Gear Reviews | Suspect Photography

August 7, 2015

Sony A7rII Evaluation and Test Images

Abstract taken in Central Park of a Sun Bather. 90 mm 2.8 aperture priority f16 B&W conversion Nik Silver efx

This is my first A7 family camera to put to the test. I have been a big fan of the RX100 and RX10 since they came out, and had a failed Sony A6000 encounter. Meatloaf says, “two out of three aint bad”, so I planned on going in with an open mind for this camera and take it for a test shoot, or two.

Sony 90 mm f2.8 Aperture Priority f4. Super snappy autofocus made this shat a breeze. The little guy was moving bouncing around.

I’ll be honest; I wasn’t a fan of the first A7. It didn’t care for the feel, fit and finish. Of course it was Sony’s first attempt, and I always am leery of first versions. However the camera did truly put Sony on the map, and turned many photographers away from Nikon and Canon so I knew it did have merit. I was eager to put the A7rII in my camera bag on two recent shoot.

Sony 90mm f2.8 Aperture Priority F2.8 Processed in Nik Silver efx

Upon opening the camera I was taken aback about how sturdy and good feeling the camera is. The shutter has a solid quality snap to it, and is much quieter than it’s predecessor. I still wouldn’t call it quiet like a Leica, but the sound is lower and deeper. Something akin to a dulcet clunk than a tinny smack.

I ran the camera with two lenses, a 90 F 2.8 macro and a 24-70 F 4.0. I shot with the 90 more; because I am a fan of portraits and that was the current project I’m on, Throttle Portraits of bikers and thier bikes.

The photographer-motorcyclist-paintballer known as The Kingpin shot with 90 mm 2.8 wide open with one reflector off to the side.

This portrait says it all.

The auto focus is superb. The A7rII has 399 focus points. Yes, that’s 399 focus points. My wife and I hosted Brian Smith and his lovely wife Fazia over for a dinner the first day I had the camera. Brian set up the autofocus spots to be manually shifted by hitting the OK button and then navigating the plane of focus. This took some getting used to, but the camera as you move the point of focus across its generous full frame view, you can also adjust the size of the focus spot with a command dial. Brian’s findings on the camera can be found here. Focus is crisp, and the multi point auto hits it’s mark effortlessly. I would venture to say that it is the best auto focusing camera I have ever shot with. This coming from a guy who sold the Maxxum 700 camera at JC Penny when Minolta first introduced the first generation at AF SLR.

Long Live Hogs and Heifers RIP Hogs and Heifers.

An advancement with the A7rII is it’s low light capability. I really didn’t test that aspect since I was too consumed with shooting portraits. I did get the chance to bring Vincent Versace to Hogs and Heifers, a classic NY dive bar that will be closing at the end of August due to massive rent increases from a soulless corporation (that is rant you can joing me on Facebook about). I made one shot of the whole bar, with the setting sun pouring in from the east. I think it was a difficult shot to expose and the camera really handled it well. The interior shot of Hogs and Heifers was made in Aperture Priority f8 and auto out of the box auto iso. I wish I could tell you the iso it chose, but the 42 megapixel file is crippling my aging powerbook.

The Obelisk next to the Met in Central Park. Sony 90 f2.8 Processed in Nik Silver efx

I found the buttons plenty, and this is a camera that when getting used to, is a fine instrument to make digital photographs. That being said, at $3200 it better be. It is not that much smaller than a SLR, the Mirrorless aspect doesn’t shed that much size nor weight. It does, but not that much. Don’t buy this just to save weight, once you slap on the lenses it will be heavy. Buy this for the technological wonder it is. I didn’t test video, but lets make an assumption, it’s going to do very well. The only real problem I had with the camera was its viewfinder. It’s top of the line and works very well, however it is digital and I’m old school, I’ll take a digital camera and accept it and make inspired images, but I’ll be darned if I have to see the world pixilated. Come shoot with me using the Deardorff and you will see why I prefer an analog approach.

Look at that detail!

I will be moderating a panel with Colby Brown, Daniel Watson and Kenta Honjo August 12^th at 2:00 pm. More info below- please join us.

Spread the Word!

Have a ball with this camera! It’s a serious contender.

It’s my ball and you’re just here in my woof world because it’s my ball.

~David

6 Comments

December 14, 2014

I Can’t Breath- But I Can Photograph

My favorite image of the day, to look up and see this display of people coming together with a flag flying was dramatic.

