Some Thoughts on the Announcements from Nikon and Fujifilm at CES

If you don't know already, the annual Consumer Electronics Show is happening in Vegas right now and several prominent camera makers have chosen to use the event to launch their latest wares. I won't go into everything that was launched. For that you can pay a visit to DpReview which have been doing a good job on reporting the happenings. Instead, I want to share my thoughts on a few things that piqued my interest. Fuji X100s and Fuji X20

x100s-small.jpg

I'm a big fan of the X100. While I was disappointed with the X Pro 1 and eventually sold mine, I missed the Fuji look and eventually got an X100, which I absolutely love. One of the things that I really like about the X100 is the fact that you can process its raw files in just about any software, and they always come out pretty damn good. Well, kiss that option goodbye with the newly announced replacement, the Fujifilm X100s because they've put in the same X-Trans sensor from the X-Pro1 in the x100s. I'm sure that most fuji fans think this is a heretical comment to make, and that this is a great leap forward, but I much prefer the X100 files over the post processing hoop jumping that you have to do if you want to get the best from X-Pro1. On the plus side though, perhaps with more cameras using the propitiatory sensor design a few more companies might add support to their raw converters (I'm looking at you Apple) and maybe Adobe might finally accept that they need to improve Lightroom's handling of the X-Trans files. There's lots of other nice features in the update though, including improvements to autofocus, and a very interesting digital split image focus aid. I'm very keen to see that in real life.

The other big news from Fuji is the X20, the successor to the X10, will also get a new tiny cousin of the larger X-Trans sensor found in the bigger cameras. The results should prove interesting. Again, same caveat as the x100s. This means that you can expect far fewer third parties to support the x20s Raw files. Then again, you never know. Fuji are certainly doubling down on their unique sensor technology, so maybe that will spur better support.

Oh, one cool thing about the X20 is that they've now added some information as an overlay in the optical view finder. That was something I found sorely missing when I tried out the X10. It looks like a nice camera but to be honest, I can't see anything competing with the Sony RX100 until someone else decides to up the sensor size.

Nikon 1 Series

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Nikon announced two new cameras in their mirrorless range. The "J" series now reaches its third incarnation with the J3, and they also introduced a new "S" series, which is a lower end model. The Nikon 1 series has taken a lot of flak from camera enthusiasts, and yet, for the people who use it and take advantage of its unique features, it's giving them great results. The biggest surprise for me regarding the Nikon 1 series was recently reading that it was the biggest selling camera in Japan in the lead up to christmas. I guess Nikon knew what they were doing after all. I have to say, anything I've seen shot with it looks great. The only problem is getting narrow depth of field shots, but then that isn't everything. In fact some photographers would benefit from learning to stop down and give us a sharp image the odd time.

On the subject of the Nikon 1 series, I really home that the next version of the "v" line goes back to the original design. The V1 was lovely, but what the hell were Nikon thinking when they released the V2. It's bloody hideous. If there was an award for the ugliest camera of the year, it would clearly win. It's just that the V1 (and the J series) are beautifully designed, especially the white ones.

Fujifilm X-E1 Looks Like a Promising Alternative to the X-Pro1

If you've been a long time reader of this blog then you'll know that I had a love hate relationship with the Fuji X-Pro1. I was discussing this topic with a friend recently. You see, I bought an X-Pro1 a while ago but I eventually ended up selling it as the bugs in the camera were driving me mad. I've already written about it and I don't want to go over all that again, but anyway, I think in some ways, some people misunderstood my position. I loved the images you could produce with the camera. They had a unique look to them. Punchy colours and rich sharp contrasty images. There was something unique about it and I still look back at the shots I took while I had it and I still marvel at the quality. But the combination of buggy firmware, overall camera lag and terrible raw processing led me to draw a line under my experiences and move on. I never hated the X-Pro1, but for the type of photography I was using it for I needed something that was responsive and predictable, and the X-Pro1 for me, at the time wasn't it.

