RSS
 

Archive for November, 2015

Hands on With the Fujifilm X100T

29 Nov

I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner, but after being bombarded by gushing hype about mirrorless cameras for years, I finally broke down and bought one.

It’s hard for photographers to buy a camera these days. There are so many good options, and it can be difficult to pull the trigger, knowing that some manufacturer’s new model just might be the Holy Grail.

I debated at length as to which direction to go with my next camera. Sony has the nice full frame bodies, Olympus has the petite and swanky OM-D and Panasonic has a couple nice models, but they are geared a little more towards video than I care for.

Eventually, I decided that Fujifilm was going to get my money. At first, the X-T1 started to win me over. The technical specs seemed to tick many boxes: the weather-sealed body is a big plus, along with several high-quality weather-sealed lenses to accompany it, not to mention the classic retro look.

x100t sample image

The X100T’s simplicity is easy to fall in love with.

The problem was that I didn’t really want to add a whole other camera system to my current Nikon kit. I could use my Nikon lenses with an adapter, but that kind of defeats the purpose of going with a smaller system. So after figuring out exactly what I intended to use the camera for – travel, portraits, a little landscape and to accompany my D800 during shoots– I settled on the Fujifilm X100T.

If you’re not familiar with it, the X100T is a rangefinder-style mirrorless camera, with a fixed 35mm lens, APS-C sensor, and a bunch of nice features.

First Impressions

There’s no doubt about it, it’s a sexy looking camera. To tell you the truth, that means very little to me in the end – we all know that a sexy camera does not necessarily equal sexy photos.

x100t sample image

Images straight out of the camera often look great and need little post-processing.

I immediately liked the size of it, and weighing in at only 440 grams (about a pound), there is no excuse to ever leave it at home. However, the feel in the hand is somewhat unrefined. There is the tiniest of nubs to get your right-hand middle finger wrapped around for grip. I bought the camera with a low-profile, more pronounced grip that also protects the bottom of the camera – probably a necessity for many.

It feels solid and of high-quality build. The shutter speed and exposure compensation dials are stiff, which is good, so it isn’t always spinning around when you don’t want it to. I wish I could say the same of the rear thumb dial which feels very plastic-y and has almost no resistance. The on-off switch also has almost no resistance as well, which results in the camera constantly ending up in the On position draining the tiny battery.

Shooting with the X100T

Focus

I popped in a memory card and battery while sitting in a coffee shop, fired up the camera, and took a few shots.

Surprisingly (to me at least) the camera had a hard time finding focus in the not-so-dimly-lit shop. It slowly searched several times before the autofocus locked on. I thought maybe the settings just needed to be tweaked, but after a few months of shooting with it, I’ve found the autofocus to be a bit slow and it needs a ton of contrast to find focus.

Switching on macro mode allows you to get 10 centimeters (about four inches) from your subject, which is pretty good. On the downside, images have a severe lack of sharpness while shooting wide open in macro mode. Facial recognition is hidden in there, and does a great job.

x100t close focus

The X100T’s close-focusing allows you more latitude for creative compositions.

Set to manual focus, the camera offers you the option of a zoomed focus peaking feature, to help you nail sharp images. I find the focus ring to be too unresponsive and it seems to take way more twisting than necessary to adjust the focus – definitely impractical for moving subjects.

Composition

The X100T gives you the option of composing the image through a rear LCD display, straight through the viewfinder, or with the electronic viewfinder (EVF). The rear LCD is stunning and functions really well in low light, showing minimal noise. The EVF features a small inset image, that can be toggled off or on, which shows a magnified portion of the shot for focus confirmation – pretty slick.

Exposure Control

One thing I really love about this camera is the fact that it has both a built-in neutral density (ND) filter, and an electronic shutter that can shoot at 1/32,000th of a second. This gives you the ability to shoot at wide apertures under bright conditions without overexposing the image. The tricky thing is that you can’t use the on-camera flash, or the hotshoe as a trigger, with the camera set to either electronic or electronic+mechanical shutter modes.

x100t neutral density filter

The combination of a built-in neutral density filter and an electronic shutter allow to shoot at wide apertures in bright conditions.

I’m a big fan of the exposure compensation dial front and center, and use it often.

If you are using the X100T in Manual or Aperture Priority mode, you’re going to have to fumble around to get ahold of the aperture ring, which is right up against the body. It has two little nubs which aim to assist, but unless you have dainty little fingers, you are likely to have difficulty here. There is a spot on my wish list for the ability to adjust aperture with the rear dial instead of on the lens.

