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Last weekend I was cleaning the little X100 and experimenting with some of the settings, specifically trying out the back button focus method. I must have done something else wrong because during the course of the week I was using the camera on a couple of lifestyle shoots for the real estate work I do and I was getting wildly off exposures. It would either be way over or way under. This was obviously quite distressing because I have (as you probably already know) become quite attached to this camera that Alan gifted me. I have read about the sticky aperture blades (SAB) problem that some early X100's had and my immediate thought was that somehow this had affected my X100, even though it is not in the serial range that apparently some of the affected units were in. This afternoon I thought I would check out what was going on, so I had the camera out and was checking all the settings. If I pointed the camera at a bright light source it would sometimes get the exposure right, but then in the next shot it would be off badly. This was happening at all apertures. At this point I was really despondent and I was almost certain that I had the dreaded SAB problem. I then had a look at the front of the lens to see what was going on and I could see that the aperture was definitely moving and it wasn't stuck, but it wasn't behaving normally at all. If I pointed the camera at a light source it would stop all the way down and then open up as I was moving it around. So definitely not sticky aperture blades. But then why was the exposure so erratic? And why did the aperture move even when I wasn't taking a shot? Much head scratching. The only settings I had changed was the AF-S to M mode, which is a physical button, but something else must also be off. So I thought, let me try and see if the built-in flash would give me a decent exposure. Pushing on the flash activation part of the rear dial displayed a message, saying that I needed to turn off the silent mode (which I don't recall setting to on), so I did this and then took a few flash shots. No problems at all with exposure. As it turns out I had somehow put the camera into silent mode, which seems to invoke an electronic shutter that is only functional under certain settings. Normally I don't have any noises turned on, but the X100 would still use the mechanical leaf shutter. Needless to say I am mightily relieved! And to celebrate I am having some SAB (South African Breweries) of my own. Photo with the X100, of course.

I'm a huge fan of being able to create film simulations with the Fuji JPG engine. This one is from FujiXWeekly.com. Ritchie over there is creating some great film simulations. I've create a few of my own as well (monochromes) and will share some of those later. The Recipe: Kodak Tri-X 400 Film Simulation: Acros+G Dynamic Range: DR200 Highlight: 0 Shadows: +3 Noise Reduction: -4 Sharpness: +1 Grain Effect: Strong, Large ISO: Auto 1600+ Exposure Comp: +1/3 to +1 Clarity: +4 White Balance: Daylight, +9R, -9B Color Chrome Effect: Strong The Location: Forest Lawn Cemetery, East Side of Columbus, OH - Looking for a place to walk and snap some pictures. The Work: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Let us rewind to the analog film days of photography. The 35-50mm taking lenses were kings of their era and were present to almost every manufacturer systems offered. Their maximum aperture were ranging from a modest F3.5 to an astounding F1.2 if you were able to afford it. With the introduction of electronic autofocus and motorized cameras they were replaced by a plethora of different trans-standard zoom lenses from the cheapest ones to the expensive "pro" such as the 24-70mm F2.8. And that tendency has been replicated right from the start of the digital cameras era. With an angle of view of 63 degrees the Fujinon XF23mm F2 R WR can be assimilated as a "eye-normal" standard lens although for some their opinion is that this Fujinon model is a bit too wide to be classified easily in that category. Its close focusing ability is good and this caracteristic contribute largely to its versatility. It is not a (head) portrait optic but surely you can work full body view portrait with confidence and proximity of your main subject. The Fujinon XF23mm F2 R WR lens is a useful "interior" lens providing you are not looking for a very wide view (the Fujinon XF16mm F2.8 or XF10-24mm F4 R OIS lenses for example should be more interesting choices in that case). For sure in some narrow contexts you will need to contorsion yourself to embrass the whole subject. Because of its reduced size, this Fujinon XF23mm f2 R WR is a discrete optic and more if it is coupled with a Fujifilm X-E or X-M series camera body. This particular nature will be fully appreciated if you doing street, travel or casual photography in giving you the possibility to be more spontaneous in your activity. We cannot escape the (Leica) Summicron lens series analogy even if we are speaking of two very different lines of optics especially considering the electronic involvement into the Fujinon X-series. The two control rings of the Fujinon XF23mm F2 R WR allow you to select your aperture and adjust your focus manually if needed or hoped. In the case of the aperture it is handy to be able to better control the deep of field of your subject and also with the focusing ring have the capacity to choose the optimal focus point. The Fujifilm lens hood furnished with the lens is small and none-protuberant (You can leave on almost permanently except if you intend to use optional 43mm screw-in filters). What about the optical quality image output of the Fujinon XF23mm F2 R WR lens? Suffice to say that I cannot see any noticeable (for me!) between this optic compare to the others Fujifilm XF series lenses. To be more reassured you can consult the numerous technical tests over the web. But in my sens the best way of evaluating a lens for your specific needs is to take pictures with it. It can fit or not your style of photography and respond accordingly to your specific technical way of taking pictures. In some countries Fujifilm offers "try and test" session or even loan programs to do so. So the Fujinon XF23mm F2 R WR lens is it for you or not? That is the big question. Focal fixed lenses are optics that are asking a photographer adaptability to be ensure their complete useful. So your mobility is a key point of success when you intend to select that category of optics. If you feel better and confortable to work from a fixed point of view and reframe with a variable focal zoom lens that can be a big issue. On the contrary if you are a kind of "active" photo takers this Fujinon XF23mm F2 R WR can be be an creative and easy manageable answer (as for all the others focal fix Fujinon lenses). A few years ago I was discussing with Billy Luong of Fujifilm Canada about the possibility of creating a king of "bridge" new lens between the existing XF27mm F2.8 and the expensive XF23mm F1.4 R model and I have noticed his smiling facial expression at the moment. Less than one year after this conversation the new Fujinon XF23mm F2 R WR was introduced on the market. Additionaly the Fujinon XF 23mm F2 R WR is now offered as a complementary ("kit") lens combined with various camera body models at a very competitive price point. For many photographers it could a very wise and rewarding choice... View full article

