My Self-Imposed 23mm Challenge with a Fuji X100T

The past few months I have fallen victim to a creative slump, a rut, a lack of enthusiasm around my photography. Call it what you want, I felt uninspired. Although I love nature and bird photography, I found myself struggling to make time to get out and shoot. We live on the gulf coast of southern Mississippi. There is an abundance of wonderful birdlife, beautiful sunsets and unique cypress swamps full of wildlife begging to be photographed. When I did get out, I found I was not very motivated to download my images, let alone take the time to process them. I needed a change. What I really needed was a challenge. I decided to try something I had heard of, but have never tried before, in the hopes that it would relight my photographic passion.

We had a two week trip to France booked for the beginning of June. We were spending ten days in Provence and four days in Paris. Normally I would have lugged two DSLR’s and a camera bag stuffed full of lenses with me. But this trip was not a photography trip. This one was a vacation. We would be travelling with non-photographer friends and we were seeing the country for the first time.

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 250, 1/60, f/8.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/800, f/8.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 800, 25/10, f/16.0

The challenge I gave to myself was to create images that depicted the French Provencal countryside, life in Paris, and of course take some images of iconic French landmarks. The catch was I had to do this with one focal length for the entire trip, no cheating! In addition, I wanted to experiment with street photography. I have always admired photographers who could capture images of street life, but I have always been too nervous to give it a try.

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/1000, f/5.6

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 640, 1/125, f/8.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/420, f/8.0

I chose to take my small, lightweight, mirrorless Fujifilm X100T with its fixed 23mm f/2 lens (35mm full frame equivalent). Now I have to be honest, several weeks before we left I took possession of a brand new shiny Nikon D500, and I didn’t want it to feel left out. I always travel with a backup camera, so I gave myself permission to place my new toy in the bottom of my backpack, just in case something happened to my X100T!

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 250, 1/125, f/4.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/125, f/11.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 2000, 1/60, f/5.6

Now some of you might think I was crazy, and I admit I was more than a bit nervous about my choice. I knew that I probably wouldn’t get to visit France again, and with a 23 mm lens, I knew that many shots would be impossible. But I wanted to force myself to see things differently. Without the choice of several focal lengths, I would have to be creative with my framing. I would have to look for unusual angles to tell my story. Details of the gargoyles at the top of Notre Dame Cathedral were not going to happen. Would I regret not being able to get those shots? Well, I was ready to accept the challenge and take that risk!

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 1000, 1/125, f/2.8

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 800, 25/10, f/16.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/70, f/14.0

I must say that I felt very liberated in the airport. We had packed lightly since we would be travelling by plane, train and car and would probably have some walking to do with our suitcases. My husband and I had each packed one carry-on size bag with our clothes, which we checked. We also limited ourselves to one small backpack each to take on the plane. This was so different to how I normally travel, with a heavy camera bag and a second large purse with all the gear I couldn’t fit in my camera bag! I can’t tell you how nice it felt not to be carting 30 pounds of kit on my back!

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 3200, 1/25, f/5.6

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/110, f/16.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/75, f/8.0

I ended up using my X100T exclusively. Before we left for each day’s outings I would throw two extra charged batteries, a small wallet with extra SD cards and a GorillaPod into my pack. I carried my camera using a lightweight wrist strap. That was it! All my gear weighed in at a measly 1.5 pounds. That is less than my 24-70 mm lens alone! It took me a while to get used to the fact that I wasn’t missing some critical piece of kit! I didn’t even end up carrying the D500 with me! It stayed in the hotel safe everyday except one. When we visited Versailles, I decided to throw it in my pack. However, by this time I had grown accustomed to just carrying the tiny X100T on my wrist. It was way too much work to dig around the bottom of my backpack to pull out the “backup”. The D500 also more than doubled the weight of my pack! It went back into the safe the next day! I did not take one shot with it the entire trip.

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 6400, 1/8, f/5.6

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/3000, f/2.8

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/180, f/10.0

The first few days I struggled. Had I bitten off too big a challenge? I tend to shoot with longer focal lengths, so 23mm was very wide for me. Although this focal length worked well for landscapes, I was having trouble ignoring shots that required a longer focal length. In my minds eye I knew how I could capture these subjects with 50mm or 200mm, but I struggled with the 23mm focal length. I was too worried about what a great shot I “could have made” with a longer lens. This attitude was killing any creativity I had left. However, I soon realized that I didn’t need to take a photograph of everything. I learned to enjoy the scenery, and started to relax. After I realized this, I started to see differently. I found angles that I hadn’t thought about before. I was starting to have fun with my photography again. I was excited to try new things and was not feeling intimidated by my camera choice any more.