Anyway, Fuji have now released a new X camera, the X-E1, and in my opinion it looks like it addresses several of the failings of the original. First of all, they've done away with the optical viewfinder and replaced it with a full EVF. I couldn't applaud this decision more. I know this is heresy to some X-Pro1 fans, but for me, the hybrid viewfinder on the X-Pro1 was a bit of a gimmick (cue hate mail along the lines of..."How dare you, you're not a real photographer….it's the photographer that takes the picture not the camera… which is ironic because I'm attacking you for not liking the key feature of my favourite camera…..you're photography sucks….. blah blah blah etc"). It works well on the X100 because it's a fixed lens, but on the X-Pro1 it was widely inaccurate, and on the 60mm kind of sucks. The frame lines were at best a rough guess as to where you wanted to shoot, and if you were focussing on something closer than a few meters, it was ridiculously off. Considering the advances in EVF technology, and considering they seem to be using the same excellent viewfinder from the Sony Nex7 this is a great improvement. It also means they can make the camera smaller and lighter. It also means it will work much better with zoom lenses.

Speaking of zoom lenses they also showed off the new "kit" lens which looks like an excellent lens for an entry level lens. Mind you the price tag is not that of an entry level lens, but anyway. I'll be interested to see the reviews of that when it comes out. They've also addressed the shutter lag and focus speed, at least in the specifications, so that will also be interested to see in real life.

The other news out of fuji of course is the announced firmware update for the X-Pro1. The obvious issue this addresses is the focus speed, but they also mentioned write times and the other pain in the ass with the x-pro1, the zoom when manually focussing. The X-Pro1 zooms in to a barely useable 10X when using manual focus assist. They've now added a 3X option as well. All of this looks good on paper, but I'll be interested to hear the reviews once it comes out for real.

Someone asked me recently if I regretted selling the X-Pro1. In some ways I suppose I do a little. There is something about the images from the X-Pro1 that evokes an emotional response. The pictures aren't technically perfect, but the combination of excellent glass and fuji colours creates a unique image that provokes an emotional response in even the most mundane of subjects. I don't think it was the wrong thing to do. I needed a small camera for a project and at the time the X-Pro1 wasn't cutting it for me. I would have liked to keep it and continue to try and get around the bugs and wait for the firmware updates, but it was a lot of money to invest. I know there are lots of photographers out there who love the camera and think it's the best camera ever invented, but I still feel like it was a beta release. Hopefully the X-E1 will be more of a 1.0 type product rather than a beta, and I hope the the firmware updates to the X-Pro1 will improve the experience of that.

Now if Adobe would just fix the damn raw processing.....

Dublin In Cinemascope

I was having a little fun tonight playing around with some presets in Lightroom and going through some un-used images from an old project. While messing around I cropped an image to the cinemascope ratio (the really widescreen you see on blockbuster movies) and it looked really good, so I did it to a few more and before you know it I had a whole bunch of images which looked filmic.  I've always loved this ratio. It makes things look really dramatic and allows for some nice framing options. Unfortunately there's no way to shoot it in camera, but it's easy to set a custom aspect ratio in the crop tool in either Lightroom or Aperture. By the way, in case you were wondering, the ratio is 2.35:1 Anyway, enough babbling and on with some images! These were ones I hadn't used from my Docklands shoot a while ago with the X-Pro1, processed in Lightroom.

You can see the original docklands post here and you can see I've posted similar pictures or versions of these before, but it goes to show the difference careful cropping can make.

Farewell X-Pro1

After writing lots about the x-pro1 over the last few months, I figured it was only fair that I share my final thoughts as I bid farewell to it. It's been a frustrating experience, both because of the bugs, and also because of how good it could be if Fuji had properly developed the cameras software properly before releasing it. I understand why lots of people like this camera, as it can produce great images in the right hands, but for me the bugs have taken all the fun out of shooting with it. I can see how depending on your shooting style and level of expectations, the numerous bugs might not be that big of an issue for you, but for me, and for what I want to use the camera for, there's just too many things wrong with the X-Pro 1 to be worth the time and effort to work around the camera's bugs. 

