#fuji X-Pro2

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!

Sailing Away? A Desert Island Kit!

Planning on getting stranded on a desert island? I say “planning” coz ya normally don’t “plan” to get stranded & therefore ain’t gonna be able to prepare for it, unless you got your “desert island kit” on you like 24/7/365 … and FYI “desert” don’t mean that island’ll be arid & dry (as in a Sahara-like desert), in this context “desert” is an archaic form of the adjective “deserted” (meaning devoid of people, uninhabited). Furthermore, the phrase “desert island” isn’t a recent invention derived from some ghetto slang, it’s been in the English language since around 1200 A.D.! With all that outta the way please read on to find out what’s IMO the best Desert Island Kit!

Schooner bowsprit in contre-jour morning light, X-Pro2 & XF 18mm F/2 @F/8, 1/125 sec, ISO 200, +0.7 EV

Coming back on the “planning” bit … If I’d have to move to a desert(ed) island & could only take ONE camera & ONE lens with me, it’d be my X-Pro2 with my beloved XF 18mm F/2 stuck on it (provided I’d have a solar powered battery charger to go with it - no ‘lectricity > no photography with that one!): Anyway the XF 18mm’s ideal for any & all kind of documentary photography: Wide enough to show y’all the environment but not too wide (just) to not distort people in the image. That’s of course only in case somebody else unexpectedly turns up on your deserted island 😉!

Schooner mast and rigging just before dawn, X-Pro2 & XF 18mm F/2 @F/8, 1/60 sec, ISO 200

So, if only one lens, why then take a camera where you can exchange the lens? Well, maybe I’d encounter a camera store on that desert island and then I’d get myself an XF 35mm F/2, to photograph those people which were gonna turn up unexpectedly! And while I’m in that store I´d get m’self a second X-Pro2 to prevent having to change lenses too often with all that dust blowing around on my island (see, I’m paranoid about changing lenses since changing over to digital 😰). So there you have it: My “desert island” kit would be two X-Pro2’s, one with an XF 18mm F/2 R and the other with an XF 35mm F/2 R WR - fits easily in a small shoulder bag (dimensions - around 6” x 5” x 4”, like the Hama Monterey 130)!

Tugboat’s & dinghy’s stern (= rear end ;-) … X-Pro2 & XF 18mm F/2 @F/8, 1/100 sec, ISO 200, -0.7 EV

As you can see in the above image, the XF 18mm has an amazing depth. Especially when using it in portrait format, here the rather long 3:2 aspect ratio of the APS-C format stretches the image from near to far. Due to the greater depth of field of the smaller format everything’s in focus already at F/8!

Hope this post has given you some inspiration and will animate you to go out and take images with an unobtrusive high quality kit fitting in a small bag. A desert island kit, with which you won’t really miss anything!

If you have any questions, please put them in the comments section below or leave me a note on my “about” page. Look forward to the discussion!

Wish y’all good shooting & a very nice Sunday!

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!

LOL ... Lines of Light, the X-Pro2 Rediscovered!

LOL … “Laughing out Loud” in internet speak, but now it seems to have worn off & they ain’t sure no more what it stands for … So I thought I’d advocate a new meaning for it: How ‘bout LOL = “Lines of Light”. Amazing! For sure this is gonna “go viral” now ;-) … Let’s see, please read on to find out why!

Lines of Light, seen with X-Pro2 and XF35 mm F/1.4R @F/8, 1/550 sec, ISO 200

Lines of Light, seen with X-Pro2 and XF35 mm F/1.4R @F/8, 1/550 sec, ISO 200

Hang on … X-Pro2? Didn't he flame that one in this post some time ago? Claustrophobic narrow viewfinder, camera too large, etc.? Yeah, but somehow I seem to keep coming back to the rangefinder-esque style of the X-Pro. Maybe the combination of an optical and electronic viewfinder, like on my X100F - with the possibility to see “outside the frame”? Or the left-sided position of the viewfinder allowing you to view the world thru both eyes and not hiding your face behind the camera, thereby creating a more intimate atmosphere with your subject in people photography? … Possibly. For me however, the main reason must be the X-Pro2’s sensor and its wonderful rendering, just like on my X-H1! Look at the image below - you just gotta love the transparency of the sun’s rays streaming thru the last remnants of morning fog, drawing parallel lines to the trees’ shadows on the ground!

Sun’s rays thru the fog follow the shadows, X-Pro2 with XF18 mm F/2 @F/8, 1/14 sec, ISO 200, +1 EV

This was a RAW image developed in Capture One, unbeatable if it’s about recovering details from outta those inky shadows. As most of youse know I only do RAW development on a few difficult hi-contrast images. Otherwize I mostly stick to JPEG´s which I slightly tweak in Lightroom (Curves & Levels), where the X-Pro2´s X-Trans III sensor and Fuji’s ACROS simulation with its beautiful tonality dependent grain engine create wonderful film-like JPEG’s! I guess another reason I’m sticking with the X-Pro2 now is my worry that its successor slated to come out end of this year may have a more aggressive JPEG processing pipeline, like I recently discovered on Fuji’s X-E3 (halos around small details even with JPEG sharpening turned all the way down). Any such future development would make it difficult for me to continue my beloved ACROS-R & JPEG based workflow!

3 steps to heaven, X-Pro2 with XF35 mm F/1.4 @F/8, 1/180 sec, ISO 200

Also above image is dominated by a pattern of diagonal lines. On this one I had to use the X-Pro2’s EVF (electronic viewfinder) to find the exact position from where all the elements didn’t interfere which each other!

I hope y’all liked the post & enjoyed spending some time here, thanks for visiting & please leave me your thoughts in the comment section below (or on my about page). Many thanks & wish you great photographic opportunities for the next week! 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!