Fuji X-Pro1

Mist has always fascinated me. It takes away pieces of the framed subject and replaces it with mystic. It sparks my creativity as a photographer, and that of the audience. Peoples imagination gets cranked up. We have our fair share of mist here in the Netherlands. It is the first thing I hope for when I check the weather before I go out taking photos.

I love wandering through the mist. Just me and my camera, lost in a mystical world. It doesn’t only have a visual impact, but all sounds are silenced as well.

In the mist I have to work harder to get that specific image I want to show to the viewer. The framing and content is not only choosen by me, but is heavily influenced by the circumstances. But .. in the end it’s all worth it.

Desvelado hace unos meses junto al primer zoom para el sistema X de Fujifilm, el nuevo Fujinon 14 mm f2.8 R se convertía en el objetivo más angular de la firma. Pensado para la fotografía de paisajes y arquitectura y con una focal equivalente a 21 milímetros, también es el más caro de la saga con un precio que ronda los 900 euros. Una cifra que, unida a las promesas de excelencia de la firma en lo que respecta a calidad y control de las deformaciones, obliga a elevar el listón de exigencia al acercarnos a esta pieza.

A estas alturas no es ningún secreto que la línea que se ha marcado Fujifilm para su sistema X está en la órbita de la filosofía de Leica. Y el nuevo Fujinon de 14 milímetros sigue al pie de la letra esa manera clásica de entender la fotografía en lo que respecta a construcción, focales y apuesta por ópticas fijas. Todo ello, eso sí, sin renunciar a los últimos avances técnicos......

Bei der Carl Zeiss AG in Oberkochen hat man wohl entschieden, anstelle der Marke «Carl Zeiss» bei neuen Produkten nur «Zeiss» als Marke zu nutzen. Die erste Produktfamilie, die davon offensichtlich betroffen ist, scheint die im vergangenen Monat vorgestellte Touit-Objektivreihemit Sony-Nex- und Fujifilm-X-Anschlüssen zu sein.

Inzwischen sind die ersten Distagon-2,8/12-mm-Objektive im Handel aufgetaucht, bei welchen der Name Carl fehlt. Die Touit-Objektive der ersten Produktions-Charge, die noch den traditionellen Markennamen tragen, könnten sich schon bald zu gesuchten Sammlerstücken entwickeln.....

With apologies to Dr. Seuss, this is exactly what a street photographer must do. And if you are walking the streets of Calcutta you might not need to “turn minnows into whales” for you will have “a story that NO ONE could beat!” This was my second visit to Calcutta, also known by its newer and more politically correct name Kolkata. I spent all of last week in this city for work and pleasure, though I had very little time to myself. When I did get a few minutes, I spent them with a local friend and we prowled the city’s streets photographing. The days were unusually cool, overcast, rainy and gray. In other words, perfect for street photography. The city has a grittiness to it. It seemed less friendly than last time I visited and more like the big city it is. Perhaps because I had so little time to spend with the people who actually live there, which always tends to make one feel more welcome. Because of this emotion I processed these photos with the idea of communicating that same feeling. I processed the Fujifilm RAW .RAF files in Lightroom and then put the “HDRish,” grunge effect using onOne Perfect Effects 4. I photographed all images using my Fujifilm X-Pro1. And even though I took my 35 mm f/1.4 with me, most of the time it stayed in my pocket (literally in my back pocket!). For whatever reason–be it close quarters, the intimacy of my subjects, I am not sure why, but my 14 mm seemed to be glued to my camera.....

Today we are reviewing the Fuji x100s a very cool retro style compact camera that packs a punch on the inside.    The x100s also sports a 23mm (35mm equivalent)  f/2 fixed prime lens, the same as the x100. They have made quite a few improvements from its predecessor the Fuji x100, the manual focus is now very responsive and…works! and the auto focus is so much faster and accurate due to the On-sensor phase detection… I know that’s geek talk but believe me it is soooo much better.  They also moved the AF button from left side to the right top button wheel and add a “Q” button that brings up a quick menu that allows you to change common settings quickly without fumbling around in the menu.  This camera handles great in low light situations as well and for me the images were usable to ISO6400. For those of you wanting video, it has full 1080 HD video at 60fps.  The thing I love about this camera the most is that it is compact, has a cool retro look and is silent when taking photos.   It’s not bulky nor does it attract attention to you like your DSLR and big lenses but functions and controls just as good.  I also love that there is a hot shoe so that I can still use my triggers for off camera flash.  In the video we used the Cheetah CL-180 system on Cheetah Stands to produce some awesome results.  The shutter speed can go as fast as 1/4000 sec but as I said in the video, the best flash sync speed for off camera flash is 1/1000th sec to get the full flash burst.  The Fuji x100s is definitely the ultimate walk around camera at this time, I highly recommend it..... 

Yes, the new Fuji 55-200mm lens arrived for my fuji camera systems!  I am currently shooting with a color X-E1, a color X Pro 1 and a IR converted (720nm) X Pro 1.   I know how well the 55-200 works on the color bodies but what I really needed to know how did it work with the IR system!  Would it give hot spots as so many of the Fuji lenses do?  This post is the report of my findings.  The final verdict is that it works very well and as long as you do not go higher than f/16 there are no hot spots to worry about at any zoom range! To me this is a really big deal. So far only the 14mm and 35mm Fuji lenses are usable in infrared. So the addition of another lens really helps. I am going to give you some examples of how this lens actually does at both the wide and long ends of the zoom range wide open and closed down so that you can get a feel of the usable Infrared range that you can use.  Next week I will do a posting using the lens for color work only.

