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Fujifilm plans to increase interchangeable lens production capacity as demand grows

Increased mirrorless digital camera demand has prompted Fujifilm to ramp up its interchangeable lens production capacity, the company has announced. New facilities at its existing Taiwa Factory in Miyagi prefecture, Japan will start in September, the ultimate goal being a 70% production capacity increase by 2020, the year when Fujifilm expects all of the new facilities to be fully operational.

Fujifilm reports that its annual interchangeable lens sales are growing by more than 20% per year. The company currently offers 36 interchangeable lenses for its X and G mounts, including its newly announced XF 8-16mm F2.8 ultra-wide zoom scheduled to launch in November.

Fujifilm reports that its annual interchangeable lens sales are growing by more than
20% per year

The company revealed plans to install a large-scale cleanroom facility with a “cutting-edge” analyzer, as well as other facilities that will include AI-based optical adjustment technologies. The launch of these facilities, says Fujifilm, will increase lens production efficiency while maintaining a high level of quality. Fujifilm says the Taiwa Factory’s “Made in Japan” interchangeable lenses will be distributed globally.

Via: Fujifilm

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

July 26, 2018
Apple patents correction system for smartphone accessory lenses

Accessory lenses for smartphones can be useful tools for expanding the photographic capabilities of your device. However, the process of physically attaching these lenses to the smartphone and centering them above the camera lens is prone to minor but important error as even a slight misalignment can result in a drop in image quality. Additionally, the accessory lens’ optical design can have a detrimental effect on the image output.

Apple has now been granted a patent that aims to fix the problem using a two-pronged approach: by using correction software and a movable built-in camera lens.

The document describes camera hardware and an analysis and processing software that can be used to analyze image quality and detect problems potentially caused by add-on lenses. By looking at certain image metrics, the system could compare image quality before and after attaching an accessory lens and then use software algorithms to correct accordingly.

Additionally, actuators would allow to change the position of the built-in camera lens on multiple axes, in order to correct for any misalignment of the accessory lens. This could include tilting the camera and varying the distance between the built-in lens and accessory lens.

The patent suggests electronics, magnets and radio sensing among other methods to detect if an accessory lens has been attached. If the smartphone knows what exact accessory is being used, additional options in the camera app could be utilized as well.

As usual, there is no way of knowing if and when this system will make it into a production device but it certainly looks like it could make the use of accessory lenses more appealing to many of us.

You can find the complete patent document on the USPTO website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

July 26, 2018
Why You Should Avoid Shooting at Small Apertures Like F18 to F40
The bigger the number, the better, right? Wrong! The aperture is a strange thing and one you may find difficult to understand in depth. The first weird thing is that large numbers means a small apertures. It is very counter-intuitive.

In this article, you will learn a couple of quirky details about aperture and why you should avoid shooting in the top range of f/18 to f/40.

The aperture plays a significant role in two different equations. The first one defines the exposure and the other one controls the depth of field.

Changing the aperture will change both the exposure settings as well as the depth of field. In some cases, you can take advantage of that, in particular, if you are a landscape or cityscape photographer.

The advantages of small apertures

Two common goals for a landscape or cityscape photographers are:
1. To get everything within the frame in focus.
2. Get longer exposure times to blur moving objects like water or moving cars.
It happens so, that these two goals go hand in hand with aperture. If you set your camera to a smaller aperture (that is a larger f-number), you will get a greater depth of field. At the same time, you will also get longer exposure times.

The photo below is a photo of a mountain lake in France. It serves as a classic example of what you as a landscape photographer may experience in the field.

You want the foreground to be in focus as well as the mountains in the background. On top of that, you want the water to be smooth. It requires longer exposure times to smooth small ripples on the surface.

To get a longer exposure times, you can attach a Neutral Density Filter on your lens. If your filters are not quite enough, you can also lower the aperture to f/22 or whatever is the smallest your lens can do.

The depth-of-field is maximized at f/22 or smaller if your lens allows it. So this magically goes hand in hand and everything seems great.

However, a couple of things happen, when you stop a lens down all the way to f/22 or even lower.

Problem #1: Small apertures reveal dust on your sensor

The first problem that arises is that the dust spots you have on your sensor becomes painfully visible. Almost any camera, even with a freshly cleaned sensor, will have dust spots.

Dust spots clearly visible due to a small aperture.

Dust spots are annoying because you have to clone them out later in the post-processing and if you have many dust spots this is a real pain. For this reason alone, you may want to avoid f/22.

