adzman808

Have Fuji engaged you to write a book for it?

Agreed, i was actually typing that as you were posting your reply (to leave it there) and didn't read your post until after I posted mine Sincerely, I wouldn't have posted if I had read that beforehand

I'll give you a little insight if you like... In the street thread, you commented that it was nice to see a street shot wasn't just a person in a street. Fair enough. But the poster directly above the shot you liked, had posted exactly that, was that a deliberate attack on that photographer? Probably not, but could you see how that individual might have believed it to be? So you see what's meant and what's taken, isn't always in harmony

Except that my exact words were a puerile point of view, not that you were a puerile person, so hopefully you'll understand the difference between disagreement, opinion and character attacks Beings as old as you say, and as opinionated as you are, I can't be the first person you've ever had a dabate with that doesn't agree with your every word, surely? Sincerely, it's not my intention to offend you, which is why I wrote words to that effect. However, I did use the correct terminology to describe my sentiement. Also the emojis (as I believe the kidz are calling them these days) were placed after the part about you agreeing with my thoughts on the subject as I found it highly doubtful that you would!

If someone has the coin, and isn't jeopardising anything important (like the mortgage or the kids college fund) to get the product they desire, good luck to them. This notion that people shouldn't be allowed a fast car, unless they're a racing driver, or an expensive dive watch unless they're a professional diver or a really nice top line camera, unless they're the living embodiment of Vivian Maier or Ansel Adams or something, is just a derivative of wealth politics, and as much as everyone is entitled to their opinion, mine is that this is a pretty puerile point of view! Don't worry, I don't expect you to agree with that :) I'm not trying to be rude, it's just that we live in a world where money, and not ability decides what we can buy! Besides as you say, how much money would things cost if you needed the ability to allowed to buy them? Like if Puma only made one pair of running shoes and you had to be Usain Bolt to be allowed to buy them Perhaps it's best to look at it the other way around, someone who's good at something, can use any product from the genre they're good at, because they have ability. Those that don't, need as much help as the technology can give. But those that are good can still take profit from this situation, becuase although they don't need the advanced product to deliver the goods, it's nice for them to have the option, which wouldn't exist if the less able weren't clamouring for it

Yes, exactly. Sometimes people like to brag about their ability to hand hold at slow speeds or they demand IBIS, (not on this thread though) and for sure this is an important skill and IBIS can be a useful feature. But when something is moving in the frame there's just no substitute for shutter speed, and in indoor events, this can mean needing a fast lens

Any HUNCHES as too which ones?

Well, much like how you said (in the other thread) that you've never needed to shoot above iso 1600, I can honestly say that I've never missed a shot due to the 35 1.4 protruding into the OVF of my X-Pro cameras

The F2 glass will also suit the XT10/20 and XE line I have both 35s the AF isn't that much different in real life usage, sure as a percentage the f2 might be a lot faster, but IRL the math of 0.2 of a second vs 0.1* isn't the difference between getting the shot or not, its the difference between reading camera reviews and looking at AF specs and buying that lens or not (*I made those figures up, there are NOT representative)

We actually already have the great fast glass. The 1.4 23 & 35, plus of course the 56. The "problem" (IMO) is that people whinned on and on about AF speed until Fuji listened, and now these people seem to want noctilux aperture glass that focuses like m43 whilst being the size of their thumb !!!!!!!!! PERSONALLY as someone who grew up on manual focus I'm happy to have a slower AF and a faster aperture, but that's just not the world these days. And to the chap asking about whether a stop makes a difference.... Well between say ISO 200 and 400 or 1/4000 and 1/8000 no not really. But between say 6400 and 12800 or 1/30 and 1/15 yeah it matters a lot more!

I didn't criticise budget lenses, did I? I said the fast lens range was mature and that Fuji realised there was a big market for cheaper glass. IMO the F2 WR range isn't just being driven by the XP2. The XP1 came out way before the XT line, and it was then that Fuji made the bigger lenses like the first 23 the 14 and the 56 I can't imagine that Fuji woke up one day circa early 2016 and said "OMG these lenses partially block the OVF, what can we do, we need to start making smaller glass" cos they'd already had big lenses and a OVF camera in their range for 4 years. No. IMO the buget lenses play a similat role to the XE/XT10-20 line, they're largely the same as the top range items, but with slightly lesser performance (eg aperture) to make them more affordable, and again as per my example of high end driving low end value, people know that the 23 1.4 is a great lens, they've read that the 23 f2 is nearly as good but (what, 40%?) cheaper, so they feel comfortable chosing the cheaper one And RE your part about sending students out into the field with less than stellar equipment teaches them that equipment isn't the be-all and end-all of photography, it's the fact that the hobbyists don't always get this that keeps the cash registers ringing whenever fuji/sony/etc release a new product that's fundamentally an increamental update on the previous model