Noise, contrast, and color saturation/rendition are all fantastic well into the ISO 3,200 range. I mainly shoot with a Nikon D800, which has stellar low light capabilities, and in comparison, the X100T really holds its own; in truth, it’s better than I expected.

x100t low light example

The X100T handles low light situations with ease.

Image Quality

The X100T simply takes beautiful images.

x100t sample image

Images taken with the X100T seem to always have a pleasing look to them.

The way that the camera records the information, and processes it, (and it appears that even the raw files are processed to some extent) yields very pleasing results. There’s a type of dreamy, silky look, to the images that is very subtle but works.

I always shoot in RAW, and will sometimes play around with the camera profiles in Lightroom (although I never use them in-camera). The Provia setting – a nod to Fuji’s infamous color film – works really well for some photos, and even their version of Kodachrome (Classic Chrome) can be attractive.

provia profile sample image

Although I’m usually not a fan of in-camera filters, I have a soft spot for the Provia profile.

Conclusion

I had reservations about buying a fixed lens camera. However, I have found that the simplicity of the Fuji X100T leaves you no choice, but to focus more on composition.

My strongest motive to acquire a camera like this, was to have something that I wouldn’t think twice about bringing with me when I walk out of my house. By no stretch of the imagination is the X100T a replacement for my D800, but it compliments it brilliantly.

PROS

  • Compact and lightweight
  • Above average image quality
  • Impressive list of practical features
  • Great low-light performance
  • Built-in neutral density filter
  • Flash sync speed up to 1/4000th of a second
  • Fantastic results using the built-in flash
  • Built-in WiFi
  • Built-in RAW converter
  • Can charge the battery in the camera

CONS

  • Short battery life
  • Sensitive on/off switch
  • Aperture ring difficult to adjust
  • Some controls are unresponsive when first turning on the camera
  • Video quality is laughably bad
  • No weather sealing

In the end, I have no regrets buying this camera. On one hand I feel that a camera as this price point should have faster and more accurate autofocus, and I hope to see the slow startup issue fixed in a firmware update. On the other hand, I have found the positives far outweigh the negatives, and I am really looking forward to shooting more this great little camera.

Do you have an X100T? How has your experience been with this camera?

Would you consider getting a camera like this? Why or why not?

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post Hands on With the Fujifilm X100T by Jeremie Schatz appeared first on Digital Photography School.


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on Hands on With the Fujifilm X100T

Posted in Photography

 

28. November 2015

29 Nov

Das Bild des Tages von: john.schneider466

Ein alter Benz steht vor alten Häusermauern.

Die Damen, die Herren, unser Bild des Tages.
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity

 
Comments Off on 28. November 2015

Posted in Equipment

 

5 Questions to Help You Make sure Your Photos are Safe Inside Lightroom

29 Nov

Lightroom quiz lead image

New Lightroom users often get into trouble because of a lack of understanding as to how Lightroom works. Unfortunately the result of these misunderstandings is often that their precious photos are lost, either permanently or temporarily. When you are new to Lightroom it can help if you understand some basics about how Lightroom works to ensure that your precious photos are safe.

Here’s a quick five question quiz to see if your photos are safe in your hands.

Question 1: True or False?

Lightroom stores a copy of your photos for you. When you delete a photo from Lightroom even if you opt to delete it from disk, the original is still safe.

What happens when you select to Delete from Disk in Lightroom

Answer: False

Lightroom simply keeps an record of where your images are on your hard disk. It does not actually store any images. So, if you remove a photo from Lightroom, and when prompted select Delete from Disk, then then you’re deleting the original of that image. If that was your only copy you’ll have deleted that forever.

Question 2: True or False?

You have deleted all the photos from a folder inside Lightroom. This means that there are no photos left in that folder so it’s safe for you to open Finder or Windows Explorer and delete the folder itself.

Is an empty folder in Lightroom really empty?

Answer: False

Lightroom can only handle photo and video file formats. Even if you delete all the photos and videos from a folder in Lightroom there may still be other files in that folder that Lightroom can’t handle, such as PDF files, Microsoft Word, Excel and Quicken files. You cannot know that a folder is empty of files unless you check it by opening it in Finder or Windows Explorer.

Question 3: True or False?

Your photos are safe because every time you see a prompt to backup Lightroom you always click to do so.

Does Lightroom backup your photos when you select to Backup?

Answer: False

When you choose to backup upon exiting Lightroom, all you’re doing is backing up the Lightroom catalog, NOT your photos. Your photos are never backed up by Lightroom, so you will need to set up some other routine for backing up your image files. Also note that, in most cases, Lightroom saves the catalog backup on the same drive as the original catalog is stored so, if your drive crashes, you’ll lose the original catalog and all backups – so make sure you change it to save the backup on an external drive. (Note: you can only do this in the dialog box above when it pops up)

Question 4: True or False?