The X-Pro1 could be a great camera but the issues with its firmware need to be fixed. Maybe in a year or two with a few firmware updates under its belt it will be the magical camera it could be. I know some will point to the X100 and the numerous firmware updates as a possible roadmap for fixing the X-Pro1 but I bought the camera to use now, not a year or six months in the future.

In the end, it's a matter of personal taste and as much as I try I just can't like the X-Pro1 when it takes a second to take a photograph after you press the shutter, or if you dare to take a bracketed series of photos it locks the camera up for 10 seconds or more. I've taken some great images with it, but I've missed some great images too because the camera had become unresponsive. For those who love the x-pro1 I salute you. Seriously, I really do. If you are getting what you want from it, then more power to you. I really do respect that. I just hope people can respect that not everyone is made from the same mold, and those of us who disagree deserve that same respect.

So onwards and upwards. I've sold my X-Pro1 and I bought a Sony Nex-7 instead. So far I couldn't be happier. I'll post some first impressions later, but I have to say, it has blown my mind that something so small can produce images of such amazing quality. More on that later!

Photo Of The Day: Galway Bay

I spent the weekend in the West of Ireland soaking up the rain and occasional sunshine, and of course the beautiful landscape. I had hoped to have posted more images by now, but I've been having a terrible time trying to post process the files from my X-Pro1. In the end I resorted to using the Jpegs. Anyway, that's a story for another day, and I'll have more soon, but for now enjoy this little teaser!

By the way, If you're interested in getting a print of this just click on the image, or follow this link.

Feeding Insect: Some Actual Macro Shots with the Fuji 60mm Macro Lens

Most of the shots I've taken with the Fuji 60mm to date weren't actual macro shots. I've used it more for its longer focal length and it's great for medium closeups, but I had taken very few proper "macro" shots with it. I was out walking in the park on Sunday, and I happened to have the camera with me (as you do!) I hadn't set out to take pictures but I came across an interesting set of flowers which I thought would make a nice pattern. I was snapping away when I noticed this little guy...

I didn't have a tripod with me so I had to make do hand held. Getting the focus was difficult because the lens focusses so slowly and the flowers were blowing in the wind. In the end I focussed by moving the camera rather than trying to focus the lens. It was still quite tricky because the camera is so light, and as with all macro shots, the plane of focus is very narrow. Still, I managed to get some good images

(head is a little soft here unfortunately - but the detail on the legs is cool)

What amazed me though, is that I was shooting some of these at ISO800 (some are 400) and there is virtually no noise. I love the milky bokeh too. I think this kind of shot - where there is an object in sharp focus, with the rest of the frame thrown out of focus  -  is the kind of shot the fuji really excels at. The tonality and graduation is beautiful and the softness as the focus falls away is really organic.

I love how the wings almost look like a stained glass window!

Oh, and incase you were wondering just how sharp these shots really are, here's a 1:1 (100% Crop) view:

Shots were processed with Silkypix and then brought into lightroom for some additional tweaking (although very little - just the odd vignette)

Dublin on A Bank Holiday (with the X-Pro 1)

I wandered into a bit of craziness earlier today. I had travelled into the city centre to do some photography and I had thought to myself: "It's a bank holiday, it should be nice an quiet". Of course I had forgotten that the Woman's Mini Marathon was on today. Well, it's not that I had forgotten, I just didn't think it was anywhere near where I was going. I couldn't have been more wrong. So, instead off taking some stately architectural shots I instead switched gears into street photography mode. I had wanted to try  out some new techniques for getting around some of the issues with the X-Pro1 (more on that tomorrow) so this turned out to be a good opportunity.

As I walked in by the park, past the marathon route, I thought that things were fairly quiet ...

A few people were heading here and there, and the race route was still being set up. Bear in mind this was at least four hours before the race was due to start.

Given the look on the faces of some of the entrants, at this stage I was beginning to wonder if the race had been held earlier and it was all over.

There were tourists about heading to their hotel clearly wondering what the hell was going on… (he looks like a german Bill Bailey)

Things got somewhat busy at the top of Grafton Street. The obligatory street performer wasn't helping the flow of people, that's for sure. It's good to see that after thousands of years of evolution fire still draws a crowd.