I want to establish right off the bat that this post is about photography, not the politics. My choosing to take my camera and record the protest does not indicate my personal feelings nor alignment. What I do feel is that as photographers we have a duty to record the world around us. We don’t have to make a living at it, but we are the observers whose observations can outlive us. Future generations will be able to look at your images and share an experience based on what you photographed. That is a scary thought in of itself, and photojournalism is extremely subjective and barely objective. I certainly seek objectivity in the matter, and feel I pretty much got it. I barely spoke to anyone; actually the only person I had a full conversation with was a NYC Parks Dept officer. Our conversation consisted of the fact that it was peaceful.

I don’t usually shoot in panarama mode, but when I do it’s for really really really big crowds.

However this is the internet and people throw opinions around like police hand out tickets so at the end of this post, I’m going to speak my mind about the recent issues surrounding this protest. It’s my soap box, you can choose to not read or make your comments. Now, back to the photographic portion of this post…

Pissing off the Police Union is where he is.

As I stated earlier, I believe it is both your civic and artistic duty to participate as a viewer/observer/recorder of the important social issues that occur in your lifetime. I’m not saying you should go well out of your way, but if these occur locally, be there and f8. They are societal milestones, events, and gain the interest of the masses. They can often define the ascendant generation. Going to and placing oneself in the epicenter is a solemn privilege that you as a creative should encourage.

“The world is going to pieces, and people like Biderman and Hill are photographing stars.”

– David George Brommer, December 2014.

I have shot a few demonstrations in my day. The first was a NORML rally at William Patterson College in NJ in the latish 80’s. The next would have been great anti-Iraq war protest that took place in 2003 in NYC. I rolled through the Occupy movement when it was in full force. I heard about the #MillionsMarchNYC from local channels, and put aside the time to go shoot it. Having watched the other protests, mainly the Ferguson and the SF/Oakland ones, I was a bit wary of getting caught up in a mele. I would be simply a citizen armed with a camera, and my opposing force would have truncheons, shields and tear gas. In the back of my mind a spot fear appeared. We all know what fear is right? It’s the mind killer! Mostly I feared getting gassed. I had seen the nasty canisters bouncing up to a CNN crew and the journalists all getting a good hit of it in Ferguson. I dug out my Israeli issue adult gas mask size three and stuffed it into a WW2 vintage ammo sling bag. Plan for the worst, hope for the best, and if worse happened, I could keep my vision intact and the cameras clicking.

When protesting, protest in Patagonia. Oy.

Noon: Inspect the camera arsenal for today’s shoot. I go for the Sony RX10 because I want a telephoto lens to pick out faces and signs a distance away (24 to 200mm f2.8). It’s also weather proof and resilient, so it can take it if the environment gets crazy. I also grabbed my trusty Fujifilm Xpro1 and slapped on the 18mm f2.0. I picked the Xpro1 because it can take a hit, and the look and size of the 18mm (1.5x APS-C size sensor brings it to 28mm effective) would both perform, and fit in my bag. Instead of a camera bag I choose a vintage ww2 ammo satchel, because I like the way it melts to my body and it’s discrete while having an edge. Note, the bag does have a Domke insert to further pad the gear. I also stuffed my gas mask and a fresh filter in the bottom of the satchel. In this game the best offense is a good defense.

Israeli issue M15 gas mask and cartridge. Sony RX10 digital camera. Fujifilm Xpro1 with 18mm f2 lens. US issue WW2 ammo pouch.

2 pm I parked the Vespa on Bleecker and Sullivan. Twitter images showed the masses of protesters thronging beneath the Arch where 5^th Avenue meets Washington Square Park. Enter from the rear, so you can get an idea of dispositions of the crowds.

As you neared Washington Square park there was a constant buzz of helicopters. The eye in the sky never looks the other way.

I wanted to capture the faces and signs. I wanted to show the disparity of the protesters, and what they were saying. Simple task.

All Lives Matter.

As I walked further into the epicenter around the fountain I found the wide settings on the camera were taking most of it in. Standing up on bench I was able to zoom into details. The Sony RX10 has swing a out LCD screen, I used my height and tilting out of the screen so I could turn myself into a 8 foot tripod in this fashion. That gave me a sweet perspective on the throngs.

Get that monument in so you can readily arm the viewer with an accurate location.

There was not a police presence inside the protest throng, except Parks Dept (protecting the trees from being climbed) and this interesting Police Captain from Philadelphia. I do have a regret, I noticed one Parks Dept Officer with a tonfa strapped to his belt. Interesting, but I didn’t feel like getting my lens smashed by it so I didn’t shoot him. I regret that now.

A Police Captain from the City of Brotherly Love.

The protesters, while mixed with all races, were predominantly white.

Pockets of protesters could broadcast stories.

