Category Archives: Ramblings

Another year bites the dust…….

December 31, 2014 by admin | Comments Off

Well another year is in the process of slipping into the record books. Overall I think it was a good year, there is always room for improvement but in general things went ok. I am left filled with my usual feelings of not getting everything I wanted to get done, done. Oh well that is part of life’s rich pageant. I think having lots of tasks makes for a busy and fulfilling life, so I am not too worried that not everything was finished, they will be added to the next year’s agenda.

I am not usually one for lists or making “resolutions” but I try to set goals for myself, a subtle but real difference for me. Resolutions always seem like they are more trivial to me, easily broken and ignored.  Perhaps they should have more staying power and meaning but that is not what happens.  They seem easier to rationalize breaking.

Some of the things I want to accomplish in this coming new year,  and in no particular order. I need and want to revamp this website, I really need to add some images and replace a lot of them with better versions and better compositions. I also am going to try and write more articles and perhaps that will get down to a lot more commentary but the goal is to be a lot more active with the blog. I have not done a lot to promote it, mostly because I think the site still needs a lot of work. I also want to refine my image post processing, take my time to do what is best for my sense of vision. I want to refine my vision and be more deliberate with my art. Do more starscapes, and also do more photography in general, but then I always want to do more photography! It is a standard year to year wish, and pretty much goes without saying…..

I also want to make better and more productive use of my time. Time is fleeting and never seems to be a lot of it left at the end of the day, but I want to make it memorable and productive.

It is always easier to second guess and have perfect hindsight, but I am really lucky to have my family, friends, and a decent job. I am also especially lucky to have my wife. She is my companion, fellow photographer, friend, lover and confidant that gets me back on track and helps me stay focused.

And I will leave you with the last sunset for me this year and best wishes to all and hope that the New Year will bring much pleasure and happiness.

Thanks for reading. I will leave you with the last sunset for me in 2014…..

 

The last sunset for me in 2014

 

Sigma DP2 Quattro – High resolution niche camera

July 21, 2014 by admin | 6 Comments

Around the end of June I got an email from Sigma, the lens and camera manufacturer, announcing their “Try Before You Buy” program for the DP2 Quattro camera. This camera was announced earlier this year and it is a predecessor to their DP Merrill line of compact cameras. These cameras are based on the Foveon sensor which records color for each pixel instead of using a Bayer matrix and interpolating the color. This leads to an increase in resolution, how you classify that is open for some debate. The DP2Q uses a new version of their innovative sensor, in that it records a full resolution luminance and blue chrominance and reduced resolution red and green layer. It still records color for each pixel.  They have a lot more information on their website.   One of the advantages is that  there are no filters in front of the sensor, and one of the disadvantages is the sensor records each color in a different layer, the deeper the layer the lower the intensity of light as it penetrates deeper, and this can lead to more apparent noise. So the sensors do not do real well in high ISO, dim light situations. The benefit of these sensors, is they can deliver a ton of resolution in a small and compact package.

 

Sigma DP2 Quattro

Sigma DP2 Quattro

The camera is not your normal looking camera, it is long and thin with an angular grip on the right hand side, which has the shutter button and main controls and also houses the battery.  The lens is a fixed lens, 30mm f2.8 and has the equivalent field of view of a 45mm lens on a full frame camera, the crop factor is 1.5x.  The grip is very angular and I found it could be uncomfortable to hold in one hand, I suppose you could get used to it but it really lends itself to being held in both hands. There is hot shoe on the top centered over the lens as well as a standard tripod screw socket on the bottom, centered approximately at the centerline of the lens and at the sensor plane. This will at least make it easier for doing panoramas. The memory card is located on the left side of the camera and has a rubber type cover that is a little awkward to remove each time you want to access the memory card. That type of cover is usually used for covering ports that don’t get used often. If you have short fingernails it can be problematic to get the cover off. That was not the best choice. The battery loads from the bottom in the grip area.  The top of the camera has a small button for turning the power on and off, a mode button for setting the the various modes, like program, aperture priority, shutter priority or manual mode. There are two rotary switches on the top, the front most one has the shutter button on it and rotating controls one of the settings depending on the mode. The rear most rotary switch controls the exposure compensation or aperture in manual mode. On the back there is a nice 3 inch lcd screen. It is not moveable or tiltable, which is really a shame.  The four buttons to the right of the lcd control various functions and includes the menu button. On the rear of the grip area is a button surrounded by a 4 way toggle. It is a directional switch as well as turning the focus mode from manual to autofocus and also for selecting the focus point. The lens also has a small, thin ring that can be used for manual focusing, it is fly by wire type focusing. The hood is a little large but usable and uses a bayonet mount to attach to the front of the lens. The lens is also threaded for 58mm filters.

 

Sigma DP2 Quattro rear view

Sigma DP2 Quattro rear view

Field Testing

As I mentioned earlier the grip is not very ergonomic, at least for my hands it put some pressure at points that made it uncomfortable to hold for a long time period in one hand. Using two hands was a lot better, balanced quite well.  The camera will focus quite fast if the light is decent, seems to hunt a bit in low light. There are only 9 focus points,  8 points centered around the center point. These are easily accessed, pressing down on the 4 way button and then selecting the point you want and pressing the center button to return from the selection. The drawback is that there are only 9 points. I have been spoiled with DSLR’s and my Fuji X-cameras and I am used to having a lot more focus points. When manually focusing you can press the center button on the 4 way to zoom in and check focus at the selected focus point, this is really nice. Manual focus is “fly by wire” and responsive. There are two zoom factors, but you need to press the center button to exit zoom mode. You can autofocus and then adjust the focus manually, without having to switch modes. When you select manual focus a small distance scale appears near the bottom of the lcd screen. The distances marked are very coarse and not very useful, smaller divisions would have been more helpful.