Ooo, ladder walking. Bring back the flames!

"Yes, Can I help you?"

"It's a banana, honest"

I bet she's thinking "I could kick him, you know"

While I do wonder what the girl is doing in the foreground (I presume taking a picture) I'm more interested in what looks like a fight about to break out behind her

You have to wonder what just happened to the left of camera?

"I'm telling you, we could hop on the back of that van, no one would know"

Nice hair!

You know it's tourist season when the Leprechauns come out.

Aren't you supposed to hide your pot of gold?

Anyway, that's about it. I was getting a bit claustrophobic at this stage so I decided to change my plan and go shopping instead. I did learn a few interesting things about the camera though. I'm putting together a blog post on a few tips and tricks and hopefully I'll have that up in a few days, so stay tuned.

If you were wondering how these were processed I converted the RAW files to Tiffs using Fuji's "Raw Converter" (silkypix) and then brought the images into Aperture. The "looks" are from a new version of my film candy presets (shameless plug) that I'm working on.

Fuji X-Pro 1 Support Comes to Lightroom. A Quick First Look

X-Pro 1 Support has finally come to Lightroom and Camera Raw. Many people have been eagerly awaiting this and now that it's finally here I took a little time this morning to have a look and see what it was like. I've kept all the raw files from everything I've shot so far, so it was simply a matter of going back and loading them into Lightroom. So what's it like? Unfortunately it's a good news, bad news kind of situation. On the one hand, it handles highlights much better than Silkypix. I was able to recover highlights much better than I ever could using the supplied Raw converter. The overall tonality is quite nice, and colours are handled pretty well. They're a little different from what the camera produces in JPEG, but this is normal. They're also a littler different from what Silkypix produces, but nothing too onerous.

On the down side, there are two issues. One minor, the other major. The minor one is that they didn't provide camera profiles like they did on other cameras, so they haven't profiled the various modes (i.e. Velvia etc) It's not that big a deal but it would have been nice.

The major problem is the way it handles fine detail. It get's completely smeared to mush. here's an example:

Click on the image above to view full size (you might need to download it if your window is small). The one on the left is from Lightroom. The one on the right is from Silkypix. The wall is completely smeared and the fine detail in the bricks on the buildings is gone. The whole effect is like a painterly filter has been put over the image. It doesn't look too bad when you just see an excerpt like above, but when you see the whole thing on a 27" display, it stands out. It's very disappointing.

There was no noise reduction on either, in case someone decides that it musty be my own fault (as is the way on the internet when someone points out something wrong)

Anyway, I'll explore some more and do a full report later, but initially, I have to say, I'm very disappointed.

Photo of the Day: Heron Wading Through A Stream

This was an entirely chance encounter that I managed to capture by sheer force of luck. I was out for a walk and I happened to have my camera with me. I was walking over the little bridge which crosses this stream and I noticed this little (well, not so little really) guy staring back at me. We sort of stared each other down for a moment while I slowly reached for my camera. I tried to be4 as slow and as calm as possible and he kept eying me cautiously. I managed to get a few shots off before he started to back away. It really is a beautiful bird, and you would almost miss it it blends into the surroundings so well.

Taken on a Fuji X-Pro1 with 60mm Lens

Some Images taken with the Fuji 60mm and the X-Pro1

I finally completed my trio of lenses for the X-Pro1 last week when I managed to get hold of the 60mm. It seems to be in short supply here in Ireland. The place I got my camera said they wouldn't have it for another three to four weeks and two other camera stores I tried were also out of stock. I was about to order it online when I remembered one more place I could try and luckily they still had a few in stock. I finally had some time to get out and give it a good try out the other day and he rte are the results:

First impressions of the lens are pretty much in line with what everyone else has written about it at this stage. It's very sharp, but also very slow to focus compared to the other two. Still, it's not really much slower than on some other mirrorless cameras, but it can be a bit frustrating. There's a small amount of purple fringing on some shots against high contrast areas, but its easily fixed. Other than that, it's a good quality lens. The one thing you need to be aware of though is it can be difficult to hold steady given the lightness of the camera, so you need to up your shutter speed as there's no image stabilisation system. If you're using the camera's auto ISO I've found that its chosen shutter speed of 90 just isn't enough. You really need (for me anyway) 125 or higher, especially if you're using the LCD for framing. This will depend on the individual mind you, as some people are much better at holding cameras still, but the overall package is pretty light so it's difficult enough. Mind you, I drink way too much coffee, so maybe that's what's wrong! Anyway, it's not a criticism, just an observation.