6 pm Time to edit and archive shot images. I shot as jpegs and imported into Nik Silver EFX through Photoshop. Since the subject matter was heavy, I felt that I would add drama and impact by choosing a heavy process. I went to the Film Noir Preset #1 and then decreased the size of the grain 40% while pushing up the structure. I also minimized the spread of the digi-faux rebate edge.

Brommer is now going to discuss his feeling on racism. It might be time to click here for lighter subject matter.

My personal take on the issue at hand is that it’s something that has been brewing in this country since the 1800’s. Racism. It’s not always fair and it’s not easy to understand. It may very well resound in all of us, deep down, hidden and can bubble up in certain circumstances. Others make decisions and judgments based on race with little provocation and thought. I see color and race, I am a photographer and my job is to see. However, I do not let race, nor social standing effect the way I interact with the population. So while acutely aware of racial details and stereotypes the factor is nullified until you give me a reason to respond from your deeds and words. After all, we are all human. And I’ll treat you like a lady or gentleman as long as you are one. That’s how I roll. I’m ashamed when a racist thought runs through my head. My first best friend was Lamont Swain, we played together on the streets and playgrounds. I was a skinny little white kid, and Lamont was a skinny little black kid. R.I.P. Mont Mont, your friendship showed me in the end, we were just skinny kids.

In a perfect world you don’t get taken down so hard you die for selling illegal cigarettes. In a perfect world when you steal and you get caught you don’t resist arrest. In a perfect world the cops don’t have the right to use violent force unless being met with violent force that is un-arguable. In a perfect world a segment of the society was not enslaved and then after generations set free. In a perfect world all the children are taught to respect one another and know right from wrong. In a perfect world no one would take advantage over another. In a perfect world… is just a dream.

~David

6 Comments

October 16, 2014

The Aesthetic of Compositional Perfection and Post Production

The fog was thicker than pea soup at the Dickey Ridge Lodge.

I’m one of those odd people who throw on a heavy backpack and hike in the woods for days. I have been doing it for a long time now, at least 25 years. I have a dwindling network of friends who I go on these hiking trips and we fancy to call our selves Trailpounders. Among all the miles I have hiked in pristine wilderness across many states I am reluctant to carry a cameras, or serious one at least. The reason being weight, and getting the picture right. Cameras can weigh quite a bit, and add to that good lenses so that you can make high quality photographs is daunting when you’re crossing mountains and pushing every fiber of your body to keep moving up switchbacks.

I have been tasked by B&H & Sony to create a program on the RX10. The focus of the program will be, “Travel Composition with the RX10”. To prepare for the program I have been shooting exclusively with the RX10 and pushing what it can do while learning what it cannot do. I’m familiar with the camera, and those who follow my blog will recall the initial review of the RX10 I wrote and shot a little under a year ago.

Elderly folk appreciating the park. They moved slow, but stuck a cord inside me. America’s National Parks are for everyone, every age.

This past weekend the Trail Pounders planned a four day hike in the beautiful Shenandoah National Park. Since I was working on material for the presentation, I figured this would be the perfect place to shoot with the RX10 and put it to test doing some nature photography. I would suck up the weight (1.79 lb / 813 g with battery and memory card) and stuff the camera in my trusty Moutainsmith Frost Fire pack.

The trip was excellent and pretty heavy duty. I’m not getting any younger and that pack isn’t getting any lighter. I felt I could have reached for the camera more often, but hiking (especially in a group) is an act all of its own. We managed to traverse about 17 miles in three days which didn’t afford me much lens time. On the trail we crossed a pine covered mountain top (Neighbor Mountain) and ran the ridge. I came across these interesting pine cones that had survived a fire, called a pack break and took some photos. I did my “composition dance” and moved around trying to find that perfect angle to capture the pine cones, you know that angle, the one with a perfect background and every branch facing the right direction? Well I couldn’t find it. I just couldn’t get the lens, the pine cone, and what I wanted to capture groove.

Pine Cone as it was shot- no editing.

As I sat editing I thought, “I was so close… but darn those extra branches”… I saw them when I shot and figured they would not cut my mustard. It was then that I figured I’d work them in post and try to rescue them. This wouldn’t be retouching per sey , but more compositional rescue. I busted out my trusty Wacom table and set to it. After the image was cleaned up I ran it through Silver FX and finished it to my personal standards.

Did I succeed? Did I just polish a turd? I always joke that I have taken so many bad photographs that when I do shoot now, it’s with a great intensity to only shoot what is decent if not compositionally perfect. But now, when the world is simply not cooperating it might be safe to shoot the best you can, and then do some very heavy post to get it right. Ethically I’m not 100 percent behind this, but I do feel good that at least the option is open. What do you think?

