Fuji X-Pro1

 

When the X-Pro1 was announced to a surprised market earlier in 2012 I then remarked on my scepticism at the release of a magnesium alloy bodied, mirrorless interchangeable lens camera.

Then it sunk in and I added that other companies had performed ‘major rethinks about the future of upper level digital cameras: like Olympus with its retro OM-D and Nikon with its bare bones N1.’

It was obvious that Fujifilm had done ‘a mighty rethink about gaps in the pro market and come up with a camera that has some pretty clever answers to some profound questions.’ Since then there have been other models in the X-mount line and the XE-1 is the latest.

 

Fujifilm XE-1 Review Verdict

 

Quality:

well above average.

 

Why you’d buy the Fujifilm XE-1:

you have the skills to exploit it.

 

Why you wouldn’t:

the LCD screen does not tilt.

The X-mount series of cameras goes from strength to strength. This sits easily into the lineup.

 

A fine successor to the X-Pro1.

 

You can find many articles online discussing the benefits of shooting in RAW and probably an equal number full of counter arguments stating that it is possible to obtain equally good results shooting in JPEG. Whilst that is definitely true, I want to discuss the reasons that pushed me to exclusively use RAW in the hope that it can persuade others to do the same. I liken RAW processing to taking the camera off ‘auto’ and shooting in ‘manual’ mode. When people are starting out in digital photography, it can seem like another area full of technical jargon that forms a barrier preventing its uptake. However, once you have an small understanding of the processes involved and how different settings can impact your results, you will find that letting your camera do the processing can be the limiting factor in achieving your photographic vision.

What is RAW?

A RAW file is an uncompressed image file that records the data from the sensor ‘as is’, with minimal processing. Depending on your camera, this file will most likely contain either 12-bit or 14-bit data. When shooting in JPEG, the camera will take the RAW file, process it with a number of generic actions (typically contrast/saturation adjustments, correcting for white balance and sharpening) before compressing the image down to an 8-bit JPEG file. That difference in ‘bit depth’ is the key here. The 12-bit image will contain 2^12=4096 tones per channel. Given that there are three channels per pixel (red, green and blue), that equates to 4096x4096x4096= 69 billion possible tones per pixel....

 

Now those numbers are almost too large to comprehend, however it is quite simple to consider in context. When you take a JPEG file from your camera into Photoshop to process, there are only 256 possible tones to define the colour for each red, green or blue channel, which means that when you start apply changes to contrast or brightness, there are a very limited number of possible tones for each pixel, which can result in obvious image degradation if pushed too far. With a RAW image, the number of possible tones is that much greater that more significant changes to can be made without any impact on the final image quality. This doesn’t come without a cost though. Due to the increased bit depth of RAW files, they are anywhere from 2-6 times larger than the corresponding JPEG when recorded in camera. This will make your vast memory card seem very limited. Additionally, where as a JPEG is typically printer-ready straight out of the camera, a RAW file will need to be manually processed in your digital darkroom. So, to answer the obvious question of ‘is it worth it?’, lets consider the benefits…

 

Street photography ain’t easy. It’s a fast moving world out there and it takes a lot of practice to be able to capture it well. However, it’s not just about practice. Every seasoned street photographer has a bag of tricks to make their lives easier when out on the streets. Below are few of my “secrets,” which I do not think are written about enough. They are not just technical tricks, but tips to help you seek out great content for your photos, so that they are interesting and powerful.

Most people who have experimented in Photoshop, especially those who shoot in raw, will have some experience of trying to sharpen an image. Sharpening increases the contrast between neighbouring pixels resulting in the visual effect of a crisper image. It is typically the last processing step that should be performed on an image and is often used to enhance already well-focussed images or in desperation to try and rescue elements of a photograph that weren’t captured in-focus when the shutter was pressed. There are numerous ways to sharpen images in Photoshop, so much so that there is a whole sub-menu of filters dedicated to sharpening, each offering a different amount of control and different levels of success. However, one of the most overlooked filters that can help you achieve better results with more control isn’t found in the Sharpen sub-menu, but is in fact found in the, usefully named, Filter -> Other menu: the high pass filter. I’ll take you through a step-by-step guide to using high pass filter and hopefully show you how simple and effective image sharpening can be.....

 

The benefit of using this method to sharpen your images is that the sharpening effect is applied in a non-destructive fashion, on a duplicate layer, with a very simple to understand parameter (in the Radius value) that controls the magnitude of the sharpening, as well as giving you the ability to fine tune the final effect using the Opacity slider.

The menu list is enormous but straightforward. Fortunately, once you have set the normal parameters like image size, file format, etc you can drive the camera quite easily with the external controls. What did make the camera sing and dance in my all too brief stewardship was the arsenal of lenses supplied with it. The camera itself is not overly large nor heavy, nor were the the three review lenses: each was a delight to snap on and start shooting with. However, missing was a zoom. If I correctly understood the company’s brief at the launch there will be a zoom for the camera ‘in the near future’, but as to how the hybrid finder view will be implemented is not yet known.