03/26/14

Fujifilm X-E2 - Voigtländer Nokton 40 f1.4

Being so imressed with the image quality of the Fuji lenses on my X-E1, I had to go out and test the X-E2 when it came out. The reason I wanted to look at it was for a couple of reasons. 1. Focusing on the X-E1 wasn't exactly fast and 2. General response time in the evf. Both of these have been resolved in the X-E2. Although it's not a great leap in the new features segment, what has been improved was well worth the upgrade. Now I'll have a camera for my two Fujinon lenses that I use, the 18-55 kit lens and the 55-200, both of which are exceptional lenses and cheap at the price.

I also have some adapters for my manual focus lenses which I'll be putting through their paces when time permits. In the image above you can see the Voigtländer Nokton 40 f1.4 lens mounted on the X-E2 giving me a 60mm equivalent lens. Looks good too.

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Dil 03/26/14 19:00 comments (0)

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• Fujifilm • Nokton • 40 f1.4 • Voigtländer • X-E2

03/25/14

Cameras

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Sony Alpha A7 - Zeiss Planar 50 f2 ZM T*

I just couldn't resist this Sony Alpha A7, it's perfect for my type of photography. I love using older (and newer) legacy manual focus lenses on modern digital cameras. And this is principly the reason I purchased the A7. A bonus for the camera is the E mount which allows you to use all the native E mount lenses on the market today, albeit at a lower resolution. By lower resolution I mean 15MP files which is about the same as the best M43 camera on the market today, and with those you can safely print a 45cm x 30cm size but how often do you print at those sizes? So any smaller prints are going to be exceptional. Sony are planning on bringing out their FE lenses for the Alpha system but I'm not planning on aquiring any of those except the 28-70 I bought with the camera. I like at least one native lens for each system just to see how it actually performs with those lenses mounted.

Be careful when using rangefinder lenses on these Alpha models, just as you had to be careful what you used on the Nex-7. Colour shift will hapen with these lenses at focal lengths of 35mm ond wider. SLR lenses don't cause this problem and you have a lot of lenses to chose from. Everyone has their favourites and mine are C/Y and Pentax which have proved to be excellent on other systems.

However, that doesn't mean these lenses will perform well on the Alpha cameras because they are of course full frame. With the other systems the sensors used are either APS-C or M43 and using the sweet spots of the lenses, the central portion. Problems normally occur at the edges where smearing can be seen and testing each lens before use is a must on these cameras. I like using a 50mm lens, hence my purchase of the Zeiss Planar 50 f2 which performs very well on the A7. I thought I would pay a little more for one lens which I could use for years to come and no further purchases would be necessary. I will report back with some images from this lens when I have the time.

I think one thing should be said here about the Sony Nex family of cameras and that is the name Nex has been retired and no more Nex cameras will be brought to market. The Nex cameras have only be renamed Alpha cameras so we may see another Nex camera come to market only it will be called an Alpha.

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Dil 03/25/14 19:00 comments (0)

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• Sony • Alpha • A7 • Zeiss • Planar • 50 f2

03/24/14

Cameras

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Panasonic LX5

I decided to end this composite series with some images from the Panasonic LX5. These to me are quite remarkable because when take the sensor size into account (it's a 1/1.6" sensor) you realize that you don't need an expensive camera and/or lens to get some great images today.

One of the questions you must ask yourself today is "What am I going to use the camera for?". If you're just going to post to the Internet or on one of the social media sites then the lowliest of today's cameras would be enough for you. Take the Panasonic LX5 for instance, a 10MP camera. Nowadays when posting to the Internet an image will be either 800px or 1200px on it's longest side because you also have to cater for those with older monitors. When posting something to a forum or when introducing images to a blog post, the aim is not to show images at full resolution (you can't really anyway), but to supplement the text with some visual content. Personally, I keep a photoblog here and I use text to supplement my random images, but the maximum size I post is 1200px, and that very rarely.

So why do we tend to buy cameras that are mostly overkill in terms or resolution? One reason is that the newer cameras come with massive resolution. A good example of this is the Sony RX100II which is undoubtedly a very fine camera but do you really need that 20MP resolution? I certainly don't and I can't see professionals using this camera to make large prints or posters either although that may be possible. I would think that the professional would use the appropriate equipment if the intended output is print. One possible advantage to these images could be of course cropping. A 20MP image will allow you to crop and still have enough resolution to print an image at a reasonable standard size, or, if you want the compost ion to be slightly different then the resolution is there that allows you to do this.

Now, saying that professionals would use the appropriate equipment to some serious work, I read an article some time towards the end of last year that really opened my eyes as to what is possible. It was an article by Ming Thein and you can find it here. All his images in that post were maid my an iPhone,really. If you don't know Ming Thein, pop over to his blog and take a look, it has a plethora of information and some videos to purchase. He is a very good photographer that could create far better images than myself with a throwaway camera. Can you see me turning green with envy :-)

People are different, some are very musical, some can draw and paint Ming Thein is for me an extraordinary photographer and I know that I won't reach his level of excellence it doesn't matter what camera I own. So, the next time you're thinking about purchasing a camera, just ask yourself what you're going to get out of it. Personally, I just wish I had half the talent of a lot of photographers.

