Travelling (Ultra) Light

Travelling in not my thing! This statement needs to be taken as a preamble to the whole thing I am about to write now.

Neither the journey, nor the travel bothers me, its the luggage one hauls about, e.g. I hate waiting for a suitcase carried on a conveyor to come out the little hole in the wall... terrible!

Years ago, I reduced the stuff to travel with such that it would fit in a cabin case. Although this prevents me from standing at the conveyor, there is still this aggravating wait until one can reach the overhead compartments to collect the cabin case.

Just as an experiment, I decided to travel really light during my next 1 week trip.

Actually, I followed some tips from Eric Kim and this lady.

While Eric mentions, next to camera and bag choice, synthetic clothes. The lady explains in detail how to clean the synthetic fabric cloths and, in particular, how to dry those quickly.

As to Eric, there are 2 cameras which join me on my travel, either the Ricoh GR (as Eric mentions) or, more often, the Samsung NXmini. Both cameras have the advantage of being chargeable via USB. More and more hotels around the world offer USB wall sockets to charge mobile phones, perfect for such cameras! 

In this respect, the Fujifilm X70 and X100T come in mind too.

Eric keeps referring to a MacBook Air. Yep, that's what I choose too. However, there might be some room to improve. My MacBook Air got a 128GB SSD only, hence, in order to store data, I do need to carry an external HDD too (several thumb-drives might do the same job too). Despite the fact that this HDD is also used for TM-Backups, which is a good thing, it is still annoying to carry it about.

So, here we go with just another idea from another light traveller: Jens Lennartsson. 

Jens is certainly more the Social Media / Cloud kinda guy... but... what's wring with that?

His video was inspiring enough, so I ordered the folding keyboard (quite happy with it!). Concerning the devices I use it with, I am not sure if I would like to go as small as Jens. To my disposal is a Windows Phone (somewhat larger than an iPhone) and an iPad mini. While the Windows Phone is a very good device to have phone calls with, I am not so sure about the table function, size-wise. However, the iPad mini seems still too large to carry, despite being just half the size of the MacBook Air. 

Going small should be small but still usable. Not sure where this will get me yet.

Anyway, besides gadgets and all, there is this issue about doing laundry on the fly. Using a mild detergent, e.g. shampoo, was covered by Eric previously. However, the lady from "Howcast" got a very interesting hint here: use a towel and do a towel roll with the laundry inside. And of course, if one towel was not enough, take another one!

This seems trivial, however, I have not thought of it before.

My view on Fujifilm cameras, Apple devices and cameras of other makes.

Fujifilm, for whatever reason, decided to not allow to mount the camera's memory card as a drive. Importing into Photos and Lightroom works fine, even for RAW files. However, not being able to control what is going on with the memory card leaves me with an uneasy uncertainty.

At the end, what I might do is to carry a sufficient amount of memory cards, making the computer redundant.

In that scenario, not having a computer to write the images to, the question of decent back-up devices arose. Price-wise, WD was up to something, with the My Passport Wireless, however, the device is, according to reports on the internet, not ready for reliable backup yet.

Consequently, you might want to travel with synthetic fabric cloths, a camera that charges via USB and enough memory cards to cover your trip.

Take the Photo When You Want

This must be a generation thing... I heard about "shutter lag" first only a few years ago. At that time, I had a hard time understanding what the actual problem was. Mind you, my photographic experience originates in a fully manual SLR-cameras, which always released the shutter when I pressed the release button.

Finally, it all was clear to me, the complaints about shutter lag was caused by fully automatic settings, in particular auto-focus, of "modern" generation automated photographic equipment.

Being used to manual focus, my habit was to set the cameras to all manual, in particular for focusing. I never trusted any camera to know what I wanted in focus.

Lately, some cameras had a real impact on me, cameras that could be told which distance to focus at and stay at that distance.

First to mention in that context is the Fujifilm X-Pro1 with adapted legacy glass. Some of my older M42 lenses are rather sticky in the focus department. Set the lenses' apertures to f/8 and adjust focus according to the distance scale. Done! The metering of the camera is fast enough to adjust the shutter speed in an instance. However, if one wants to be rally be assured of the fastest reaction of the camera: choose ISO and shutter speed (according to sunny 16) manually. Great to have a dial for shutter speed selection.
The camera should have lost all the shutter lag by now.