The loud incessant clanging of cymbals and banging of drums startled me from my afternoon siesta. Momentarily disorientated, my drowsy head took a moment before it registered where I was, our recent spate of bus journeys had blurred the lines between the cities and towns we’ve stayed in.

Sucre. La ciudad blanca, The White City.

We had arrived a couple of days prior, intending to make this a longer than usual stop to fit in another week of Spanish lessons. The cultural capital of Bolivia and named after revolutionary leader Antonio José de Sucre, the city of Sucre is chock full of colonial architecture and a is rightfully a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Perched high up at an elevation of 2810m, the altitude blesses the city with a cool temperate climate all year round. I shock off the remnants of sleep and wandered over to the window, where the celebratory marching band could be heard just round the corner. Not having a clue what the whole thing was about but not wanting to miss anything, I grabbed my camera and ran out the door.

What greeted me was an absolute riot of colour and costumes, a huge parade of people dancing with multiple marching bands, each trying to outdo each other. Little old ladies in sequins and flashy costumes, men in mythical monster outfits, everyone was just dancing and waltzing their way across town.

A lady standing beside me noticed my fascination and offered,

“La fiesta de San Juan de Dios”

Saint John of God, a 16th century Spanish/Portuguese saint and inspiration behind the worldwide charity Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God, formed by his followers after his death to care for the sick and suffering everywhere, and in particular, those afflicted with mental illnesses, was having his feast day celebrated in Sucre, to great aplomb.

We followed the procession up Calle Junin and towards Plaza Alto de la Alianza, walking though a part of town we hadn’t yet visited. Like a noisy river of gyrating and swaying glitter, the procession flowed uptown with huge crowds of people following alongside.

The dark clouds above threatened above but not a drop fell. 

Well it is here, Adobe have released version 5 of their brilliant Photoshop Lightroom photo management and editing software.

I have been using Lightroom from the initial beta and have watched it grow from strength to strength. Just over a year ago I celebrated the release of Lightroom 4 which brought with it considerable improvement in image quality, especially when it comes down to image noise.

Lightroom 5 brings a strong focus on the photographer’s workflow and some of the new tools really are brilliant, I suspect even less time in Photoshop as a result of the ‘advanced healing brush’ alone.

It is now possible to paint out larger areas of an image for correction but the big bonus is the fact you can be much more accurate. For example in this image I had to use a large circle to remove a bird yet the new brush means I can create a smaller circle and heal only the pixels necessary.

The vertical straightening tool is particularly intelligent in auto mode. This image was taken at the bottom of a waterfall at a slightly skewed angle to ensure all of the fall is in the shot. Lightroom was able to bring the wall forward to correct the vertical perspective.....

A couple of weeks ago I posted my impressions of the Zeiss 32mm Touit lens for NEX cameras, based on a copy loaned to me by Zeiss, USA. Now that we have our own copies I can be, shall we say, a bit more aggressive in examining the lens. Not to mention getting an opportunity to continue my string of aggressively bad pun titles (which Drew absolutely hates). But, hey, don’t blame me. I didn’t pick the name. I just do what has to be done. I have yet begun to pun. Anyway, given that a lens with electronic autofocus and aperture control was something new in the Zeiss consumer lineup, Aaron and I couldn’t wait to take a look inside and see how things were put together. Once we got a look inside, we found there was more Touit than we expected (don’t say I didn’t warn you). The lens is put together solidly in typical Zeiss fashion....

HIGH QUALITY EXTRA SOFT PORPORA RED SUEDE LEATHER FOR INNER FINISHING

Tripod screw already inclusive for ALL cases without any price surcharge !!

AVALAIBLE IN THE FOLLOWING COLORS:

Foxy Brown Waxed:A very aged dark brown color,tonalities goes from foxy brown to dark brown,one of the model more succesfull in our collection, it is done with one of  the best leather. This new type is also waxed on the surface, giving better tonalities and saturation of colours.

Each leather is worked  by tannery for us following our requests, a process which last not less than 15 days for each leather, using the same traditional methods for hundreds years (all vegetable tanned, no chemicals at all). Our leather is very thick (up to 3mm) and was received by natural ageing process to fit Leica owners' taste.
Hand made by some of the most skilled italian artisans with more then 30 years of experience in this field. Each half case requires one day of work, all process is carefully handmade, the bottom of the case is stitched by hands (not glued to the upper part)

The case is adjusted to fit like a glove to the camera body. The case also features a grip on the front part to aid ergonomical camera handling. A removable LCD protector has been included too.....

No Fuji X100s, X-E1 oder X-Pro1 support! :-( - only Fuji X10

Microsoft has announced a Raw compatibility update for Windows Vista, 7 and 8, adding support for 22 cameras. This includes the previous generation of Canon Rebel cameras, along with the Pentax K-01, Sony RX100 and the Fujifilm X10. It also adds support for the Canon EOS 6D and Nikon D600, along with 'richer' support for images shot in AdobeRGB. Windows 8 users can find the update using the Windows Update system (Update KB2836187), while Vista and Windows 7 customers will need to visit the Microsoft Download Center.

Details:

The release has richer support for images shot in the AdobeRGB color space for all supported cameras. Support was added for 22 additional cameras:

- Canon: EOS 650D, EOS1100D, EOS 6D, EOS Kiss X5, EOS Kiss X6i, EOS Rebel T4i, PowerShot SX50 HD

- Fujifilm: X10

- Nikon: 1 V2, D600, D5200

- Olympus: E-600, PEN E-PL1s, PEN-P3

- Panasonic: Lumix DMX-FZ40, Lumix DMX-G2, Lumix DMX-GX1

- Pentax: K-01

- Samsung: EX2F

- Sony: Alpha NEX-F3, Alpha SLT-A37, Cyber-shot DSC-RX100