Once you press the shutter it can take a few seconds before the camera will respond again, even though there is a 7 shot buffer, it is not a fast shooting camera at all. The raw files are huge and do take some time to write out. Having a faster memory card does not help, it still takes a very long time in modern camera times. The camera is a slow and deliberate imaging device that does not lend itself to shotgunning and rapid fire.  Raw files were in the 50-65mb range, depending on details, so there is a lot of information being written out to the files. The camera can record jpg, raw and jpg+raw. The jpgs looked nice but for this camera raw is the way to go.

The 3″ lcd on the back of the camera is nice until you get out in the bright sun, then it is very hard to see anything on it, let alone try to focus and frame. This is not that unusual for cameras that rely solely on the rear lcd. Sigma does make an optical viewfinder that slides into the flash hotshoe. This will give you an idea of framing but any exposure or focus information will have to be from the lcd. Sigma did not include one of the viewfinders for the trial. I really wish they had, and I think it will be a necessary item. On the screen you can also turn on a level and tilt indicator, which takes up a fair amount of the image area and can be disabled easily, but it is useful for initial setup for a shot. Also a live histogram can be enabled. I used this a lot, however, even if the live histogram was not showing any blown highlights I was getting blown highlights. So I ended up dialing in exposure compensation of as much as a stop in bright contrasty light. I did not see anyway to enable the histogram or a blown highlight indicator when reviewing images on the lcd, I think this is really an essential feature that has been left out of the camera. The camera also has the ability to bracket shots, which is nice and it is selectable in 1/3 stop increments, up to +/- 3 stops. The down side of bracketing is that it can take awhile to write out all three shots and the camera is not very responsive.

Battery life was reasonable and I seemed to get around 250-300 shots on a battery,  however the camera does get noticeably warm. In fact it can get quite warm. I noticed the warmth on the left side where the SD card is located and also on the right side in the flat area next to the lens. It is almost if the processor inside the camera is using the case as a heat sink. On a warm SoCal day it got quite hot, hot enough that the “overheating” icon started flashing on the lcd. This is the first camera that I have that had an overheating icon, let alone having it come on. It did come on several times on a hot day, so I shut the camera off and sat in the shade and let it cool down. It would cool down in about 5 minutes or so with the camera off and then back to shooting.

Raw Conversion Software

Barrel cactus

Barrel cactus shot at ISO 100 1/30 @ f16

Raw conversion is another possible issue for some users. The raw format from this camera is only supported by Sigma, the manufacturer. So you will not be able to use Adobe Lightroom or Capture One to process your raw files. You must use Sigma Photo Pro. This software is easily downloaded from the Sigma site and they have versions for PC and Mac. The software seems to have most processing features you might want to use. However it is a very slow piece of software, loading images takes some time, as well as any time you move a slider, it will take 10 seconds or so to update the image. While I realize that there is a lot of data, in today’s world that is slow and can be frustrating when you catch your self not allowing time for the update to catch up. It is not real time adjusting.  Also when you load an image it does not reset any of the previous settings that you use, so you need to go and manually resets each group of sliders by pressing on the respective reset buttons. Sigma Photo Pro, or SPP, does have a image browser so you can look at thumbnails and then click on the image to edit, and it will use two monitors if you have a dual monitor setup. One thing I found annoying is that the thumbnails, even in the “large” setting are too small to really see any details. I found that Breezebrowser allowed me to browse the thumbnails and see a larger version so I used that to browse the images to select the ones that I wanted to bring into the editor. The SPP also has a few bugs, at least the current version that I tried during this period. I found that if I set the box to save the image settings while I was saving the file out as tif or jpg, when I went back to edit another image it would crash on loading the image. This was solved by not checking that box, also it seemed that it never saved the image settings anyways, so kind of a moot point.  Another thing that was missing was any kind of curves, all adjustments were via sliders. I also found that the sharpening slider quickly resulted in artifacts so I would end up doing any sharpening in a different software. Another “feature” that is annoying, when you start up SPP, it goes out and looks at each and every drive on your system, so if you have some network drives that are “sleeping”, it wakes them up and accesses them. So you sit there staring at and empty framework while all the drives spin up, it does this even if it has never accessed the drive before. The slowness of the software was consist on all the computers I tried it on, originally I was using my laptop and thought switching to the much more powerful desktop would speed things up. Turns out that was not the case at all.

Image Quality

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Corner crop of the cactus image, 100% crop from the upper right hand corner

As with any camera the overall image quality is what really matters. After all a camera is just a tool. The size of the image from the DP2Q can be a matter of discussion, the RAW file, straight out of the camera is 5424 x 3616, which is a decent size image. You can save it, after processing in SPP, at a super high setting of  7680 x 5120 in both jpg and tif or you can save it in the default size of 5424 x 2616 or even a half size or double size image. I only save at default size and super sized, I saw no real benefit in the half size or double size images. You can also select 8bit or 16bt for the tif and you can also select the color space.  The larger size is very hard to tell from the smaller size. There seems to be a little resolution loss but I did not take enough samples to be completely sure. The larger size is certainly getting closer towards the size of medium format. Since there are no filters at all in front of the sensor elements the resolution and sharpness is quite amazing. That is if the photographer has done their job, any kind of camera shake or instability can affect image quality. So this is one of those cameras that best practices results in better images. In general I found colors to be bright and vivid straight out the processing software, white balance was pretty accurate most of the time, but in some conditions and with people the color balance seemed a little off to me. I am very used to having the white balance nailed, especially with my Fujifilm cameras and with the Canon dslr. If you look closely at the crop of the cactus image to the right, you can see a ton of detail in this image. The crop is from the upper right corner of the previous cactus image. There is no distortion that I could see with this built in lens, optical quality is excellent. The details are really amazing, the crop is at 100% and no additional sharpening was used. Notice the fine details in the fuzz between the spines and the rings on the spines. The bokeh at wide open apertures was quite pleasing and having the f2.8 was nice.

