#X-H1

X-H1? Get One! ... If You Still Can

Don’t argue, just get one. Period. Fuji X-H1’s THE best interchangeable-lens APS-C camera Fuji made. Ever. And there ain’t many left, coz production stopped end of last year. But some shops still got some X-H1’s costing less than a grand, new! Y’all never gonna get such a bargain ever again! And I ain’t just talkin’, I got 3 of ‘em, crazy huh? Yeah, but the internet’s saying the X-H1’s no good … nonsense, I tell ya. Total BS, all that what you’re reading online, please take a look to find out why!

Two of a kind, captured on X-H1 with XF 90mm F/2 R WR @F/5.6, 1/240, ISO 400, developed in Capture 1

Thing is, at the moment Fuji’s going down the wrong rabbit hole. Their new X-T4 may be a fantastic featured camera but that damn selfie/vlogger fold-out LCD screen don’t cut it for me. And their new “pure photography” X-Pro3? That one’s got 2 new, useless features in one go: A crippled OVF and a “hidden” LCD screen. Jeezus … Done. I’m just NOT interested. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitively not in a position to tell Fuji what to do (and I ain’t got no illusions whatsoever that they’d listen to me anyway …) hell, for all I know they may have found out that their future success & prosperity lies in offering:

  • Selfie/vlogger style video-centric cameras to the masses, and

  • Leica-esque fashion editions to a niche hipster crowd, made financially viable by compromising more mundane features only important to real photographers …

No problem. Go for it Fuji, but then you’re gonna lose me as a loyal customer - not that they’d care about that anyway, mind you … but they’d probably also lose a whole bunch of honest, serious still photographers in the process and that could cause a dent in their business! It would be such a shame, though. Creating no-nonsense cameras for serious photographers, with focus on still imagery was always Fuji’s heritage (“DNA” in business-speak). For me they were until today the only brand left, which was creating real photography tools, combining modern digital imaging technology with a traditional ‘exposure triangle’ user interface (aperture, shutter, ISO) based on tangible mechanical dials with always visible settings (even if the camera’s turned off). All the others have turned to churning out “computers”, where key settings pertaining to creating the photographic image are buried in multi-layered menus. Sometimes it seems that for some modern cameras taking the picture is more of a kinda afterthought, like “and oh, by the way it does take a picture too, at least now and then …”

After only just having launched their latest 2 flagship cameras (X-Pro3 & X-T4), which IMO both have veered off from the traditional path by inconsistent featuring, it’s gonna be at least 2-3 years until they come up with the next gen. X-Pro4 or X-T5, or whatever. Then it’s gonna be anybody’s guess whether they’ll wake up & come to their collective senses in using that opportunity to reconnect to their heritage, or just hatch out another crazy un-photographic “innovation”. So, y’all now got enough time to cure yourselves of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and just enjoy the good stuff Fuji’s blessed us with up to now (eg. X-Pro2, X-T3, X-H1 and X100V … ;-) and you don’t need to worry about your kit becoming obsolete any time soon!

All this seems kinda like a Déjà vu of my experience a long times ago with Nikon: I was running around in the 80’s as a journalist with 2 battered, fully mechanical Nikon F2’s and 4-5 primes. Man I loved that gear (weather resistant? Hell no, it was bomb-resistant! ;-) And then Nikon went along and launched the electronic F3. Oh man, was I pissed - in that era I sure didn’t trust no electronics (like many of my pro photographer buddies of the time, btw!) - they always seemed to run out of juice when you had no fresh button battery cells on you, forcing you to “limp” along with the 1/60 sec emergency mechanical shutter speed. For me Nikon just went downhill after the mighty F2 …

Façade in shadows, X-H1 with XF 90mm F/2 R WR @F/8, 1/600 sec, ISO 400, developed in Capture 1

Meanwhile, since the end of the last century the advent of mass produced highly integrated digital circuitry, including microprocessor based functions, has made electronic cameras extremely reliable (no moving parts, no wear & less production faults due to fully automated wafer fab’s). Way more reliable than their mechanical counterparts of yesteryear ever had been, in fact. You just gotta make sure you always got enough charged batteries on you (and that there’s somewhere an electrical outlet at hand to charge ‘em). An electronic camera w/o batteries = dead in the water! No juice, no pictures (and your fancy camera just became an expensive paperweight! ;-)

Back to the X-H1: For me it is simply the best interchangeable-lens APS-C camera in the market. Like my Nikon F2 was so long ago, the X-H1 seems to be the last of a golden age, with all that coming after her being under par in my opinion. Now, what is it specifically that puts the X-H1 above the others? For me it’s the balanced combination of 5 (not more, not less) key features:

  1. Best visual interface: Fluid 0.75x mag. EVF with high eye-point & lightning fast tilt-able LCD
    - ideal for flexible, fast subject viewing & composition, making image pre-visualization a joy!

  2. Perfectly positioned ‘feather touch‘ shutter with zero time-lag & traditional exposure dials
    - allowing me to capture the decisive moment instantaneously, discretely and intuitively!

  3. Slightly increased body size (vs. other APS-C cameras), with a larger highly ergonomic grip
    - perfectly fits my medium sized hands & the pronounced grip makes for totally safe holding!

  4. IBIS (in-body-image-stabilization), allows 3-4 stops slower shutter speed than 1/focal length
    - perfect for street & scenic twilight photography w/o tripod, when the light is most beautiful!

  5. Super robust, weather resistant body (25% thicker chassis compared to eg. X-T3)
    - tight, ‘bomb-proof’ perception, infusing confidence & liberating me to focus on my images!

