Wednesday 28 September 2016

Back from Greece!

Hi

Back from Greece and my first real use of the Fujifilm XT-2. Awesome, buy one!

I got my bud Ray to dive in the pool in our rented villa....every shot in focus at 10+ frames per second wow! Tip: Click the first image and the pictures are then big enough to see the focus, if you have an Apple magic mouse, stroke it for a video effect...



I'll be posting stills and 4K video later this week for you to see.

In the mean time check out Peter Gregg's blog to see my appraisal of the Canon 5D4 was on the money. Sorry Canon you brought out a nice stills camera with major flaws!

Thursday 8 September 2016

Introducing: the Fuji X-T2

It's here and some pics to prove it:

Compared to my Canon 5D3:
Compared to Canon EOS M:


Initial reactions:

  • smaller than I expected
  • beautifully made
  • batteries not charged so I have to wait!
  • the booster/vertical grip looks fantastic, more buttons than expected
  • I'm going to carry this everywhere
  • watched Ken Wheeler's videos on YouTube and thought 'can I wait?' then FedEx turned up!

Got to go!

Wednesday 7 September 2016

Fujifilm X-T2 released tomorrow (? please!) and more on that new Canon

I'm really looking forward to my X-T2, early signs are that it's very special...

Wow Canon what have you done? Early signs are that, as I suggested, the focus shift technology is unusable, you have to, it seems, use DPP software which nobody does and according to Tony Northrup (check him out on YouTube) the pixel shift does indeed make the files doubly as big and actually does so little to the image to make it of no real value.
On top of this Ken Wheeler (Angry Photographer) reports that the JPG files from the new camera are poor...
Is the dynamic range better, no.

200GB for one hour of 4k not even full frame video (compared with 50GB for a ff Sony) - is just another example of how lazy (because they didn't bother writing a decent codec) and greedy Canon are with this camera

Don't forget, the recording medium is still CF/SD, no CFast or XQD, and a SD card which is NOT mk11 compatible - WHICH IS MY BIGGEST GRIPE WITH THE 5D3 - the SD on my camera goes to around 45x so buying a fast CF and having the SD being written to at the same time slows the camera to the snail's pace of the SD card all because on a £2.3K camera Canon put a crap SD reader inside, and they just did it again!!!

I really want to understand why this camera is priced so highly - the same in dollars as pounds, why?


Friday 26 August 2016

Where I think Canon missed an opportunity

I really rate my 5D3. But, over time, Nikon has improved the exposure latitude of their sensors, it remains to be seen if Canon have now caught up. The new 5D4 introduces a new and clever sensor, that if you specify when shooting, (sort of) records two images which if you use Canon's software (does anyone?) you can fix the focus a bit... Note the sensor still has an 'AA' filter. The focusing is greatly improved too.

The new camera is launched as a 4K video camera, but, no focus peaking, no electronic viewfinder and a massive crop when switching to 4K. It does now feature a touch-screen, but if you use an electronic viewfinder, you don't need one - why - because you know you've nailed exposure, and for me, the rear screen is inadequate to review image detail especially in sunlight. When I'm out shooting, I almost never review on the screen, for my type of photography, a missed shot is just that.

Above all, why the massive price hike? The 5D3 came out at, I believe, £2.3k body only - what exactly makes this camera worth an extra grand? Put another way, camera plus kit lens + £500 = 1DX mk11! Um, let me think...



So what should Canon have done:


  • no anti-alias filter
  • a viewfinder system like the Fuji 100T with focus assist
  • improved OLED screen and not just more dots
  • 10 fps
  • GPS, yes great, but wi-fi that is basic - reminiscent of the EyeFi system - didn't they look at Nikon's snapbridge?

that, I think would command the extra £1K...

Thursday 25 August 2016

I am so looking forward to...a new camera!

On the day that Canon announced the 5D Mk 4 I thought that it was time to post again.

It's not that I had nothing to say for a year, just that I have a life too!

I have paid for and am awaiting delivery of a Fujifilm X-T2! Because I can't resist an offer I have already got the 16mm f1.4, the 35mm f2.0, the 90mm f2.0 and the camera is coming with the grip and the 'kit' lens. For once I have B+W filters for protection rather than my usual Hoya HD's.

Am I therefore feeling a little sick that the replacement for my Canon 5D3 has reared it's head? - NO! At £3.5K body only, are Canon for real? Then add £1.1K for the kit lens, £2.35K for the third iteration of the 16-35mm and well, no, n,n,n,n,n, no! My entire Fuji haul is better made and costs less than the new body only...

The camera is compact and a lot lighter than the Canon 5D, when attached to the grip you loose this benefit, but go into boost mode which gives it twice the shooting power of the 5D in terms of frames per second.


The kit lens that doesn't know it is... and £200 off when bought with the body

And those lenses:


I toyed with the 56mm f1.2 but decided instead on the 135mm equivalent, the 90mm f2, as my favourite Canon lens was/is the 135mm.
This lens is the way you get bokeh on a wide prime!

At £274 for what a lot of pros are saying is a 'must have' well...

These lenses are exquisite in terms of build quality, and come with a great reputation, and these three cost less than the last lens I bought for my Canon, a 100-400 mk11!

Latest reports are that with the new firmware (still pre-release) the camera is quite simply unbelievable at continuous focus.

I still love you Canon, I think...