I've got a long love affair with the original rangefinder cameras (Leica M4-P & M6) and the now digital rangefinder style cameras (Fujifilm X-E2, X-E2S & X-E3). I don't know if it is due of the fact that their viewfinder is located off center (meaning not in the same optical axe of the picture taking lens). But that peculiar camera body design seems to stimulate my creativity and my motivation to brought the camera in places and at moments that I will have a tendency to ignore. The Fujifilm X-E3 is the fourth version of a popular model design that many photographers like to bring with them as their main camera or at least as their back up camera body that happens to becoming eventually their most used. The X-E3 is using the same 24MP image sensor that the X-T2 and the X-T20 have. So the picture quality is at par of the two last mentioned models. One of the thing which most interesting when you are using a rangefinder style digital camera is the fact that they are less noticeable, less protuberant, less intrusive in front of the subject.. This characteristic to be more discrete is always appreciated by the spontaneous photographer on the street, during a travel and even when you taking a candid portrait of a person (The camera seems to be less "serious"). Many people were tempted to make the comparaison with the Fujifilm X100F which a compact APS-C digital camera doted with a similar fixed lens of 23mm. If you combine the Xf23mm F2.0 lens with the Fujifilm X-E3 the two cameras will give the same angle of view. But the Fujifilm X100F is more a (large) pocket camera while the Fujifilm X-E3 is an interchangeable lens model that have a more standard dimension. Fujifilm X-E3 w/ Fujinon XF55-200mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS Most people will talk in length about the good or the bad handling of a camera model. It is always a very personal and intuitive impression at the end. Ergonomics are designed by technicians that are biased by their own physical and cultural differences. All this has been said one thing that I have experimented with the Fujifilm X-E3 is its fine ergonomic in terms of the camera body and lens combination and I am surprise how good and easy it is still true even when you are using a larger zoom lens such as the Fujinon XF55-200 F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS. As a travel or street photographer I fully appreciate this ability. About the tiny Fujifilm EF-X8 electronic flash which is included with the furnished camera accessories I was skeptical of its practical use but I have found it very easy to bring with me and positioning on the X-E3 (You can leave it at rest on the Fujifilm X-E3 camera at its down off-position). Dont forget that the EF-X8 is using the battery pack power of your camera. As a fill-flash and as an emergency flash unit are may be the two best tasks of the EF-X8. For a more extended use of an electronic flash it is better to couple an external unit doted with its own power management. Window back lightning interior ambiant light exposed Using a fill-in flash can be one of the most rewarding thing to do with interior photography with subject that are backlighted during the daylight period. The color temperature is similar between the ambiant natural light and the electronic flash output and the only big task is to choose an interesting exposure balance between the two in preserving or not the shadows or even simply voluntarily underexposure the ambiant (effect often use in fashion photography). Using the Fujifilm F-X8 as a fill-in flash Small in-board camera flashes are a very handy solution but they are located usually too near the taking lens and often interfering with the lens hood that you have to remove to prevent incomplete flash coverage. The Fujifilm EF-X8 give a more elevated flash reflector position. You just have to push it in its down position if you want to shut its power off. Officially the Fujifilm X-E3 is a less "sporty" camera model than let's say the X-T series models such as the X-T20 or the X-T2 or even the X-H1. The off-center viewfinder may create a small different perspective between you naked eye and the image recorded by the taking lens but if your concentrate your attention to your viewfinder it wont be noticeable. So spontaneous photography stay a strong opportunity. As for most of the Fujifilm X-series camera models, the controls of the photo basic parameters are designed in a similar fashion way as it is used to be for the traditional analog (film) cameras. Shutter speed, lens aperture, exposure correction and focusing options including manual adjustment can be selected with direct dials or control rings. The others parameters have to be adjusted through push buttons, touch screen options or using the versatile joystick located beside the rear screen. All these functionality controls need to be learn before really be able to master them without hesitation. Using the Quick menu (Q) and reprogramming certains function controls can facilitate the handling of the Fujifilm X-E3. Most of the menu option presentations are easy to understand and interact but some functionalities may need more time and essaies to get the habit. There is a lot of autofocusing modes at your disposal that can tailored your shooting workflow. The all-"AUTO" option (lever next to the shutter speed dial) is a good idea for emergency snapshot without disturbing your already programed setting. The electronic viewfinder (EVF) is fine detailed with all the (configurable) information you need and got an auto-rotation presentation very useful for vertical framing. In some specific situations the image on the EVF will be more contrasting making more difficult to evaluate low and highlights. For people who are wearing glasses like me the eye relief is more limit and will ask you to pay more attention to the corner of your framing composition of your subject. The back and none-orientable live screen (LVF) give you a better reviewing rendition of your picture facilitating a deeper image analysis. The side location of the Fujifilm X-E3 electronic viewfinder may give you a better viewing confort compare to the centered viewfinders of the X-T series models. The instant picture review is easier and the reviewing (Play) push button is located on the bottom right side of the LVF. In all the Fujifilm X-E3 is a very convenient camera model that respond correctly to the compact size device but without sacrificing too much better handling compare to the larger DSLR model type. If you are already an owner of other Fujifilm X-series models you will fully enjoy that the X-E3 is using the same battery packs and external electronic flashes without forgetting that it is part of the same optical lens mount system. The Fujifilm X-E3 doesn't have an in-(camera)body-image-stabilization system (IBIS) and will rely on your ability to set and handle the camera to avoid generating blurry from the photographer's movement. Of course you can couple a lens with an optical image stabilization (OIS) that will help you to prevent that phenomena and further permit you to select lower shutter speed in low light situations or simply to get a smaller lens aperture (for increasing the deep of field). As a loosely rule of thumb, no stabilization is available with focal fix lenses (except for the new XF80mm F2.8 OIS Macro and the XF200mm F2 OIS) and it is the contrary with zoom lenses (with some noticeable exceptions such as the XF16-55mm F2.8 Pro). At this day the Fujifilm X-H1 is the only X-Series model equipped with an IBIS. What I am appreciated the most of the Fujifilm X-E3 is its compactness and its very discrete status in regard of other people ressent when they are facing the camera. It is what can call not only a user-friendly camera but also a subject-friendly photo device. Combined with a short fixe focal or short zoom lens, the X-E3 appears to be part of the family. It is not perceive as an agressive intruder of our life compare to the look with the DSLRs. So the interaction between the photographer and the subject is very different and much more positive. If you like Black & White photography you will adore to work with the Fujifilm X-E3. This lovely camera model offers you a choice of two monochrome reddition, standard Monochrome and Acros, with 3 different filtering variations, Yellow, Red or Green. So you can literally transform the X-E3 as a Monochrome camera without further expensive investment. (This remark is also good for the other Fujifilm models). Is it sufficient to simply have a good camera device that can deliver not only nice, well exposed and focused pictures but which is also a creative tool fun to use and to bring with you? Sure there will always be more performing camera models now and in the future and that is inevitable in this race for better human crafting. But in the mean time we have not to forget that the most interesting and rewarding think is to do photography. In a sense the Fujifilm X-E3 fulfill nicely the task of proximity photography essential in close urban situations or in interior contexts. The Fujifilm X-E3 is a compact photo companion that is not only a competent tool but is also an inspired creative device. View full article