 Final Thoughts

Well it was too bad that I had to ship the camera back to Sigma, I had it in hand for less than a week. I wish I had some more time with the camera to really put it through its paces. This was the first Sigma camera that I had used, I have used many of their lenses. That being said I had read about and researched their DP Merrill series of cameras, the one that this DP2Q is replacing, and I often lusted after one. I did understand the shortcomings of those cameras but the images were compelling with lots of detail. This new generation is along those same lines. There are good things, and some not so good things about this camera.

The camera is capable of taking amazing images with fantastic detail, if the photograper is careful and uses best practices. That means careful focusing, stable platform, watching shutter and aperture, taking the time to get things right. It is not a point and shoot. It really needs to be shot at low ISO ranges, the camera is capable of 6400 but I think a more realistic limit for color is about 800, and you can do a lot with black and white images up to ISO 1600, beyond that it is not that great. Image quality degrades, lots of noise and blotching. So keep it low ISO.  I put a Arca swiss type release plate on the camera and used a tripod as much as I possibly could, this slowed things down and made it deliberate, which is what this camera needs. It is slow, in a relative fashion compared to other cameras, but not really that slow compared to cameras a few year ago, and those had much lower resolutions. Watching exposure is a must and sometimes bracketing is needed to assure that you captured the image. The controls are well laid out and easy to change and are well thought out, just the grip leaves a lot to be desired. I did try the flash that was sent with the camera, it worked ok and seemed to do an adequate job, not something I would use much with a camera like this, but if you need a quick shot, it is worth it. The software is slow, no matter what machine you run it on, it takes some time to get used to it. The best thing to do with the software is adjust exposure, white balance, lower sharpening and output a 16 bit tif and edit in some other software with more features.

What it really needed was some sort of electronic or mechanical shutter release, there might be one, but unless it uses the USB port I did not see anyplace to attach it. That would be nice to have, especially when using a tripod. Another nice thing to have would be an optional Electronic View Finder, but I don’t see that one happening. A tilting lcd screen is also something I really wish they had on this camera, the might mitigate some of the bright light usage issues and also make it easier for tripod use. I am not sure how well their optical finder works, as it was not included.

So in conclusion, it is capable of amazing images if used with care and some tolerance of quirks. In other words a nice camera that will have an appeal for those who can appreciate a niche camera. If you are looking for a snappy point and shoot to chase the cat around the house, this is not the camera for you. If you are looking for a camera that will challenge you to get the best images you can get, then you have room in your bag of tools for this camera.

I still have a backlog of images to process but here are few more samples. Click on any of the images to see a larger version.  Feel free to contact me with any questions, and if you are with Sigma and want a tester…….. be happy to help. Thanks for reading.

UPDATE: 30 July 2014

I just wanted to clarify a few things. In my look at the DP2 Quattro I was wrong about the blinking highlights, those can be viewed during the review process, I read about it in the manual, when I get the camera I will be sure to enable it. The other thing is that Sigma is making a release for this camera, it plugs into the USB port and is relatively cheap to purchase, it is a simple button with a hold function

Sigma has also announced that within the next two weeks there will be a camera firmware update and an update to SPP, hopefully that will clear up a few of the bugs.

 

_SDI0010-Edit1-web.jpg_SDI0032-web.jpg_SDI0105-a-web.jpg_SDI0203-a-web.jpg_SDI0231-web.jpg_SDI0468-web_SNSHDR_3-web.jpg_SDI0473_4_5_tonemapped-web.jpg_SDI0483-web.jpg_SDI0604-web.jpg_SDI0709-web.jpg

 

Pimping the X…..

April 10, 2014 by admin | Comments Off

Have you ever noticed that nothing is perfect out of the box?  They can be close to perfect but soon you notice a few wrinkles. A little more time and then comes the need for some enhancements. I am not talking about that “eX”, there is little you can do about that, but I am, of course talking about the X-series cameras from Fujifilm. These compact wonderful little cameras just beg for a little enhancement. Some of the enhancements are just cosmetic and maybe you have gone through that with your “X”. There are some that are really needed to enhance the experience and the usability. Let’s take a look.

Grips, tripod plates, thumb rests and other handling enhancements.plates-web

Lets face it, these are small cameras and there can be some issues with handling. They were not as problematic as I envisioned them. When using the X-Pro1, X-E1, or X-E2 I think a Thumbs Up thumb rest is a mandatory item. It gives me a nice comfortable but firm grip with my thumb, the disadvantage is it uses the hot shoe so it has to be removed when using the flash or a flash trigger.  That is unless you use the sync port on the X-Pro1 or X-T1. It does prevent me from hitting buttons on the back of the camera as easily by mistake. Yes the original Thumbs Up is expensive but it is well made, fits perfectly so you pay a bit more for a quality product rather than cheap knock off. It always surprises me when people gripe about the cost when they spend $500 on a bag to carry the camera, but I guess it is all relative. The X-t1 has a different design for the body and does not lend itself to the use of a thumb grip, like the rangefinder style cameras.

Soft release is another essential item for the X-series at least up to the X-T1. At first I thought the soft releases were just joke and how could they make the shutter button better? Well once again, use and testing revealed otherwise. The cameras up to the X-T1 have a screw in shutter release capability, just like the older film cameras, the soft release screws into the shutter button and really does change the feel of the button and how it operates. I wish the X-T1 could use one, although I see that at least one manufacturer has a stick on version for the X-T1 now. The button on the X-T1 does feel pretty good, or I am just getting used to it, since there are not many options.