In terms of the camera, I was much less frustrated after this shoot than I was after my Docklands walk. I seem to be getting the hang of it now. I also made the conscious decision to stop trying to test the camera and just go out and enjoy shooting with it. The lag is bothering me less and I've managed to predict the overexposure most of the time. The only thing that's still kind of bothering me is the highlight burn out. Areas that should not be clipping are clipping. It reminds me of the ccd's in early digital cameras. It's the same kind of luminous highlights that just look wrong. It's not too bad in JPEG, especially if you set the highlight mode to -2 but on Raw file's its really challenging with the supplied software, even though the information is there. Hopefully this will be addressed when Lightroom and Camera Raw get support for the camera, but for now it's my only really big knock against the system. (Well, that and the abysmal battery life)

Ok, so back to the lens. Here's a random selection of shots taken with the 60mm. It's a mixture of proper "macro" shots, i.e. close ups and also some normal shots taken with the lens. Performance in either setting is pretty good, although you have to remember to stitch back and forward between macro mode and normal mode, or you'll have difficulty focussing.

As you can see, it was a nice overcast day again! Good to have the "summer" back after the brief flirtation with actual sunshine!

Obligatory Leaf shot. You can see the individual cells when viewed at 1:1 which is pretty good. It's nice and clean too and look at the the lovely round bokeh.

Close up shot of the water fountain in the park. You can really see the detail on the fallen seeds.

A close up of the metal on the other side of the fountain. There's some fall off in focus because of the angle I was at, but you can see  the really sharp part at the top.

Slowly dying flower shot.

This shot makes it look like something you would take in Autumn, but no, it's still May.

Close up of a Daisy. This was pretty small, so you can see how close I got. There's a nice smooth drop off in focus too, for that nice milky look.

Obligatory angry musician shot.

O….k….. I presume they mean for cloths….and not, you know, actual Ladies and Gents!

Yep, that's not a stereotype at all. No sir.

I do have a fascination for ornate letterbox covers.

Mural on the side of a pub in Temple Bar. Did you know that old Irish sea captains came with levitating dogs? I didn't.

This used to be a really great Pizza place in the centre of Temple bar, but they've kind of ruined it by turning it into a kind of bar. Well, I'm sure it's fine, but It's just not the same. Maybe I'm just being too nostalgic. Nice neon though!

Old poster on the side of a litter bin. I love how the camera rendered the colours as nice and solid.

Nice and smooth rendition of the detail in this sign. It's about 4 square inches too to give you an idea of the size

Obligatory steel plate shot.

Trapped forrest creatures. The colours this camera produces in overcast conditions is really nice. Almost pastel like.

A beautiful series of posters covering up bordered up windows. Quite clever. 

This is where they are.

More funky graffiti. "That's so deep man" (hippy voice)

Almost makes me feel like I'm in Cuba or somewhere.

For some reason this reminds me of Futurama. It's a nice contrast of the strong colours of the wall and the flesh tones of the woman walking by.

"Hey, what's going on, can I be part of the gang…guys….guys…."

Spot the two people looking out the window. If you're wondering what they were looking at it was this rather odd street theatre display that was going on below….

So, there you have it. All in all a pretty good lens, especially for the price. Just remember to watch your shutter speed, especially if you're in Auto ISO mode.

One last thing, I actually did very little to these shots too. I tweaked them in the supplied RAW Converter software to correct some of the blown highlights and fix any exposure irregularities and then brought them into Lightroom for some final contrast tweaks and to add some vignetting where appropriate, but overall I kept a light touch. The white balance was set to "cloudy" in the camera and it seems to be bang on for the kind of light.