#Fuji F-400

[silverdreams-on-celluloid]

Lighthouse - #9 Like Fire Raining Inside

[mikes81vw]

Accidents happen

[ultralowoxygen]

Paris; June 2023 by Xenograft Via Flickr: Nikon N80 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D lens Fuji Superia Premium 400

[dogsaver-blog]

Puppy nap by John Bradford Via Flickr: Our pup loves relaxing on the ottoman in the evening sun. I was given a couple rolls of unknown expiration Superia 400, and this roll was a test of sorts to see what condition it was in. Camera: Canon Elan 7 Lens: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Film: Expired Fuji Superia 400 at ei 200 Dev: Cinestill CS41 Scan: Plustek 8200i w/ Silverfast 9

[funwithcameras]

Disembarking the Ward's Island FerrySept 2022 by Bill Smith

[papashittycams]

Voigtlander Bessa R3A, Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4, Fujifilm Fuji 400, Arista C-41

[istandonsnowpiles]

March

The month is coming to an end. I'm yearning for warm days. My month in photography has been... interesting.

This month I picked up two new pieces of gear & rented one more:

Fujifilm 70-300mm f/4-5.6

My first super telephoto lens. It's been wild. I've always enjoyed telephoto photography, but the lenses are... large. This is a nice compromise lens. It's a bit slow, but it's long as hell & fits in my smallest camera bag. Love it. Here's some photos from it.

Kolari Vision IR Chrome Lite Filter

I've had a fairly busted full spectrum converted X-E1 for a while. I dunno why it took me so long to pick up an IR Chrome filter for it. IR Chrome is the whole reason I want an full spectrum camera.

My X-E1's electronic contacts don't work, so I can't use it with most of my lenses. I've landed on using a 7Artisans 35mm f/1.4 lens (only $60!) on it. The image quality isn't great, but it's been good to learn on.

IR photography gets better in the summer thanks to all the foliage. It's a bit blah right now. So, expect more of this soon.

Sony RX100 VII rental

I haven't rented much camera gear. I wanted to try something low stakes first. This month I headed to Pittsburgh for a PWHL hockey game. I couldn't bring my usual cameras into the arena. So, I decided a small RX100 would be a good pick. I rented it for the weekend and got some great pics. I don't really like the camera that much, so I wouldn't get it again. I definitely am gonna look into other compact cameras though.

Continuing to learn the X-T5

I picked up a Fuji X-T5 after using an X-T2 (and X-H1) for a long time. I've been loving the image quality of the camera and the IBIS. The photos look phenomenal. There's a learning curve to every camera & I knew the X-T2 like the back of my hand. With the X-T5 as my main camera, I'm sure it won't take long to be second nature.

Film

I'm currently trying to shoot through a box of Portra 400. 5 rolls in my Nikon F3. I've gotten through 2 1/2 rolls. Only one has been developed, but I still need to scan them. I haven't ever tried hard to learn a specific film before. Now that I have a solid film camera, though, it seems like the right time to do it.

And that's what I've been up to this month in the world of photography

[chkabstractions]

Fuji GL690. 100mm f/3.5. Kodak Tri-X 400.

[foma-creature]

also, my first successful macro attempt on film!

Contax RTS III, Vario-Sonnar 35-70mm f/3.4, Fuji Superia X-tra 400

[blu27nature]

In her own little universe FED-2 Industar-61 53mm f/2.8 Fuji Superia 400 (expired 2019) Rodinal 1:50 (10 mins) notes: colour film processed in black and white chemistry; 27 exposures roll salvaged from a Fujifilm QuickSnap disposable camera; very little agitation during development to avoid excessive grain; camera scanning, converted with Negative Lab Pro. Tumblr - Instagram

[livefromphilly]

Sony RX100 VII Thoughts After Two Months

PROS:

Stacked sensors are the future. Well, technically the present considering that Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, and OM Systems all use stacked sensors in their top of the line cameras. Either way, finally getting to experience shooting with one on a daily basis has made me want one in pretty much any camera going forward. The benefits are twofold: Not only do you get shutter speeds up to 20 frames per second, and without a mechanical shutter flipping in the way obscuring your view in between shots, but you also get no rolling shutter while doing it. Pretty much every Sony camera can shoot 10 fps bursts with the silent shutter, but any movement can give you a jello-like effect since the sensor reads out so slow on non-stacked cameras. The only con, at least on this camera, is that you can’t shoot flash at higher than 1/100 with the electronic shutter. That’s still plenty fast for a lot of stuff, but well below the 1/2000 you get when shooting the mechanical shutter. 