Feels like I’ve been re-united with my legendary Nikon F2 (albeit with a modern heart!). See below image: I could capture the moment immediately when I saw it, framing it by quickly folding out the LCD screen (lifting the camera up to my eye would’ve ruined the spontaneity & lost the image), and having IBIS on board meant I could still capture a sharp image despite the bad lighting conditions!

Evening coffee, seen with X-H1 and XF 35mm F/1.4 R @F/2, 1/45 sec, ISO 800, developed in Capture 1

At first when I got my first X-H1 begin 2019 I thought it’s not really a pretty camera. But meanwhile I’ve come to appreciate its rugged, no-nonsense design & grown to love its intuitive & fast operation. And the sound of the mechanical shutter. Just gorgeous. It’s heaven! (Yeah, I know that don’t get you better images, but it sure makes the process of creating ‘em more enjoyable & satisfying!) In fact, I’ve grown so happy with my X-H1 that I now got 3 of ‘em (yes, three! The last 2 acquired recently for less than 800 bucks a pop - my favorite dealer seems to have built a secret stash of them somewhere when Fuji’d announced the phasing out of the X-H1 ;-)

OK OK, I hear some of youse out there sounding off about what kinda nutcase I must be buying ‘borderline obsolete’ cameras, where production’s already stopped … Let me me say this to that: I don’t give a rat’s ass! I don’t need the latest and the greatest, I need a photographer’s camera. A no-nonsense image taking tool w/o aspirational, fancy (video-centric) features that get in my way. That’s the X-H1 right there for me. You don’t like my advice? No problem, I’m not forcing you, it’s a free world after all. Do what you want, go somewhere else & be happy! Why having several of the same cameras? Think that’s an old habit from my analogue film days: I needed 2 cameras to allow me to use high & low sensitivity film in parallel to adjust to changing lighting conditions (and have a backup in case of some mechanical malfunction). In the digital age it’s more because I hate changing lenses to prevent dust entering the camera and ending up on the sensor. Those of youse know me know I’m kinda paranoid about that. The shrinks even got a name for it: “amathophobia”, derived from the greek words “amathos” = sand, and its diminutive form as dust & “phobos” = fear, i.e. “fear of dust” (and with me that psycho condition’s highly specialized: I just get it in relation to a camera sensor. Any other kind of dust, I couldn’t care … ;-)

So I keep 2 of my favorite primes, the XF 23mm F/1.4 and the XF 56mm F/1.2 like permanently glued to my X-H1’s. All fits in a compact Lowe Pro Inverse 200 AW belt pack weighing in at just about 3 kg (including spare batteries, cards, etc.). Not too bad!

Ok, I think that those of you patient enough to follow my ramblings up to here might fancy a small reward now! So, below I’ll share my preferred X-H1 function button allocations, optimized after many hours of trial & error playing around with the camera ;-). Note that the X-H1 has the highest number of customizable function buttons of all Fuji cameras (13), coz it’s got a D-Pad AND a touch screen LCD (both with 4 function slots)! This setup is also aligned with the setups of my X-Pro2’s and my X100V, allowing me to have an as much as possible standardized user interface across all my camera types (X-H. X-Pro, X100 and GFX):

See here the function button allocations more in detail:

  • Fn1: EXPOSURE COMPENSATION. toggles the exposure compensation via the front dial on/off

  • Fn2: FACE/EYE DETECTION SETTING. brings up face/eye detection menu (joystick to select)

  • Fn3: IS MODE. cycle IS (image stabilisation) mode from continuous to shooting only to off

  • Fn4: PLAYBACK. playback button on the right-hand side of the camera (like X-Pro2 & X100V)

  • Fn5: AF MODE. select AF-mode (SINGLE POINT > ZONE > WIDE/TRACKING > ALL)

  • Fn6: ELECTRONIC LEVEL. for quick check if camera’s level to prevent needing to crop in post

  • T-Fn1: SHUTTER TYPE. quick change of shutter type, eg. from electronic ES to mechanical MS

  • T-Fn2: ISO AUTO SETTING. quick change between 3 auto ISO settings (also via rear dial)

  • T-Fn3: D RANGE PRIORITY. don’t often need this but good to have

  • T-Fn4: NATURAL LIVE VIEW. I use ACROS-R film simulation, this is good to see the shadows

  • AE-L: AE LOCK ONLY. used to lock the auto exposure when needed

  • AF-ON: AF-ON. to activate back-button autofocus

  • R-DIAL: FOCUS CHECK. quick zoom in to check the focus

With these function button allocations I have an intuitive & fast user interface fully aligned with my way of making images. Please try it out & let me know if & how this works for you!

Summarizing, the X-H1 is IMO the best interchangeable lens APS-C camera Fuji ever made. It has no-nonsense ergonomics perfectly optimized for pro level still photography. The larger grip facilitates a cramp-free & safe holding even for longer photo sessions. The highly customisable intuitive user interface allows you to set the camera up so it gets outta your way when crafting your images. Last but not least its robust design will ensure you’ll always have a reliable photo companion with you for many years of photographic fun! Get one … If you still can, you won’t regret it!

Please be invited to join the discussion in the comments section below or leave me a PM on my about page, many thanks for visiting & supporting my blog. I hope y’all had an enjoyable read!

Take care & be safe!

Cheers

Hendrik

If you like you can support me by sending me a small donation via PayPal.me/hendriximages ! Helps me run this site & keeps the information coming, many thanks in advance!

Fuji ... Quo Vadis?