Problem #2: Small apertures lose sharpness

The other problem may a surprise to you. The dust spots are annoying, but not more that. At f/40 you can’t even shoot a sharp photo! But even at f/22, there are problems.

200% crop of a blurry image at f/22.

This is a 200% close-up of the unprocessed RAW photo of the French lake above, which was shot at f/22. As you can see the photo is not quite sharp. There is a softness to it and it is not a focus problem, but something entirely different.

This lens, a Nikon 16-35mm f/4, cannot produce anything sharper than this at f/22. You can work on this in the post-processing stage by applying some sharpness, and get something that seems reasonably sharp, but it is not really that good.

200% crop of the final processed image.

Some harsh post-processing has made the image seem sharper. But had the RAW photo been sharper in the first place, this would have been a much better result.

Below are some examples shot using a Sony 24-240mm lens at 240mm on a Sony a7R II body, shot from a sturdy tripod.

This lens is not the sharpest one in town, but for a superzoom, it is one of the best I have seen. At 240mm f/6.3 (wide open – it is no fast lens) through to f/40 (fully stopped down).

1/320th at f/6.3

1/160th at f/9.0

1/80th at f/13

1/40th at f/18

1/15th at f/29

1/8th at f/40

Have a look at this series as the aperture lowers. At f/9 the lens is at its sharpest and then sharpness begins to decline. Even at f/13, it is not super sharp, but still fixable. At f/18 the lens begins to lose details and at f/40 you can no longer tell the bricks from each other.

Why they even bother providing f/40 on a lens such as this, is a mystery. So what is going on? This is much worse than a few dust spots and it is NOT fixable.

Diffraction is the problem

What happens is that you run into the laws of physics and there is nothing you can do about it. When you stop down your lens, the hole the light passes through inside the lens becomes smaller and smaller. That’s why it’s called a smaller aperture.

When the hole gets small enough you run into trouble with one of the laws of physics which is called diffraction.

Shot at f/22 on a full frame camera. Sharpness is not optimal.

In layman terms, what happens is that the light spreads out a bit when it passes through a small hole. The light intended for one receptor (one pixel) on the sensor spreads a little bit to its neighbors. The result is an unsharp photo.

And the smaller the hole, the bigger the problem, which is exactly what you see at f/40 above. Diffraction begins around f/22, but even as the lens is closing in on f/22 the sharpness is declining.

What is the minimum usable aperture?

So what is the minimum f-stop or aperture you should use? Or phrased not be misunderstood, what is the largest f-number you should use?

All lenses behave differently, but the laws of physics are constant. Some lenses are sharpest at f/5.6 while others may be sharpest at f/9.0, as was the case with the Sony 24-240mm lens. This has to do with the design of the lens.

15mm at f/8 on a full frame camera.

What is common for most lenses, is that they produce the sharpest photos somewhere in the middle range, from f/7.1 to f/13 (called the sweet spot). What is certain for all lenses is that as the aperture gets smaller (bigger f-number) beyond f/13, the worse the lens performs in terms of sharpness.

Diffraction becomes a problem around f/22 and the lens will become increasingly less sharp. The Sony lens takes diffraction pretty hard while a Nikon 28-300mm I also own is less pronounced.

The title of this article suggests that you should avoid using f/18-f/40. Why do I say f/18?

It is a gradual change, but personally, I have stopped going beyond f/16, simply because I find the photos too soft. You can never make them tack sharp, and you have to process them pretty hard to get something fairly sharp and acceptable.

The best way to find your personal limit on your favorite lens is to put your camera on a tripod and shoot test shots at f/11, f/13, f/16, f/18 and f/22 or even further down if your lens has those apertures.

Look at the photos at 200%. Notice the sharpness difference and decide what your limit should be. Memorize that and just be sure not to go below that aperture.

The compromises

Photography is full of compromises and now you have a couple more you have to make. As I established at the beginning of this article, there are some good reasons why you want to go for small apertures, but they come at a price of lack of sharpness and dust spots.

You may want to reduce the dust spot problem, I know I do. If you stay around f/8 the dust spots will not be very pronounced. However, the shutter speed will be much faster than at f/16 and the depth of field much less as well.

You can affect the shutter speed by attaching a 2-stop Neutral Density filter, which will produce the same shutter speed as f/16 but shooting at f/8.

Another solution

You can solve the problem of getting everything in focus by shooting more than one photo. One having the foreground in focus and one having the background in focus and then blending these two photos.

