OK fine, you don't like Pixii.
According to the Urban Dictionary...I know I'm not the greatest on current vernacular, I'll have to see if I can figure out what a "Karen" is.
G
A pejorative name associated with uptight, middle-class, do-gooder types of women.
A Karen gets the wrong end of the stick, believing to be the victim of any given situation due to an overly inflated sense of entitlement. Karens cannot be reasoned with, and often expose themselves to widespread ridicule due to outlandish behavior, usually leading to the explosion of a trivial issue into something unnecessarily large.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
My sniveling will soon be over. FedEx is delivering to me today. I am charging a couple of batteries now. First lens? Amotal or Canon 28 or 35? I'll try them all. Woohoo. We are singing in Astoria, even the dog is singing.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
OK, it is here. It is very well made and solid. For those wondering it will mount and use a CV 40mm f/1.2 OK. I have the Amotal on it and will be playing with that for a day or so. This is a sweet camera to look at and use. I have to get the phone app set up to display the JPG's rather than the DNG's which load slowly, naturally. The viewfinder is clearer and brighter than my M9. It is weird to change lenses and see the sensor as there is no focal plane shutter in front of it. All in all, so far I am quite pleased.
"Tape at 11:00."
"Tape at 11:00."
Austintatious
Well-known
So happy for you Sir, your patience has finally been rewarded. Hope it's a keeper
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
OK, it works, Amotal 2" f/2.0. A humble climbing vine.
agentlossing
Well-known
Hurray! Very glad to see it has finally made it into your hands. I truly felt for you. Some vicarious consternation.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
Thanks. I tried the Amotal tonight and into the light it does not do well. I will try it tomorrow along with the Canon 35mm LTM f/2.0 "Black" and the Canon 28mm LTM f/2.8. It shoots DNG so I work with them in RawTherapee. Hopefully there will be sunshine in the next few days around here.
agentlossing
Well-known
Down in these parts we had bright sun and rather warm temps all day today, not sure where this weather came from but I think the weather wants to get all of it out of its system before the tourists arrive for Memorial Day. By then it will go back to clouds and rain, no doubt.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
I have my Pixii. It works. I have tried it with the 28mm Canon and the 50mm Amotal. I have been having problems with the Android app but the camera is working fine. Sometimes the Android app gets finicky about talking to the camera. Nevertheless the camera is taking photos and as soon as I can get some with color in them I will share them. David of Pixii has been very helpful in trying to get the app fixed. Some of you may know that while Apple has a closed architecture Android does not. The downside of this is that each manufacturer can have its own flavor of Android and do updates whenever it damned well pleases. There is a lack of uniformity.
Perhaps some indoor shots at the Oysterville church tomorrow and around Oysterville. Photogenic place. It is like a time warp.
Perhaps some indoor shots at the Oysterville church tomorrow and around Oysterville. Photogenic place. It is like a time warp.
So, Pixii owners, how's it been going? It is about the only camera I find semi-exciting these days (other than what I already have).
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
I am having fun with mine. I would be having more fun if there were some sunshine around here. We have been overcast for more than a month with the exception of occasional bursts of sunshine. There is a Pixii group on FB where folks who get sunshine post their photos. I shoot all DNG and select only a few of the least bad to convert to JPEG. (https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzTMpA) But for the good color, and there are some really good color photos, check out FB or the Pixii group on Flickr.
That said, I am quite pleased with the Pixii. It takes good pictures when offered the opportunity. The in-camera software is good. The firmware on the phones needs tuning. This is being done and I can put up with that. On balance it is a good camera, well built, that produces some really great images, again, when offered the opportunity.
I am glad I bought it.
ranger9
Well-known
Sorry, have been shooting more and posting less lately... although recently not quite as much with the Pixii, because my two most recent shooting occasions required flash sync and/or a 90mm lens, so out came the Fujifilm X-T4. Both times I found myself wishing I were using the Pixii... it's just more enjoyable to use, and I'm more comfortable with a rangefinder/viewfinder than an electronic viewfinder. I'm also becoming convinced that when all other conditions are equal, the Pixii delivers the better image quality of the two... even though they're both 26mp and even though many pundits suspect they both use exactly the same sensor, although the X-T4 has Fujifilm's famous/notorious X-Trans array and the Pixii is an ordinary Bayer.
Also, while this is just a subjective perception, I have the impression that when I'm shooting with the X-T4, I shoot more shots, have a lower yield, and spend more time on post-processing; with the Pixii I tend to shoot fewer shots, but have more "keepers," and they need less massaging in Lightroom.
The darn thing just works for me, as long as I keep an eye on battery usage and keep an ear peeled for the faint "Bronx cheer" noise that the Pixii makes when it encounters a hardware error (these are no longer common, but they do happen; they happen less often with the X-T4, but it has them too...)