Today I’d like to share some thoughts and concerns on the direction Fuji, my camera brand of choice seems to be taking lately … Despite all the hype & dust kicked up over recently launched models I am absolutely NOT interested in 2 of the latest offerings (and consequently I will not “upgrade”. Ever. No sir). So, dear Fuji, in case you should one day happen to stumble on to my blog and read this, I hope you will appreciate my humble feedback and take note! For all others, please read on before you pull the trigger to maybe prevent being disappointed!

On the bike, captured by X-H1 with XF 56mm F/1.2 @F/8, 1/220 sec, ISO 200, developed in Capture 1

“Quo vadis?” is a classic Latin phrase meaning “Whither goest thou?” (or in contemporary English: “Where are you going?”). So, with this open letter I wanted to address precisely that question to Fuji … After trading in one of my X-H1 bodies around half a years ago to help finance a medium format GFX50R with a couple lenses, instead of getting one of Fuji’s brand new exchangeable lens bodies (X-Pro3, X-T4), I last week actually went out and got m’self another X-H1! Again (and it was a helluva bargain at 800 bucks too, if you bear in mind that one initially used to sell for more than twice as much!)

I mainly use my X-H1’s with my 23mm/1.4 and 56mm/1.2 lenses bolted on ‘em (as you might know I’m a paranoid about changing lenses … ;-). With these large aperture lenses coupled to the X-H1’s great in body image stabilisation feature, I can really enjoy my twilight & night photography w/o needing to lug a heavy tripod around … Now, there for sure gonna be some of youse out there sayin’ “Jeezus, how stupid can he be? With the fan-tas-tic X-T4 just launching as we speak, including image stabilisation and latest sensor and what not … WTF?” (remember Fuji saying some time ago the IBIS feature ain’t never gonna be possible in the more compact footprint of the X-T line?). With all the “ambassadors” & “influencers” parroting all over the net that the X-T4’s the next best thing after sliced bread, the very best of, THE one and only, yada, yada … Hey, that “hendriximages” guy must be totally nuts. Crazy. Must’ve just gone off the reservation by sticking to his antique X-Pro2’s and buying that miscarriage of an X-H1, despite all these shiny new “pure photography tools” (X-Pro3) and “Jack of all trades” (X-T4) being available … Might wanna go out and get some professional help right there, he should!

Yeah, well I actually use my X-H1’s. A lot. And I really like them, they’re very comfortable in hand & they got a great user interface. Sadly the internet don’t seem to agree - also the X-H1 seems to be a ‘www hate magnet’, just like the XF18 F/2 R is …

Town house triangle, seen by X-H1 with XF 23mm F/1.4 @F/8, 1/1300 sec, ISO 200, developed in Capture 1

Anywayz … For me just about the only thing Fuji did right with their latest new APS-C camera launches was the X100V. With a significantly improved lens, added weather resistance and a subtle, visible fold-out LCD, carefully evolving its design as to not lose the X100 line’s heritage, this one solved the main misgivings of the previous models & ticked all the boxes for me. For me it’s an absolute winner, finally delivering on the initial promise of a street photographer’s dream. I love my X100V and she’s always with me (especially when I’m not on a planned photo op, and then some!). Thanks God they didn’t put that crummy hidden LCD on there …

But the X-Pro3 or the X-T4? No. Those ain’t gonna be for me. Sorry Fuji, I’m just ain’t interested. Not at all!

So, if you’ve somehow managed to continue reading up to here w/o heading straight over to my comments section below to shoot me down in flames, please gimme a chance to explain! I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for rangefinder style cameras, because of their optical viewfinder (OVF) allowing for an unobstructed, realistic view of the subject, including the world “outside the frame” (great for environmental, documentary & street photography). I use that OVF for composing around 30% of my images and its existence is one of my main reasons for being faithful to the Fuji brand (no other mirrorless camera maker has this feature …)

Now let’s start with the X-Pro3. I really can’t imagine what demon took possession of product management over at Fuji when they decided to cripple the X-Pro3’s OVF (Optical ViewFinder) by restricting it to only one magnification level (0.52x). The consequence of this renders the X-Pro3’s OVF completely unusable for me. Useless. Like totally! If they were doing this to save costs they might as well could’ve better gotten rid of the OVF all together. That would’ve saved ‘em even more cost and a lot of trouble too … So, why’s the X-Pro3’s OVF crippled? Well, it kinda only really works with the 23mm lens. With the the shorter focal length of the 18mm the frame lines are outside the viewfinder’s boundaries (Ok, seems nobody ‘cept me and a couple other crazies likes that 18mm lens anywayz …). And with the 35mm (THE documentary lens, the one you might use most often) the frame lines are so small & lost in the middle of the viewfinder you kinda need a microscope to see what’s going on in there. Hell the area outside the frame shows more than the actual picture you’re trying to frame (and btw you can just forget about the 56mm or anything beyond). On the other hand my X-Pro2’s OVF with variable magnification allows 3-4 lenses to live happily in it (18mm, 23mm, 35mm, and even the 56mm in a pinch). Whereas the X-Pro3’s crippled OVF only works with 1-2 lenses, the 23mm & the 35mm (kinda)