This technique is called focus stacking. Whether that is easier than fixing dust spots is something you will have to decide for yourself.

This is a focus stacked photo shot at f/11 and 134mm on a cropped sensor.

In photography, there are always compromises you have to make. How will you overcome the urge to shoot at f/22 and beyond?

The post Why You Should Avoid Shooting at Small Apertures Like F18 to F40 appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 26, 2018
Copper, Prisms, and Orbs, Oh My! – 3 Creative Techniques for People Photography

Have you ever wanted to shake things up a bit when it comes to people photography? Stretch your creative muscles? Try something new and different? Then this article is for you! We’ll explore three easy and relatively inexpensive creative techniques for people photography that will help you step outside the box and have a little fun.

One of my favorite techniques – shooting a silhouette with a piece of copper pipe for a little extra added shine.

1. Copper Pipe

A small piece of copper pipe can create a huge bang for your buck when it comes to people photography! My husband is a plumber, and I always ask him to save me spare pieces of copper pipe in different diameters to put to use in my photography.

If you don’t happen to be related to a plumber, head to your local home improvement store, and they’ll be able to cut a piece or two for you. I mostly use pieces that are 1-2″ long, and 1/2″-2″ in diameter.

From there, things are easy. Simply hold the piece of copper pipe in front of your camera lens as you’re shooting!

Depending on where you and your subject stand in relation to the sun, you’ll create all sorts of different effects ranging from a warm glow to semi-circles that look like they’re on fire. When I use this method I typically prefer to shoot in silhouette, which tends to produce a more defined glowing light.

I use manual focus coupled with Live View mode to more easily adjust the placement of the effect in interesting ways.

2. Glass Orbs

Another fun and unique tool for creating interesting photos of people, is to use a glass orb or crystal ball.

These orbs result in a kind of fish-eye effect that can be really fun in certain instances! I enjoy using these with kiddos, especially those who might need a little help warming up in front of the camera. Because you’re pointing your camera at the orb rather than directly at them, it can be a fun way to ease nervous kids into being in front of the camera.

The final image is cropped and inverted as the image appearing in the glass orb is upside down.

Keep in mind that anything you photograph in an orb will be flipped upside down, so if you want the person to be right-side-up, you’ll need to adjust that in post-production. On the other hand, sometimes being upside down enhances the creative effect, so don’t be afraid to play around with the orientation to see which you prefer.

Some people prefer to keep the edges of the orb sharp and in focus, while other people prefer to shoot at a wider aperture to blow them out a bit. Again, when it comes to creative applications like this, there’s really no right or wrong way to do things, so feel free to play around and discover what you like.

3. Prisms

Yep, your favorite item from elementary science class can be a really fun tool to implement in photography too! Simply holding a prism directly in front of your lens and turning it as you’re shooting can create a whole variety of effects from subtle to intense.

Once again, I typically use manual focus and Live View mode when shooting with prisms.

If you’re new to prisms, it can take a bit of time to learn how to achieve the different effects. Those can range from reflecting your subject to different places in the image (above), projecting small rainbows near your subject (below), to even showing your subject and what’s in front of them at the same time.

I’ve even seen people utilize prisms to show both a bride walking down the aisle and the groom waiting at the same time.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, copper pipe, glass orbs, and prisms are all really fun options for creative techniques and effects in people photography. All three require a bit of a learning curve, so don’t be afraid to play around and try different things.

You’ll discover what your aesthetic preferences are in no time! Have you tried any in-camera photo effects that you really enjoy? Please share your ideas in the comments section below.

The post Copper, Prisms, and Orbs, Oh My! – 3 Creative Techniques for People Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

July 26, 2018
What would you want from a full frame Canon or Nikon mirrorless camera?

Nikon has finally confirmed the age-old rumor that its going to make a full frame mirrorless camera. It’s widely assumed Canon plans to do the same. But what are the things they need to get right?

We’re way beyond the point where the ‘mirrorless or DSLR’ question simply depends on whether size or autofocus is more important to you. But what are the other aspects of camera design and behavior that need to be in place for a camera to work for your photography?

We’d love to hear what you think, so please pick what would be the three most important factors for you. These needn’t be the things that would make you switch, just the things that they’d need to deliver, to make it even worth considering.

Or, if we’ve missed anything, mention it in the comments.

Have your say

$ (document).ready(function() { Poll({“pollId”:”5717924829″,”openForVoting”:true,”mainElementId”:”poll0″,”slot”:null,”isSingleChoicePoll”:false,”minNumberOfChoices”:1,”maxNumberOfChoices”:3}); })

What are the most important things you'd want from a Canon or Nikon mirrorless camera?

