A Massive Attack of Gas

Congrats, Lukitas! I've been thinking about which way I should go when I upgrade my digicam, and Fuji is certainly one of the front runners. Keep taking lovely photos.

PF
 
Wow, thanks everybody.

Yes, I am really happy with the (I'm) SexyToo. Falls well to hand, unobtrusive, and I don't have to chase commands in obscure places.

Of course there are niggles and snags, there always are. I have to get used to auto focus, and peaking is confusing with the lens stopped down. The viewfinder gives a lot more information than I'm used to, sometimes I overlook it. Though good enough to be useful, it still looks a bit like a tv-set. I like the depth of field preview, but it doesn't work on manual focus lenses. Still, it was great fun shooting with the Elmar 3,5 cm f3.5, set to f9 and the hyper focal : point and shoot! Then again, changing the f-stop on a longer lens is a bit of a conundrum, especially with lenses that don't have stops in the diaphragm ring : focus wide open, look at the lens to set the opening, then frame and shoot. Alternatively, I could set a shutter speed and ISO, focus, then stop down until the right exposure is reached without taking my eye away from the viewfinder, but then I would be focusing on an over-exposed view. hm.

Like I said, little niggles and small snags, but a lovely little camera over-all. With the elmar, it slips into a pocket. I am deliriously happy, that I didn't save three years for a Leica, I am having all the fun a leica could give me, and more, at near to a tenth of the price. I am now officially a Fuji-Fanboy.

Cheers
 
Forgot to mention, the depth of field scale seems much too conservative : the elmar35s' scales go from less than two meters up to infinity at f9, distance 3,8 meters; the fuji says it covers barely 3 to 5 meters, same focal length, same aperture.

Maybe Fuji could do something about this in firmware : instead of the hard cut-of on the scale, make it fade out on both ends. We could then visualise with a zone of 'excellent' focus, plus zones of 'good to acceptable' focus, and the background grey as Not In Focus At All.
 
When I had payed the last of my debts, I first wanted to save for a Monochrom, or maybe an M, but then I realised it would take at least three years of scraping to get there, I decided my ambitions would have to point a little lower. I want to use my camera, not dream of it.

This hit me really hard. Thanks.

BTW, I recently got a Fuji Sexy-two recently as well. Using it with a C/Y Zeiss 50/1.7 with a lens turbo focal reducer. I love it.
 
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I'll never forget the look on the bassist face. I took an image of the same band in Brussels in 2013 though there seems to be a few line up changes.

Also taken with a Fuji! A GF670 :)

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Cheers - John
 
That base player does have an impressive phiz. Girls must have been falling all over him when he was twenty.

The bands recompose, according to need and availability, they work when they need to. Sometimes there 's only two of them. One of them plays a violin without a case, but a trumpet sticking out of it. Dying to get a picture of him.
 
Late congratulations on your Fujiware. Self-abnegation and thrift are rewarded here, and not just for you.
 
Thank you Robert.

Here's a few is took at work today, with a Leitz Elmar f=3,5cm 1:3,5, with a mtr distance scale and no discernible serial number. stops go through 3,5 4,5 6,3 9 12,5 18. Set to f9 and the hyperfocal, it's a point and shoot. the lens is low contrast, but I like that, as it is easier to push contrast than to pull it.

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Three weeks later, near my first 1000 shots.

The camera is nice and reasonably well-behaved. Exposure is very good to perfect, dynamic range respectable, and with a little care, blown-out highlights aren't a problem. Aperture priority works a charm, but the ring on the kit lens is easily moved, forgetting to check the aperture in the viewfinder can be a bother. Autofocus is fast enough, mostly, but I don't feel very much at ease with it. Changing the autofocus spot is a fiddle, for my fingers.

For taking the camera to work, I put on an Elmar 3,5cm f3.5, flat enough to fit in a pocket, and I use the hyper focal at f9 - it has a weird aperture progression : 3.5, 4.5, 6.3, 9, 12.5, 18 - on the scale, it says 2 meters to infinity.

I am impressed and chuffed by all the magic that can be performed in the digital darkroom. I won't allow myself deletions or additions, I'd rather go back and shoot it again. But having a colour negative to print a black and white print is such an incredible boon : colour filtering moves to the lightroom. Any combination, even ones that would cancel each other out when physically on the camera, is possible.

When I grew up, Ansel Adams was in the bookcase, so I may have been perverted for life. In a black and white photo, a blue sky has to be dark, at least dark enough to register as colour. That is where the colour negative (raw file) comes in : I can darken the blues as much as I want, and I don't even have to brighten the reds, as a real red filter would do. This alone brings back most of the fun I had in darkrooms, and all without smelly fingers. It does feel like using a darkroom, bringing out the tones that I want from a given negative.

Here's a picture so you'll forgive me for the rant :

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You're clearly having a good time with the new gear, and this street shot above looks great, very nice tonality. Fine outcome to a tense GAS attack. :D
 
You have certainly gained through self-denial and sacrifice. It is a fine piece of gear, but it is your eye that is truly making these excellent images. Thanks for posting.
 
I understand what you are saying about skies not being white.

One trick to darken skies (in LR anyway)) is to selectively decrease the Aqua slider luminosity. When blues clip in the analog to digital converter, the result is an aqua sky. In some cases the LR gradient filter can recover sky detail during raw rendering.
 
Nice photos and congrats on the new sexy outfit!

The kit lens is amazing; I never liked zooms until I got the Fuji. It might as well have been glued to my sexy1 (ok - I do sometimes use M42 or Hexanon SLR lenses on the little beast but mainly for fun). Fuji really got a winner there!
 
I don't think the camera alone is responsible for these images. You are making 99% of these beautiful shots. Great job and congratulations on the rig! :) Keep them coming!
 
Thank you all for your kind comments and great flattery!

Yes, that kit lens is lovely, I made a selfie with it :

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I had to focus manually, with the self-timer on, the camera focuses on what it sees when I press the button : when I step back, I look like a David Hamilton.

I prefer to use manual focus anyhow. Not as good as a leica, the red bits take some getting used to, but it is nice to see exactly how far you are focusing in the viewfinder.

Cheers!
 
It should be possible to press the shutter button without invoking AF.


ps you certainly are expert at creating/using light... wow.
 
Forgot to mention, the depth of field scale seems much too conservative : the elmar35s' scales go from less than two meters up to infinity at f9, distance 3,8 meters; the fuji says it covers barely 3 to 5 meters, same focal length, same aperture.

This is because of the magnification factor of about 1,5.
Yes, I agree with the other posters, you have a keen eye.
 
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