robvisual - photography

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 ...

Despite the fact that the bigger sensor delivers more pixels for larger prints and higher ISO with less noise, there is no real noticeable improvement in image quality in most occasions. Who will pixel-peep at 100% into every photo? It is the overall look to the photos that does the magic. And this magic is still there since the x-trans-sensor was introduced to the photographic world. I was recently invited to a birthday party that was celebrated in a billiard pub and I took my X100S with me to capture some photos of this event. This small and quiet photographic tool helped me a lot to be invisible most of the time. Back at my mac (nice rhyme) I took the raw photos and applied my black and white tone curve to them. And after turning off any noise reduction I saw the magic in front of my eyes: the sensor noise looks so organic! It looks like an grainy high ISO black and white film. There is no need to reduce that kind of noise. You want it. Trust me! But how about color photog...

Yesterday I told my Fuji dealer (a real shop! support them!) that they should put me on the list for a black model. I own a X100S and I don't regret the long wait. I started with the X100 back in the days and this camera was just too sluggish and painfully slow. I had the great opportunity to trade it for a X100S that is slightly better with the brilliant Trans-X-sensor. As the X100T came out I was not convinced to buy this camera because the only major things that have changed were the OVF (pip) and the in camera WiFi. Too less for a change. The implementation of CDAF and PDAF (auto focus methods) in the X100S and X100T was poor, even in bright light they are inaccurate and slow. So I decided to wait for a model that at least keeps up with the XT1. And now the gap is closed and the new X100F supports the same auto focus system like the XPRO2 what is great because I love to use the OVF on my XPRO2 and it works great. The new button placement and the ISO dial are a good evoluti...

The "F" stands for "Future" ;-) As always I want to drop a little list here to share my thoughts about the upcoming new model. Let us start with the problems I have with my X100s: it is sluggish - a slow camera with a bad auto focus even in bright light no updates - Fuji has done a great job in ignoring the whole X100 line in the last two years What I expect from the X100F: a fast auto focus like the X70 or XPRO2 that meets the industry standards faster interface and startup time a wheel to change ISO on the fly! maybe a better lens performance at wide open aperture That´s it. I skipped the X100T to wait for a camera that will meet up with competition in terms of auto focus. When you use this camera with the OVF you need a reliable auto focus in all situations or this thing becomes a bit of a roulette thing. And there is also room for a small front wheel you can put ISO on to change it on the fly. I don't want to dig into menus. This spoils t...

Lightroom can do a lot for you and it is a professional tool to develop and manage images. Today's cameras have the ability to transfer photos wireless to your smartphone via an app. With my Fuji cameras I use this feature a lot when I am on the go. After the download I use apps like snapseed (you can do a lot of things with this free tool) to tweak the contrast and some other aspects of the image. The colors come from the color profile I attached as I developed the raw file in-camera. The results are outstanding when it comes to sharpness and color. Most of the time I only had to tweak the contrast or add some warmth to the image. I know that you have more precise options at your calibrated workplace at home...but man, the results are so good, I often prefer to upload them to instagram than the versions from lightroom. This is not a rule of thumbs for all photos. When I do landscape, stills, architecture or portrait photography I prefer to have more possibilities with pr...

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 ...

After a little defragmentation of my desk at work I found an old USB card reader in a drawer. I remembered that I also own an USB connector for my Samsung Note 3. Most of the time my X100s is always with me. But this camera has no wireless transfer. So I decided to use my time on public transport to edit photos on the fly. And this was the first time I had this clicking noise in my head after I edited my first photo with snapseed on the fly sitting in the train on my way home from work. The results were awesome and it is so much fun to add some contrast and highlights to your photos instead of checking twitter and wasting time without creating something. And don't forget that your phone is also a quick and powerful camera in your pocket always ready to capture great photos. I started to play around and create a visual diary that is more based on a quick and dirty workflow than sitting in front of an illuminated big screen at home trying to master lightroom. I exper...

He is an expert in roasting the brewing the perfect cup of coffee. And my X100s is an expert in doing a great job at ISO 3200 ;-) Sergey the barista - X100s (f/2, 1/50, 23mm, ISO 3200)

Separation, loneliness or emptiness. What are the hidden feelings behind them? In the photo above you can better concentrate on one subject. The guiding lines (handrail on the left) are leading towards the woman creating a dynamic flow upwards. It creates a simple story. Where does she go? What are her feelings? A lone woman lost in architecture. There are also many cases were places should be packed with people to tell a different story. But in this special case it has this special movie-like look.