In case anyone wants to see a pic, here's one from Tuesday when my friend Kogan and I were running around the 1894 part of the building looking for spots with cool light. This was mainly a film-shooting expedition to try out the Film Photography Project's respooled Super-XX, but I took the Pixii along for a few shots since it could share lenses with the Bessa R3M I was using for the film part. Later, while I was having lunch, I decided to play the "connected camera" card... linked the Pixii to my iPhone's hotspot, pulled the raw DNG file into Snapseed (which imports and edits raw files), seasoned it to taste, and then sent the result off to Kogan so she could see an example of what we had done that morning... she seemed thrilled, and I was pretty happy about it myself!
Incidentally, a new firmware/software release dropped earlier this week in the dev channel -- I think the software version is 5.5.3 -- but I haven't noticed anything different except maybe there's less battery drain when the camera is in deep-sleep mode... any other Pixiiologists have any discoveries?
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
^^^^^ Yeah, I'm biased. That photo is gorgeous color and definition. I have tended to gush about the Pixii. Photos like this make it all warranted.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
I am still having problems with the camera seeing WiFi. The app says it sees WiFi and the camera has WiFi turned on but for some reason cannot see WiFi and I am unable to download the current firmware for the camera. I am not sure why a DL from the company website is not an option. But I am just tired of niggling glitches like this and putting Pixii aside for a month or so. I am dragging out my "git 'er done" Sony A7 III. It works. Always. .
ranger9
Well-known
I haven't been posting much lately because I'm really busy at work, but I am totally sympathetic as WiFi issues are real stinkers to trouble-shoot. The latest software might help, but if you can't install it because you can't get on WiFi, that would be frustrating!
Actually you CAN download the latest software and firmware updates from the company website and apply them manually; basic info is here. The FAQ article says this procedure is "not recommended," but Pixii boss David Barth told me he updates his camera this way and it really shouldn't be a problem for anyone who isn't intimidated by poking around disk directories.
Basically what the directions tell you to do is download the software and firmware updaters from a link provided in the FAQ, decompress them, then connect your camera via USB, put it into USB disk mode, browse the camera disk to locate the /updates directory, and put the updaters into that directory. Then you disconnect the camera, power off, and reboot.
If you're feeling frustrated with the Pixii then taking a break definitely is a good idea, but at least this way you can be up to date when you decide to pick it up again.
(I've been taking a Pixii break myself because for the last two weeks I've been working on a big project for which I thought I needed IBIS and AF, so I've been shooting with my Fujifilm X-T4. Now I'm editing the shots and keep finding myself thinking, "Dang, this would have been better if I had shot it with the Pixii...")
Actually you CAN download the latest software and firmware updates from the company website and apply them manually; basic info is here. The FAQ article says this procedure is "not recommended," but Pixii boss David Barth told me he updates his camera this way and it really shouldn't be a problem for anyone who isn't intimidated by poking around disk directories.
Basically what the directions tell you to do is download the software and firmware updaters from a link provided in the FAQ, decompress them, then connect your camera via USB, put it into USB disk mode, browse the camera disk to locate the /updates directory, and put the updaters into that directory. Then you disconnect the camera, power off, and reboot.
If you're feeling frustrated with the Pixii then taking a break definitely is a good idea, but at least this way you can be up to date when you decide to pick it up again.
(I've been taking a Pixii break myself because for the last two weeks I've been working on a big project for which I thought I needed IBIS and AF, so I've been shooting with my Fujifilm X-T4. Now I'm editing the shots and keep finding myself thinking, "Dang, this would have been better if I had shot it with the Pixii...")
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
Hey, thanks for the info. I'll try the update the "old fashioned" way with the DL. I like the camera but it is the little things that make me nuts. It's like buying a car whose radio never seems to work. The car is fine but it is also a pain in the butt and the mfr should have fixed it. This update procedure is easy enough. Thanks for the help.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
Born under a bad star. I have no "updates" directory. I have a Spotlight-V100 with a subdirectory of Store-V2 and then another directory and then a bunch of directories with nothing named updates. Are you guys playing a joke on me? Is this a snipe hunt?
I am unable to create a directory "updates" either. I have tried in both W10 and Linux Mint with the same results.
I am unable to create a directory "updates" either. I have tried in both W10 and Linux Mint with the same results.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
Here are the descending levels on the camera:
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
OK, starting at the top level and at the three lower levels I have pasted in an "Updates" folder with the four update items. Does anyone have any more ideas?
Later, I tried rename "Updates" to "updates" and was told that the name was in use at each of the four levels but I do not see it and I am displaying hidden files. Is someone playing a trick on me?
Later, I tried rename "Updates" to "updates" and was told that the name was in use at each of the four levels but I do not see it and I am displaying hidden files. Is someone playing a trick on me?