robvisual - photography

Adobe is trying to gain more money by selling software only bundled with subscription. That is not really my cup of tea. They also don't speed up the whole software and it runs not that great on my up to date Mac mini. I love my LR workflow, but I made the switch from Aperture (bye bye you great outdated piece of software) and it wasn't that hard. And having a look at some demo software is not that difficult. I installed the latest ON1 raw software (2017.5) on my mac and fed it with some sample images. I only want to share my first experiences with that software. So bear in mind that this is not a detailed review. There are great reviews on YouTube if you want to see this software in motion. Fuji The first thing I wanted to know was the handling of Fuji files. So I took a photo with my old XPRO1 at 6400 ISO with some patterns (carpet) and a colorful thing in the middle. The image above was edited and exported with ON1. First I was quite surprised how nice the i...

After selling my X-T1 and X100S I bought the XPRO2 and the X100F to work with them in different situations. I love the form factor and the OVF of the XPRO2 and the size and the silent operation of the X100F. With this lineup I can choose the right cam for nearly every situation (I am not a sports photographer). This can happen when you go for a nice reflection-shot (35mm f1.4/XPRO2) How are my feelings after using the XPRO2 for one year and the X100F for three months now? I know that there is no tool in this world that will serve all your needs without a little drop of bitterness. Perfection is a lie and I don't expect a camera (and anything else in life) to be perfect. So I try to be fair and only write about things without falling into that ranting scheme that is all around the web. XPRO2 I love the size and the possibility to use the OVF that allows me to see what is coming into frame. I can also use the 18mm with zone focusing to concentrate on the decisive moment...

Fuji did it again: a massive firmware update has arrived! As an old Nikon shooter I have some inhibitions to criticize Fuji, because I never got new features and bug-fixes through fw-updates from Nikon or Canon back in the days. I had a petition running because my Nikon had no light metering in conjunction with manual lenses back in the days. Even with many subscribers I never received an answer or an update from the manufacturer. Sad but true. waiting for KaiZen... So this is why I am happy about a camera manufacturer who is still supporting his customers one or two years after the product was launched. I follow some X-Photographers and they reporting quirks and improvements to Fuji. Sometimes you don't get what you expect when Fuji releases new software, but they are still moving their asses instead of sitting on it. My thoughts about some features of the new firmware-update that caught my attention Minimum Shutter Speed I love the addition of the new "AUTO...

I want to share my further experiences with my new Fuji X100F with you. I had a long weekend in Munich last week and my new camera sniffed some Bavarian air. I tried to capture my daily experiences and the places we went to. Here is a little commented selection of the resulting images. All photos are out of camera with some retouching done with snapseed on my phone. This combination is great to create some great images on the go without the need of a software like lightroom. I don't need to mention again that all Fuji camera have great color profiles that produce great results (even without editing). At my first day in Munich I convinced my wife and friends to go to a third wave coffee place called Gang und Gäbe . We had some great roasted beans from Ethiopia, Honduras and Guatemala and I asked the owner for a portrait and the result can be seen above. I only had a few seconds to take the shot and I wanted to create a little sense of depth by using an open  aperture at f2. The...

Time to share my further experiences with Fuji's new model of the X100 family with you. As I wrote in my last X100F article I was coming from the older X100S and the changes for me were huge in terms of the auto-focus, the sensor and the overall speed. a lung-bun (Lungenbrötchen) as we say in Germany  After one week of taking this camera to different places I want to show you some images and share my views about the changes Fuji made in the product line. Auto-focus and EVF/OVF If you're coming from the X100S you will notice the difference, because the auto-focus was really bad back in the early days of this product line but I managed to deal with this flaw. Now it feels fast enough, more accurate and serves my needs as a documentary and street photographer very well. There are faster systems out on the market but this is not the aim of this camera. Most of the time the auto-focus delivered just the way I expected it, even in OVF-mode. EVF is bliss! It is fast ...

Yesterday I got rid of my XT1 and my trusty old X100S in Exchange for a X100F (by adding some extra cash). After a little set-up in the shop the camera was instantly ready to use. When you're a Fuji user this little tool has no real learning curve for you. After leaving the shop I took some photos to test the camera. This is not an in depth review, I will write about my real life experience with this model in the coming days. If you want to know something then just ask me below in the comments or via twitter. Same same, but different I don't need to write about the build quality or the integrated lens because there is no real difference to the predecessors of this model, but the placement of the buttons has changed. In case of the Q-button it was a little misplacement for my taste. It is placed at an area where I rest usually rest the thumb of my right hand. You can lock this button by holding down the menu button for a few seconds so this is not a real problem but ...

I just stumbled upon a review of the XPRO2 by Ken Rockwell. He stated that he was not impressed by the performance and color reproduction of this camera. Many people are upset by the contents of this review and I can't understand what the problem is. Mr. Rockwell is free to write his opinion about every camera on the market, even when he is (in your eyes) wrong. I also write about things that annoy me without trying to behave like a fanboy. Come on...it is just a photographic tool. Love it or leave it and buy a different camera. There are plenty of options on the market. Are you satisfied with the resulting photos? Fantastic! Your camera serves your needs. Nothing more to say. Don't take other people's opinions too serious. Just follow your own feelings and take reviews more as a good feature walkthrough or as an inspiration. Here are my personal reasons why I sold my whole Nikon rack for a Fuji: 1. the size - there is no need for further explanations. 2. the glass - ...

I think it is time now to write some lines about what it feels like using the new XPRO2 for two months now. I used the camera a lot and it still feels like a solid piece of photographic gear. There was no software bug or something else bothering me. I also had no problems with heat or other similar quirks, so the camera is doing it´s job without letting me down. The resulting images are a good example how good the new sensor works. The camera produces great natural looking images that have enough detail and latitude for later editing (if you need that, because the in-camera-processing is also great). The WIFI feature is something I still enjoy. In conjunction with snapseed or VSCO you can create stunning images on the fly. The only drop of bitterness is the lower resolution of the images coming from the camera. Why is there no resolution setting to get more details? The faster auto-focus is most of the time accurate and makes the OVF a real joy to use. If you use the 35 or 27...

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...

Some days have passed by and the camera feels more like an every camera does. I find it always interesting how hard we suffer when we wait for a new gadget and how fast we forget about those feelings after a short period of time. "Hey, come on! It's is a brand new X-Pro2!" ;-) I did a little trip with my wife and my parents in law to a nice little hotel in Kuehlungsborn (a place at the Baltic sea coast of north/east Germany) to enjoy walks at the beach, a hot sauna and a good dinner to forget about work and get some fresh air into my lungs. The camera was with me (as always) and I took some more photos for this little real life review. Will it blend? The mother of all questions. This camera does the job and feels great in the hand of a photographer. My lineup for the weekend were the XF 27mm and the 60mm lenses. The last mentioned glass is said to be sluggish in terms of auto-focus so I was curious about how it will perform on the X-Pro2, because on my X-T1 it...

This is not meant as a review. There will be no pixel peeping or dynamic range and resolution tests and comparisons. This article reflects the experience in had with this camera in the field (not in the lab). There are great resources out there that squeeze every tiny detail out of this camera (if you need that). This article is more about the feelings I had by using the tool and how it helps me getting good resulting images. This is the first of a series of articles about this new camera. You discover new things every time you go shooting and not on one weekend so there are new things to write about from time to time. It is more a kind of a long term real life review I am doing, because I bought the camera for my personal enjoyment and I am not a (sponsored) reviewer who makes money from creating such content. So there is no marketing buzz behind this article. All photos in this article are in raw format developed in Lightroom. I think that the final results are more important ...