The GFX is an incredible achievement when you consider that literally 6 years ago people were eagerly anticipating the new top of the range Fuji, the HS20 bridge camera... and now look where they are Fuji are quite honest that their bread and butter line is actually the Instax range.... Funnily enough Leica too no? Officially it's all M10 and SL, but they're now buying and selling Instax type cameras via Fuji, so PRESUMABLY really want a slice of that market Makes you wonder just how profitable high end cameras really are... often the high end products (of any genre of product) exist to drive up value of the lower end range... that works because you go to the store to see the amazing GFX, but buy the Instax because you can actually afford that and don't want to come home empty handed There's not so many people getting rich off their blog... trust me on that... you'd need millions of hits per anum to get a 'living wage' And re the XF50 Can it be that's just not that exciting? It's a budget lens (yet another budget lens from Fuji in fact) it's a bit of a less used FL in FF eqv (75mm) it has neither the headline grabbing aperture of the 56, the uniqueness of the 56 APD nor the "macro" of the 60 Also, to be fair to Fuji, they spoiled us with great, fast glass in previous years. It's quite possible (and accurately so, IMO) that they consider the APSC X range to be pretty mature. We're not really due any X-Pro/XT/X100 upgrade for a couple of years, and the GFX is the here and now Of course... there's the POSSIBILITY that after the sales success of the 35 F2, Fuji came to the conclusion that for a large part of its customer base, outright IQ and fast apertures were of secondary importance to AF speed, looks and the tactile nature of the aperture ring. And thus decided the pro users would be better served with the GFX

I think it boils down to what the rangefinder experience means to the individual... If it's all about the mechanical focusing, and watching the split image merge to know you've got your focus, then the X-Pro range doesn't get close If it's about frame lines, seeing outside the frame, corner mounted OVFs and a legacy style exposure system (SS, aperture ring etc) then the X-pro range is a VERY workable "RF" type solution as ever YMMV

I gave On1 Raw a whirl this week, inspired 1) by Joel's review and 2) I quite like On1 Photo (sometimes) as a finishing tool The lack of automatic lens correction is a bit shabby IMO, but the correction tool to fix it works well. Personally I think we sometimes get a bit obsessive about sharpness... That said, of course for certain usage scenarios (eg ultra prints) it's very, very important. FWIW I think ON1 is a good product for having a lot of useful features, and has ways of working that should suit most people's experience levels, for example it has pre-sets for a lot of edits, and of course you can still do things manually. When you compare this to a lot of other apps, which (quite understandably) expect you to know how to use all the tools you want & make your own pre-sets, then I think this is good feature making On1 suitable for beginner and seasoned raw shooters IMO We've actually had a decent suite of X-Trans editors for quite a while... Sure by most accounts ID has the edge in sharpness (see what I did there?) but also by most accounts, it's only Adobe that haven't measured up against C1/PN/ID/SP/XID/On1 So if you can break with Adobe (assuming Adobe isn't working out for you, it works for many people) then there's plenty of choices out there, all of which have pros and cons. The 'trick' to find the app that works best for what you shoot, and the way you shoot* and the way you like to edit. (*for example, Adobe might be the worst for X-Trans demosaicing, but it's possibly the best for post capture exposure push - so if you habitually shoot from a ISOless sensor methodology, then the slightly soft and smeary images are a small price to pay for the extra 2 stops of exp push and the fact that the colour doesn't fall apart if you push it 3 stops, like in some apps)

For this week's article; I'm going to be taking a look at White Balance. A camera's ability to automatically assign White Balance is something that is often criticised, and people have various suggestions about what to do about that. So I think we should take a closure look! http://adambonn.com/my-love-affair-with-the-fujifilm-x-pro1/xp2-fifty-five/

A couple of views of Porto's Dom Luís I Bridge that you'll need to explore a tiny bit to find!