Your answers

1. Required

2. Optional

3. Optional

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High resolution sensor

High speed shooting

Good quality video

Sports-ready AF system

Easy-to-use AF system

Lifelike viewfinder

Responsive controls and menus

Configurable controls/interface

Pro video features such as waveforms / 10-bit capture

Small, affordable primes

Fast primes

Tele zooms

Full compatibility / full performance with existing lenses

Lightweight

Compact size

Substantial grip

Good battery life

16-bit Raw

Top plate settings display

Dual card slots

Effective weather sealing

In-body stabilization

Voting is easy – you pick your favorite products by dragging and dropping. You can pick up to three, and rank them in order of priority.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

July 26, 2018
Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images
Post-processing is a particularly sensitive topic and there’s always a certain amount of processing versus non-processing discussions that take place after articles on the topic. It’s not hard to understand since how you choose to process your images is your artistic choice.

There’s not necessarily a right or wrong way to go about it but, that being said, there are certain “mistakes” that I notice quite regularly, especially amongst beginning photographers who aren’t quite able to achieve the looks they want.

Some of these mistakes are obvious while others, not so much. What they have in common, though, is that they are mistakes that most of us are guilty of making or have made at some point. Let’s dive in.

1. Not Considering Color

Let’s start with a mistake that the majority of us are or have been making, and one which isn’t necessarily that obvious to all of us: failing to understand color harmonies.

Color harmonies might be easier to control as portrait or studio photographers but as landscape photographers, we have to work with the conditions nature gives us. Sometimes, our job is to find order in the chaos and highlight the most interesting aspects of the landscape. Indeed, it’s not an easy task.

In this image, I desaturated the blues to keep the focus on the person walking down the hill.

The discussions can quickly become controversial as we start talking about working with colors in nature. I’m not here to say what you should or shouldn’t do but I’ll give you a couple of ideas on how you can work with color in post-processing:
1. Use the HSL sliders in Lightroom/Camera RAW to adjust the hues of certain colors to create a better color harmony in the image.
2. Rhe HSL sliders can also be used to desaturate colors that are too dominant and take unnecessary attention away from the main subject.
3. Use techniques such as Luminosity Masks or Saturation Masks in Photoshop to selectively work on the brightness, saturation and contrast of specific areas within an image.
The goal when working with colors should be to only highlight those that are in harmony with each other. I often bring out a color wheel to check that the colors in an image are in harmony and if I need to desaturate (or saturate) any of them.

Notice how all the colder tones are slightly desaturated and darkened to enhance the focus on the glowing mountain.

2. Only Making Global Adjustments

This brings us to mistake number two: you only make global adjustments. In other words, each adjustment you make is applied to the entire image.

Let’s say that you want to increase the green grass in one of your summer images. The traditional way of boosting the color is by using the Saturation slider. However, that will increase the saturation of the entire image and will in most cases lead to an oversaturated image; which results in visual chaos rather than a pleasant experience when viewing it.

In mistake number one, I briefly mentioned using the HSL sliders for making adjustments. By using this panel you’re able to affect only one specific color rather than the entire image. By using the Green Saturation slider you can target only the green colors and make an adjustment to only those hues.

It’s not only when adjusting the saturation that you should work selectively though. Personally, I make selective adjustments (often through Luminosity Masks in Photoshop) when working with color, contrast, brightness and pretty much any other adjustment you can think of.

3. Clarity at 100%

You might not want to hear this but increasing Lightroom’s Clarity slider to 100% is rarely a good idea, especially when it’s added globally. While I agree that adding clarity can often give an extra pop to the image as it brings out a lot of nice textures and details, it does more harm than good when it’s applied to the whole image. It also adds a significant amount of noise and lowers the overall quality of the file.

Let’s look at an example. In the image below I have increased the clarity to 100%. (Besides that, no other adjustments were made). I do like how it brought out a lot of texture in the mountain but the foreground now contains just as much texture and it’s competing with the mountain to grab your attention. In fact, the moss in the foreground is the natural place to look as it’s both bright and crisp.

If instead, I only add clarity to the mountain by using a Gradient Filter you’ll see that it makes a big difference compared to the image above. There’s still nice texture in the mountain but the foreground is now less crisp and working as a natural leading line.

Note: I prefer to rather use a mask in Photoshop and add it to only the mountain, as a gradient filter adds it to more places than what I want. But you can now use the brush tools to edit your gradient filter in LR as well.