When doing landscapes, nightscapes, and long exposure photography a good tripod mount is needed. Fuji in their infinite wisdom (sarcasm alert) decided to put the tripod mount screw offset from the lens center and close to the battery door. I don’t know what they were thinking, any kind of quick release plate and you are blocking the battery door. The grip for the X-Pro1 was nice in that it attached to the bottom, gave a nice larger grip to hold and moved the tripod screw to the centerline of the lens but they still blocked the battery door!!! Well Really Right Stuff to the rescue. I use Arca-Swiss compatible ball heads so the RRS L-plate incorporated the ability to use the Arca-Swiss style ball head, and still allowed access to the battery door without having to remove the plate. The RRS plate also has an optional grip but I found it unnecessary on the X-Pro1. The RRS has a better build quality and is well worth the extra few dollars than the cheap knock-offs. They are currently developing an L-plate for the X-T1. The optional grip attachment just did not feel right to me, it was machined aluminum and I like the leatherette feel like on the body and that grip extension just changed the feel too much and added some weight to the camera.

For the X-T1, Fuji did listen to customers and critics and came out with two different grips. One is a battery grip that holds an extra battery as well as additional controls for use while in the portrait orientation. I originally thought I would find this an essential item, like I did for my dslrs, but for this camera I do not think it is needed. You do get the extra battery and so it would take twice as many images on a charge, but when it comes time to change the batteries, you have to take the grip off to change the battery in the camera. That could be tiresome but I guess you would get used to it. The attraction to me for these cameras is the compact size and I am sure that the battery grip is useful, I think it changes the camera to one that is no longer as compact. This commentary on the battery grip is coming from not actually handling one but after handling the X-T1 I just feel it does not need the added weight. I reserve the right to change my mind!

They also made another grip, that adds a thin bottom plate that is also Arca-Swiss compatible as a quick release plate for ball heads, and it added some extra grip to the front of the camera. And low and behold, you can access the battery and change it without removing the plate! Also it moves the tripod screw to the optical centerline. The MHG-XT as it is known looks to be a good addition, I am still getting used to mine, not sure I am happy with the feel of the new grip and how it changes how I hold the camera. It is a little bit different grip, but enough to make it a little uncomfortable. It also lacks a L extension for portrait orientation while using a ball head. It is well made but it may not last in my inventory. I think an RRS L-plate will be of more use to me.  Some of you are wondering why I would want an L-plate when the Fuji grip already has the quick release style plate, well when you move a ball head 90° you limit some of the movement, so it is not as easy to position as it is to just reinsert the camera in the portrait orientation from landscape orientation. When using a L-plate in portrait orientation you have a full range of motion available, just like when the camera is rotated to landscape orientation. The MHG-XT is well made and fits the camera very well, a nice addition but still waffling on this one, it just may take some time to get used to it.

Cases_MG_3010-web

Cases are a mostly cosmetic enhancement, more bling than functionality but there is some utility. I am not a fan of full leather cases in general, but the rangefinder style body in a leather half case just looked cool. I admit it, it was a blast from the retro past with a tinge of hipster that I am loathe to admit. I started with film cameras and manual focus but I never had a rangefinder or used one. I was intrigued with them and I have some older cameras that I inherited that have leather cases. So off to Ebay and a search for some leather cases and I got a tan leather half case for the X-Pro1. It looked nice, it fit nice, it did offer some protection, enough to rationalize its use and a bonus is that added some thickness to the grip and that with the Thumbs Up made for an easy to hold and use setup. The leather case also added a tripod screw, so good to go for tripod use when needed.  There was a bump in the road, the battery door was blocked, you had to remove the case to access the battery and the memory card…. arrrrrrr. So with a little wielding of a sharp knife, some patience and a little blood, there was an access port in the bottom, the case could stay on, at least while being used hand held. it looked good and when doing landscape work I could either place a small release plate on the bottom or for full blown dedicated photon harvesting, change out the case for the L-Plate. Versatility and style……_MG_3011-web

The case for the X-Pro1 worked out so well that I decided after getting the X-T1 to add a leather half case. Gariz was out early with a case designed for the X-T1. Again this was off of ebay directly from Gariz in Korea. Several colors were available, the medium brown was really tempting, however I opted for the black. Fuji also had a leather half case available in black but I heard initial reports that they blocked the SD card door! You had to remove the case to get at the memory card….noooooooo Fuji how could you  have designed this into the case? The Gariz did not block the access to the door or the battery door on the bottom. Gariz also installed a metal bottom plate and added a tripod screw along the centerline of the lens. The on and off is easy with ringed screw to allow tool less installation and removal. The ring on the attachment screw can also double as a ring for sling type strap. After a short time, my airmail package arrived and inside was a nicely made black leather case with a chrome plated bottom plate. The workmanship is excellent and the fit is excellent. What could go wrong? Well actually a minor detail, the half case fit so snugly that it prevented the lcd from tilting. The lcd was hitting the nice bottom padding, you could loosen the attachment screw but that was not a good solution. On the Fuji X-forum another user posted about the same problem and had a brilliant solution, a small paper shim. The shim worked wonderfully, a couple of small pieces of heavy weight paper and that allowed enough space for the lcd to tilt in and out easily. If you are looking for a leather case, I can highly recommend the Gariz case, well made, fits perfectly, well designed and engineered. May need a couple of strips of paper as shim, but that is just a minor issue. Well worth it.

Straps and bags and protection

Well this is a topic that can be a highly personal one, me I am not too fussy with straps. I am mostly concerned with comfort and functionality. How it looks is secondary, yes I know that sounds contradictory when I was nattering about the leather case. It is what it is….. So I use a webbing and padded nylon type strap. Something that looks decent and comfortable, no way am I going to spend $250 on a thin distressed leather strap. I do have limits to my insanity. I have always used neck straps with the camera hanging down to my chest. The Fuji now has me considering to try a wrist strap, something I have always thought I would not like. I am keeping an open mind and will give one a try and see how it works for me in real life.