The final part of my series on camera settings takes a look at shortcuts, and how to avoid the menu as much as possible! Enjoy! http://adambonn.com/my-love-affair-with-the-fujifilm-x-pro1/xp2-fifty-four/

Following on from last week's article where I spoke about setting up your camera, this week's part looks at how I've set up my Fn buttons. Enjoy! http://adambonn.com/my-love-affair-with-the-fujifilm-x-pro1/xp2-fifty-three/

Hi Joel, Good to hear from you, it's been a while! Yes that's basically it. If I'm dealing with a static light scenario I'll use full manual, but when things change quickly, I use aperture priority and the EV dial to tailor the exposure To be honest, in this situation I'm more using the histogram than aiming to achieve a specific shutter speed, if I want a specific shutter speed, I'll just set it! Iirc.... setting the SS dial to T enables the front command dial to select all the shutter speeds I'm sure you'll know this, but for others, if you set manual exposure but with auto ISO, then the EV dial can be used to change the ISO value. This is occasionally helpful, but usually auto ISO with a min shutter speed is a bit easier to manage

I'm not much of a landscape guy... But here's one from a couple of weeks ago, before even Portugal got to cold and wet to leave the house! The Douro Calm by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

This week; in the first of a multi part series, I take a look at camera settings, and how to prepare to get what you need out of your camera. A few people have been saying that the X-Pro2 is "too complicated" but it's only as complicated as you want it and ultimately a question of how you approach it! http://adambonn.com/my-love-affair-with-the-fujifilm-x-pro1/xp2-fifty-two/

No problem Florian, For me, I just turn off as much automation as I can! DR - off AF - off Jpegs - off (test setting, I'm seeing if I actually need them) Metering- varies muti mostly, then centre weighted, sometimes spot, I have the electronic shutter on a fn button I have auto ISO on a fn button If the light isn't changing much, I shoot full manual and use the histogram If it is, then aperture priority and use the histogram I hardly ever use AF I use MF and back button focus The camera retains its last focus distance, even after a battery change, so if you make a manual focus, stand still and turn the camera off (for example waiting for someone to walk into the scene) then turn it back on again, then focus is where you left it I set a monochrome jpeg profile (so the evf is black and white) and focus peaking to red so I can easily see it The erf thing with a magnified view has quite horrendous shutter lag, but the camera is pretty fast in the other modes Not quite M fast, but faster than a M240 using the Leica/olympus accessory evf If you don't fully release the shutter after taking a shot, it will retain its focusing/metering settings and subsequent shots will be virtually lag free If you press and hold down the trash can button for a few seconds, then press the rear scroll dial in it'll short cut to sd card format with out needing the menu If you want to use the wifi, then in playback mode, press the fn button on the top plate (not matter what you've got it set too in shooting mode) and it'll launch the wifi I know that sounds like a lot But that's all the stuff you really need (IMO, YMMV) and all of it is available without the menu (once the initial pain of set up is done) If you want to assign a function to a Fn button, press and hold the button you want for a few secs and it'll bring up the menu that lets you pick what the button does

ETTR on DR100 is probably the best bet, like you say it works on most cameras (and you correctly state that ETTR doesn't mean clip important highlight data) Auto DR is a bit of lottery IIRC... the histogram may not correspond with the actual camera setting and you're at a bit of a lottery on how your raw convertor will note the auto DR meta data. IMHO DR expansion best serves jpeg shooters The complexity of the Fuji is a lot after an M (not that I've much M experience myself) But FWIW IMO, you need to learn what you need, I've had my X-Pro2 6 months and there's loads of stuff that I've never used, I haven't even filled the Q menu profiles! I find the Fujis are best (YMMV) on aperture priority mode, because the SS doesn't have 1/2 or 1/3 stops and it's easier to fine tune SS with the EV dial and a user selected aperture and ISO value, but that's just me, others will have different and completely valid ways of working Anything else? Just ask!

Lunch Break Lottery by Adam Bonn, on Flickr Lunch break lottery, are you feeling lucky?

What a week it's been for new cameras, and not just Fujifilm ones! How fantastic for anyone eagerly awaiting an upgrade. But what about the rest of us? Well, I guess we could take a long walk with our existing gear and enjoy seeing the world and taking pictures? That's what I did... Want to join me? http://adambonn.com/my-love-affair-with-the-fujifilm-x-pro1/xp2-fifty-one/