I thought all the big events were over and done with but there has been a barrage of new products in the last few days - all mirrorless ! first a new Nikon Z Lens; a new Canon R body plus a slew of R mount lenses previewed and a new body and lens from Fuji. There was also a Panasonic announcement a week or two earlier.

The lenshood you see in this photo is a replacement for the Fuji offering that I don’t like. It is solid aluminium and a 52mm screw thread, the cost of this hood shipped from China including P&P ordered though Amazon was £2.63, hence my use of the word bargain.

Fuji continues with its updates - new AF tracking algorithm, and compatibility with the new Fujfilm X Raw Studio in-camera raw processor with tethered computer interface. http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/software/firmware/x/xt2/download.html

FrankF asked if I could write up something about processing X-Trans raw files, noting that his usual adjustments for NEF files didn’t work with RAF files. Straight off, and despite much dismissive hand waving by those who would use Adobe Lightroom or Camera Raw to process their files regardless of any opinion as to the quality of the end result for X-Trans files, I can only say that I’ve tried ACR at every update until CC Rent-a Shop came into play and the results, while tinkered with substantially about the edge, were still nowhere near as good as processors using Dave Coffin’s dcraw algorithms for the X-Trans demosaic. So the following will not be for Adobe users as I don’t use LR/ACR for X-Trans. Ever. As Frank uses Photo Ninja (as do I), I’ll run through what I do to convert X-Trans raw files using that program. This is just how I use it, I'm not suggesting it is gospel. I really like the results I get this way, so I guess that's what really matters to me - your needs might vary. For whatever reason the folk at PN did individualise their program by assigning names to sliders that are not common in their effect to more conventionally consistent names in other makers’ programs. This isn’t really a problem once familiarity is gained, but can be confusing at first. Here’s the image I used as Photo Ninja presented it straight from the demosaic. I used this image because it has fine detail, the highlights are overexposed, and there are many fine and small colour gradations - plus the folder was open on the computer anyway . As a photograph it isn’t anything much, but as a taxing of the demosaic it perhaps is. The following is how I have found it best to use the controls - this might differ from any “official” instructions, but hey, whatever works.... Note that when you're working in any panel, clicking on the ◄► icon under the sliders (highlighted in screen grab below)will show the unprocessed image, releasing will show the processed image concerning that panel. After exiting one of the control panels for the overall menu, clicking on them will show the unprocessed image, releasing will show the processed image including all panels adjusted so far. So at any time you can flick back and forward between processed states without having to hunt all over the screen for a preview box to tick or un-tick. Here’s a screen grab at 100% of the image as opened, along with clipped highlight indicators: So here’s the PN controls panel as it has opened an un-worked image with default settings: Starting at the top, and the first hurdle which had me stumped for a long time when I first used this current version of PN (and which took an email to PN support to get an answer) is the “Color correction” menu. Misleading, because in it is the slider that controls what everyone else calls "Highlight recovery" but has been called “Color recovery” in PN. Further confusion is caused by the fact that its default setting is strength 100. At this setting PN will fill any blown highlights with an aggregate colour from the surrounding un-blown area, which can sometimes look awful, even taking on a solarised appearance. The Color correction panel: I have changed that default number to 50 in my prefs, which I find a better overall beginning setting for my files, but that might vary according to your shooting style. Whatever, it is something to be aware of. On the whole PN and Fuji together seem to do a good job on colour balance, but if there’s a lot of green in shot you’ll probably have to do a custom WB and knock excessive magenta compensation out of the default. I didn't mess with WB in this case, though, although it could be improved a bit I suppose. For comparison purposes I also thought a constant WB might be more useful. I would have warmed it