Bags are a topic for another post, my quest for the “right” bag is still on going. I am not sure that it will ever be finished. Doing photography for over 30 years has taught me there is no perfect bag, yet. I keep hoping. I have gone from shoulder bags, to backbacks with impossible loads. Then to the smallest bag I could fit the mirrorless camera in and now heading towards the messenger type bag. No bag seems to have exactly what I want when I want it. Most of my bags are nylon, I just cannot justify those fine leather cases that are too tiny for use and cost $300-$700. Nope can’t do it. Cameras and optics I will spend the money on, but a bag just because it looks cool and costs $500, no way. A lot of those trendy, hipster style bags of canvas and leather are just not functional enough for the price. There are some that look cool, and I am sure they worth it, but I just cannot justify them. I am sure that some will think I am just dismissing them but I just don’t see the need to spend that much on a bag when there are others that will do the job just as well.

LCD screens on the back of the camera can be a problem depending on how you handle the camera. I always use a protector on the LCD screen, this prevents scratches and accidental marks on the back that may interfere with reviewing images.  It can also affect your view when you use the back of the camera to compose a shot. I do try to handle my cameras carefully but accidents do happen and the more you use a camera the more chances are that something may happen to it. One of my reasons to get the Fuji x-cameras was to have a light weight, easy to carry camera, so I carry it with me almost every day. Wear and tear does happen. LCD screen protectors are cheap insurance, easily replaced and worth every penny.

A soft cloth or wrap can help protect your camera if your bag does not offer enough protection. My Thumbs Up  is starting to show some brass from rubbing through the finishing on the end from caused by the small bag it is usually carried in. When I first got the X-Pro1 I had the three individual primes, so that is what I carried and had a bag just big enough to house them all, so there is a little friction in the bag. Now with more gear I need a bigger bag but a lot less bag than for the dslr.  Also fingers and constant use cause wear and tear and the camera is starting to develop that used patina.

When it was time for my wife to get a new camera, we got her a nice shiny new X-E1 and also added the lcd protector, L-plate, Thumbs Up and soft release. She also thought all of that made for a nice improvement in handling.

So in conclusion there is not a lot of enhancements needed for the X-series cameras,  they are fun, functional and easy to use cameras. Add a Thumbs UP, lcd screen protector and maybe a grip or case and something to carry it all in, is all that is needed for a good time. It will make handling better and I think improve the overall experience.  For the X-T1 there were less gadgets to get Fuji really does listen to user feedback and does change for the better, just look at the firmware updates. A great system to buy into in my opinion. Another add benefit for me is I spend a lot less time looking for gadgets and more time shooting and using the camera, what a great concept. The X-series is made to be used.

MHG-XT

MHG-XT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X-Pro 1 modified leather case

X-Pro 1 modified leather case

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gariz X-T1 half case

Gariz X-T1 half case

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Y.A.R.R. Mateys!

March 18, 2014 by admin | 3 Comments

Well to add to the confusion and general information here is Yet Another Rolling Review of the new Fujifilm X-T1 mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. I decided to write up a few of my initial observations and why I wanted to get this camera. I have been using the X-Pro 1 since shortly after it came out in 2012. A great small lightweight, easy to carry, all day type of camera. I got it to supplement my dslr. Something handy to carry, you know the camera you have with you is the one you are going to use most often. It was never a replacement for my dslr, but it is damn close.

The X-Pro1 has a great feel to it, I enjoyed the freedom from carrying a heavy camera. The Fuji lenses are some of the best around, the price reasonable. So what was not to like? Since it was a retro styled camera, it was truly retro, there was no ability to use an electronic release, something I often use in landscapes and long exposure photography, it had a threaded shutter button like my old film cameras. It used a mechanical release. While that would work, I like using a soft release so that meant unscrewing one and using the other and then possibly losing the soft release later.  Fuji later released the X-E1 and X-E2 cameras and they appealed to me but did not fit as well in my hand and they had my missing release capability. I was ready to pull the trigger on the new X-E2…… and then they announced the X-T1. Oh this was nirvana, true bliss and a bad case of G.A.S. developed. I wanted it. I read everything I could, followed the rumors and waited, not patiently, to pre-order. That day finally happened at the end of January of this year. About a month later the wait was over… it arrived!

Tulips at Descanso Gardens

Spring time tulips at Descanso Gardens, X-T1 and 55-200mm

 

So what was gained with this new addition.

1. The EVF, larger, better, faster and very usable. The X-Pro1 had the nice switchable hybrid viewfinder, I could switch from optical to electronic with the flip of a lever. I had pretty much used the optical initially but after time I wanted a better and more accurate framing in most circumstances, so I was mostly using the EVF on the X-Pro1. Also with longer focal length lenses the optical viewfinder just did not cut it. The X-T1 has a much better EVF. A very big difference.

2. Focusing, the X-T1 uses both phase detect and contrast detect methods. The X-Pro1 used only contrast as it lacked the phase detect pixels. This faster autofocus is nice in some circumstances but it was not a “have to have”. I think people on the forums rant and rave about autofocus speed way too much. People used fully manual focus lenses for a long time and were able to capture action, wildlife, you name it. I think this is more of an issue because of modern society puts more emphasis that everything needs to be “now”. Instant gratification, instant delivery. While nice, not critical for me. So just as accurate as before but faster.

3. Ability to use an electronic release, very nice for me. Intervalometer here I come… Also a really nice feature is that there is a built in native intervalometer in the camera! Bonus! Best of both worlds. Timelapse waiting to happen.