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 400, 1/60, f/14.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 3200, 1/25, f/4.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/80, f/14.0

Soon I was seeing in 23mm. I began to visualize more opportunities. Since I couldn’t frame as closely as I could with a longer zoom, I paid more attention to backgrounds and took more environmental type shots. I also became much more aware of my framing and perspective. I began to use my feet to zoom and tried angles I would not normally have tried with a larger camera or a longer focal length.

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 800, 1/125, f/8.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/125, f/8.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/300, f/5.0

Normally I capture my shots in raw. However, this time I decided to shoot both a raw file along with a jpg. I chose to shoot the jpg in black and white. This meant that the file displayed on the back of the camera was in black and white. I found this helped me concentrate on the tones in the image, without colour complicating things. It was amusing when I passed off my camera to someone else to take a shot of my husband and myself together. They would say something like “I don’t think your camera is working, the picture is in black and white!”

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/600, f/8.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 640, 1/125, f/8.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/160, f/7.1

All in all I think my self-imposed challenge was a success. Although I did miss some shots, I feel that overall my photography skills improved. And, I definitely feel re-charged creatively! Was it the fixed 23mm focal length, or the small mirrorless camera? I think it was a combination of both. The wide focal length made me see things differently and made me shoot outside my comfort zone. The small, quiet, inconspicuous camera allowed me to capture perspectives and subjects I wouldn’t have tried to capture otherwise. I also ended up with a collection of photos that are much more cohesive than if I had shot with several different focal lengths. I encourage any of you to try a similar challenge to elevate your photography to the next level. You will be amazed at how limitations can bring out your creativity. I would love to hear how you make out.

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 200, 1/70, f/8.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 250, 1/125, f/8.0

X100T @ 23mm, ISO 1000, 1/125, f/8.0

Just a couple of final notes: all of the images in this article were processed very lightly in Lightroom, with minor tweaks to contrast, highlights, shadows, blacks and whites. Most are full frame images; others have only minor cropping, mostly for levelling. And don’t worry; I’m not ready to sell all my DSLR gear quite yet! My D500 does have a place in my camera bag and is being used regularly now!

 

The post My Self-Imposed 23mm Challenge with a Fuji X100T appeared first on Photography Life.

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Facebook Changes News Feed Algorithm Again, Admits Pages May See Less Reach

Facebook has announced another change to its news feed algorithm, and yet again, it appears that Pages will take a hit in organic reach and referrals.

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Photographing Fireworks Complete Bundle for Mac Users 75% Off Until July 4

With the 4th of July fireworks shows full of long exposure photography opportunities quickly approaching, Macphun has put together a bundle deal to help photographers. It contains a a 2-video set designed to teach you how to shoot the best fireworks photos of your life, 6 powerful photography apps, 11 one-click presets designed specifically for fireworks photography and more. Over $ 300 worth of savings (marked down to $ 99) but only until July 4 at midnight. Found here: The Shooting Fireworks Photography Deal

The Shooting Fireworks Photo Deal from MacPhun (Click to Learn More)

This summer, make sure you’re ready to capture all the action when the fireworks start launching into the sky. Some of the many items included are:

Creative Kit 2016 – 6 powerful photography apps

Over 500 creative tools inside a single, easy-to-use pack. Creative Kit elevates your photo editing experience and helps achieve fantastic results faster than ever before.

Creating Powerful Photos of Fireworks – Video Training

This 2-video set will teach you to shoot the best fireworks photos of your life. Over 40 minutes of in-depth training from PhotoFocus.

One-Click Presets for Fireworks by PhotoFocus

11 one-click presets for instant success on your own fireworks photos. Includes 8 presets for Intensify and 3 for Noiseless.

PhotoBulk app by Eltima Software – resize photos and add watermarks

Powerful and efficient, PhotoBulk lets you quickly watermark, resize, rename and even convert files into different formats. Work on one or hundreds of photos at a time.

Watch this sample informative video for valuable tips:

This video will walk you through gear choices, on location set-up, camera settings and of course shooting techniques.