up, although in this case the cool tone serves to locate the scene on the cusp of winter during a cold (6°C) day rather effectively. Next in the main panel is the primary adjustment menu - “Exposure and detail”. These are the settings it opened the sample image with: As can be seen, there’s a bit going on at the right of the histogram that’ll need hauling into line (clipped highlights indicated with the red line). The first thing to keep in mind is to try to work from the top down in this panel. The Illumination and Exposure offset sliders directly affect one another and should be worked in concert, keeping an eye on the highlight clipping indication in the preview image as well as watching the histogram. In this case in order to haul the highlights back it will be necessary to further reduce Exposure, then return the image to its original overall brightness with the Illumination slider. (If the image is underexposed to the left of the histogram, then the opposite movements of these two sliders will be required, and contrast increases in that case). As can be seen, the image no longer spills to the right, and the histogram light tones are a bit more centralised and the clipped highlights are recovered. The visual effect will be to have slightly flattened the contrast of the image, and as there is no need to adjust shadows as they are are not falling off the left of the histogram the Shadows and the Black sliders can be skipped and the Contrast slider gently bumped up until the shadows just start to block, and then backed off a bit. In this case enough punch was added back by shifting Contrast to +7. The final slider in this panel is the Detail slider and this must be approached with the utmost caution with X-Trans files. With Bayer files it is relatively gentle but with Fuji X it is vicious and some real artefacting can occur. I’ve found that maximum setting of +4 is all I can use before things get choppy. This slider can be used to the negative side with great effect to reduce grain noise, however, and sometimes works better than third party NR programs, or Noise Ninja itself, for that matter. Next comes the Color enhancement window. This has three presets in a drop-down menu - “Plain" (obvious as to effect), “Portrait” (which darkens/dulls green and blue but lightens/accentuates yellows and reds) and “Scenic” which saturates all colours. My default opening settings for this image: I have set my prefs to open this in Portrait mode as above, and will then use the fine-tuning sliders to alter the depth and saturation of individual colours as indicated in the colour boxes above the sliders. Select a box (green in this case) and adjust the Hue and Hue affinity sliders to bring back the brightness to the greens that the “Portrait” preset had killed a bit much. The rest of the control panels are more targeted and to be honest I rarely use them as I have other programs that do the job better. Occasionally I'll use the vignette for effect or the Chromatic aberration if processing a file taken with an older Nikon AI-s wide-angle, but the Fuji lenses really don't have any aberrations to worry about - at least none of mine do. Even the little Samyang 8mm fisheye is amazingly free or fringing. For sharpening I use Helicon Filter as a Photoshop plug-in, specifically the “sharpen fine details” slider in the sharpening panel, which usually gets best results between +15 & +25, and it has the least halo effect of any sharpener I have used. So here’s the finished processed shot And here’s a set of 100% sections of the before, the after, and one final one with +15 Helicon Filter sharpening as well. Default: Processed: Processed and Helicon Sharpen Fine Details +15: The final version here might be a bit over-sharpened for screen, but is about what I find prints best on my Epson 7800 using Innova Smooth Cotton High White and Ilford Gallerie Gold Fibre Silk. Once familiar with the program, running through these adjustments takes only a few seconds, and from that point of view it is much quicker than other dcraw-based processors I've tried (Windows - I don't use Mac). But getting quick at it does take practice, as with anything. Postscript: As always we'll be compromised by the ancient web colour space of sRGB and jpeg compression. Of course this image was processed in 16-bit Pro Photo colour space, and saved so tagged as an uncompressed TIFF, which means it probably looks a whole lot different to what you may be seeing on your monitor. One day the Web will catch up, maybe after it is done trying to be a phone app and gets back to being something worthwhile. View full article