4. Faster recording of data to the card and faster frame rate for rapid exposures. Not a mandatory feature but a plus for those times it is needed. Also raw files are 14bit while with the X-Pro1 are 12 bit, that means there might be a difference at extremes for capturing more dynamic range. Might not see it in day to day use.

5. Ergonomics. This is more personal, but I like the layout of the buttons, much better for easy functionality. Dials that are easy to set and see. The grip is very nice and comfortable. I was worried that it would be too small as it is slightly smaller than the X-Pro1, nothing to worry about. I thought I would have to have the battery grip for it to be comfortable, but that is not the case at all. Having six function keys that are user configurable is wonderful. The screen tilts, this was not high on my list of features but it is useful. There has been some flak on the net about the directional buttons being too flush, yes they are different and quite flush. Yes they did feel odd at first, but after some use, it is easy to find them and the muscle memory is slowly adapting. So a definite plus in usability.

Korean Friendship Bell, X-T1 and Fuji 14mm

Korean Friendship Bell, X-T1 and Fuji 14mm

Like any product, it is not perfect. Nothing is, we just need to adapt, makes life interesting. None of these issues are deal breakers for me.

A. Exposure bracketing. This has been an issue since the X-pro1. The camera only allows +/- 1 EV automatic bracketing. This is just not enough, in my opinion. I would like to see a minimum of +/-2 stops but better yet would be +/- 3 stops or programmable range. And the ability to set the step size and the number of images per bracket.

B. I would like to see the histogram remain live and usable when the shutter is half pressed. Metering should not stop.

C. Tethering capability. I would love to see the ability to tether and have complete control over the camera from a computer. The wifi app for the X-T1 is very limited. Full tethering would be a great feature. It would also allow the user to control bracketing, exposure, and do bulb ramping etc.

I am sure there are other things that I will find over time, but then nothing is perfect. The camera is just a tool, and as a tool this is a very usable camera. Form, fit and function. Will it make me a better photographer? No, but any camera that is a pleasure to use will get used more often, and as we all know, practice makes perfect.

A look at the Samyang 8mm f2.8 fisheye lens on the X-Pro 1

October 31, 2012 by admin | 8 Comments

Samyang announced that they were going to produce some lenses for the Fuji X-Mount and that was good news to me, they have made quality lenses for DSLRS so I was interested to take a look at what they had to offer for the X-Pro 1. The first in a line of X-Mount lenses,the 8mm f2.8 fisheye is a smaller version of the lens used on DSLRS.  The original DSLR lens is designed for an APS sized sensor, but I found it also worked quite well on a full frame camera if you removed the lens shade.  I searched on the internet and did not see a lot of examples with the X-Pro 1, so I decided to rent one to give it a test drive. I have been using Lensrentals.com as my main provider for rental gear, they have been great to deal with and I recommend them highly. When I saw they had the Samyang 8mm fisheye in stock, I placed my order. I usually like to rent something before buying, especially if I am not sure I am going to really want it, also to test performance and quality. Sometimes  I am just curious. Below are some images of the lens on my X-Pro 1.

Fuji X-Pro 1 and 8mm f2.8 fisheye   Fuji X-Pro 1 and 8mm f2.8 fisheye

Lensrentals.com had in stock one of the rebranded lenses. Samyang sells under their name, as well as being rebranded by Rokinon and other lens brands. The quality is the same. Samyang is a Korean based manufacturer that has some excellent optical quality lenses available for affordable prices. I have their 14mm f2.8 and 8mm f3.5 lens for Canon EOS and have been really pleased with the build  and optical quality, the images have been really great from these two lenses. My only real issue with them is they lack the chip to transfer the information about the lens to the camera, so the camera does not know what lens you have on, or what the focal length, or what aperture is currently set. They do offer that for some Nikon lenses, I sure wish they would offer it for Canon!  The Fuji X-Pro 1 is no exception, there is no communication with the camera. Luckily the X-Pro 1 allows you to set a focal length from the menu but you still do not get the aperture information. Bummer!X-Mount and EOS 8mm fisheyes compared

The Rokinon 8mm f2.8 for X-Mount arrived safely from Lensrentals.com and came with a small case to carry the lens. At first glance this lens is really tiny when compared to the EOS version. Pictured to the right is the EOS and X-mount versions compared side by side. The EOS version is mounted on the Kipon X-Mount to EOS adapter  and the lens shade has been removed. I did this to allow it to be used on a full frame camera. Samyang now sells it with a removable shade. The build quality of the smaller cousin is up to the normal standard for Samyang. Well made and not cheap feeling.  Th focus ring is smooth and the aperture ring has nice positive stops. The aperture ring is only in half stops and not thirds. The lens is nice and compact and about the same size as the Fuji 18mm f2 when compared side by side.

18mm compared to 8mm

The electronic viewfinder is the best method of focusing and framing while using the X-Pro 1. The field of view is so extreme that you really do need to see what the sensor sees.  This lens is considered a full frame fisheye, and this is full frame not in the sense of sensor size but the fact that the image is the equivalent of taking the largest rectangular image out of a spherical image projection. This gives an approximate 180 degrees field of view from corner to corner on a diagonal across the long side of the sensor and it does comes pretty close, but hard to actually measure.  This means that if you are looking to do equirectangular panoramas then you will also need to shoot a nadir image and a zenith shot. Shown below is a 360×150 degree panorama flattened, the zenith and nadir were cropped because I did not take those images. So the edge to edge coverage across the long side is 150 degrees. Six exposures, taken with a lot of overlap and assembled in PTGUI. Of the sample images shown this was the only in which a tripod was used, along with a RRS panorama head. With careful calibration you could take the image as 5 exposures and include one up and one down for zenith and nadir coverage.