Clarity only applied to the mountain.

Keep in mind that you want the most important areas of the image to be the sharpest. Naturally, the viewer’s eyes are guided to the sharpest parts of the image. Also, there’s no point in adding clarity to soft surfaces such as a blue sky or silky water. These are often better left alone.

4. Leaving Dust Spots

Unless you’ve got a brand new camera or you’re a superstar when it comes to having clean equipment, it’s likely that you’re going to have at least a few dust spots on your images. This is especially true if you regularly photograph in rough conditions including wind, snow, rain, and sand.

Removing dust spots is super easy and takes no more than a few minutes, so really there is no excuse not to do so. You have to admit, it looks quite unprofessional if a beautiful image has a bunch of dust spots in the sky. Would you hang that on your wall?

Keep in mind that if you enlarge and print your images, even the smallest dust spots become visible. Therefore, it’s a good practice to zoom in 100% on the image to look for any possible dust spots. When you find one, simply use Lightroom’s Spot Removal Tool and move on to the next.

It can be tedious work if you’ve got an extremely dirt lens but it’s something that needs to be done.

Turn on “Visualize spots” to help you find dust.

Conclusion

To end this I want to say one final thing: the most important is that you’re happy with the images you capture and process. If you like highly saturated images, go for it. If you like tilted horizons, good for you.

Stay true to your style and vision and create the art you want – don’t let anyone decide what your images should look like.

Using selective adjustments I was able to darken only the brightest part of the image

The post Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 25, 2018
Nikon announces development of ‘industry-leading’ full-frame mirrorless system

Two days after publishing a teaser video, Nikon has officially announced the development of its long-awaited full-frame mirrorless system, which will use a new mount. Details are light at this point, with the only product mentioned being an F-mount adapter.

The company reaffirmed its commitment to DSLRs, saying that “Nikon will continue to lead imaging innovation with the launch of the new mirrorless camera and the continued development of Nikon Digital-SLR cameras as well as the impressive NIKKOR lens lineup. Soon, Nikon users will have two industry-leading camera systems to choose from, giving consumers the choice to enjoy the unique values that each system offers.”

More details on the new Nikon mirrorless system will be posted in the weeks to come on a dedicated website and, of course, here on DPReview.

What features are you hoping to see in Nikon’s new mirrorless system? Let us know in the comments below!

NIKON ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT OF NEXT GENERATION FULL-FRAME MIRRORLESS CAMERA AND NIKKOR LENSES—FEATURING A NEW MOUNT—THAT PURSUE A NEW DIMENSION IN OPTICAL PERFORMANCE

MELVILLE, NY (JULY 25, 2018 at 12:01 A.M. EDT) – Nikon Inc. is pleased to announce the development of a next-generation full-frame (Nikon FX-format) mirrorless camera and NIKKOR lenses featuring a new mount.

The new mirrorless camera and NIKKOR lenses that are in development will enable a new dimension in optical performance with the adoption of a new mount. The system is the result of Nikon’s unsurpassed optical and manufacturing capabilities gained through more than a century of imaging expertise. Proven reliability and trusted performance are core traits of Nikon Digital-SLRs, and decades of feedback from professional creators around the world has further contributed to the development of this system.

Through the development of this new mirrorless camera, Nikon reaffirms our commitment to providing photographers with the ability to capture images that are richer and more vivid than ever before.

Additionally, an F-Mount adapter is being developed that will enable the use of a wide variety of F-Mount NIKKOR lenses with the new camera.

Nikon will continue to lead imaging innovation with the launch of the new mirrorless camera and the continued development of Nikon Digital-SLR cameras as well as the impressive NIKKOR lens lineup. Soon, Nikon users will have two industry-leading camera systems to choose from, giving consumers the choice to enjoy the unique values that each system offers.

Content relating to this product is available for viewing at the following URL: http://www.nikonusa.com/mirrorlessiscoming. Please stay tuned for more information.

Details, including the release date and suggested retail prices, will be shared at a later date.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

July 25, 2018
Simple Tips for Street Candid Portraits

Capturing candid portraits on the streets can be stressful. When you first go out with your camera and you decide to capture people’s reaction, you find yourself wondering how to approach this type of photography. First of all, candid portraits must show genuine expressions from the subjects. An inside look, an image, in the life of someone. Then, your best Continue Reading

The post Simple Tips for Street Candid Portraits appeared first on Photodoto.