If you have used this lens, let others know what you thought of it by rating (and/or) reviewing it in this thread. We will keep the thread as relevant as we can, so expect off-topic entries to be removed.

I needed something wider than 18mm for the X-E1 to take pictures whilst doing safety inspections of heavy machinery. The choices were my superb Sigma 12-24mm in a Nikon mount, the Fuji 14mm and the Samyang 12mm f/2.0. The Sigma is slow at f/4.5 and quite large, and the Samyang is half the price of the Fuji. The loaner Samyang arrived today, and after an hour's use my first impressions are quite positive: Nicely packaged; not luxurious but not the bare minimum either. Nice looking lens. Smaller and more compact than I expected for a relatively fast lens. With hood reversed the camera with lens attached will fit in a Lowepro AW50 on my belt. Well made; not quite the Fuji XF, but good finishing, well polished and feels substantial. However the plastic lens-hood and focus collar feel like hard plastic of a type I've known to break on other types of equipment, but this is a subjective observation. Printed lettering, not engraved. Substantial metal mount with three screws The aperture ring clicks are audible and feel positive, with two clicks per stop. The aperture stops are clearly marked on the top of the lens. The focus ring is fairly tight on a warm day (mid twenty deg C), with no chance of creep. From near-to-far involves just over a 90 degree twist, and the focus mechanism is internal and rear elements do move. Distance scale is on the top of the lens in feet and metres, and is quite legible but printed on. There are no depth of field scales on the barrel. The hood is large and reversible, and does obscure the popup flash so much of the bottom half of the image will be in shadow. Clicking into place is positive, but it may become quite loose over time. The camera rests almost flat with the hood attached The front element does not protrude past the body of the lens, so you could stand the camera face down without the hood on a flat surface like a desk (not that I'd recommend it). Optics are coated, with a purple sheen on the front element and amber-purple at the rear. First impressions on performance are also good: I haven't taken any images of brick walls, but distortion seems managed and not fish-eye. Lines through the middle of the image are straight, and along the edges the distortion seems to be a simple curve and not complex moustache. Colour is neutral and not yellow as some Sigma lenses can be. Bokeh is smooth, but I haven't tested it on point sources yet. There is minor purple fringing on the edges of the frame in high contrast areas (i.e. twigs against white cloud). This seems better to the centre of the image. Drawing is pleasant and neutral. There is some vignetting, but it's not particularly obvious. Depth of field ranges is enormous at narrower apertures and at the long end, but it does have a narrow depth of field at the other end. Close up at f/2 took me by surprise. Maybe 15mm of depth is usably sharp at closest focus, 15cm of depth at 1m away. Resolution appears good and sharpness too. And the lens is very easy to use: It is manual focus only. For snaps just use focus peaking and hyperfocal distance and the X-E1 gets it every time. Use the camera zoom function for close work and wide apertures. It is much easier to focus than the Sigma 12-24, because one had to be careful with such a wide field to focus carefully or the lens would hunt a bit (also to do with aperture). Small enough to be convenient, but not too small for my hands (not the biggest, but not small either) My verdict is that this is a keeper. I will take some interesting images over the next few days and add them to my impressions. View full article