I probably could somehow learn to live with the other 2 “upgrades” of the X-Pro3: The missing D-pad and that weird “hidden” LCD (meaning you can’t even compensate the lost custom function slots due to the missing D-pad via touch screen gestures when the LCD is hidden). OK, OK I get it, y’all can’t do no “pure” or “serious” photography if the LCD’s not hidden … But IMO all that ain’t ever gonna justify the X-Pro3’s approx. 2 grand price point. No way. Note, you can still get a new X-Pro2 (w/o the crippled OVF & w/o that dorky “hidden” LCD gimmick) for half that price, and then you even get slightly better high ISO & shadows noise behaviour to boot. And I promise, you will not not notice any difference between the 26 and 24 MP sensors either (actually I even prefer the rendering of the X-Pro2’s / X-H1’s X-Trans III sensor over the X-Pro3’s one). So, it’s kinda a “no-brainer”, if you ask me! Take a look at the beautiful shades of white below:

White in white street, X-H1 with XF 56mm F/1.2 @F/8, 1/800 sec, ISO 400, developed in Capture 1

Ok, so what about the upcoming X-T4?. Feature-wize it’s quite amazing what Fuji has packed into a still very compact body for a reasonable price (approx. 150$ less than X-Pro3): The X-T4 includes all the goodies contemporary camera tech can offer, so it’s quite impressive from a business proposition point of view. The single reason why I ain’t gonna put down my money for this one is ergonomics (or better lack thereof …): The X-T4’s shutter button is placed at a larger distance rearwards vs. the grip, and w/o forward inclination compared to the X-H1, see below image:

x-t4 vs x-h1 shutter button position.png

So, pressing the shutter requires an awkward contortion of your index finger respective to your hand holding the grip. Furthermore for my (medium sized) hands the X-T line’s body size is too small for a camera with a central viewfinder (DSLR style) layout. My X-H1’s grip is more comfortable and due to the increased width of the camera the viewfinder is in a better position. These at the end were the reasons why I never really could get used to my X-T2, subsequently selling it and never ending up buying an X-T3 (compared to which the X-T4 is even worse, because its grip is protruding even more out from the front of the body)

A more critical issue for me is the X-T4’s new “multi-angle, reversible LCD screen”. While this may be great for the vlogger- & selfie crowd it is a downright hinderance to serious stills photography. Why? Firstly it takes far longer time to fold out the LCD 180° from the right all the way to the left and then rotating it upwards if you want to look down while shooting from waist level (ideal for street photography). It can’t be slanted up- or downwards while on the back of the camera! And when folded out the whole LCD screen is sticking out to the left side of the camera like a sore thumb, making handling the camera quite a fiddly & awkward affair compounded by the complicated manipulation of the LCD screen. On my X100V I can switch between viewfinder and using the LCD at waist level in a split second - I just quickly need to pull out the bottom of the LCD a few cm in one fluid movement to slant it and can immediately look down to enable unobtrusive shots in the streets, without having to lift the camera to my eye (do that & people will immediately notice you. forget any spontaneity right there …). Apart from this you might get worried that the X-T4’s LCD’s hinge could easily break off by leveraging the exposed LCD screen against the body, while moving around to get a good perspective. To be fair I haven’t yet been able to physically try an X-T4 out, but I know all about this problem coz I had such a folding / twisting LCD in Nikon & Panasonic point and shoots a long time ago & and it freaked the heck outta me …

Summarizing, while I commend Fuji for having the courage to try out new things, for me the development direction of Fuji’s 2 new top-of-the-line ‘Flagship’ cameras has taken a completely wrong turn. On the:

  • X-Pro3 by crippling precisely THE key feature inherent to a rangefinder style camera (the OVF!)

  • X-T4 by an awkwardly placed shutter button and a cumbersome 3-D articulating LCD screen needing a time consuming manipulation and with the risk of damage due it’s exposed position when in use

These user interface & ergonomics misgivings may just be my subjective perception, but for me they’re a major blocking point to purchasing these cameras because they are a hinderance to a fluent & unobtrusive photographic process. Furthermore in my point of view the other “improvements” of these new models are not a sufficient upgrade vs. my current cameras to justify the requested price premium

Fuji PLEASE get this right on your next generation cameras, then they most probably will become unbeatable photographic tools! One of Fuji’s core strengths is listening to its consumer base. If they want to continue getting my hard earned cash they will have to quit playing around and go back to focus on core usability and ergonomic aspects of their cameras for serious photographers! All this trying to create a one-size-fits-all concept which attempts to suit everybody (photographers, videographers, vloggers and selfie aspirants) - kinda “Jack of all trades, master of none” approach will require major compromises from everyone and satisfy no one (because the requirements and processes of all these applications are so different). For me there are 3 distinct target groups, for which Fuji would do better to create dedicated solutions for and focus in fulfilling their key needs:

  • Serious still photographers

  • Videographers & film makers

  • Vloggers & instagrammers / selfie aspirants

If Fuji don’t respect these user groups’ diverse requirements they for sure risk losing their consumer centric heritage and added value vs. other brands, risking to drive loyal customers to jump ship. However I do think that the first two groups can be combined by a using a separate dedicated (stills/video) menu system, like the X-T4 has. Only, at least PLEASE go back to the X-H1, X-T2/3 type articulating LCD screen! Fuji you listening?

Sun pavillon, observed by X-H1 with XF 23mmm F/1.4 @F/8, 1/100 sec, ISO 400, developed in Capture 1

I hope this has been helpful to solve your own personal dilemmas as to what to do. I strongly advise y’all to think it over very carefully before you trade in your X-Pro2’s or X-H1’s (or X-T3’s for that matter) for the new X-Pro3’s and/or X-T4’s. There’s no way back and you might regret it, so, maybe you get a chance to try them out thoroughly side-by-side (rental or borrow a demo kit from your AD), before deciding! For me they are in no way worth their price premium!

