robvisual - photography

I always have a camera with me (at least my smartphone) and I took my X100s to a "the rifles" concert yesterday in Hamburg. The light was very dim and the room was small and packed with people from door to stage. The X100s has only a 23mm lens and I was standing in the sixth row. The challenge in this situation is to capture not only the artists on stage. In such a narrow space you can also create very close images to capture the magic of the moment. I set my cam to an ISO value of 6400 and a shutter speed of 125 of a second. And then I just fired away. I did not care about the results. When you shot low light and very high ISO the images become a bit blurry and grainy, but bear in mind that no one looks at photos in a hundred percent view. The contents of the photo are important, not the quality. This is not fine art photography! The photo above was shot with wide open eyes at f 2.0 to add some depth from the crowd to the stage. The light from the right creates a great ...

Time passes by and it feels strange to get used to a new gadget so quick. That feeling of excitement is nearly gone and the new camera just another camera. Don't get me wrong. It still feels great to own a high quality product that feels good my hands, but this "wow, something new!" is fading. And the results? The X-PRO2 still does the job and delivers a great image quality, paired with a fast and reliable auto-focus. The ability to download photos via a wireless connection feels great, because you love this feature when you travel (for reviewing photos on your smartphone or tablet when you're back in the hotel) or want to send a photo immediately to someone you just photographed. Nothing new when you already own a X100t or X-T1, but when you mostly worked with an X-PRO1 you will love it! My only concern is the auto ISO handling of this camera. In my first article I was happy to find profiles that allow you to store (only) three different presets that allow you...

I wrote some articles about the X-PRO1/2 in the past. I mentioned there that you don´t need to upgrade your camera if you're happy with it. Maybe you spend the money on travel, prints or some more lenses. If you are starting from the scratch or need a faster and better camera I will tell you why this camera is perfect for you: the rangefinder style - if you shooting street or reportage etc. it is great to use a camera that won't cover your whole face to maintain eye contact with your subject (this is not the case with the X-T1) faster auto focus even in near dark environments - I often missed a shot because of this with my X100s, X-PRO1 (but you can also use an X-T1) weather sealing - in conjunction with a water proof lens you can now do some shots without fearing a malfunction inside your precious camera more responsive - the faster cpu will make this camera more like an analog one where everything happens when you press a button without too many lagging ISO dial -...

Are you waiting for the X-PRO2? Full or medium format? Super-IQ? Sony has released a little beast of a mirrorless full frame camera some days ago. It can do nearly everything except a good cup of coffee. Do I need all this stuff? ISO 50.000 or 100.000 are always nice numbers written on a tech-sheet. In real life most photographers don´t need that in most situations. I don´t want to say it is useless. There are some use cases for better technology but it won´t make better photos. Many people are suffering from GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) and think that their "old" camera is not up to date. When I look at my Minolta XD-7 from the seventies a little smile will light up my face. Yes. You can do a lot more things with actual cameras. But a button to take a great photo is not jet invented. It is your imagination that creates the photo. The camera is just a tool. And you don´t always need the newest model. Taken with my trusty old Ricoh 500GX rangefinder camera (400ISO/BW...