouth for keeping a kamera mounted makes me cringe! Such a horribly dangerous thing to do...

Great video and images and I love the colour of your new bike. You produced wonderful photographs that your bike manufacturer could use in their advertising campaigns.

Not surprised to see you upgraded to a gravel bike. Did you buy that bike because of the photography themed model name? I'd still suggest trying a rack and trunk for your camera gear to get that weight off your back. Btw, I wear my glasses inside the straps and use a pair of Milwaukee safety glasses from Home Depot. As good as any cycling specific sunglasses I've ever had.

One vote for the new wall color. Even if it does violate my manifesto: “Repeal orange and teal!”. We (viewers, fans, sycophants) all understand the need for revenue and the importance of advertising. But the frequency and intrusiveness of those which explode like landmines in the middle of your content have increased to the point of doing you real damage. Sorry to be a complainer, but this might be a good time to review the parable of the golden goose.

This made we very excited for the last snow to melt so that I can start biking out in nature again! Mind you, winter cykling in town has been quite the adventure as well though ;) Loved the photos too, good job! I find "action" selfies the hardest to take still - I need to practice that a lot more this summer.

Paint the wall grey. Then use a colour changing par can, uplighter or older lights with gels and it will take on that colour.

Any chance of a video of gear and how you go about taking photos and mountain biking. I suspect like many, I have just started biking and would be great to see how you carry your gear and what you take when out for a day shooting and mountain biking. Also have you ever done multi day bike/photography trips? Any advice would be great cheers 👍

I think the wall looks great with the blue. Maybe some highlight lamps and of course a few of your best photos. More to do with what you wear when in front of it.

i like this unobtrusive wall, not too dark or light. the super dark wall was the worst - showing off a black camera (or other kit) in a black hole doesn't work well

Hey man absolutely loving your videos keep it up. When cycling on rougher terrain, some flat bars may feel more stable and add to your confidence. They give you a bit more control then drop downs 🙃🙃

"your neck is basically like a gimbal" - James Popsys

I like this colour of wall but if photos added ummm not sure how well they will stand out unless you shine light down on them. Wait and see I guess. Love the orange colour of the bike by the way.

Last time I rode a bike it was a 10 speed. It had 5 sprockets on the back and 2 in the front to give you 10. The shifter mechanism on the front sprockets were the more common problem and all shifting was done with a lever control. You could shift the chain too far easily or not far enough on the front sprocket. Brakes were side pull. One very bad attribute was the rubber brake shoes slid out if the tire rotated backwards. I found this out when I snapped off a pedal going up a very very steep brick road. Once the pedal broke I went into reverse and then I found the brake shoes slipping out of their mechanism. I survived man-berries and all. The incident was only surpassed by someone "borrowing" the bike and lowering the handle bars then putting them back when done BUT NOT TIGHTENING THEM. I learned this when my tire caught a tiny lip on entering a driveway at speed and as I held the handle bars, the wheel followed the lip and as I turned the steering the handle bars went to the right and the wheel to the left, following the lip. I crashed being tossed through to the asphalt. I lived.

Nice vid. Congrats on the bike. It suits you! And I don't think the wall is the problem. It's the table. It's too high in my opinion.

James talking about bike parts is how my wife feels when I talk about lenses (woosh!!)... also beware if you see James selling his GoPro and attachments second hand...although knowing the depravity of man it may actually increase in value

I love the blue, very complimentary with the background light

As someone who also rides and shoots (photos and videos... just in case there was any question), would love to see more content like this!

Ahhh.... out in the wilds... with a full-frame and tripod as well !!! :) Nice video ! oh and cool bike - the color is ideal out there, easier to spot.

Thanks for sharing. Are you able to autofocus when using the intervalometer? I'm wondering how you were shooting in f2.8. Or did you manually focus at a certain distance?

James on those rough descents, drop your hands to the drop bars - it gives you better access to the brakes and just works better. Feels wrong to start with to be so low on the bars but you will feel more in control.

Enjoy the blue wall James. Needs a nice picture of Emily enjoying the Black Spur road on it though. The 🍊 bike is sweet too.