Second choice: Ricoh GR (version V) or GR-II. Ricoh understood that auto-focus causes the greatest delays in automated photography. So, Ricoh decided to add the "snap focus distance" feature to their GR camera. With the camera in AF mode, half-press the shutter release and AF will start. However, when focus is not yet achieved but the shutter release is fully pressed, the focus defaults to a predetermined distance. Brilliant! Again, depth of field by the aperture chosen helps to determine the preset zone.
The Ricoh GR is extremely compact and fits in pockets, however, operation is very much menu-based.

Next: Leica X2 (Leica X-E, same camera, different color scheme). The Leica allows for decent manual zone focusing. The focus distance can be locked in, so it can't accidentally knocked off. That is really great for zone focusing with a predetermined DoF. The Leica also offers manual aperture and shutter speed dials, which is great for fully manual exposure settings.

Only at my 4th place: Fujifilm's X100 series. I love those cameras, no doubt! The manual focus scale displayed in the OVF is magnificent. However, the focus ring is very loose, I knocked it off bu accident several times, which ruined the shots. I wished there was a feature to lock the manual focus.
The X100 series sports manual aperture and shutter speed dials, which is really great!

5th (1st) place, solely for the reason that the other cameras are doing so well when stabilisation is not required: Olympus MFT bodies. Those cameras employ in-body image stabilisation, which is great for low light situations. When in any low light environment, the Olympus OM-D E-M5 is my prime choice! With adapted legacy glass, the Olympus still stabilises the image by sensor motion.


The above ranking is certainly not carved in stone! The differences are pretty subtle.

The most important message I wanted to convey:

1. shutter lag exists when shooting in AF
2. shutter lag disappears almost completely when focusing manually
3. setting exposure parameters manually cannot harm

Conclusion: Remove as much automation as you are comfortable with, you'll be rewarded with a more timely photography.

Battle of the Street Cameras - Part 1

Leica, the world leader in photo journalism, documentary photography and street-photography?

True of false? Not sure!

Here are some thoughts...

What's the deal with the hype about Leica cameras? Of course, the company Leitz Wetzlar changed the way of photography forever, in particular what mobility was concerned. But, how much of the legacy is still alive?
Lately, on Dutch broadcast: Eddy van Wessel, winner of Zilveren Camera 2015. Eddy van Wessel uses a Leica with 135 film.

Back to the digital world: one of the local retailers put on of the cameras on sale for a price worth spending, I did just that... and bought a Leica X-E (re-branded Leica X2).
What convinced me?

1. small package
2. the price of €699.- rather than €1499.-
3. leaf shutter (quiet, 1s/2000 sync speed)
4. I own an Olympus VF-2 which works with the camera
5. all manual dials

Performance-wise, I will compare the Leica X-E to the Fujifilm X100S and the Ricoh GR. Said cameras were designed roughly around the same time. All sport a 16Mpix sensor (2 have a Bayer array, 1 an Xtrans array).
None of the camera's employs optical image stabilisation, while all are equipped with similar prime lenses and APS-C sized sensors. Also, the cameras employ leaf shutters.

With the lenses, we can observe the first difference. While the Fujifilm 23mm EBC got an f/2.0 aperture, the Leica Elmarit APSH 24mm opens to f/2.8 only and so does the Ricoh GR's 18.3mm lens.
To me, this difference in aperture is negligible, in particular since I usually use f/5.6 and slower for increased depth of field in street photography. Also, the X100S shot wide open tends to be a bit soft for my taste.

One of the criteria I mentioned above was sync speed. The X100S syncs with f/2 at 1s/1000, an aperture not available with the X-E. However, when using flash with 1s/2000 shutter speed, the X100S is usable with f/2.8 only, thereby being equal to the X-E. Despite having a leaf shutter, the Ricoh GR does not do fast sync.