How to Get the Discounted Bundle Today:

Over $ 300 worth of savings (marked down to $ 99) but only until July 4 at midnight.

Deal found here: The Shooting Fireworks Photography Deal

Go to full article: Photographing Fireworks Complete Bundle for Mac Users 75% Off Until July 4

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Mirrorless is ‘probably’ the future: an interview with Hasselblad Product Manager Ove Bengtson

It is quite extraordinary for Hasselblad to produce a mirrorless camera like the X1D for a number of reasons. Firstly is the obvious: it has predominantly produced cameras with very large mirrors since its first consumer camera in 1948 – the 1600F. Second, mirrorless cameras with touch screens and electronic view finders are very modern, and we may not all think of Hasselblad as a manufacturer of entirely up-to-date electronic products.

In the X1D we are looking at a medium-format sensor in a body that can hide behind a standard high-enthusiast 35mm-style DSLR. Okay, so plenty of people will point out that it isn’t ‘full frame’ 645 (the smallest of the 120 film formats), but it’s very similar to 127 film which was considered medium format by the ISO organization. More to the point, it’s much bigger than the ‘full frame’ 35mm format and is essentially the same size as the sensors used in Leica’s S series, the Pentax 645Z, Phase One IQ3 50MP and Hasselblad’s own H6D-50c.

I guess this kind of breakthrough is one we’d expect to come from what we might consider a high-tech company, not a business that has traditionally created a relatively low volume of very high-priced and principally mechanical professional tools.

Of course Hasselblad marked a technological turn around when it introduced the H6D with its new electronic platform, but this new X series camera takes what the H6D did a few steps further. Shortly after the announcement of the X1D in Gothenburg I got some time with Hasselblad product manager Ove Bengtson to discuss some of the technical challenges that had to be overcome to create the X1D and to find out some more detail about how the product will work when it comes to market.

‘…designing a mirrorless system is relatively easy compared to our usual H cameras’

‘The X1D took only between 18 and 20 months to develop from the final concept to where we are today,’ says Ove Bengtson. ‘As it uses the same 50-million-pixel Sony IMX161 sensor, the same electronic platform and same processor as the H6D-50c most of the work was already done – designing a mirrorless system is relatively easy compared to our usual H cameras as there are no moving parts. We started discussing the idea in November 2013 but were still talking about it a year later before we decided to go ahead. The work that we had already done in the development of the H6D saved us a lot of time in research for the X1D.’

As mirrorless cameras are so much easier to make and offer so much more flexibility I wonder if mirrorless is the future for Hasselblad. ‘Yes, it probably is, but not for a while. Mirrorless systems can be smaller and lighter, and because they have no internal movement they are more durable and they create less vibration so there is less to disturb image quality. Electronic viewfinders will need to get better though and the AF systems will need to improve to catch up with phase detection systems.’ 

‘We really do want phase detection but we’ll have to wait for the sensor manufacturer.’

‘It is a great benefit to be able to have AF points all over the screen, as in our H system we are really restricted to the centre of the frame, but phase detection wasn’t even an option for the X1D. We discussed having phase detection AF points built into the sensor, but Sony was already too far down the road with the sensor development at that stage. We really do want phase detection but we’ll have to wait for the sensor manufacturer.

So, while mirrorless has many advantages over mirrored systems there are still just as many reasons to use the H system. The H system has better AF in low light, and a lot of photographers prefer an optical viewfinder. The H system is also modular so you can change the backs and use a waistlevel viewfinder – not to mention a choice of 12 lenses including technical lenses – so it is still a very different experience.’

To allow X1D users access to the existing range of H system lenses Hasselblad will introduce what it describes as a ‘simple adapter’, but in the announcement there wasn’t much more detail than that. ‘Yes, this adapter will allow autofocus to operate with most of the H lenses, but they weren’t designed to work with contrast detection systems. Consequently users will need to update the firmware in their lenses to allow them to work properly. Not all lenses have firmware that can be upgraded as early H lenses in 2002 were fixed, but all more recent lenses will be able to be used.’

‘It is still early days for this camera but when it comes to market it will have touch AF…’

The cameras on display at the announcement event had touch screen controls for working the menus and for making feature selections, but they didn’t allow touch AF controls. ‘It is still early days for this camera but when it comes to market it will have touch AF and the AF points will be spread across the screen. You will press the AF/MF button and an AF point display will appear on the screen and then you can select the point you want to use.’