When you make changes to a file in Lightroom those changes are written to the file so, if you open the file in Bridge, Photoshop or some other graphics program you will see the image as it was edited in Lightroom

Are edits always saved to your Lightroom files

Answer: Not necessarily True

Whether or not the changes that you make to a photo in Lightroom are written to the photo files will depend on how your Lightroom preferences are configured. Choose Lightroom > Catalog Settings (Edit > Catalog Settings, on the PC) and select the Metadata tab. There are two settings of concern here: Include Develop settings in metadata inside JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and PSD files and Automatically write changes into XMP – for the edits you make in Lightroom to be written to the files themselves, both checkboxes should be checked.

Question 5: True or False?

You have moved or renamed some folders on your drive which contain photos. When you next open Lightroom you see that Lightroom can’t find those photos any longer. You must now reimport those photos into Lightroom.

how to resolve issues where you changed files outside Lightroom

Answer: False

When you move or rename folders outside Lightroom it is true that Lightroom will report the images as missing. However, instead of importing the images again, you simply need to tell Lightroom where the images now reside. To do this, click the exclamation mark icon, and choose Locate. Navigate to the folder that you renamed or moved, and select the image that matches the one that was missing (you need to find the exact image that was marked as missing). Click the image, and make sure that the Find nearby missing photos checkbox is checked, then click Select. The Lightroom catalog will be updated with the new location of the image and any other images that are in close proximity to it.

Note: You can also do this by right-clicking on a missing folder in the left panel of the Library module. Then navigate to find the entire folder and relink it to Lightroom.

In future, it is best to move images and folders, as well as rename folders, inside Lightroom. Changes such as this, that you make inside Lightroom, are written to your drive automatically. The benefit is that when Lightroom makes the changes, it always knows where your photos are, and won’t report them as being missing.

How did you do?

If you answered any of these questions incorrectly, your lack of understanding of how Lightroom works might be putting your photos at risk. Spending some time learning how Lightroom operates will help you keep your photos safe.

Now if you got all these questions right and if you are a Lightroom expert – what questions would you ask of a new user to help them keep their photos safe? We invite you to pose these as True/False questions – but remember, to help folks out – you should give them the answer, as well as pointing them in the direction of keeping their photos safe.

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post 5 Questions to Help You Make sure Your Photos are Safe Inside Lightroom by Helen Bradley appeared first on Digital Photography School.


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on 5 Questions to Help You Make sure Your Photos are Safe Inside Lightroom

Posted in Photography

 

Lookout Below: 1-Mile Toronto Park to Run Under Elevated Highway

29 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

under park at night

A new urban park in Ontario will take sheltered but unused space below a raised roadway and turn it into a place for walking, cycling and outdoor performances.

toronto under highway park

A project of urban designer Ken Greenberg as well as Marc Ryan and Adam Nicklin of Public Work, the Under Gardiner design approach treats the area as a covered streetscape, taking advantage of rain and sun shade provided by the vehicular thoroughfare above.

under park skating

Its surface programming also bridges institutional uses on either side, including aquariums, museums and other cultural buildings.

under highway elevated park

From architectural thesis research into reusing spaces under viaducts, this article’s author can attest to the advantages of using these sub-street spaces – noise and air pollution levels are actually lower directly below than they are adjacent to raised roads.

elevated highway underneath park

The biggest concerns are seismic, which in turn are tied to regional risk factors, and still problematic for any kind of enclosed or sheltered space, architectural or otherwise.

under park construction

Existing columns and beams of the surrounding infrastructure will naturally divide the spaces into sections that act as exterior rooms while also providing ways to hang signage, wayfinding mechanisms and announcement billboards.

under park visual language

The project is being launched with the help of a sizable $ 25,000,000  donation from Toronto philanthropists Judy and Wil Matthews.

street park project

park

“The passion and financial assistance of a major donor is joining with the City and Waterfront Toronto to plan and build new infrastructure, and to showcase a new model of city building for Toronto,” said Waterfront Toronto.

Share on Facebook





[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Lookout Below: 1-Mile Toronto Park to Run Under Elevated Highway

Posted in Creativity

 

PPE 2015: Interview with portrait photographer Victoria Will

28 Nov

Trained as a photojournalist, Victoria Will found herself gravitating toward portraiture as she honed her skills at the New York Post. She’s now known for her celebrity portraits, including a series of tintype portraits created at the Sundance Film Festival. We sat down with her at PPE 2015 to learn more about what led her to where she is now and how she connects with her subjects. Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on PPE 2015: Interview with portrait photographer Victoria Will

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Aktion: Raus aus dem Kreatief! Teil 5

28 Nov

Abstrakte Landschaft aus Gelb und Violett.