Please leave me any questions and/or remarks in the comment section below or on my “about” page, Have a great Sunday, stay heathy and be safe!

Thanks for your interest & support, cheers

Hendrik

If you like you can support me by sending me a small donation via PayPal.me/hendriximages ! Helps me run this site & keeps the information coming, many thanks in advance!

Where Shadows Fall ... There’s Light, Merry Xmas!

First off, with this post I’d like to wish a merry Xmas to my faithful followers, and to any of youse who’ve visited my site thank you for looking by! Also a special thanks to all of youse who’ve left positive and critical comments here over the last year, by that giving me the opportunity to learn & improve my photography! For today I wanted to share some thoughts on how the fall of shadows manifests the existence of light, and how that’s also a good analogy for life (… a fitting topic for the season, don’t you think?). Anyways if interested please read on!

Deck chairs sparkling in the sun, captured on X-Pro2 with XF18mm F/2 @F/8, 1/150 sec, ISO 200

I discovered the above motif while enjoying a few days vacation with my wife in our beloved Italy (isola d’Elba to be precise): It was early in the morning and the first rays of the sun were just coming over the mountains, lighting up these old deck chairs around our B&B’s pool and casting their first light into the dark shadows with the promise of a lovely day to come. Of course you never know if that day’ll really turn out nice but it don’t harm to think it will & look forward to a great day with a smile on your face regardless! I wanted to animate people looking at my image to always think positive & look eagerly forward to what’s to come … To create that analogy my exposure was based on the bright reflections of the sun on the metal bars, thereby plunging the shadows into deep blackness (i.e. I was actually underexposing by about 1.5 stops vs. a ‘correct’ exposure). Trust Fuji X-Trans! The impressive dynamic range of that sensor ensured I didn’t loose all detail in the dark areas of the image and I could easily recover sufficient detail in post by upping the shadows slider!

Bicycle wheel shadowcast, seen on X-Pro2 with XF18mm F/2 @F/8, 1/550 sec, ISO 200

For me the above image goes the opposite route. Whereas in the deck chairs image the first sunlight was carving details out from the darkness, the shadows in the above image are actually covering them: Look at the pavement - the low angled sun’s rays are revealing every detail of the cobblestones. Only where the shadows of the bicycle’s wheel fall the details are obscured. The life analogy to this is for me that there are some dark sides to every situation. Be aware of them but don’t stress too much over them and especially don’t let them spoil your day! So in this image I actually over exposed a bit and then used the highlight slider in post to bring detail back into the highlights. Of course that works best in RAW but being an old (Fuji ACROS-R) JPEG aficionado I found that Fuji’s JPEG’s have sufficient dynamic range to pull that stunt off!

White sofa in the afternoon sun, discovered with X-H1 and XF23mm F/1.4 @F/5.6, 1/550 sec, ISO 200

Finally, in the above image I was confronted with quite an extreme contrast but wanted to still see details in the shadows and the highlights. So I exposed for average grey (ignoring that my histogram was freaking out on both sides) and hoped that my JPEG’s dynamic range would still cover it (knowing that I’d still have the RAW file to save my a** if it wouldn’t have been enough 😉). Luckily it was still OK (barely) and I could recover some detail in the darkest shadows and brightest highlights by maxing out Lightroom’s shadow and highlight sliders. So it’s the JPEG you see here, actually quite amazing! As I’d already said many times I just love Fuji JPEG’s in combination with the ACROS-R film simulation because of that simulation’s tonality dependent grain effect, which is very similar to what I was used to in the old days when using film (remember Tri-X? Man the images shot on that film had such beautiful grain!)

OK, with that I’d like to wish y’all a very merry Xmas (crazy how fast time’s flies, it was ‘just’ Xmas yesterday and now it’s the 25th again 🙃!) … and of course I wish youse a great start into the new year - may your photographic (and other 😉) dreams all come true and may you have all health, fun and success in 2020!

If you got any questions, or wish me to cover a specific topic in one of my next posts, please leave me a message in the comments section below or on my ‘about’ page - your email will not be disclosed & I promise to answer every single message! Thanks so much for visiting and wish y’all a wonderful holiday season,

Best regards,

Hendrik

If you like you can support me by sending me a small donation via PayPal.me/hendriximages ! Helps me run this site & keeps the information coming, many thanks in advance!

Shadow Seeker

Looking up “sunseeker” in google results in more than 7 million hits - products ranging from luxury yachts to bikinis. Now try the same with “shadowseeker". This gets you only slightly over 50k measly hits, less than 1% of the former - and then most of those are related to the shady world of pc gaming … Strange. Seems that the word “shadows” has a kinda negative connotation, while “sun” elicits a more positive association in people. Not so in photography. Here it’s the shadows which make or break the image, please read on if interested!

Sun’s reflections illuminate the dark background façade: X-H1 with XF35mm F/1.4, @F/8, 1/200 sec, ISO 200

Like in the image above: The sun’s reflections from windows across the courtyard cast the only light onto the dark shadows on the façade in the background, giving the image an interesting accent and balance vs. the bright graffitis on the wall in the foreground (of course I had to help a bit with curves & levels ;-). The long rays of the low evening sun sculpt out each texture on the building’s surfaces they skim by, painting long shadows after each protrusion. It’s the resulting shadows which tell the story. Without them the image would be flat & lifeless!