Here are a few more from the first edit. I shot in jpeg and used the creative modes that are built into the RX10 such as “Autumn Leaves” and “B&W”. Each image is taken into Photoshop and massaged.

Home and Shelter. I have had this tent since 1993.

Hiker JA- one of the Trail Pounders founders. Note, a circular polarizer was used to clear up the water behind Joe.

SHAZAM! Joey V, he was a Trail Pounder for years and didn’t even know it.

Fall Leaves straight up.

The lone tree sits in the fog.

I’ll post a link to the RX10 Presentation when it goes live. If you don’t live near NYC, we will be recording the presentation and I’ll post that too.

Till then, this Trail Pounder is signing off!

The three last Trail Pounders.

4 Comments

January 21, 2014

Fujifilm XT-1 : Sh*t Just Got Real

Attention Suspect Photography Fans- Finding Photographic Style and Composition in NYC 4 Day Intensive Workshop April 17th to April 20th 2014. Early Registration Discount By March 1st.

The mouse that roared in the photo world of gear is certainly Fujifilm’s X system. Not sitting on the laurels of their acclaimed XE and XPro cameras the short giants have released a sneak peak of their new flagship camera, the XT-1.

—

UPDATE January 31^st.

The smoke has cleared, the Fujifilm XT-1 was officially announced and you can now pre-order this gem of a camera at B&H.

A few clarifications, we did not get a double card slot. What we did get is an amazing and groundbreaking viewfinder. The viewfinder is larger than the Canon EOS 5D MKIII’s and has unique features never before seen such as a vertical view with info off to the side, not blocking the frame. A focus assist “box” in the viewfinder while still giving you the full view beside it. 3 new weatherproof lenses down the road.

I’m debating on pre-ordering one. I think it’s vastly worth it, but I’m just afraid that when I go to shoot, will I grab my XPRO1 or the XT-1, you can only shoot with one camera at a time.

Ohh heck, who am I kidding, of course I’m going to grab one.

—

Several websites have released info and speculated such as Petapixel, Fuji Rumors, and the great Fujix Forum regarding the new camera. The date that an official announcement from Fujifilm will be is January 28^th it seems. Lets look at this dream camera a little further based on what we know now.

First off, head over to Fuji Rumors and look at the post. Andrej was first to break the story. I have included some leaked pics that I can only imagine how they were obtained. Looked like a dude had a about 3o seconds with the camera and shot some iphone images. But what a tease!

Hump and Dial:

I think what is most interesting is that they went for the HUMP, the look of having a pentaprism mirror on the camera which is a departure form their other Mirrorless offerings which mimic a traditional rangefinder. We also see an additional dial for ISO, bringing the total analog dial count to three. I can’t think of any other camera that has that many dials on the top deck! Not too sure why the emphasis is for a dedicated ISO dial, I always recommend to just set your auto ISO parameters and that’s just one thing to not worry about. Regardless, the dials look super cool.

Weather Sealed:

YES! A great feature that I wish my Xpro-1 had. I was taking a class one year up at Maine Media Workshop and a classmate and I went to shoot in the Camden cemetery with some light painting techniques. It was raining and I had a Canon EOS 1 DS III that was weather sealed, I loved it, I put the camera on the tripod and just kept water drops off the front elements and shot away in the rain. My fellow student couldn’t really shoot since her 60D was susceptible to the rain.

Fast- Like kittens with jet packs:

Coming in at 8fps continuous shooting with AF tracking this jammer is going to keep up with the big boys. One thing with Fujifilm is certain, their AF gets better with each generation.

I can see the light:

With a hi-performance EVF that is. OK, Sony has been doing a great job on great EVF’s so I expect that. Better be at this point anyway.

Twice is Nice:

Double SD slot is a new feature for Fujfilm. I would have liked to see CF and SD but why not? Slap an extra card in, say two 128GB SD cards and shoot till the XT-2 comes out. Since I love to shoot RAW+Jpeg I hope I can assign files to card 1 and card 2. That would be something I’d dig.

That’s all the compelling rumors that are out now that I care to mention. The price at $1800 with a lens is inline for a camera of this heft and specs. But what about Nikon and Canon?

What surprises me most about this upcoming announcement is how the big two have completely missed the boat on Mirrorless. Last week I was on a Linblad Expeditions trip with Nat Geo shooters to Baja and was helping a guest with a Nikon V1 camera. Oy Vey what dog! And the Canon guy who came up with their Mirrorless should be thrown off a cliff. Fujifilm was silent for the late 2000’s and Early part of this decade, but man have they hit the ground running.