Im Juli haben wir die Aktion „Raus aus dem Kreatief“ gestartet, die Euch Anregungen gibt, fotografisch neue Ansätze zu entdecken, die eigenen Arbeiten zu reflektieren und mit Techniken im Spannungsfeld zwischen Zufall und Selbsterkenntnis den eigenen Stil zu verfeinern – oder auch umzuwerfen und neu anzusetzen.
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity

 
Comments Off on Aktion: Raus aus dem Kreatief! Teil 5

Posted in Equipment

 

27 Images Around the World of Circles

28 Nov

Shapes can be seen everywhere, in everything. Look closer to find the circles in these images:

Sama093

By sama093

Michael Orth

By Michael Orth

Novofotoo

By novofotoo

Abbey Hambright

By Abbey Hambright

Richard Walker

By Richard Walker

Steve Johnson

By Steve Johnson

Magdalena

By magdalena

Joakim Berndes

By Joakim Berndes

Yamanaka Tamaki

By Yamanaka Tamaki

J J

By J J

Bob Farrell

By Bob Farrell

Wasile

By Wasile

Simon Harrod

By Simon Harrod

Fleetingpix

By fleetingpix

Ben O'Bryan

By Ben O’Bryan

Catface27

By Catface27

Davide D'Amico

By Davide D’Amico

Sonny Abesamis

By Sonny Abesamis

Darlene Hildebrandt

By Darlene Hildebrandt

Tanakawho

By tanakawho

William Warby

By William Warby

Hernán Piñera

By Hernán Piñera

Susanne Nilsson

By Susanne Nilsson

Bryon Lippincott

By Bryon Lippincott

Thomas Hawk

By Thomas Hawk

TheGiantVermin

By TheGiantVermin

Karl Reif

By Karl Reif

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post 27 Images Around the World of Circles by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on 27 Images Around the World of Circles

Posted in Photography

 

Weekly Photography Challenge – Circles

28 Nov

Do you see circles everywhere?

The world itself is a circle, they naturally occur in nature, and man-made objects are full of them.

Andreas Jalsøe

By Andreas Jalsøe

Weekly Photography Challenge – Circles

Your assignment for the weekly challenge is to actively look for them and photograph circles. When you train your focus, attention and eye on one thing you will see more of them than ever before.

Take a photo walk and see how many circles you can photograph!

Chechi Peinado

By Chechi Peinado

The Idealist

By the idealist

Darren Hester

By Darren Hester

Stanley Zimny (Thank You For 15 Million Views)

By Stanley Zimny (Thank You for 15 Million views)

Andrés Nieto Porras

By Andrés Nieto Porras

Share your images below:

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer upload them to your favourite photo sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Circles by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on Weekly Photography Challenge – Circles

Posted in Photography

 

Impossible Landscapes: Distorted Scenes Disrupt Reality

28 Nov

[ By Steph in Art & Photography & Video. ]

impossible landscapes 4

The laws of physics no longer apply as landscapes bend and flip, air and water blend together so that porpoises swim through the sky, surfers catch waves of clouds and the moon grows to many times its normal size. Jakarta-based graphic designer Jati Putra digitally blends photographs of nature, architecture and human subjects to create otherworldly scenes.

Screen Shot 2015-11-27 at 9.46.21 AM Screen Shot 2015-11-27 at 9.47.03 AM Screen Shot 2015-11-27 at 9.47.17 AM

These creative compositions masterfully combine images that don’t really go together in the real world, but match up beautifully in mood, tone and color so the results are surreal, yet somehow almost believable. It makes it easy to imagine a world in which you can walk up to the edge of a cliff and see the moon floating in the clouds just off in the distance.

impossible landscapes 1 impossible landscapes 2 impossible landscapes 3

Other manipulations create Inception-like landscapes that fold upon themselves in strange ways, the shape of the Earth and gravity temporarily suspended. But some are so subtle it takes a moment to realize that the trees in a forest are mirrored, with roots and another soil surface where the leaves and sky should be.

impossible landscapes 7

impossible landscapes 5

Screen Shot 2015-11-27 at 9.52.54 AM

Check out more of Putra’s work at his Instagram, @jatiputra.

Share on Facebook





[ By Steph in Art & Photography & Video. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Impossible Landscapes: Distorted Scenes Disrupt Reality

Posted in Creativity

 

27. November 2015

27 Nov

Das Bild des Tages von: Ralf Müller

© Ralf Müller

Im Ausblick: Liebeskummer, Hirsche und Levitationen.
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity

 
Comments Off on 27. November 2015

Posted in Equipment