On Sunday the Forests issue got traction yet again in protest to the current Federal government's attempt to have half of the recently declared (by UNESCO, at the previous Government's request) as extensions to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, with an on-location protest rally in the forest. Considering it was a cold day, and that there is only one road into the area and no facilities at all out there, some 2,000 people turning up from all over the State was indeed telling as to the public mood concerning the situation. The main road was parked on both sides for over 4km, which meant some had a decent return walk to accomplish, with the rally itself being held on a contentious forestry logging road. I had been contracted specifically to photograph 13 people standing in a line holding large cut-out letters in the form of a slogan whilst standing in the old growth forest. Now this may sound easy, but the room to do that simply doesn't exist in that forest, however a combination of the X-T1 & 14mm lens on a Nodal Ninja pano head, with the people standing in a part circle each 3 metres from the camera solved the problem just fine, 9 shots left to right. When stitched they appear to be in a roughly straight line . (Yes, I anticipated that & did it deliberately this way). Click on for 1920px HD size. I also covered the shot with the X-Pro1 and Samyang 8mm fisheye with the camera on a 60° tilt, and while this allowed more foreground & height it was nowhere near the IQ of the Fuji 14mm on the X-T1 above: I love the kid in the left background who got bored and went to look at the fungi The forest was dark as it was raining lightly, so I shot the thing @ 1/15 sec, f/7.1, ISO 1600 for each frame to avoid as much subject movement as possible without losing DOF, and despite taking 5 separate sequences on two separate setups I only had one fidgety bloke who managed to move his head each time, but slightly enough that it made no difference. I then switched to "coverage mode", shooting a series of speakers at the mic under a green marquis at 3200 ISO with the 55-200 lens and OIS engaged and only had to cull two shots out of the lot for movement. The IQ was better than acceptable, and I would have struggled for that keeper rate with the D3s (and for which I certainly didn't have a lens that could have gotten in so close with). Celebrity TV actress Lisa Gormley getting a bit emotional (Home & Away TV soap drama) Activist & Tasmanian forest tree-sitter (457 continuous days) Miranda Gibson Lastly I attached the X-Pro1 & fisheye to my fully extended RRS monopod and held it up at full arm's stretch after triggering the self timer @ 2secs delay for an "overhead" of everyone turned to wave at the "official" aerial photographer who had climbed onto a platform 20 metres up the tree to take his shot... (I say "official" inasmuch as several photographers had each been allocated their particular tasks - this was primarily an event for publicising via the media). So yes, I don't regret for one second switching to the Fuji - I was still fresh at the end of the day, no backache or shoulder pain, and my load including the tripod was around 6kg instead of over double that, all contained in four pouches on my Lowepro Technical vest and in my RRS Tripod bag. View full article