It looks like we wont see an Xpro-1 replacement soon, and I bet we can expect them to offer two lines, a SLR style and Rangefinder type bodies. Regardless I’m excited and can’t wait to get my hands on this camera. Will I buy it? Well I have to say I do love my Xpro1 to death, and I don’t know if I could cheat on the Xpro with a XT.

Lets keep our eyes and ears open and see where this goes. Long live Fujifilm!

Update 1/22 More pictures of camera leaded on Fuji Rumors- and man does it look good! Click Here for Goodness!

9 Comments

December 14, 2013

Sony RX10 Review – The Perfect Travel Camera

The great digital camera buyer Ben at B&H gave me a call about a month ago and said come down to my office, Sony has something to show us. I was busy and told him I didn’t have time and he replied, “you should come down, they have a game changer here… a 24-200 mm 2.8 constant aperture camera that is compact”. I ran down. Now how can you get that fast aperture of a zoom lens to go from super wide to tele in a compact ZLR (Zoom lens reflex)? What I beheld was the Sony RX10 which actually can do all that. I got to mess around with the prototype and was impressed. Last week I actually got a production model to play with. The following are my observations and some quick work produced while testing it. Like my other reviews I’m not going to get super technical, but I will show you a load of images so you can judge for yourself.

Union Square shot at 180mm f2.8. The camera make cropping distant subjects so easy.

So first off lets get back to that lens, because that’s really the reason to consider this camera. The RX10 sports a Carl Zeiss 24-200 mm f2.8 lens. That focal length is the 35mm equivalent. It is not a 2.8-5.6 variable aperture; it is a fast f2.8 throughout the range. Sweet. Very Sweet. The lens is damn sharp, and in my testing I couldn’t help but put the zoom out and bring in distant subjects. For those of you who know me, I’m a wide guy, and prefer getting more in my picture from using a wider perspective. My testing would have to get me out of my comfort zone, so I decided to shoot something that’s out of range of my wide lenses, NYC water towers. They make great subjects!

This short study was all shot with the creative B&W mode. The RX10 allows you to fine tune the creative mode and I chose a +1 contrast and +1 sharpening for good measure.

Lets discus this lens. You zoom by twisting the lens (or a use the toggle on the top of the camera) and it activates an electronic servo zoom. The zoom was fairly slow, and that leads to a precise adjustment of focal lengths, but again, it is a slow process. From 24mm to 200 mm it took me 4 seconds to zoom across that range. The aperture control is very nice, instead of changing aperture from a dial on the back or front of the grip like most cameras, the aperture ring is located like a traditional slr optic, on the back of the lens near the body. Those who appreciate a manual feel will dig this aperture ring, it has a very solid tactile feel with positive 1/3 stop clicks. I want to reiterate, it feels very substantial and of quality. You can also hit a slider button and the aperture ring then looses its clicks for adjusting aperture silently in movie mode. I suggest a 62mm UV filter as an add on. You want to protect that Zeiss goodness right? Go for B&W’s standard 62 mm UV.

Gabe and Barry Biderman. Two generations of great photographers. Love these guys.

The camera measures 5.1 x 3.5 x 4” and while certainly not a pocket camera it is not overly large. It is about the size of an entry level DSLR like the Canon Rebel t4i or Nikon D5200 with a fat kit lens. There is ample rubber around the body and it feels good in the hand. The viewfinder is superb and has a diopter. I don’t wear glasses, but for me, it was very easy to view through the finder and the EVF is a High-resolution XGA OLED Tru-Finder whatever that hell that is, it works very well. You can with custom functions make sure you see exactly what you to see meaning things like iso, exp comp, levels, metering mode, and more is visible or invisible. The viewfinder has a nice rubber coat, and there is a built in diopter as well, so I assume that if you did wear glasses, it’s not bad at all. The LCD is a 3.0″ / 7.5cm 1,228k-dot tilting Xtra Fine TFT design and works very well. I have to say, it was very nice to use the tilt at ground level to get a cool perspective. Auto focus rocked, super fast and very modern. For those that want manual focus you have a very nice large focus grip on the lens which you can then rely on Sony’s excellent focus peaking feature. Whether you go AF or MF you will be content, both modes work wonderful.

Running through the zoom to get an idea just what 24mm to 200mm can give you. And the answer is, “a lot”.

RX10 sports a 20 megapixel 1” sensor that is up to the task. The camera rocks in low light and also has a new generation processor that builds raw and nice jpegs. I’d say pretty much you have a top of the line sensor in this camera, Sony has been making leaps and strides in their sensors for the past few years. The sensor leaves nothing to be wanting.