A few steps right: Long, low shadows uncover every detail, X-H1 with XF35mm F/1.4, @F/8, 1/125 sec, ISO 200

That’s why I like to see myself as a “Shadow Seeker”, always on the look-out for those non-substantial areas of darkness which manifest the existence of light! It’s only a few minutes before the sun sets that you get to capture such images, but then there are unlimited opportunities within a few steps of each other. See the image above, taken from a few steps to the right! Or the one below, where the lantern outside the frame is manifested only by its shadow:

Shadows bring to light the lantern that wasn’t there: X-H1 with XF35mm F/1.4, @F/5.6, 1/400 sec, ISO 200

Those of youse who’ve had the patience to follow my ramblings up to here may be asking themselves why I always keep using Fuji´s XF35mm F/1.4R lens. Because its got magic inside! This lens finds the images most people would oversee, long enough to focus on the essential part of the image but not to short to include too much into the frame! It’s the ideal lens for finding patterns and carving out details out of the bigger picture. Properly applied it helps you to select the important part of the scene, focusing your view on the essential message!

Also here a pattern of shadows makes the image: X-H1 with XF35mm F/1.4, @F/8, 1/500 sec, ISO 200

I was attracted to the above scene because of the pattern of shadows on the white wall - again an example of shadows creating an image which normally wouldn’t have been there …

For your information: All images in this post were developed using Capture One Pro 12. I´ll be happy to share my favorite settings & work-flow in a future post, please leave me a message on my “about” page or in the comments section below if you’re interested!

I hope this post was inspiring to you, animating you to go out and search for the shadows, which show you that light exists. Wish you great images and a good Sunday evening. All the best, your

Hendrik

If you like you can support me by sending me a small donation via PayPal.me/hendriximages ! Helps me run this site & keeps the information coming, many thanks in advance!

Revisiting Italy and Fuji´s XF 18 mm F/2 R

Of all the many places I’ve had the luck to be, one has captured a special spot in my heart: Italy. The light, the people, the climate. It is just such a special combination! Went there again end of march with my beloved wife and … My new Fujinon XF 18 mm f/2 R. Most reviewers on the net have a so-so to downright bad opinion of this little lens (some even say it’s Fuji’s worst …). That intrigued me - I likes to swim against the current and I’d always loved the 28 mm field of view on my full frame cameras. So I decided to get one & try it. Regardless. Please read on if you are interested in my experience with this lovely little gem!

Cà Palazzo Malvasia, a lovely BnB near Sasso Marconi. View from our terrace with X-H1 & XF 18 mm @f/5.6

We´d booked a night at a Bed & Breakfast near Sasso Marconi (close to Bologna): Cà Palazzo Malvasia. The first surprize came even before arriving: We got a friendly welcome message from the staff inquiring our ETA and informing us how to get there - never had that happen before! Then on arrival we were just completely floored by how beautiful the place is, renovated with so much care & attention. Way better than it had looked on booking.com! And Victoria, the charming lady at the reception took great care of us and made our stay truly unforgettable! Quindi, Victoria se per caso leggessi questo: Grazie mille per un soggiorno meraviglioso. ci ritorneremo! So, if any of you happen to travel the Bologna area (check this out), here’s a wonderful & relaxing place to stay. Highly recommended!

Ok, so what about that little Fujinon XF 18 mm f/2 R now? Check out the below image … Don’t you think it has a wonderful “organic” (whatever that means … ;-) look to it?

Cà Palazzo Malvasia, carefully renovated in “lo stile dell’epoca”. Taken with X-H1 & XF 18 mm @f/5.6, 1/20 sec

As mentioned before so many out there seem to hate this lens coz of its apparently mediocre image quality. So what! I prefer to see things for myself & make up my own mind. Not just parrot what others say. Point is, Fuji’s little 18mm is for me a lens with “character”, because it’s not “perfect”. And that’s why I like it (those of you who know me know I have a soft spot for lenses with character ;-). And it’s extremely compact & unobtrusive - the smallest Fuji lens still having an aperture ring (IMO a necessity). The plants in the image of our terrace below didn’t even realize they were in the image!

This was our terrace in Cà Palazzo Malvasia from which the first image was taken: Fuji X-H1 & XF 18 mm @f/8

But how’s it perform? Now I don’t usually photograph brick walls blown up to 1000 pixel peepin’ percent, so those of youse interested in that sort of thing might wanna look elsewhere on the net. I prefer to take pictures of real world, 3 dimensional people and things and I gotta say I was impressed by the results this little lens delivers. They got a kinda “magic glow”, as you can see in the image below:

The interior of Cà Palazzo Malvasia is decorated with heart! Fuji X-H1 with XF 18 mm @f/5.6, 1/9 sec

Overall I found the sharpness to be very good, especially in the central zone. Easily comparable to my X100F’s 23 mm f/2, even surpassing it at closer subject distances & larger apertures. Please note that the above image was taken at 1/9th (one ninth!) of a second. Hand held! No, I’m not “steady as a rock” ;-) Just got helped out a bit by my X-H1’s image stabilization! Those of you interested in technical details please check out Fuji’s specs here and Imaging Resources’s excellent review here. However, I gotta say this lens ain’t no good for photographing brick walls or flat subjects, coz it does suffer a bit from some softness and purple fringing in the image corners, which still linger on, even if you stop it down a bit. Maybe that’s where all the negative reviews came from: Many of those so-called “reviewers” photographing brick walls & test charts … and freakin’ out about the corners … ;-)

Cà Palazzo Malvasia - a lounge like a private living room, captured with Fuji X-H1 & XF 18 mm @f/5.6, 1/30 sec