You may have read that we sold off all our Fuji X cameras and got the Nikon Df. We are happy to report that we are still very much pleased with the Nikon Df and use it whenever we can. The Df is my daily carry camera – it is with me 95% of the time. So what about the other 5%. Those are usually those times when having the Df is not practical. I’ve been wanting/lusting after what the Fuji X100s has to offer. I’ve only passingly handled the X100 and thought with all the improvements the X100s had to offer, it would be that much better. Walking into my favorite camera store this recently, I had every intention of leaving with the X100s. However, my friends there gave me the opportunity to use and handle the following cameras: Fuji X100s, Fuji X-T1, Olympus OM-D-EM-5 and the Olympus OM-D E-M1. I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about all these cameras and I could not pass up the opportunity to work with them all head to head. I do not have sample images from all of the cameras, as this report is not as much about image quality as it is handling and performance speed. If we are honest, I think we know that the Fuji will have the IQ edge, especially in the realm of the hi ISO. We will concede to that right now. One of my main issues with the Fuji system has always been the speed at which the camera performs. This includes powering up, waking from sleep, accessing menu items and AF speed and acquisition. Let us have a quick rundown of the positives. Image © Fujifilm Fuji X100s Feels great in the hand. Solid build. OVF is nice, clear and bright. EVF is a great alternative to have. Upgraded MF(compared to the X100) is much better to use. Great 23mm f/2 lens Image © Fujifilm Fuji X-T1 Solid build. Fit my hands like it was custom made for me. EVF was comprehensive and responded quickly to orientation changes. The top dials were solid and had a nice click to them. I did not think that I would accidentally knock any of them out of their position by accident. It seems to be the fastest responsive Fuji X camera to date(accessing menus, powering up, waking from sleep). Very quick AF in comparison to the other X cameras. Great prime and zoom lenses. Image © Olympus Olympus OM-D EM5 and EM1 Very quick AF. Solid build quality. Good EVF. Nice feel in the hand. Great prime lenses. Now let’s talk about what everyone wants to know – which is, when compared to each other, what do I think? We need to level set/full disclosure and let you know what the shooting conditions were. When using an ILC, the kit zooms were used(The ones that claim “world’s fastest AF” in the ads…lol). For the Fuji, it was the 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS…the Olympus used the 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3. Images were taken/AF performance tested inside the camera shop, which had fluorescent lights. It was dim, but probably a little brighter than your average indoor environment. Also, this is not a scientific test. It is my learned observation and experiences that I am reporting on. We are going to start with the Fuji cameras since the X100s was what I thought I wanted the most and the X-T1 is what everyone is currently talking about. The AF speed on the X100s was still about the same as the X100, maybe a little faster. It did seem a little more sure, but it did have quite a bit of front to back shuffle before locking into focus. Once it got focus, it was almost always 100% accurate. Unfortunately, the X-T1 suffered from the same front/back shuffle before locking focus. Yes, it is very fast – probably the fastest AF I’ve seen in any X camera to date….but Fuji still seems to have a way to go on getting the AF to something great and not just adequate. I was disappointed in this behavior…which is sad because I so much wanted Fuji to be better than what it was. On the plus side, it is nice that the X-T1 can track focus in a continuous shooting mode. One of my biggest handling issues with the Fuji X cameras are AF point selection. I’ve gotten so used to my DSLRs and the 4 way pad being dedicated to picking the AF point – it was one of the reasons I had for deciding to drop my X-E1. This still is an issue here for both the X100s and the X-T1. Both the X100s and X-T1 felt good in the hand, albeit they have different ways of gripping them. The X-T1 is beefier and felt very natural to hold, especially coming from using a DSLR. Moving on to the Olympus offerings of the OM-D EM-5 and the OM-D EM1. I want to begin by saying that I was never a fan of m43 in the past. I always had a preconceived bias against it because of the smaller sensor size. That has all changed now that I was able to handle one and see what it is all about. Yes, we cannot get around physics and there are just some things that a smaller sensor just cannot do. I’ve noticed that there does not seem to be as large a dynamic range as the Nikon or Fuji cameras I’ve shot in the past. I will say that I was impressed at just how useable the files were from the Olympus cameras up to ISO 2000. It starts getting a little rougher around ISO 3200/6400…but if you nail exposure and don’t have a lot of pitch black areas….you can still have a good JPG to work with. Now… getting to what really impressed me on the EM5/EM1. The AF performance was almost instantaneous. I mean…I could not believe what I was seeing here. Same lighting conditions and with a slower (aperture wise) kit zoom lens, the Olympus nailed focus immediately and without any back/front dance as was seen in the Fuji offerings. I bounced all over the place grabbing focus at different distances and at different focal lengths. It did not seem like I could trip up the Olympus AF. Even with the contrast detect only AF of the Olympus OM-D EM-5 it was direct, to the point and accurate. I was surprised here…but in a very good way. I heard people before praising the AF performance, but I did not think it to be this good. The speed