The following images are fine in their own right, but when you need to crop in post, how does the jpeg file hold up? Judge for yourself.

Sunset Creative Mode- notice the helicopter in the distance?

800 % crop into the image to pick out the ‘copter. Notice the detail in the blades? wow.

Can you find the mother in law waving?

There she is! That’s Elvira and she is at about 600% magnification. Great detail is still in the shot. That 1″ sensor really shines.

The camera has a clean design, it’s not cluttered. The top left of the camera has command dial with the usual modes, but also adds two custom settings, so if you like to profile the camera with specific style, it’s a breeze to recall the settings. The top deck LCD panel is lighted so you can see what your doing in the dark or dimly lit room (a feature from mid-line & high end DLSR cams) There is also a exposure compensation dial that has a firm feel and is not easy to misadjust when the camera bumps against you (I really like that, my go to camera the XPro1 is so dang easy to accidentally move that dial).

This was taken at Photo Walk with National Geographic photographer Jay Dickman in Union Square NY. Image is shot at 24mm.

The buttons and dials on the back of the camera make sense, there is one Fn button you can assign to a multiple of tasks or get into a high level menu adjustment mode. The deep menu system is easy to navigate, you can access almost anything you would want to change and I found it easy to get in a make an adjustment on the fly quickly.

Gabe grabbed the camera and turned to a mirror to make this image of our party table with photographer Tim Cooper. I’m on the phone in the background struggling with AT&T’s crappy service.

So I didn’t play with the movie mode, I’m not into that but my research confirms the camera has an excellent video system that borrows a flicker free scan system that is only found on the FS700. It has a headphone mini jack and audio in with manual level control miniphone jack too, and for those who want XLR connections you can add the pricey Sony XLR-K1M Adapter and Microphone Kit to get perfect audio. Pretty impressive if you’re into that sort of thing.

The range of the zoom lets you really work your perspective. Shot of the James A Farley Post Office steps in NYC.

And since the camera is a modern high end jammer, you get some other cool bells and whistles, like built in WiFi that can download to your mobile phone and tablets. The RX10 is also weather proof, so feel free to take it out in the rain.

The only negative I can see on the camera is that it is a slow start up and shut down. The camera has to move around that big lens it takes its time. I counted a solid 2 second delay on the start up and shut down. That could be annoying. My other concern is that its not a small camera, that is the trend and cameras these days are high performance in small packages. This camera is super performance in a relatively large package.

So the camera sells at $1299. Yikes! But you do get a serious lens and really you don’t need to buy anything else to make some great images. The question I asked myself is who is this camera for? Well it’s not for the soccer mom and those that are looking for a bargain. This camera is for someone who appreciates high quality and has some disposable income. I am known as a camera whisperer and today I had lunch with the actor Alan Arkin. Alan is on the quest for the perfect camera, not to large, not too small and super high quality. I had been suggesting to him the Fujifilm X system for over a year and just when I thought I had him set, I busted out my RX10 and he fell in love right away. When I mentioned who I thought this camera was for, he proclaimed, “me!”. Needless to say, Alan bought an RX10 on the spot. I look forward to hearing how he feels after shooting with it. I hope he enjoys it, but he really couldn’t keep his hands of it at lunch.

Alan enjoying some lunch at Mercado in Hell’s Kitchen NYC. Between being a wonderful actor and teaching acting, he enjoys a good camera.

I would say it shines for travel photography; this is the ONE camera you need to pack when on the road. You will travel light, and be assured you will take great images in any light of near or distant subjects. At 10 frames per second and that great AF you wont miss anything. I give it 9 of 10 ten stars. Speed up the start up and shut down time and I’d give it a perfect 10. Now if you ready to buy the Sony RX10 be a mench and buy it at B&H.

This was taken at B&H’s Event Space during a Sony A7 demo. The lights are Ikan LED and the theme was Alaska. I like that soft bokeh of the background.

Specifications

Imaging
Pixels	Actual: 20.9 Megapixel Effective: 20.2 Megapixel
Sensor	1.0″ (13.2 x 8.8 mm) CMOS
File Formats	Still Images: JPEG, RAW Movies: MP4, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, MPEG-4 AVCHD Audio: AAC LC, AC3
Max Resolution	20MP: 5472 x 3648 @ 3:2
Other Resolutions	10MP: 3888 x 2592 @ 3:2 5MP: 2736 x 1824 @ 3:2 18MP: 4864 x 3648 @ 4:3 10MP: 3648 x 2736 @ 4:3 5MP: 2592 x 1944 @ 4:3 0.31MP: 640 x 480 @ 4:3 17MP: 5472 x 3080 @ 16:9 7.5MP: 3648 x 2056 @ 16:9 4.2MP: 2720 x 1528 @ 16:9 13MP: 3648 x 3648 @ 1:1 6.5MP: 2544 x 2544 @ 1:1 3.7MP: 1920 x 1920 @ 1:1 12416 x 1856 5536 x 2160 8192 x 1856 3872 x 2160
Aspect Ratio	1:1, 3:2, 4:3, 16:9
Image Stabilization	Optical
Color Spaces	sRGB, Adobe RGB