The fast frame rate wouldn’t make much of a difference if the camera was bad at autofocusing, but this camera is great at it. It has a lot of the same fancy focusing stuff that my full frame Sony has like human/animal eye autofocus and all the tracking modes I’m used to. It actually makes the camera pretty solid for wildlife if you can get close enough at the 200mm end. 

Speaking of that, the 24-200mm equivalent is a great range, and one that I missed a lot since I traded away my Tamron 28-200 to help cover the cost of my A7RIV. The small size and extra 4mm on the wide end actually makes it even more convenient than that Tamron. 

Aside from covering a broader range than the 24-70 equivalent lens from the older RX100 cameras, this lens also seems noticeably sharper. The last RX100 model I had, the Mk. IV, just didn’t seem as crispy as this lens is. 

It has a touchscreen! It’s wild to think that the previous RX100 cameras I owned didn’t have this basic ass feature, but Sony was very late in putting touch screens in their cameras. Ironically, I don’t really use it in this one because the AF is good enough that I can just do focus and recompose with tracking. 

CONS:

It’s still only a 1” style sensor so high ISO isn’t the cameras strong suit. Programs like DXO PureRAW help a lot and let you get somewhat usable images at ISO 6400 in a pinch, but you’re kinda pushing things at that point. 

While the lens is sharper and covers a wider range than the older models, it’s also significantly slower. At 24mm equivalent it’s already at f/2.8 where the old cameras were f/1.8. It’s f/3.2 at 25mm, f/3.5 at 33mm, and f/4 at 40mm. From 109mm to 200mm you’re at f/4.5. The relative slowness of the lens combined with the small sensor means that this can struggle getting quality images in low light without a tripod or something. 

No USB-C. My Fuji, Ricoh, and larger Sony all have USB-C charging, which is amazingly convenient when traveling. I haven’t really gone anywhere with this camera yet, but having to account for a micro USB cable is annoying since pretty much everything aside from my iPhone uses USB-C. 

It’s expensive. Just like my Mk III and Mk IV I got it used so it was cheaper than retail, but the copy I got cost about twice what I paid for the previous models. 

Start up time is just a tad bit slower than I’d like. The GRIII and X100V both beat it that regards, albeit those aren’t zoom lens so I have to cut the Sony some slack. 

SAMPLE PHOTOS: 

(The sample photos were edited in Lightroom Classic and DXO PureRAW2. Also, the sensor creates a roughly 2.7x crop factor, so the 9-72mm lens equates to 24-200ish)

Young Bird | ISO 160. 72mm. f/4.5. 1/200. 

Graffiti Shot from a Car | ISO 100. 33.98mm. f/4. 1/400.

Stickers | ISO 100. 29.67mm. f/4.5. 1/100.

City Hall | ISO 100. 38.13mm. f/4.5. 1/200. 

Flip Up Screen Selfie with My Friend Hanae | ISO 3200. 9mm. f/2.8. 1/40. 

Zoomed in Graffiti | ISO 640. 72mm. f/4.5. 1/500. 

Fishing Store Neon | ISO 800. 28.67mm. f/8. 1/200. 

Flowers | ISO 200. 72mm. f/5. 1/640.

Selfie Shots with My Sister | ISO 3200. 9mm. f/2.8. 1/100. 

[silverdreams-on-celluloid]

Beach - #2 Untouched Nature

[ultralowoxygen]

FILM - Red Lion Hotel by Jonathan Burley Via Flickr: Inside the Red Lion Hotel on the marketplace at Spalding. Exakta Varex IIa (1960) SLR camera Zeiss Pancolar 50 mm f/2 lens Fuji Superia Xtra 400 film Lab develop & scan 000015500036_0001

[b0rnunderabadsing]

Happier days. 

Caleta Lenga, Bio-Bio, Chile

Mamiya/Sekor 1000 dtl - Fuji Superia X-400

By: Luis F. Arriagada

[funwithcameras]

Droopy SunflowersSept 2022 by Bill Smith

[papashittycams]

Voigtlander Bessa R3A, Nokton 40mm f/1.4, Fuji 400