6 shot Laguna Beach panorama

To view the above panorama as a virtual 360 panorama, you will need Quicktime, and click on this link: LB VR Pano

The fisheye distortion can be corrected in software, there are currently no lens profles available for this camera and lens combination but they might be available at some point. PTLENS, Adobe Camera RAW,  and Lightroom will allow you to correct the distortion manually. Photoshop CS6 can also correct for fisheye distortion, that is a new feature with CS6. However the distortion can be interesting and can be used in an artful manner, so it is up to the photographer to decide what post processing is necessary.

The image quality is quite good and it can focus quite close with a huge depth of field. So manually focusing is quite easy and easy enough to just set an approximate distance and be quite sure that most all will be in focus. Like any uber-wide angle lens, shooting it wide open at f2.8 and also because of the fish eye distortion, the corners of the image can be a little soft but it is totally usable and stop it down a bit and you won’t notice. The lens coatings seems to handle flare pretty well, although with something this wide it is hard not to get some flare. Color and contrast are good.

The extreme wide angle can also create some other “issues”. I normally hold the camera with my right hand over the shutter and gripping the camera while my left hand cradles the lens so that I have fast access to the focus and aperture rings. While using this lens you have to be careful as I found I was often getting my knuckles and part of my hand in the shot! Also while holding  the camera, especially in the portrait orientation, tilting the camera down slightly often caused me to get my elbow or my feet in the image. So you really need to scout around the viewfinder and look at the whole frame before pressing the shutter button.

So is it worth buying?  I would say yes. It is certainly not a “must have” lens but it is an interesting lens with a novel effect which can be used quite creatively. It can also  be used to create stunning virtual tours using an appropriate panorama head on a tripod. Price is reasonable and the build quality is good, so if you are in the market for a specialty lens like this, I would definitely get one.

Below are some sample images. The interior shots of the church are taken with the camera resting on the pews at very high iso with bracketing. When the light is so low and shutter speed gets down to 1/30 of a second the camera will bracket using the ISO, when in autoISO mode, so that can be useful. The highest ISO used was 6400. The other building shown is the Pasadena City Hall, one of my favorite buildings to photograph. I did not do any distortion correction in the sample below. Click on the thumbnails to see slightly larger versions you can also take a look at this same set of images on Flickr: 8mm sample images

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Fujifilm X-Pro 1 – Some of my initial thoughts on this camera.

May 6, 2012 by admin | 7 Comments

I saw the previews and the early announcements of this camera and I was intrigued. It had a lot of really interesting features. First it was relatively small, it looked like a rangefinder camera. I never had a film rangefinder but I was certainly aware of them and this was definitely a look alike but with enhancements and features that make it a modern camera. It looked like the new Leica digital M9 but without the hefty price tag. The sensor was something new and different and it also lacked an anti-aliasing filter that can blur details, yielding a potentially sharper image. So I waited and read about the camera.

The camera was released in March/April timeframe and when it was available and in stock I rented one with two lenses from Lensrentals.com.  I have been shooting DSLR’s for many years and film SLR’s before that so I was not sure how much I would use a camera like X-Pro 1 but I was really intrigued with the features and potential. Being in kind of a photographic slump it was not always convenient to drag around a large DSLR and lenses so I was shooting less than normal. My wife has a wonderful Canon G-10 camera, I like this camera, a small compact but it was also lacking something. It was not image quality, as the G-10 is a fine camera, but it lacked some of the features that I liked with DSLR’s, like the ability to change lenses and fiddle around with manual focus, and other minor details.

So in comes the X-Pro 1. Interchangeable lenses, hybrid viewfinder, feel of a film camera, a bit of nostalgia in the controls, the ability to fiddle to my heart’s content and the promise of excellent image quality, that is why I had to rent it to decide if I really would want, use and desire this camera. I see many people on various forums that order a camera and use it and then send it back if they feel it is not for them, I personally do not like to do this, to me it does not “feel” right to do that, unless it was really an honest mistake in purchasing or there is something wrong with the camera. Sending it back after using it, to me is just an abuse of generous store policies, and only serves to increase overhead which affects all us consumers, but to each their own. After renting it, I really enjoyed it, so I went ahead and bought one with the 18mm and 35mm lenses.

The camera to me has a really nice feel, small but  not  too small,  it feels like a usable camera. The lenses are small and lightweight but well constructed of metal  and not plastic. The current ones that are out are all fast primes, which will appeal to the more experienced photographer. It really does appear that Fujifilm chose to target the experienced photographer, the  more advanced amateur and professional and it could be used by a beginner but it may not appeal to them at first. The camera just seems to want to be used to take deliberate photos and not so much the snapshot, in other words it is something better than a camera phone. The controls are such that it can go from fully manual control to completely automated, menus are quick and easy to access and there are ways to configure and customize. There are enough reviews and previews on the web that it would just be redundant here to cover every single detail.

What I love about the camera besides the handling, are the images. Clear, beautiful images are easily made with this camera. To me the small footprint and the ease of handling and carrying around created a spark, it really begs to be carried around and used. Will this mean I won’t use the DSLR? Absolutely not, it will never replace those but it is nice addition to the tools available.