I really love the way this lens renders, it’s still a kinda “Old School” design not yet exhibiting the clinical rendering of modern “digital” lenses. Like a sculptor’s tool, carving shapes & tones out of light and shadows. Simply poetic …

However, there’s no light without shadows - a couple things about this lens I’m not so enthusiastic about:

  • The aperture ring: Definitively not a hallmark feat of engineering. Rather stiff and with imprecise tactile feedback on the 1/3 f-stop positions, it’s difficult to adjust intuitively. Feels a bit like a crude prototype crafted by a journeyman in his first apprentice’s year. Meanwhile Fuji has greatly improved the adjustment and feel of aperture rings on their newer lenses

  • The autofocus noise: This lens makes no secret of the fact that it’s focussing (still has a traditional DC AF motor with gears moving all the lens elements around). Luckily it’s only audible in completely quiet environments and the AF operation is reasonably fast (especially with the latest camera firmware installed). My pretty wife must’ve thought there was a mouse in the room ;-)

My pretty wife in our nicely decorated room in Cà Palazzo Malvasia: Fuji X-H1 with XF 18 mm @f/4, 1/15 sec

Ok meanwhile the jury’s back - here’s the conclusion on Fuji’s XF 18mm f/2 R:

Pro’s:

  • Compact and lightweight but well made. With this lens on a smaller body you don’t really have any excuse to not always take your camera with you (and not miss any photographic opportunity anymore)!

  • Unobtrusive, combined with a 28mm (full frame equivalent) moderate wide angle field of view. It’s ideal for immersive street photography - ‘pulling’ you into the action, provided you have the guts to take those 2 steps closer (remember Robert Capa? “If your pictures aren't good enough, you weren't close enough!” )

  • Excellent centre zone sharpness, already from max. aperture onwards. “Organic”, three dimensional image rendering, with lovely bokeh in out of focus areas. This lens is predestined for storytelling & environmental, documentary style work. Also this lens has low chromatic aberration and distortion (corrected by firmware), making it ideal for environmental portraits (1/2 body images in landscape orientation)

  • Good image quality at max. aperture also at closer focussing distances (less than 1m), images taken in low light are perfectly usable and are rendered with great tonality & nice contrast

  • Quite fast and accurate focussing (with newest camera firmware)

Con’s:

  • Price: At 600$ not really a bargain!

  • Some softness and purple fringing in the image corners, improves at f/2.8 but not completely eliminated when stopping further down. Therefore less useful for architecture & landscapes

  • Stiff aperture ring with imprecise click positions

  • Autofocus operation audible in quiet environments

  • Not WR (weather resistant), but never had problems with it even in light rain

Stylish shadow details on our terrace at Cà Palazzo Malvasia: Seen with Fuji X-H1 & XF 35 mm f/1.4 @f/8

Summing up, this lens is great for those:

  1. In love with the 28 mm (full frame equivalent) moderate wide angle field of view

  2. Preferring a compact, unobtrusive prime lens with larger max. aperture than a zoom

  3. Focussing on storytelling & documentary style people / environmental photography

For all others it’s probably better to get a compact zoom which has the 18 mm focal length included, eg. the XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS

I hope I could offer you some interesting information, ideas and advice for your own photographic aspirations! As always your appreciation, comments & constructive critique are most welcome - please leave me a note in the comments section below or at my “about” page. Wish y’all a great Sunday and may you find the best light!

Many thanks for visiting & all the best,

Hendrik

I hope this post was helpful / interesting for you - If you like you can support me by sending me a small donation via PayPal.me/hendriximages ! Helps me run this site & keeps the information coming, many thanks in advance!

Renovatio, Fuji's X-H1 is a Reincarnation!

“Renovatio”? What’s that? Ok, it’s the name of a beautiful, sleek 118ft motor yacht designed by Luca Bassani, featured in the cool 2005 science fiction thriller “The Island” (directed by Michael Bay, starring Ewan McGregor & Scarlett Johansson). Yeah, right. And what’s all this gotta do with photography? Well, you will be surprized! Please read on if interested, but first some shades of grey with lovely tonality:

The final curtain, Fuji X-H1 with XF 35mm f/1.4R @f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO 400 using ACROS-R JPEG

It was the beginning of the 80’s. I was working as a photojournalist, following my lens wherever it chose to take me … lugging 6-7 lb’s of kit around in the process (with 2 second hand Nikon F2AS’s & several primes …). For me the Nikon F2 was the greatest picture taking machine of all time (albeit being a bit on the heavy side), see this nice review: I got nothin’ to add to that! Believe me, I tried most of what came thereafter: Nikon’s F3, F4 & F5; a couple Minolta’s; Leica’s M4P & M6; Hasselblad’s 500C/M; Olympus’ OM 1, 2 & 4Ti; Canon’s 5D mk I & II; Fuji’s X100S, T & F; Fuji’s X-Pro’s & X-T’s 1 & 2; Nikon’s D850, … most good, some exceptional … but none had the same special feel-in-hand I´d once experienced with my F2. Not even my D850 - even I absolutely adore the images coming off that one. So, what is it that stops all of them a bit short? Difficult to say, it’s kinda a combination of weight & balance, size, ergonomics and feel-in-hand with an intuitive, clear operation. When the stars align like that the camera really gets outta my way when taking photos (it kinda “disappears” from being in-between your idea, the subject and the resulting image ;-) and you start to see things you normally don’t see, like the patterns on the tables in the image below:

Rainy tables, Fuji X-H1 with XF 14mm f/2.8 @f/8, 1/180 sec, ISO 400 using ACROS-R JPEG

Enter the Fuji X-H1. According dictionary.com “Reincarnation” means “rebirth of a soul in a new body”. For me the Fuji X-H1 was it. A reincarnation. Finally a camera came along which elicits a similar feeing as I had with my F2. It just “clicked”, I mean literally (y’all just gotta listen to the X-H1’s shutter!). And the weird thing is, this was a camera I initially wasn’t even interested in … thinking it was a kinda weird in-between the chairs of mirrorless and full frame. Too big. Too heavy. Not too good looking either … and only for video junkies, I thought. Didn’t even wanna take it in hand at first! But then fate called. I discovered nasty sharpening artifacts in some of my Fuji’s X-E3’s JPEG’s (see here). Dang. Couldn’t use my beloved ACROS film simulation no more, coz that only works on JPEG’s!