Concerning manual focusing, the cameras have their pros and cons. While the X100S (even more so the X100T) provides great manual focusing aid, the X-E is relatively hard to focus manually.
However, when walking in the streets, the X100S is easily knocked out of focus, should one accidentally touch the focus ring. In contrast thereto, the manual focus of the X-E can be dialed and locked in, similar to the "snap focus" of the Ricoh GR.

In terms of flexibility, the X100S/T clearly wins. Fujifilm offers adapters, so that the field of view can be made either normal, or a wider.
I love the wide lens of the Ricoh GR. Despite the 28mm equivalent, Ricoh offers an attachment that gets the field of view up to 24mm in 135 film terms.
Leica does not offer any changes in the field of view for their X1, X2 or X-E cameras.

Viewfinders: obviously the field of Fujifilm, with their unique OVF/EVF combination. Leica's X2 and X-E offer the possibility to add an EVF to the hot-shoe (the Olympus VF-2 works just fine!), while Ricoh allows for an add-on OVF only. Then again, doing candid photography, how important is a view-finder anyway?

In a further part of the series, I will compare the image quality of the in-camera JPEGs of the X100S/T and the X-E (only), since those camera share the same field of view.

How to Create the Weegee Look

Weegee? You might ask... well, this would refer to Arthur Fellig. Not sure who I am talking about? Have a look at wikipedia to find out.

Old days

Weegee's was best known for nighttime photography of crime scenes. His technique involved the use of flash bulbs, giving a very harsh look to the pictures. There is usually a hard shadow cast on the left side of the subject, which is a "dead" give-away that the flash used was on the right side of the camera; very common to large format press cameras.

Over the years, off-camera flash moved to the left side of the camera, in particular when flash brackets are used. Many point & shoot cameras of today have their flash mounted on the left side, the reasons of which is totally unclear to me. Anyway, the on-camera flash is too close to cast any meaningful shadow at regular photographing distance.

Modern age

So, here is what we need to do to create the typical look of the illumination typically used in Fellig's crime scene photograph:

• mount a speedlight on a flash bracket
• 1 foot to the right of the camera lens
• 1 foot above the camera lens

For the flash bracket, I got myself one that looks essentially like this one. Everything is adjustable with the bracket...

Having the bracket on the right of the camera is a bit awkward, since cameras are designed for right hand use, with the shutter button on the right, which is, where the bracket is now. That of course means, that the camera now will be operated by the left hand.

What the shutter release is concerned, there might be an option: a shutter release cable, with the button fixed to the flash bracket (I guess, I will build something alike in the near future).

Digital solution

Obviously, the above is all nice in theory, but, what about putting this into digital reality?

Here is my setup:

• Fujifilm X-M1
• Fujifilm XC 16-50mm f/3.5-f/5.6
• Fujifilm EF-20
• flash bracket as mentioned above
• flashgun cable for Canon by PIXEL Inc.

Now to the technical settings, which are different from my usual way of configuring a camera:

• AF illuminator ON
• flash exposure compensation -1
• exposure compensation -1
• red eye removal off

Here is why. With flash, there is not stealth photography, so, there is no reason to not use the AF illuminator. Flash bulbs were not that strong and weaker flash allows for a wider open aperture (see below). Further, lower flash power shortens cycle time of the speedlight. Also, we are still talking nighttime photography, despite the use of flash.

And the "artistic" settings:

• RAW+JPEG
• film simulation B&W (obviously)
• highlight tone +1
• shadow tone +2
• sharpness +1
• noise reduction -1
• auto ISO limit 6400
• f=30mm
• f/4.7 (i.e. as wide open as possible)

This will need some more detailed explanation, I figure.

Highlight tone +1 gives medium hard highlight details, resulting in slightly more contrast in the highlights.

Shadow tone +2  results in very hard shadow details, enhancing the black feel of the JPEG image.

Sharpness +1 in combination with N.R. -1 obviously adds some noise, similar to film grain. This effect could be further enhanced by forcing the ISO up.

My present setup employs a kit zoom lens. 4x5 press cameras are usually equipped with a 135mm, slightly wider than normal primes. On an APS-C system, 30mm comes pretty close to the angle of view that a 135mm would produce in 4x5 LF. Using the XF 27mm f/2.8 (considered on of the best lenses in the Fujifilm system) could the solution.

