HDR & Macro

[Rose]

Hi,

I have a lot of experience with analogue/film but am pretty new to digital and just preordered an XT-10.

 

I mostly like to shoot street and nature, often closeups, and like the closeness of 1:1 Macro.  I need a light, small camera with most ease of learning curve/settings so the xt-10 seems a good choice.  Yet, none of the lenses have1:1 macro and I'm wondering how well the 16 mm extension tube works with the kit 18-55 f.2.8 to 3.5 lens.  From the charts, it gives somewhere between .5 and .75 magnification.  If anyone has any experience with this on any (FX?) lens, I'd appreciate the feedback.

 

Also, I'd wanted HDR and wonder how important this is?

Lastly, I understand there is an accessory grip one can order.  So what does it mean when people say there's an issue of no vertical grip?

 

Thanks.  I really appreciate this resource.

[ScottGabrielli]

For HDR I use the an accessory called the TriggerTrap. TriggerTrap connects your camera to a smartphone and allows you to do all sorts of neat tricks including HDR. I find it useful as the bracketing (at least in my X-E2) only allows for 3 shot HDRs with one stop range. TriggerTrap allows you to do just about anything including long exposure HDRs. I have also used TriggerTrap to set up time lapses, high speed photography using a sound sensor, and as a normal trigger/bulb timer. 

[azmmount]

Zeiss makes a 50mm macro for Fuji that is 1:1. Rokinon/Samyang make a 100mm f/2.8 as well (probably not made for the APS-C).

 

I have used extension tubes a little (mostly with the 56) and it works fine but is a bit of a hassle since the focus range only covers a small area (sometimes less than an inch it seems).

 

HDR can be done with any camera. Just bracket some exposures and merge then in Photoshop or some third party HDR software like Photomatix.

 

MIke

[Rose]

Thanks to both ScottGabrielli and azmmount for your feedback.  I'm probably the last of a cellphoneless species (for reasons of health concerns) but will keep TripperTrap in mind.  I have looked at the Zeiss and Rokinon - unfortunately they're way beyond my budget.  Mike, do you mean you can only shoot within within this small area with extension tubes?  Being a digital newbie overall and having no experience with Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. I was hoping to avoid as much post processing as possible for now.  I'll look into Photomatrix though - thanks for the tip!  Is it fairly easy to use?

 

I have two great old macro lenses - a Canon FD 50 f/3.5 and Nikkor 60 f/2.8 so may look into an adaptor.  Though would prefer autofocus as I use a complicated contacts prescription which tend to be inconsistently accurate.  I'd appreciate any tips on a good Canon or Nikon to Fuji X adaptor if anyone knows of one and is there light loss involved?  Thanks!

[azmmount]

Mike, do you mean you can only shoot within within this small area with extension tubes?

 

Yes. For example, with a 16mm tube on the 56mm the distance you can focus in is like 8-10 inches (that's a total guesstimate). If the front of the lens is more than 10" from the subject you can't focus anymore. Here are two pictures with the camera set up at the min and max focus distances. 

Also, I bought the generic tube set (Fotasy is the brand) instead of the Fuji branded ones. While I would imagine the Fuji's are better built the off brand was under $30 for both an 11mm and 16mm tube. Since they're really just a spacer I couldn't justify the extra $170 for the two Fuji's.

 

I'll look into Photomatrix though - thanks for the tip!  Is it fairly easy to use?

 

It has been a long time since I have used it but I don't remember it being too complicated.

 

I have two great old macro lenses - a Canon FD 50 f/3.5 and Nikkor 60 f/2.8 so may look into an adaptor.  Though would prefer autofocus as I use a complicated contacts prescription which tend to be inconsistently accurate.  I'd appreciate any tips on a good Canon or Nikon to Fuji X adaptor if anyone knows of one and is there light loss involved?  Thanks!

 

I would go with a couple of adapters:

• A Canon EF to Fuji X - I have gleaned from this forum (I forget who mentioned it) that the Canon EF mount has one of the shortest distances to the sensor of any system. This means almost any lens can be adapted to it. I would buy this one and then buy the small adapters to Canon EF for each lens you wanted to adapt.
• A Canon FD to EF - to adapt you Canon 50
• A Nikon to EF - obviously for the Nikon 

If you just buy the normal adapters then there is nothing stuck between the lens and the sensor so no image degradation or light loss. The point of the adapter is partly to get the lens far enough from the Fuji sensor that you can focus with it.

 

Mike

[Larry Bolch]

Hi,

I mostly like to shoot street and nature, often closeups, and like the closeness of 1:1 Macro.  I need a light, small camera with most ease of learning curve/settings so the xt-10 seems a good choice.  Yet, none of the lenses have1:1 macro and I'm wondering how well the 16 mm extension tube works with the kit 18-55 f.2.8 to 3.5 lens.  From the charts, it gives somewhere between .5 and .75 magnification.  If anyone has any experience with this on any (FX?) lens, I'd appreciate the feedback.

 

Also, I'd wanted HDR and wonder how important this is?

 

Thanks.  I really appreciate this resource.

The 60mm f/2.4 goes to 1:2 and the image quality allows for considerable cropping. I also have my old 55mm f/2.8 MicroNikkor that works just fine and I expect does 1:1 or better. It came with a substantial extension tube which also works fine. That said, I am not doing scientific work, so I use the 60mm—which is also a superb general photography lens.

 

Now that Photoshop CC2015 has implemented HDR in Adobe Camera RAW, it is used in a high percentage of my work. Gone are the haloes of a decade back that justifiably drove many people away from HDR. Now the results simply look normal, albeit with significantly more highlight and shadow detail. Unless I want to manually adjust exposure, my X-Pro1 only auto-brackets ±1.0EV, which is certainly useful, but I would prefer a longer range. This was shot about a month ago, and you can see that even with such a short bracket, I was still able to hold a lot of detail in both the clouds and the forest. Not even a hint of a halo!

 

[Rose]

I really appreciate everyone's feedback - thanks!   So great to be able to have access to your knowledge and experience.  I ended up buying the X-T1 w/18 -135mm kit lens - seduced by it's big, beautiful EVF and more rugged quality.  Very happy with my photos so far though a big learning curve ahead.