Category Archives: Gear

Any post related to the gear I use and my thoughts on that gear.

Architecture, Gear, Nature, Urban

RAW vs. JPEG with the Fuji

RAW vs. JPEG.  This subject is bound to start almost as many fights as Nikon vs. Canon (neither!) and can be argued either way.  Unlike the choice of two camera companies that produce almost identical products, the RAW vs. JPEG decision can have long lasting effects on your image library.  Ever since I went beyond the Auto modes on my first DSLR, I have been shooting RAW.  At first, it was a crutch because RAW files are much more malleable and can be massaged to hide mistakes in exposure, white balance and almost everything else but composition and focus.  I’ve progressed now to using RAW so that I can develop the photograph after I take it and then worry about conversion to black and white, adding curves, clarity and so forth.

The downside to this approach is that every image needs attention to some extent.  I do have a default preset for each of my camera’s that I apply on import into Lightroom, but I end up tweaking every image regardless.  I’ve been experimenting on using the generated JPEG’s from my X-E1, but RAW has spoiled me.  The JPEG’s are great and I think I could be perfectly happy with them, but after seeing what I can do with the RAW files, it’s tough to give up that control to a computer.

Anyway, on to the pictures.  This weekend had me in Pittsburgh for a friends wedding, so I walked around the Pitt campus before the reception and then stopped at Mt. Washington after.  Sunday I managed to find a few hours to get out hiking at Ohiopyle again.  I stayed around the Ferncliff area and wanted to get some different angles of the main falls to see what I could come up with.  The water was a bit low so there were some more places to go.

Family, Gear, Portraits

Wedding with the Fuji

This past weekend, I broke my cardinal rule of photography, which is not to shoot weddings.  There is something about knowing that you get a single chance to get everything right that adds just a little bit of pressure to an already exciting day.  My cousin-in-law and his bride-to-be asked me to be their photographer and even after I warned them about my skill level (lack thereof) and general inexperience with weddings, they still wanted me to shoot it.  I couldn’t say no, and I’m glad that my own insecurities were shoved aside for that day.  What did make it a bit more interesting was using my new camera system, the Fujifilm X-E1 and trying to adapt to its personality.  I ended up using all 3 of the lenses I own, the 18-55mm (reception), 55-200mm (ceremony) and the 35mm f/1.4 (detail and reception) and overall, they all performed their job with little fault.  I also had a Fuji EF-42 TTL flash on the camera for some of the shots as well as a messenger bag stocked with extra batteries, memory cards, cleaning cloths, gels, diffusers, etc.  The day was perfect, as it was an outdoor ceremony starting at 2pm.  Everything fell into place and I enjoyed a good day of picture taking.

Shooting with the Fuji X-E1 was both great and challenging at the same time.  The AF speed was adequate, but going from an OMD E-M5 was certainly noticeable and made me think more about focus instead of just pushing the button and it locking immediately.  On the plus side of the Fuji was the controls, which made setting everything up so easy and effortless.  It really felt great to be able to set my controls and keep them locked in and even view them with the camera turned off.  The smaller size of the Fuji system (compared to my old full frame Nikon D700 and the f/2.8 glass I had) made shooting with it all day easy.  I was able to pack everything I needed (and then some) into a ThinkTank CityWalker 20 messenger bag and carry it for most of the day without any fatigue.  I also brought another Kata bag that contained a few lightstands, umbrella’s, reflectors, triggers, etc for use when doing the large family portraits.  That gear was used only for a short time and wasn’t carried around much.

Overall, I am very pleased with the results.  For it being my only 2nd wedding, I’ll give myself a passing grade.

Gear

The Fuji X-E1 in pictures

Here is the camera that has grabbed my attention and caused me to sell off all of my micro 4/3 gear.  I think Fuji did a fantastic job on the whole X series of camera’s concerning their look and feel.  This camera keeps most of the traditional controls and adds all of the other buttons that are needed in modern (digital) photography.  It handles like a dream.