Optics
Lens	Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar, 14 elements in 11 groups 7 Aspheric (35 mm equivalent: 24-200 mm) Aperture: f/2.8
Filter Thread	62 mm
Zoom	Optical: 8.3x Clear Image Zoom: 16.6x Digital: 66x Digital: 93x Digital: 133x Digital: 249x

Exposure Control
ISO Sensitivity	Auto, 125-12800 (Extended Mode: 80-12800)
Shutter	4 – 1/3200 sec in Auto Mode 1 – 1/3200 sec in Program Mode 30 – 1/3200 sec in Manual Mode 8 – 1/3200 sec in Aperture Priority Mode 30 – 1/3200 sec in Shutter Priority Mode
Exposure Metering	Center-weighted, Multi, Spot
Exposure Modes	Modes: Aperture Priority, Bulb, Intelligent Auto, Manual, Movie, Program Shift, Programmed Auto, Scene Selection, Shutter Priority, Superior Auto, Sweep Panorama Compensation: -3 EV to +3 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shooting Modes	Anti-motion Blur Black and White Copy HDR Painting Handheld Twilight High Contrast B&W Illustration Landscape Macro Miniature Effect Night Portrait Night Scene Partial Color Pop Color Portrait Posterization Retro Rich-Tone Monochrome Sepia Soft Focus Soft High-Key Sports Sunset Toy Camera Effect Vivid Color Watercolor
White Balance Modes	Auto, Cloudy, Color Temperature Filter, Custom, Daylight, Flash, Fluorescent (Cool White), Fluorescent (Day White), Fluorescent (Daylight), Fluorescent (Warm White), Incandescent, Shade
Burst Rate	Up to 10 fps at 20.2 MP
Self Timer	10 Sec, 2 Sec
Remote Control	RM-VPR1 (Optional)

Flash
Flash Modes	Modes: Auto Fill-in Off Rear Sync Slow Sync Compensation: -2 EV to +2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Built-in Flash	Yes
Effective Flash Range	3.28 – 33.46′ (1 – 10.2 m) Up To 66.93′ (20.4 m)
External Flash Connection	Hot Shoe

Memory
Memory Card Type	Memory Stick Duo Memory Stick Pro Duo Memory Stick PRO HG-Duo Memory Stick PRO Duo (High Speed) Memory Stick XC-HG Duo Memory Stick Micro Memory Stick Micro (M2) SD SDHC SDXC microSD microSDHC microSDXC

Recording
Video Recording	Yes, NTSC
Resolution	1920 x 1080: 60 fps, 24 fps 1440 x 1080: 30 fps 640 x 480: 30 fps

Video
Video Clip Length	Up to 29 Minutes
Audio Recording	Built-in Mic: With Video, Stereo Optional External Mic: With Video, Stereo

Viewfinder/Display
Viewfinder Type	Electronic
Screen	3.0″ LCD Rear Screen Tilt (1,229,000 pixels)
Screen Coverage	100%

Connectivity/System Requirements
Connectivity	DC Input HDMI D (Micro), USB 2.0 USB 2.0
Wi-Fi	Yes
Software Requirements	Windows: XP (SP3), Vista (SP2), 7, 8 Mac: OS X 10.6 or later

Power
Battery	1x NP-FW50 Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery Pack, 7.7VDC, 1080mAh
AC Power Adapter	AC-UB10 (Included)

Physical
Dimensions (WxHxD)	5.1 x 3.5 x 4.0″ / 129.0 x 88.1 x 102.2 mm excluding protrusions
Weight	1.79 lb / 813 g with battery and memory card

3 Comments

November 20, 2013

30 Minutes With The New Fujifilm 23mm f1.4

Best of the West Deli Man

Since this lens was announced I have begged and cajoled my Fujifilm contact for a test ride to no avail. Man, I have known better crack dealers that take better care of their clients! Evidently there was a glass gag order to keep the lens under wraps until they could provide the blogosphere at large with samples. Bah I say! I have had to be content with my 12mm 2.8, 18 f2.0, and the awesome 35mm 1.4.

A insiders view of Espositos on 9th ave.