also moves over into the menu usage and boot up times as well. The menu systems run very quick and smooth. They are a bit deep, lots of options and they are not in any way similar to what I’m used to with my Nikon or Fuji menus. Startup from power off to on was very quick. Not DSLR instant, but way better than the Fuji cameras – not including the X-T1. Fuji listened and boosted the start up time for the X-T1. Good job on that. At the end of the day, what does all this mean?? It means that I walked out of the camera store with anOlympus OM-D EM-5 and 12-50mm kit. Image © Olympus Do I still want a Fuji X100s? Well, yeah...maybe in the future. However, by the time I am ready for that - Fuji may very well have a full frame X200 to replace the X100s....at least I'm hoping that is the inevitable direction. E-M5 12-50/3.5-6.3 1/30, f/5.3, ISO 2000 Want more information? OK…lets talk about it. When comparing the above systems, the Olympus was the most DSLR like in looks and control. The only thing that the Fuji X offerings had a resounding lead on over the Olympus was in sensor size and hi ISO image quality. The Olympus was better in almost every respect beyond that. And at base ISO - the Olympus m43 sensor is doing just fine. The image examples on this page should let you see that. E-M5, 12-50/3.5-6.3 1/20, f/6.3, ISO 2000 Add to this, the fast prime lenses for the Olympus system are way smaller, and can be found cheaper never hurts. I even preferred the EVF of the Olympus over that of the Fuji X-T1. Yes, the Fuji has more unique features, but I thought the smearing of the Olympus was not as pronounced in the low light shooting conditions as the Fuji. Honestly, I still prefer an OVF…but those seems to be looking more and more like a feature we will see less of as we progress into the future. In my mind, and for my way of shooting, if I need extreme low light, super high ISO performance, I’ve got my Nikon Df/D700 to choose from. The Olympus gives me a very responsive performance machine in a smaller package. E-M5, 17/1.8 1/640, f/2.8, ISO 100 I was honestly surprised I walked out of there with an m43 camera. I’ve shot with it for only a few days, but I am so happy with this cameras performance at this point. I did have a slight moment of regret at first, when I ran through an initial set of images. For some reason, I was not getting that "pop" or "wow factor" that I expected from the images. I thought that I was perhaps missing something as this is a new camera system to me. After a few days of research, I did realize 2 things: 1 - optics on the OM-D matter. The kit 12-50/3.5-6.3, while convenient and weather sealed is not the sharpest or most contrasty lens. I noticed an immediate increase in IQ when I put on the 17/1.8 or the 45/1.8 prime lenses. 2 - for some unknown reason, Olympus gives you the OM-D cameras setup as base as possible. I mean, they have a higher jpg compression on by default and the default noise reduction is a bit much as well. E-M5, 12-50/3.5-6.3 1/80, f/5.6, ISO 1600 Keep an eye out for a future post where I discuss how I setup the OMD EM5 to be optimized for the way I shoot. There are quite a few steps, but once its done, you never have to do it again. EM5, 17/1.8 1/60, f/4, ISO 640 And to end this all out - here is a random thought from me about mirrorless and the US market. This is just my theory and is in no way scientific. When I look at the mirrorless camera offerings, the majority of them looked a lot like the point and shoot style cameras we have been seeing for years. I think this hurts their perception because for years "professionals" used DSLRs and they have a certain look to them. Now that entry level DSLRs are sometimes less expensive than some point and shoots, no one wants to have their "pro" camera mistaken for a point and shoot...thus the mirrorless cameras don't get the marketing credibility that the DSLR still has here. EM5, 17/1.8 1/1250, f/4, ISO 100 I think Olympus saw this and when they went from the PEN design to the OM-D design, they will get a lot more of the casual users accepting it a "pro" level body because of the design. I think Fuji has understood this too and thus the look of the X-T1 will make it a more attractive option. Once the everyday folk understand that the mirrorless camera can come in many shapes and sizes, they will be more widely adopted. Again...just a theory, and a fraction of the reason that mirrorless is having a rough go of it here in the states. Visit Andrew's blog here View full article

Two shots with the 56/1.2 and 10-24/4 respectively.

If you have used the Fujifilm X-T1 please give it a rating by voting in the poll and share your thoughts and images taken with the camera in this thread so that other members of the community can make an informed decision if they are considering buying this item.

I live in a small city that have evolved around a 12'th century monastery. Every year the city celebrates an old tradition called Kyndelmisse (in Danish) which originates from the latin Missa Candelarum. It dates back to the middle ages and today it's a celebration of light and mid winter. As part of the celebration the city decorates buildings, public areas etc. with light. Here it is the 12'th century church decorated both inside and outside along with some trees. And the marketplace.

If you have used the Fujifilm X-E2 please let us know what you thought of it in this thread. We might split off any off-topic stuff so as to keep the thread relevant to the product.

If you have used the Fujifilm X-Pro1 camera, let us know what you thought of it in this thread. We'd like to keep this thread as relevant as possible, so off-topic posts may be split off to other parts of fotozones.com.

If you have used this lens, let others know what you thought of it by rating (and/or) reviewing it in this thread. We will keep the thread as relevant as we can, so expect off-topic entries to be removed.