Nearly 80% of the time I carry my X100s with me. It sits in my bag, ready for action. I was at a fancy restaurant with my wife and a friend because they just wanted to see it from the inside. As they studied the menu cards I saw a guy with a US flag on his back waiting for his meal. There where two people at the service desk at the entrance looking up the whole place. So I got in between the subject and the desk grabbing my camera inside the bag. After some little switches I raised the cam to my eye to took this shot: USA - X100s 1/30 @ f2 (3200ISO) He was looking into the kitchen. I love the light that is shining on his face and the tiny little reflection on the right window tile. The glossy table in the foreground is also nice and knife, fork and napkin are telling you that this photo was taken in a restaurant. Without a stealth and small camera this photo were nearly impossible without getting notices by other guest or the personnel. Also the shutter sound is not noticeable ...

...is the one you left at home ;-) But when you have your cam always with you, you won´t miss a great sunset in the morning like this: Hamburg sunset / X100s @ f8 I did some retouching in lightroom to make this photo look like I saw it with my own eyes. So don´t forget to have your camera with you most of the time.

Photography is like directing a moving in one (or a couple of) image(s). Something is going on in front of your camera and it is on you to capture it in a way the viewer can understand the message behind the scene that you want to tell. When it comes to street photography it is mucho grande important to tell a story with every single photo. The amount of detail and importance is to you liking. But there should be a path, motion or something else behind the final picture. Need some examples? arriving - X100s (f8.0) I was leaving a train station and headed over to a pedestrian bridge. From my higher viewpoint I saw this guy leaving a taxi heading over to a hotel. I grabbed my camera quickly because he was moving towards darkness (what makes a great background if he is half dipped into it). I framed the taxi at the bottom left so it creates a diagonal that leads the viewer to the moving subject (man). From bottom to top you can see it as a movie still that tells the story of som...

Sometimes you need to be quick. Really quick. There are situations that change in seconds. So you just have one to three seconds to raise the camera to your eyes and take the photo. The photo in this blogpost is one of this "quick shots". I was walking down the street with my wife as I saw people moving behind this door with shatterproof glass. So I raised the camera quickly to my eyes and took this shot. The camera was pre-configured to a zone-focusing-distance of 3 to 8 meters. I always switch the camera on with my pointing finger when I grab the camera with my right hand. The power-on-time of the X100s is fast enough to be ready. It looks like he is noticing me. Maybe he had a sense of being watched by someone else. The sunglasses are perfect because they are adding some mystery to the scene. A thousand possible stories told in one frame. behind - (X100s @ f8.0)

Today my new strap and shutter-release-button have arrived! My X100s definitely needs some extra magic to make it look more personal. If you use your camera often it becomes a part of you. ;-) I have chosen an Artisan & Artist RED LABEL in red/greed made of acrylic fabric and a very tiny amount of leather (I try to keep this little because I am a raw vegetarian). And I ordered my favorite red aluminum shutter-button again. The strap also has a little Velcro covered lens-cap-holder that comes in very handy. You can also use it to hold other things like the lens hood etc. So you never gonna miss an important part of your equipment lost in your bag.  BTW: I don´t get paid by Artisan & Artist. I just looked for nice straps without too much leather and vivid colors. And this extra feature to store your lens-cap or other little things made me buy this one.

On this day I was hanging around in the Hafencity district (harbour city) in Hamburg. I gave the underground station there a little visit. Nothing was happening. But then a family with two kids entered the station. The son was pointing his little plastic gun at nearly everything and everyone. I had my camera ready to shoot as the kid tried to shoot in a bit more artistic style. I love the result. There are no other people in the frame. He is all alone doing his thing on a chess-board like floor.

Is it possible? With the x-t1 it is a bit like gambling. If you´re lucky you get a perfect photo. When you press the shutter-button the screen will lag for a small second. But if you own a x100(s/t) or a x-pro1 you have the OVF that gives you the ability to follow your subject without noticing any shutter-actions. It is also great if you want to keep your eye uninterrupted at the scene without any distraction. If you don´t want to care about focusing you can work with zone-focusing. speedy motorbike - (X-PRO1 / 18mm @ f8.0)

train (x100s) I took this shot under a building that leaves a gap for the underground train tunnel near the town hall in Hamburg. I love the framing of the building and tonal bandwith of the scene in black & white.

Sometimes you see a great backgrop like this mountain-scape. The only thing to do is setting your camera right and wait for the decisive moment. vacation (x100s)

This is a snapshot in evening-light. I did some pp in lightroom to lower the exposure of the sky and bringing out some details. castle schwerin (x100s edited in lightroom)