Now if you do the focal conversion this makes my collection of lenses the trifecta of an 18mm, 28mm and 50mm. What’s missing? Well my favorite focal length is 35mm. I little bit wider than the eye perceives, yet extremely natural. While I got used to the 18mm it was always just a tad too wide for tastes. I yearned for the 23 mm focal length.

Taken through a glass window but man, look at those out of focus blurring in the background!

Taken through a glass window but man, look at those out of focus blurring details in the background!

So today I had the opportunity to grab the 23 1.4 which translates to 35mm for a fast half hour. Yup, you heard that right, it was mine! For a half hour at least. I threw my coat on and walked up 9^th Ave around the corner from B&H. You can’t keep a good man from his 23mm, no matter the time constraints. Here are my findings. Oh and one more note, I pretty much shot everything wide open at f 1.4 because that’s how I roll. I love bokeh, and this lens as you can see delivers spectacular bokeh.

1/40 second at 1.4 ISO 320. Now thats low light love.

It’s a bit of large lens, but then again, it’s a 1.4 so who can complain. It has a depth of field scale. Lots of you young’ probably don’t know what that is in the age of digital zoomy slacker glass. It’s a scale that tells you what will be in focus based upon the f-stop. A analog scale. Sweet.

Snap! Sharp and zippy this lens simply rocks!

Very nice to shoot manual focus, you pull the lens back to you and then you access to that DOF scale and it has a good feel, a little loosey goosey, but still better than other AF lenses. I confess, I shot in AF during my short test. I don’t have any problems with the XPro1’s focus.

The legendary Hershel of B&H. Ever wonder who edits the comments on our You Tube videos, well wonder no more. A gentleman among gentleman. Notice the lights in the background, yum.

I’m like Goldilocks, 18 mm to wide, 50 mm to tight, but 35 mm… just right.

Very narrow depth of field, notice his arm out of focus? This lens might just need to be shot at f4.0 or 5.6 if you need a little front and back details to be in the shot.

I’m sorry if I didn’t have the time to really put the lens through a more thorough test in different light with more varrying apertures. Truth is, I was just happy to get the short time I had with it. Am I getting one? Yea. Not tomorrow though. I will have to get used to the size, I like to keep it on the smaller tighter side, but dang, I do love me the 35mm effective focal length. I think that this lens will be the lens that sits on the camera 96% of the time once I own it.

Hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did shooting it.

~David

11 Comments

October 6, 2013

Fujifilm X Pro 1 Predictions – No more pro Mirrorless Cameras?

It’s Fujifilm X series prediction time. I have my photo tarot cards out and here is what they say. One word first, yes I have industry connections and I respect any NDA and or personal confidential info that comes my way. However this info is just my personal prediction and is not based on any confidential intell I’m privy to. I came down to these conclusions with Moose Peterson and Gabe Biderman in conversations this week.

With Photo Plus East just around the corner, we’re going to see lots of announcements in the upcoming days of October. I’m only interested in what Fujifilm has up thier sleeves, since I believe they are the currently the most interesting and principal driver of new and cool photo gear. Yup, I just said that. Sorry Big C (the good kind) and the camera company who used to “take the worlds greatest pictures”. It’s all about the Fujifilm X system. Here we go…

We won’t see a XPro 2. I don’t think ever. But we will see a XE2. I think that the hybrid finder on the Xpro1 is going to be the last Mirrorless camera made that has it. It’s what set the Xpro1 apart from pretty much the whole rest of the Mirrorless world but it’s going to be a feature of photo goodness past. Here is a question to all the current users, do you still use the OVF as much as the days when you first had the Xpro? Or do you find yourself using the EVF more? Lets face it, the EVF is not accurate, I’d say it has about a 10% minus factor on what you see as to what you get. Also, two words, Focus Peaking. Yea, I’m using the OVF less these days. And it hurt to just say that. Seems like analog is just slipping further and further away from me. Next I’ll just be like Neo in the Matrix.

The future is fuzzy… and this is just what I feel in my bones and read in the cards so take it with a grain of salt and look forward to more weather proofing and enhanced EVF functions (manual exposure wysiwig and clearer view).

The Above photography is Lady Liberty shot on the Moose Cruise II with Fujifilm Xpro1 w/ 35 1.4 @ 1/64 F 2.0 ISO 200 and processed in Camera Raw (pretty heavily I may add).

~David

24 Comments

Category: Gear Reviews

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This short study was all shot with the creative B&W mode. The RX10 allows you to fine tune the creative mode and I chose a +1 contrast and +1 sharpening for good measure.

The following images are fine in their own right, but when you need to crop in post, how does the jpeg file hold up? Judge for yourself.

Specifications

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