The X1D’s touch-driven interface. The menu screens and displays are controlled via a series of swiping motions, much as we are used to in smartphones.

Ove said that the company hadn’t directly considered allowing the rear screen to be used as a touch pad while the EVF is in use, but that it would probably be a question of firmware and that they would consider it. ‘The touch experience for the user has been a major consideration for us, and we want the touch sensitivity to be the best there is. Users will all have smart phones and we couldn’t allow the screen of the X1D to present an experience that isn’t as good as people will be used to.’

We also talked about the company’s integration of the Nikon flash system and what the reasons were for not developing a system of their own. ‘We don’t want to have to develop our own flash system, as we’d prefer to concentrate our resources on making cameras and lenses. Any system needs a range of flash units as customers want a choice, so it makes much more sense to work with an existing system that already has that range and choice. When we only had the V system we partnered with Sunpak, and in more recent years we worked with Metz, but Metz discontinued the gun as they didn’t sell enough. Nikon agreed to work with us and we are very happy that they offer excellent flash units that will work well with our X1D.’

‘We have to produce the best that we can and allowing reduced quality just isn’t an option’

The XCD lenses that Hasselblad has developed to go with the X1D use leaf shutters and offer a top shutter speed of 1/2000sec. Leaf shutter systems allow much faster flash synchronization than focal plane shutter systems and, as is the case with the H6D, the X1D can work with full power flash at that shortest shutter opening. ‘In this camera and in the H6D we use a dual shutter system to achieve the top 1/2000sec flash sync speed,’ explains Ove.

‘The new XCD lenses are designed and built to the same specification standards that we use for the H series lenses. We have to produce the best that we can and allowing reduced quality just isn’t an option. In fact these have a short back focus which makes it easier to design them to really excellent standards. The lenses are designed by us and manufactured by Nittoh who have made many great lenses in the past, including the lenses for the X-Pan. These XCD lenses have no crosstalk and the angle of the light as it approaches the sensor is well within the limits. You’ll notice that the exit pupil of the wide angle particularly is set well inside the barrel.’

‘Right now… we have no zooms on the roadmap’

‘To start with we will concentrate on fixed focal length lenses as we can make these small in line with the compact concept of the camera. I expect there will be some demand for zooms but we will wait and see what that demand is and then respond to it. Right now though, we have no zooms on the roadmap. Personally I think they will have to be too big, and I want us to concentrate on the best performance and the highest resolution possible.’

Speaking to Ove and other technicians at the event it is obvious that Hasselblad has built this system around the specific physical dimensions of the 43.8×32.9mm sensor. If there will be a 100MP version of the X camera it will not be one using the current Sony offering that measures 53.4x40mm. ‘The camera isn’t designed to take a larger sensor,’ I was told, ‘and the XCD lenses don’t have the covering circle to work with it. We designed the camera to be small and portable, and a part of that equation is the size of the sensor. If we work with a larger sensor it means we need a bigger body and bigger lenses, and that would defeat the principles of what the X1D is about.’

No one would be drawn on how many lenses the company expects to have in the XDC range in five years’ time, but it is clear there will be more and that they will start coming shortly. The 30mm will be formally announced at Photokina and I think it reasonable to assume there will be hints of other focal lengths at the time, even if the announcements aren’t formal.

The X1D really does mark quite a departure for Hasselblad and a step towards a larger market (though still some way from the mass market) that will allow the company to broaden its user base. The step too though is as much about demonstrating it is a modern company now that can make modern products. It has also drawn an unmistakable line under that period of its life when it rebadged and allowed other brands to have too much of a hand in its manufacturing.

Things are looking up; Hasselblad seems to be back on track, innovating once more and in many ways getting ahead of the game. The X1D is certainly the coolest, most flexible, portable and accessible digital medium format almost on the market.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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NVMe vs SSD vs HDD Performance

A lot has changed in the world of computer storage in the past decade. Traditional spinning hard disk drives (HDD) have been outperformed by insanely fast and now affordable Solid State Drives (SSD). And now we have insanely faster flash memory technology already available for the consumer market in the shape of Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe), which is manufactured in a number of different form factors, including M.2. Many photographers, including myself, experienced a huge boost in performance for post-processing large resolution files when switching from a hard drive to an SSD, but now that the faster flash memory is becoming more common, one might be wondering about the benefits of this new storage compared to both HDD and SSD drives. We have already published a detailed article on building a computer for photography based on the latest generation Intel Skylake architecture, where we recommended to get the new generation motherboards with built-in M.2 slots for flash storage. Having build a similar computer myself for my post-processing and video editing needs, I thought it would be useful to share just how much faster the new storage is compared to both HDD and SSD drives, since I use all three in my large full tower setup.