Some of the forums have had lots of comments about the focusing capabilities of the camera. Is it perfect? No it is not perfect, but it is perfectly usable. If you spend some time learning to use the camera and get a feel for how it operates it will be a fine tool. If you think you can run out and blast away and “spray and pray” and expect them all to be perfect, then you need to realize that is not going to happen. The X-Pro 1 is a deliberate camera, and it should be handled and focused with deliberation. I think many of the “issues” and complaints from users are due to they are not understanding the limits of this focusing system.  They seem to be coming from DSLR’s where the focus is very fast but it is a different system. A DSLR uses a phase detection system, using dedicated focusing sensors in an array. Different cameras will have different arrays of sensors but that kind of sensor is known to be fast and accurate. The Fuji X-Pro 1 uses a contrast detection system that is slower and is not as accurate as a DSLR. The X-Pro 1 could stand for some improvement in the software and it could be a lot faster and more accurate than it is, but it is perfectly usable and relatively fast if you use it correctly.  I personally use the multi-area mode with a single focus point in the middle and the “S” focus mode instead of continuous focus. This mode will allow for the camera to be focused when the shutter is half pressed or if the camera is configured for it, if you press the AL button. The photographer also needs to point that focus point at something that has reasonable contrast. In general  that will work well. There are times another spot must be chosen, once focus is established the photographer can then recompose and finish off my completing the shutter press.  Another workflow that works well is to set the camera into “M” for manual focus, then focused by pressing the AL button and then focus will be set for that area. This will act as a single shot autofocus or as a zone focusing system. I believe that Fujji will release further updates that will improve the focus ability, they really seem to listen to customer feedback, which is refreshing. I would really like to see “focus peaking” to be added as well as improvements to speed. However I can use it just fine now. The “focus peaking” will be really useful for manual focusing, which is needed for using none Fuji lenses. Currently the easiest way to manually focus is to use the EVF and use the in camera magnification to check the focus accuracy.

The image quality is fantastic. Currently I am shooting raw+jpg mostly because Adobe has not yet released support for the raw files. I always shoot raw files and process them in Lightroom and Photoshop, but this is not going happen until Adobe releases their support. I hope it is soon, they have said they are currently working on it. Fujifilm does give you an OEM version of Silkypix for converting raw files. Silkypix works, but the interface is clunky, and the learning curve is fairly high to get a decent image out of it. However this is not as bad as it may sound because the out of camera jpgs are truly amazing. I never shoot jpgs with the dslr because they never look that good, but the Fuji jpgs are wonderful. The sensor used in the camera is very unique and generates beautiful image quality, that can only get better when we have some decent access to the raw files. The jpgs are sharp and rival what I can get with my DSLR’s with beautiful color and truly impressive high ISO capability. The high ISO capability certainly looks better than my DSLR but I will make a true comparison with the raw files at a later time. The high ISO from the Fuji is very clean and has low noise and a very natural looking grain at the extremely high settings.  The camera also has “film” emulations settings that get applied to the jpg, classic Fuji films like Velvia, Provia, etc. Also a black and white mode and a black and white with filter setting to emulate the use of various color filters commonly used in black and white film photography. Another interesting feature is that the sensor is sensitive to IR, enough so that if the user puts an IR pass filter on the lens, like a R72, infrared images can be captured. The IR pass filter only allows the IR band of light above 720nm to pass through to the sensor, visible light is blocked. The camera will even autofocus with this filter in place, the lcd and EVF make it easy to compose IR images.

Another innovation is the viewfinder. It is a hybrid viewfinder, it has an optical mode, and an electronic mode, and if the user does not want to use it, there is a nice large lcd display on the back of the camera. In optical mode the camera can display a lot of information if the user chooses to, almost like a heads up display. There can be an artificial horizon, grid lines, exposure setting information including, aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Also a “live” histogram is displayed so that the exposure can be set and modified easily, exposure compensation is shown and easily accessed. While looking through the view finder the photographer will see an approximation of the field of view with some framing lines, this is not as accurate as it could be, but usable. Also the focus point can be selected and moved. The user can also, with the flick of the switch, change to the electronic viewfinder which will show what the sensor is seeing, so the best of all views can be selected easily and quickly. I really enjoy the live histogram.  The parallax view through the optical finder and the display area are something that the user can adapt and get used to with some experience and use. When an exposure it taken the image will flash in the viewfinder for a short time so that it can quickly be verified, a cool feature, discrete chimping!

A shutter release can be used but it is the old style manual cable release, good thing I still had one from my film days.  Sure wish it had an electronic release so that an interval timer could be use, but still not a deal breaker and part of the retro feel to the camera.

The lens quality is very good, quite happy with the ones that are available and Fujifilm has released their “roadmap” for lens development, and some zoom lenses with image stabilization and some more fast primes will be available over the next two years. There has also been a flood of lens adapters from a lot of dealers, especially ones from China. The camera has a very short lens flange to sensor distance and so this makes adapting many dslr lenses easy as well as standard rangefinder lenses. I picked up a Canon FD lens adapter. It has breathed new life into my old manual focus film lenses. I have seen many others, including adapters for rangefinder lenses like the Leica M-mount, so the photographer is not limited. Fuji also includes a menu item in which the user can set the lens focal length when a manual lens is attached, so it is documented in the image EXIF. Currently the camera will only focus and set the aperture of Fuji lenses, but who knows that might change from the people at Metabones, that is only a guess and perhaps a wish to get an EOS lens adapter with auto aperture!

To me this is an exciting camera. A tool with some innovative features that can take quality images that rival high end DSLR’s. Is it a perfect camera? No, it is not, but then I do not think there is such a thing. Not all people can be pleased and there will always be compromises some might think of them as features but since there are many different opinions, it is not possible to please everyone. I think the camera will appeal to those who are more advanced or more interested in the “art” of photography. It will also appeal to some gearheads. It will not appeal to those who are trying to replace their DSLR, or sports photographers or action photographers. That does not mean they cannot use it, but it means that there is a different purpose in mind. It will not appeal to the “spray and pray” crowd of photographers.  To me it is a great supplement to my DSLR, something that is easily carried around to capture a moment, or to inspire and create. I think cameras are tools, brushes to be used to paint a photographers vision. Sometimes I get carried away with the technology, we do live in interesting times, but it is nice to regroup and rally around the reason to photograph, to capture our visions and inspirations, and at least justify the new expensive toys and to actually get out and use them! The more I use it the more I am enjoying it, so I am sure this not the last time I will write about it.