Some more eye candy from our trip to Colorado for fall colors. The San Juan mountains are such a wonderful place to see colors of fall. These are all taken by Barbara, my wife. She really does have a good eye and it makes it nice to have a travel companion on these trips. I am very lucky to have such a wonderful wife, friend and companion. We are looking forward to visiting here again, maybe next year.
Enjoy.
Here are a few images from a fall color trip Barbara and I took at the beginning of October. Colorado is really magical for fall colors, just gorgeous, miles and miles of aspens turning color and fluttering in the breeze. The cool breezes and the hints of cooler weather in the future really make it special. We spent about a week in the San Juan moutains, enjoying the vistas and the colors. There are so many places to explore and discover that we hardly scratched the surface. The photographs here are from the area just south of Telluride a storm system was approaching and we were on our way out of the area. A more mundane life was pulling us back to the hustle and bustle of day to day living. Enjoy.
I will continue to add more posts with more images as I get them posted. On a technical note I only brought my mirrorless cameras, Barbara and I were shooting Fujifilm cameras, a X-T1 and X-E2. I also had my Sigma DP2Q and DP3m, but in this post these are all from me and the X-T1. Traveling with these smaller cameras is really a pleasure.
A brief update on the Rokinon 12mm lens that I previously reviewed. I did get another copy of the lens and color cast that I saw in the previous lens was gone. So that is great news. I have shot with the lens some more including getting out and shooting under the stars. One of the main reasons I was interested in this lens was it might make a good lens for nightscapes. I have to say that it really does make for a good lens for night shots. The lens is still a bit soft at f2, but that is to be expected with a lens that is this wide. It is not to say that it is unusable, but it does perform better stopped down. If there is nothing close to the lens and most items are at infinity focus then it is hard to see the softness. For most instances this not a problem and it is a wonderfully fast lens. I found that stopping down to f2.4 or f2.8 resulted in a general improvement, and by f4 is pretty good all over. That being said for quick nightscapes the faster aspects can be beneficial, and it will show less trailing. Even though this is a wide lens, with the crop factor it does give the field of view of an 18mm lens so that means that stars will start to show trailing before 30seconds, depending on where you point the camera.
This shot was from a quick trip out to Joshua Tree National Park, taken with a Fuji X-T1 and the Rokinon 12mm at f2.0 and ISO 3200, single exposure of 30 seconds.
Milky Way over Joshua Tree NP
The lens is a good deal considering the price and the performance. The downsides are the full manual focus and aperture and the lack of details being recorded in the EXIF of the camera. The Fuji does allow the setting the focal length so that is recorded, however the aperture used is not recorded. The lens hood also leaves something to be desired. It is really loose fitting and will sort of snap into place but there is a lot of play and I have found that it has come off sometimes in the camera bag, poor design, in my opinion. It is a functional hood for the wide angle lens but it could be better. The positives pretty outweigh the negatives. There is little chromatic aberration and little coma in the corners. I do expect some in a lens this wide but it is very negligible. Color and contrast are quite good. It has well corrected optics, much better than one would assume with a lens of this price point. It is also compact and relatively small for a wide angle lens. Focus ring and aperture ring are smooth and have a good feel to them. The aperture ring is detented at half f-stops from f2-f22. The lens feels solid and well constructed and is not weather resistant. The front is threaded for 67mm filters, which is nice.
I would recommend this lens, especially for the price point. I would give the Fuji 14mm f2.8 lens the edge, it has the full autofocus, as well as manual focus and the ability to have auto aperture, but the Fuji is substantially more money. The Rokinon is a bargain and for me a nice lens to have in the bag and one that will get used, for nightscapes and landscapes. I will still keep my Fuji 14mm. The Fuji is a bit better corrected optically but the Rokinon does pretty well. The extra 2mm of the Rokinon does make a difference. I was also interested in the Rokinon 10mm but it is twice the weight of the 12mm and is not as appealing. The 12mm was designed for mirrorless cameras and therefore the size and weight are scaled accordingly, while the Rokinon 10mm appears to be a verison of their DSLR lens with a Fuji X-mount on the end, not as appealing. I am happy enough with this Rokinon that I do not feel the need to compare it to the Zeiss 12mm lens for Fuji. For ultra wide I will stick with the Fuji 10-24mm f4.
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!
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
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.
Well so far it has been a busy year and it only just started. I am taking a break from posting photos weekly and concentrating on doing some photo projects and experimenting. Here is a photo my wife Barbara took with her new Fuji X-E1. This sun pillar was pretty neat, she is still getting used the camera, but it is an improvement over her old G-10. Taken in Laguna Beach, using the 18-55mm zoom lens at 55mm. Enjoy.
The final image for this year… been a long road but a fun one. I sure hope that this coming year is better for me and for everyone else as well. This sunset was taken from Laguna Beach after a brief but intense rain storm. It was just starting to clear a little locally but then sun peaked out right as it got close to the horizon. You can see Catalina Island off in the distance. Taken with the Fuji X-Pro 1 and a Samyang 14mm lens. Enjoy and thanks for looking this year at my images, many more to come in the following year. Happy New Year everyone!
I really thought this worked well in black and white with the reflections and the trees. This is from a wildlife sanctuary right in the middle of the city of Irvine. It is only 2 blocks from the 405 freeway, it is surrounded by high rise offices and condominiums and apartments. Yet this site is a sanctuary for all kinds of bird life, waterfowl and even including bobcats. Nice to walk around and get away from society even though it is in the background. Enjoy.
Well just a few more weeks left of this year, and a fine year it has been. Here is a shot that I recently processed from my trip to Yellowstone and Montana. This group of aspens was quite nice but I was quite happy with this shot. Fuji X-Pro 1 camera. Hope you enjoy it too.
At the beginning of October I took a trip with my wife to Montana and Yellowstone National Park. We were a bit late for fall color but there were some areas that had some still hanging around. It was quite cold there and winter was rapidly approaching. Here are few of the fall color landscape shot from the trip. Enjoy.
Hard to believe how fast this year has gone by…seems like it was only summer a few days ago… Well we have been having some rain, but I did not let that stop me, on the way home from work I stopped at a park in Orange and got out and stretched my legs. Even though it was drizzling a little I decided to take my camera, the oaks were in the process of turning color and dropping leaves and strolled past all the dead leaves I noticed a single green leaf among them. I liked the contrasts. Fuji X-Pro 1 and Fuji 60mm f2.4 macro at f2.8.