Photodoto

July 25, 2018
Fujifilm X-T100 review
79%

Overall score

Jump to conclusion

The Fujifilm X-T100 is the company’s least expensive X-series camera to include an electronic viewfinder. It shares most of its guts with the entry-level X-A5, including its hybrid autofocus system and 24MP APS-C CMOS sensor. Unlike that camera, and the X-T20 that sits above it, the X-T100 has a unique LCD design that allows it to both tilt and flip out to the side but not rotate.

Unfortunately, the X-T100 inherits more from the X-A5 than the X-T20, which means there are some compromises. Image quality is great, design and build quality are solid and battery life is excellent. Unfortunately, the camera’s overall performance is sluggish, its autofocus system cannot reliably track anything moving and its ‘4K’ video is more like an extended burst mode (quality is poor, as well).

For those who enjoy the Fujifilm shooting experience we recommend spending the extra $ 200 for the X-T20. If you want to stay in the same price range, competitive cameras from Canon, Olympus and Panasonic may be better choices in many respects.

Key Features:
- 24MP APS-C CMOS sensor
- ISO range of 100-51200 (fully expanded)
- 91-point hybrid AF system
- 2.36M-dot OLED electronic viewfinder
- 3″ touchscreen LCD can both tilt up/down and flip outward 180°
- 6 fps continuous shooting (up to 26 JPEGs)
- Film Simulation modes
- 4K/15p and 1080/60p video
- 4K Burst and Multi Focus modes
- Wi-Fi + Bluetooth connectivity
- Interchangeable grip
- 430 shots/charge battery life (per CIPA rating)
The X-T100’s feature set is impressive, as long as you’re not a serious videographer. The EVF is beautiful and the articulating LCD gives you the best of both worlds, being able to tilt and flip to the side. While the X-T100 has a larger buffer than the X-A5, it still fills up pretty quickly if you’re shooting Raw. Still, that’s more than enough for a camera that costs $ 600 (body only).

An important difference between the X-A5/X-T100 and the more expensive X-T20 is that the latter uses an X-Trans color filter on its sensor, rather than the traditional Bayer filter. Many would argue that X-Trans had an advantage over Bayer sensors when resolutions were lower, but with everything now at 24MP, we’re not convinced there’s much of a difference.

The X-T100 is sold as a body-only kit for $ 599 or with a 15-45mm equiv. F3.5-5.6 power zoom lens for $ 699. Black and ‘champagne gold’ bodies are available.

What’s new and how it compares

Find out what separates the X-T100 from the entry-level X-A5 and mid-range X-T20. Also, see how to compares with other inexpensive mirrorless cameras.

Read more

Body and controls

The X-T100 has an SLR-style body that’s well-built, along with a unique LCD design and high-res OLED viewfinder.

Read more

What it’s like to use

We think the X-T100 is great for travel, landscape and portrait photography. If it’s video or fast action, you’ll want to steer clear.

Read more

Image quality

The X-T100 produces excellent image quality, with beautiful out-of-camera JPEGs and a sensor with plenty of room for preserving highlights while brightening shadows.

Read more

Autofocus

While adequate for static subjects, the X-T100 just can’t keep up with anything moving.

Read more

Video

The biggest disappointment on the X-T100 are its video capabilities – or lack thereof.

Read more

Conclusion

If you’re not planning on capturing action or video then the X-T100 is a good choice. If you are, then better choices exist.

Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
July 25, 2018
Keep tabs on your Canon’s shutter count (and more) with EOS Inspector 2

Amazingly, there’s no built-in method to finding out how many shutter actuations your Canon DSLR has amassed. Thankfully though, there are third-party solutions to help get the job done.

One such solution is the recently-updated EOS Inspector 2, a MacOS app that’s improved upon the original version of EOS Inspector, which itself was a successor to the original ShutterCount app — all of which are created by independent Russian developer Konstantin Pavlikhin.

EOS Inspector 2 details the shutter actuations of 65 Canon cameras — a list of which you can find here — including Live View shots with supported cameras. The app also details the serial number, batter charge level, remaining shots estimate, and the installed firmware version.

To help you gauge how much longer you can expect your camera’s shutter to function, EOS Inspector 2 also shows the expected shutter life for your camera. It’s also possible to change the metadata fields the camera applies to images, including owners name, author, and copyright.

EOS Inspector 2 is currently available in the Mac App Store for an introductory price of $ 2.99. If you’re upgrading from the original EOS Inspector app, the update is free.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

July 24, 2018