Many photographers still actively rely on hard disk drives, since they not only give more bang for the buck when compared to other storage types, but also provide a lot more storage to work with. And considering that photographs and video take enormous amounts of storage space, it is given that HDDs would be far more popular in comparison to everything else. When buying a brand new laptop or a computer, it is tough to decide what to go for – a much smaller, but faster SSD / PCIe flash memory, or a large capacity hard drive. And what makes it even more confusing, is that we now have hybrid hard drives, also known as “Fusion” drives, which are supposed to give the benefits of both SSD and HDD storage in a single package. What is the best storage type for photography needs? Such questions are very common among photographers, who try to plan their storage needs when shopping for new hardware.

Unfortunately, there is no single right answer for everyone, because it all depends on each photographer’s workflow and how much storage is needed. For beefy storage environments with tens or even hundreds of thousands of RAW images and videos, no single type of storage would be sufficient, because there would most likely be two environments in place – one for current active projects (fast storage) and one for passive projects / archival (slower, large capacity storage). For smaller environments, a fast flash drive with a combination of either internal or external hard drive would suffice, where the photographer would place their operating system files, along with their active image catalog on the fastest flash storage, while storing images in slower, large capacity hard drives. And for someone who is starting out, a single, do-it-all drive would most likely suffice, with storage type depending on budget.

For my personal and business needs, I have been heavily relying on SSD and HDD drives during the past years, some of which are placed in my computer, while others are a part of a large Synology storage array. With 10+ years of images and the various video projects that I am currently working on, storage has been a very essential and integral part of my workflow, as I need to re-address both capacity and performance needs every few years. The main reason is time – if I can save hours of my time by using faster storage, it translates to more efficiency for the entire workflow. And I am not just talking about pure editing time, as storage is used for other critical parts of workflow such as backup as well.

After upgrading my large tower machine with all-new computer components, which include the new flash storage in M.2 form factor (I rely on the currently fastest consumer-grade M.2 drive, the Samsung 512 GB 950 Pro M.2 NVMe), I decided to test out every drive of my new build and see what kinds of gains I would expect in terms of both read and write speeds. The results were quite shocking, as you can see below:

In just read performance alone, my M.2 drive turned out to be a whopping 25x times faster than my enterprise-grade WD 2 TB 7200 RPM drive. That’s is just mind boggling, considering that SSD is only around 5x times faster in comparison. In write speed, I was able to witness up to 15x more performance, which is also a very impressive number. And that’s just for one type of sequential read/write load – if you look at the above numbers, other performance metrics indicate even larger, more noticeable gains.

What does this all translate to? With so many camera manufacturers pushing for more resolution, many of us have been experiencing performance issues, with storage often being the bottleneck. If one can place their image catalogs on the fastest drive and use faster drives for storage of RAW images and video footage, the performance gains can be tremendous, especially during intensive workloads such as image and video export. And once file copy / move operations are involved, those benefits can become even more significant, especially for a busy professional.

One thing to note, I am not suggesting that one would experience 25x performance gains just by switching from a hard drive to a flash drive when editing images, since there are many other factors involved, such as overall speed of the computer (CPU speed, number of CPU cores, total RAM and its speed, etc), the ability of the software to take full advantage of both the computer resources and the storage, etc. The software numbers from the above benchmarks might not apply the same way for everyday work.

Hope you found this article useful. If you would like to find out more about storage and workflow needs, we will be covering these topics in more detail in our upcoming Level 1 Workflow and Post-Processing Course.

The post NVMe vs SSD vs HDD Performance appeared first on Photography Life.

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How That Creepy LG Commercial Was Shot With Jason Statham Acting as Everyone

For me, commercials are supposed to be fun and entertaining while I wait for what I am actually watching to come back on. If they want to grab my attention and sell me on a product, what better way then to add Jason Statham acting as every single person in an action sequence? The boys at Energy BBDO have created a concept that is over the top and exactly what you would think of when star Statham is fighting his way through the busy streets. Check out the behind-the-scenes video and snapshots below to see how in depth they went.

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