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Dil 03/24/14 19:00 comments (0)

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• Panasonic • LX5

03/23/14

Cameras

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Canon G1X

This point and shoot was really the most surprising camera of 2013 for me. The sensor is very good and is a 1.5" sensor. I must ask myself though why Canon didn't put an useable EVF or larger OVF in it. That would have made it perfect for me. As it is it's my go evrywhere camera where I'm not sure what to expect and I just want to blend in with the croud. Just looks like a G15/16, so it's somebody with a P&S and not worth a second look. My eyes not being what they once were, I have to wear my glasses to really compose which is a PITA really. It's also a reason why I normally don't use these cameras in this way.

Being quite small it fits in my shoulder bag or rucksack without any problems and battery life is pretty good. It's a sort of camera that you use if you want to take a single shot of something and definately not for anything that's moving. The above images show what's possible and I'll be using this camera on long walks in good light. I don't think Canon will be bringing out a second version of this camera, which is a real shame really, as a couple of improvement would make this camera a hot seller. I wish I could be a fly on a wall when these cameras are being designed, just to hear what actually goes on behind the scenes; like why did they bring this to market and what the idea was behind it.

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Dil 03/23/14 19:00 comments (0)

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• Canon • G1X

03/22/14

Cameras

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Panasonic LX5

Some random images from the "old" Panasonic LX5 camera.

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Dil 03/22/14 19:00 comments (0)

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• Panasonic • LX5

03/19/14

Cameras

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Fujifilm X100S

Every time I come back to the Fujifilm X100S images my comment is always "These are the best files I have ever seen". Granted, I haven't used a Nikon D800 or D800E and I have no intention of doing so, but for my purposes they are the best quality I can imagine. Best of all, conversion to B&W is the best I've seen too. I don't do a lot of monochrome shooting straight from camera but tend to convert them in PP using Nik SFXII. If you haven't used this plug-in do yourself a favour and try it out. Really remakable piece of software.

I'm certain of it that before the end of this composite series there will be another one from this camera. I don't know what you think, but I now have a Fujifilm X100S, an X-E1 and an X-E2 in my arsenal. The Fuji cameras might not be the fastest AF cameras on the market and aren't meant for sport shooters but they are excellent for all other kinds of pphotography. High ISO images are exemplary, and many other manufacturers could look at these Fujifilm cameras to see how it's really done. Of course, Fujifilm use another type of sensor (X-Trans) but I have to admire them for being so innovative and have the guts to try something new. I just can't see Canon or Nikon trying something like this, being so conservative and are so slow to adjust to the market.

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Dil 03/19/14 19:00 comments (0)

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• Fujifilm • X100S

03/14/14

Cameras

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Fujifilm X100S

People who haven't used these Fujifilm cameras don't know what they're missing. Then again, everyone's different and it might not suit everyone. I have to admit I have to concentrate when using this camera or using lenses in this focal length range because I'm a long lens shooter and see the world with a telescopic eye, this focal length doesn't come easy to me. But then again, that can't really be a bad thing because you have to slow down and really think about what you're doing. You also have to get closer to your subject than normally would be the case so you zoom in with your feet.

The real pleasure comes though when you open the image in your favourite viewer. I think they have a certain signature that not all systems have and for me, Fujifilm have really hit the nail on the head. I like how the images turn out and they're great for converting into monochrome.

If you haven't tried these new cameras from Fujifilm, do youself a favour and go and try one out. Even rent one for a weekend or a week and just go shoot with it. I think you'll be surprised at the file quality and your next purchase could well be a Fujifilm camera. One last point I have on these systems concerns the lenses available: they're simply stunning, especially the two zooms I have; the 18-55 kit lens and the 55-200.

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Dil 03/14/14 19:00 comments (0)

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• Fujifilm • X100S

02/15/14

Cameras

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Canon G1X

This is the last from the G1X for the present. I hope you've enjoyed the images from this somewhat excentric camera. I still think this was an experiment by Canon because it doesn't quite fit into any camera class. Since it's release there hasn't been a firmware update and I don't think there'll be one. A G2X will not be coming either in my opinion. They collected all the information they wanted and the project has been dropped. Again, that is just my opinion. Since the release of the G1X, the EOS-M has come onto the market but I don't think that camera is doing well either.

Nikon and Canon will have to carve out their market share with other cameras apart from their DSLRs because that's the way the market is going. Sony have released the A7/A7r and I think they will abandon their DSLT market altogether. C'mon Nikon and Canon, let's see what you can do.

Interesting times ahead.

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Dil 02/15/14 19:00 comments (0)