Now what? Get an X-Pro2? Again? No. Sold it coz it’s got a too narrow EVF & didn’t feel comfortable in hand - always needed that MHG (accessory hand grip) thing strapped to it, to at least “get a grip” (pun intended ;-) But with the grip the shutter button ended up in an awkward position. So, back (again too) to the X-T2? Or get the new X-T3? Nope. Same problem with grip and shutter button placement. And the buttons on the back where too small & in all the wrong places for me. So, that left me the X-H1. No way out if I wanted ACROS & didn’t wanna sell my Fuji lenses. OK OK - might as well give it a shot … and I immediately had a couple “excuses” ready to justify that little bout of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). In case all this creates the urge in any of youse to also go out and buy an X-H1, you are free to use my excuses to convince your wife, partner, parents, grandma, or anyone else who needs convincing ;-)

  • The X-H1’s got IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization), at least something …

  • Great ergonomics: Fits in hand like a glove, with my index finger’s directly on the shutter button!

  • “Feather touch” shutter release allowing immediate, intuitive and discrete image capture

  • Fantastic, fluid EVF with sufficient long eye point for wearers of glasses

  • More robust / weather resistant (25% thicker chassis, feels similar “tight” as my Nikon F2 did)

  • And bluetooth

  • And touchscreen (which I´d gotten used to on my X-E3), allowing another 4 custom functions

  • And … “drumroll” … more than 600 bucks discount (vs. original RSP). NOW we’re talking !!!

So …

Wow the wife: “Hey honey, I got myself an X-H1!”, shot with X-H1 and XF 14mm f/2.8 @f/8, 1/60 sec, 800 ISO

I pulled the trigger, traded in my X-E3’s and got m’self an X-H1! In the following I´d like to share my first experiences with “The Beast” (I call my X-H1 like that, coz it looks a bit like something outta a Warcraft video game ;-)

As a sneak preview, please see the below image which wouldn’t have happened without stabilization (1/45 sec hand held on a 24 MPix sensor w/o bracing the camera’s asking for trouble & I didn’t wanna up the ISO), or without a touchscreen flippy LCD (didn’t need to look thru the viewfinder & could quickly select the focus point and immediately take the shot):

Coffee & smoking outside! Fuji X-H1 with XF 35mm d/1.4 @f/2, 1/45 sec, ISO 800 using ACROS-R JPEG

24 MPix? There’s one curse with the megapixels … Yep, more MPix gets you more details, but the smaller pixel pitch to pack the larger number of pixels on a same size sensor means that the camera’s more sensitive to motion blur. Imagine moving a running garden hose over one large bucket vs. moving it over two smaller buckets. While the water level in the larger bucket will uniformly rise only slightly, the two smaller buckets will end up with visibly different water levels. Similar to this analogy the same nanometers of motion blur on sensor will be seen as movement over 2 smaller neighboring pixels, but will not register as movement over one larger pixel (having a diameter larger than the length of the motion blur)

Yeah, right. Switching from my 16 MPix Fuji X100T to my 24 MPix X100F earned me approx. 30% more blurred images … Now this is where Fuji’s X-H1 image stabilization comes in: Allows me to use a 2-3 stop longer shutter speed than the usual 1/2x focal length rule (at least for reasonably static images). The result is more use-a-bility and the ability to extend your tripod-less photographic time in a day! So, for those of youse who’ve been patiently following my ramblings up to here I got good news: I’ll soon publish a follow-up post explaining my preferred settings for mx X-H1 (aka “The Beast”) and showing how a clever allocation of functions to buttons can further streamline the X-H1’s operation and make it even more intuitive!

Tables for diamonds, Fuji X-H1 with XF 14mm f/2.8 @f/8, 1/60 sec, ISO 400 using ACROS-R JPEG

There are a couple flies in the ointment though … For some the increased size & weight of the X-H1 is deviating too much from the original Fuji evolution to revolution story (for me it was still OK though, due to the improved grip & button position ergonomics). However the reduced battery capacity due to IBIS is a pain in the neck (even with IBIS in shooting only mode) - you gotta either use the battery power grip (which finally pushes the X_H1 size & weight into DSLR territory) or fill your pockets with spare batteries. Didn’t measure it, but subjectively 30% shorter battery life compared to X-T/X-Pro … you gonna need ‘em ;-)

I hope y’all enjoyed reading today’s blog post as much as I enjoyed writing it, and that you found some for you valuable insights during your visit here. Thanks for your interest & hope some of you will share your experiences or ask any questions you may have in the comments section below. Wish y’all a great weekend with exciting photographic opportunities!

Many thanks & all the best,

Hendrik

I hope this post was helpful / interesting for you - If you like you can support me by sending me a small donation via PayPal.me/hendriximages ! Helps me run this site & keeps the information coming, many thanks in advance!