Ha ....sunglasses outside straps is for the marketing of the glasses i believe :). and dont go for clip in pedals on that terrain

It’s funny because I don’t own a 24 to 70 I went for the Tamron 15 - 30 and then I have a 50 mil lens and a 70 to 200 and I just move my feet back and forwards to get the focal length that I want I just felt like after I had Tamron I didn’t need a 24 to 70 as I don’t shoot a lot in that 35 to 60 range. I do wish tend to shoot a lot at the 70 to 100 range a lot more these days and even further but I just find I don’t shoot photos a lot in that focal length I’m the same now I have a Fuji XT5 with a light kit. And I also love mountain biking and looking forward to getting out this weekend on my bike to get to spots. Just make sure you pack everything well in your backpack so you don’t damage anything

Great pictures! I don't think I would ever get home again at such an amazing location, I would be way too busy taking pictures 😅 I think the color you have on the wall now looks great!

Good video, location, and bike. Pedal seems a bit stiff - either still very new or needs some grease - cheers.

Love the bike James, can you post a link to it? Great video as always.

Love the new wheels 👍 That orange makes for great contrast. When you give the video a thumbs up before you watch it ... you must be a fan 👍👍

I would advise against the "clipless" pedals - stick with platforms and shoes that you can walk in. From personal experience I can say it's embarrassing when you fall over sideways when you can't unclip in time, not to mention painful. Would certainly not like to have camera equipment on board during such falls.

@James Popsys I downloaded the Lumix Sync App which works fine, I think an update to my iphone made the old app inoperable.

That's a sick bike! Great video as always. I'd surely have to take my mountainbike out more often for these kind of things!

Damn, it's beautiful there. I like your video's because I laugh and learn. Thanks.

Hi James. You let me down. I was hoping you’d fall off the bike!! I’ll press play and continue on from 6 mins here 😜 Andrew. Love from Ireland 🇮🇪

Considering the terrains you bike through, are you sure a mouth piece is the way to go? How's the dental insurance over there? -Elaine

Good call on the bike - got one in the autumn to do exactly what you're doing (though mine's a leccy MTB)

I came for the bike and stayed for the photos. Gorgeous!

entertaining as ever. Oh, an some decent product shots.

Wow that lens performs well on the S5, might be worth the weight. Great video James, good to catch sight of Snowdon at last!

Enjoyable watch! Combining my hobbies 👌🏼

thanks for the video! I enjoyed it a lot. Question: When you ride to the puddle and shooting photos of yourself, are you on autofocus? and what type of autofocus setting are you using? Thanks!

“only a mile out” get crackin lol looks like a lot fun and was fun to watch 🚵‍♂️ Cheers 🍻

For the WiFi function make sure you have location on your phone turned on. Also for bike photos: Drive side, pedals at 3 o'clock position, valves on the wheels at 12 o'clock position 😉

That bike is awesome!! Nice Rapha bar bag too. :)

I think the blue wall is the best 👌

I love cycling, so was pleased you brought your bike into it. Bokeh is a great name for a cycling photographer's bike. What do you think of the Campag ekr gravel group?

Looks a nice bike, but I wouldn't have chosen a bike with drop handlebars for that type of terrain. Looks good in the photos though! 😉

Hardtail or full susp would be far more comfortable to explore the off road country side to take pictures. Nice bike thought. personally I am just not into gravel bike.

That sigma 24-70 DG DN Art lens, I've got the same lens for E-mount for my sony, one of the best lenses I've got, seems sigma is absolutely killing it these days, great lens.

Your stable still growing. You should consider full suspension bike, in rough terrain your perineum will be very happy. Stump jumper it’s my choice, rear suspension lock makes uphill climbs easy too Ps. Love that 80’s shades vibe 😆

Blue wall is fine.. Luv th Bokeh...

Wall looks great

Another great video James! Bike, camera, Wales - what can go wrong? and I even like the colour of the wall

Please no pink wall! Love the pictures by the way, they inspire me to get back on the bike, I used to bicycle tour quite a lot when I was younger.

Do you manual focus or autofocus does it thing during interval shooting? Thanks!

Congrat's on the new bike James, have been a fan of the bike/photography video's so hope you keep up the series. Looks like a really nice ride. Have been thinking of getting a 670 B wheel-set for my gravel rig, especially since I ditched the mountain bike. Not sure if you are familiar with him but check out Dustin Klein's channel. Terrific bike content but also does really good / creative video. Pretty sure that he makes regular use of a mouth/bite-mount thingamajig.

I just picked up a Miops remote plus for this exact struggle you were using with the timelapse. Excited that riding season is upon us to get out and try it out. I’m sure I’ll video on my channel about it. And wall color... what about apurutre Mc lights and then just change it with a light instead of painting over and over. Also got the Peak tripod so it’s easier to haul into the woods. I did one video about photo while riding and it was a hassle. Hoping my new tools help ease that.