I spent the entire weekend with only the Fujifilm Finepix X100, which was an old, 4 years old camera, but at the same time, it was rather new to me. As I have mentioned in my previous blog entry the main reason I acquired this camera is to take the 35mm focal length more seriously, and push myself further in getting comfortable and be able to work with 35mm.
It is work in progress and I do not expect immediate results. However I must say I enjoy using the Fuji X100 tremendously, and I can understand how so many photographers are emotionally attached to it. Despite all the disadvantages of the old camera, having slower autofocus, laggy camera general operations, having less Megapixels, etc, I still find myself able to forgive all that, and just focus on shooting. I have slowed down my shooting process and put more thoughts in my composition, before I clicked the shutter button.
Three Chairs
The Box
Back Alley
A Curious boy
Leaning Man
Hanging Out
Take the Plunge
Different Shades of Red
Red Door
Black Cat
Five Foot Way
I was joined by Calvin!!
A Weekend is not complete without an expensive cup of coffee
Roasted Chicken with Egg, sandwiched by Brinjals
Long Morning Conversations
I attended the KLPA (Kuala Lumpur Photography Awards) Presentation ceremony.
Spontaneous reaction when I pointed my camera to Vignes (the dude in black), the organizer of the coming Obscura Photography festival happening in Penang in mid-week of August 2015.
Alvin Lau, whom I shoot regularly with on the streets, won 'Best Asian" Photographer prize.
Congratulations man!
A group photo of the winners of KLPA 2015. I shot from the side so I did not get in the way of the press/media photographers.
It was a full house, quite a huge photography event for KL. Great seeing so many familiar faces!
Great shots as ever Robin - love your street stuff.
ReplyDeleteThanks Elvis for the kind words.
DeleteThis X100 is really a special camera. I recently replaced it with a Xpro1 w 27mm as there is a promotion sale for Xpro1 in Singapore. After shooting with the combo, I still feel X100 is the best. The silent shutter, the closer focus distance on the 23mmf2 and built-in ND filter is really useful. I really like your boy shot. Well done
ReplyDeleteHi James,
DeleteI know right! there is just something special about the X100, it is one of its kind. Thanks for the compliments!
I always enjoy what your eyes capture via your camera. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks! My pleasure to share
Delete"Five Foot Way" is brilliant
ReplyDeleteThanks! That is my favourite too
DeleteLovely pictures. My favourites are The Box, Hanging Out and especially Red Door.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ripi! Glad to have you back on the streets!
DeleteIt is the photographer (You), not the camera, who produce all these wonderful photo. Your photo is asking me to get the x100 back...
ReplyDeleteKelvin, you can always loan from me if you want haha. No need to always buy buy buy
DeleteI love your snapshots.
ReplyDeleteNice to see you focus you style differently. There is less intimacy but more design, shape, colour and form. It's good to add that facet to your repertoire
ReplyDeleteStill a work in progress. 35mm is not an easy focal length to use!
DeleteHey Robin !
ReplyDeleteFirst of all nice pictures as always. What suprised me is that pictures look quite different then your usual olympus pictures. I mean colors. Did you process using RAWs or from JPEGs ?
Cheers
Hi Daniel,
DeleteThey were different because they were not taken with Olympus. I shot JPEG for all these photos.
The higher IQ is immediately apparent when compared with your usual m4/3s shots. I normally don't look to see what camera you've used, but this set had me doing a double take. Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteNot true. Worse dynamic range, poorer color (did not look like what I was shooting) and very soft images (that is one poor lens on Fuji x100).
DeleteBut my purpose for the camera is not for the image quality. I'm happy for what it is.
I understand,,,to each his own I guess. I see it differently....but it doesn't matter. Take care.
DeleteAlso take note that the images have been processed (to my liking) and you are viewing reduced resolution, which magically hid many of the image flaws.
DeleteAgain, when I did this session image quality was not the main concern. So that was not an issue for me.
Again, I disagree. I have hard drives full of Olympus/Panasonic m4/3s. I used these cameras because of their relatively small size. As hard as I tried, I could not get the same quality out of an m4/3s files that I can get out of an APS-C file. Don't get me wrong, both formats produce outstanding results, but APS-C files are just cleaner looking...at least to my eye.
DeleteI currently shoot with an X100T, which has a different sensor than your X100...as you know, I'm sure. I suppose it could be the increased resolution of the X100T, but I see none of the issues you do. In fact, I see more of those issues on my m4/3s files. The 23/2 lens...on my sample anyway...is tack sharp, except wide open. Colors are fantastic, noise control is phenomenal.
That aside, I greatly enjoy your images...regardless of the camera used. Does it really matter, anyway? Just getting out and shooting is fun enough. Here is my latest outing with the X100T:
https://jimtardio.exposure.co/istanbul
I have not tried the x100T so I shall not comment on that.
DeleteBut your original comment was saying my x100 images are magically better than micro 4/3 images. Judging from reduced resolution and processed images are not enough to draw such conclusions. Your argument is based on apsc being superior. Maybe one or two latest apsc cameras beat the micro four thirds but I've done my own fair share of comparisons (it is my work, and I was an engineer, so I'm very particular about this). My conclusion is the opposite of yours.
Again we can agree that such comparison is pointless when we go out and have fun shooting. Let's just do that
Great images as usual Robin, I actually like the b&w images from the fuji, maybe the soft lens and lower dynamic range at work?
ReplyDeleteThanks! Maybe, yeah but I did some processing to achieve that look.
DeleteOk. Have you tried the film simulation modes like velvia and monochrome? As a long time ago film shooter (with my OM-1, which I still have) it would be interesting to see the difference out of camera.
DeleteI've tried the Velvia, Astia and Provia. I am staying with Astia. Honestly the film simulations do not look anything like film, still looks pretty much digital to me. Astia is my choice because it looks punchy straight out of camera. Velvia is oversaturated and too high in contrast (much like vivid in modern cameras) and provia is too flat to my liking.
DeleteI normally do my own black and white conversion so whatever the camera is going, it is not working well enough for me.
Thanks for the feedback Robin, interesting. Personally, I recently purchased an almost unused PM1 on ebay and with the addition of the 45m prime am having great fun getting back into photography after a long break. Loving how much cheaper it is from shooting film!
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ReplyDelete"Despite all the disadvantages of the old camera, having slower autofocus, laggy camera general operations, having less Megapixels, etc, I still find myself able to forgive all that, and just focus on shooting."
ReplyDeleteI thought most of these issues have been addressed, or at least improved, with the firmware update a couple of years back... or is it not?
I'm actually thinking of getting a used X100 to replace my failing Ricoh GR (having a persistent issue with the shutter)... I thought X100 would be perfect; but not sure I can make peace if the "old problems" are still there.
X100 is the slowest focusing camera that I have come across, no doubt about that. navigation is also buggy, and when the image is writing to the memory card some camera functions are locked (can't change focusing point, ISO settings, etc). they are not big issues but after using much newer cameras from Panasonic and Olympus I do feel that these problems can be quite annoying.
Delete