Finally, the aperture. Due to the long focal length of a large format "normal", the depth of field is pretty shallow. 

In absence of any corpses in front of my house (thanks God!), I took two photographs of a bollard on my front yard. Both pictures are JPEG straight out of the camera. 

Despite using the AF illuminator, the camera struggled to auto-focus. Anyway, I hope that the images prove that a Weegee-look is possible with the equipment listed above.

When using an X100, X100S or X100T, obviously, one might want to use the TCL-X100 for the normal perspective, which would allow for f/2. The 23mm (35mm equivalent) would not be too far off, so any of the series would still be OK w/o the conversion lens.

Conclusion

Weegee used a flash with a relatively large reflector. Although I feel that the initial results look pretty decent, I will experiment to add a soft component to the flash, as to mimic the large reflector.

PS

Shooting with flash requires re-thinking of your exposure parameters, I am aware of that. Exposure for the flash is usually done by the aperture. Distances of 2m to 4m would suggest relatively closed lens, even with lower ISO sensitivities. The creative choice of shooting wide open therefore seems counter-intuitive. Since this look is not affected by ambient light, shutter speed is entirely irrelevant, so the faster syncs speed found on the X100 models won't help. However, the X100 models have a built-in 3 stops N.D.-filter, which could help expose correctly with the lens wide open.

Fujifilm X100T Improvements Nobody Talks About

Heya,
just lately, I got myself a Fujifilm X100T, to replace my trusty X100S. Having done research for many many months, I finally came to the conclusion that the X100T is indeed the better camera.

Having played with it for some days, I now believe it too.

The differences between the X100T over the X100S might be minute, but, depending on your situation and camera use, they could be huge!

So, why is that?! Lens, sensor processor are all the same, so, why bother?!


First, I would like to list some improvements, that most folks talk about, which just are not important enough for me.

1. exposure compensation +/-3 over +/-2 (with manual exposure, who cares?)
2. third stop increments on the aperture (how many legacy system actually sport that?)
3. bigger LCD (just consumes battery, stop chimping!)
4. wheel dial gone and replaced by a rotary dial (never had a problem with the old one, however, now there is one control less)
5. styling of the buttons (they are looking better, but they are harder to feel)
6. position of the buttons (that's just learning curve)
7. classic chrome film simulation (I am not sure about this one, anyway, it can be simulated in Rawtherapee)
8. WiFi (maybe)

Now to the improvements I really like, most of which are not discussed a lot.

1. 7 custom memories, just like the X-Pro1
2. 3 configurable auto-ISO memories (although maximum shutter speed is 1s/125 only ... Fuji, please make it 1s/250!)
3. the view-finder trick, that everyone is so excited about, is actually very usable (with the next improvement in the list)
4. coloured focus peaking (I will come to this later in that post)
5. mic/remote in (while I do not care too much about the microphone, remote could be great for triggered stuff!)
6. electronic shutter (this is great! totally silent, with speeds up to 1s/32000 at f/2! - no flash though)
7. framing lines adopt during manual focusing with the OVF
8. configurability of the buttons (obviously)
9. charging via USB (great for traveling light)

There are more improvements, such as improved noise reduction at high ISO, which might help, but are not that important to me.

Obviously, I like the fact, that I can configure the X100T exactly the same way as the X-Pro1, what custom memories is concerned. The X100S, having 3 custom memories only, felt a bit clumsy. Now that both my X-cameras got the same settings, shooting is a lot simplified.

Now to the best part, 2 combined actually, the new hybrid viewfinder trick in combination with coloured focus peaking. This is really great! When in OVF, pushing the VF-lever towards the lens, this little rectangle occurs in the lower right corner of the viewfinder. With the film-simulation set to any black&white mode (we are shooting RAW, right?!) this area will show a B&W representation of the designated focusing area. Here comes the magic: manual focus was never as easy with focus peaking set to red. Just get as much red in the greyscale preview as possible. Still, you got your optical viewfinder image to see what going on outside the framing lines. How great is that?!

To me, the 2 features I just described to you in detail, were reason enough to replace the X100S with the X100T.