Fujifilm X100T Review and Sample Images / November 4, 2015 by Benjamin Traves

Fujifilm X100T

The Fujifilm X100T (aka "Fuji" X100T) is the culmination of three generations of improvements to the same essential camera concept. It is what I would call a "companion camera" as it has a certain sentimental pull combined with relatively light weight and ease of use. The APS-C sensor (same size as found in most DSLRs) is a bonus, as the real joy of this camera is the extremely well-designed control layout and incredibly useful (and I might add, revolutionary) viewfinder.

Buy this camera for the viewfinder. Not the sensor, it's great but not rare. The optical / electronic viewfinder is what makes the Fuji X100T different. It's easy to go a bit crazy reading specifications online for all the different cameras you may be considering as a future purchase. Don't do that with this camera, it won't really give you a proper idea of why it is so good.

The image quality has not changed since the last version, the X100S (or so I've gathered, although I did not own that camera). So don't worry about image quality, it's great. Image quality doesn't mean anything at all if you miss the capture of the image due to fumbling with controls on your camera. That won't happen with this Fuji.

The controls on the Fuji X100T are intuitive and tactile. The dials are especially nice. Autofocus is good. Image playback doesn't lag (at least not with the fast SD card I was using). Image quality is not the standout feature of this camera, in my opinion, because there are many APS-C sensor options out there and most are fairly good. The ability to use both optical and electronic viewfinders (both with information overlays which can be customized) is a very, VERY cool feature. Other than the Leica M, which has the option to add an EVF on the hot shoe in addition to the built-in optical rangefinder, I don't know of many cameras that could be said to have both an optical and an electronic viewfinder option.

Speaking of the Leica M, what has always intrigued me about the Fuji is that everyone likes to compare it to Leica cameras. I work with both Leica rangefinders and compacts on a regular basis at Leica Store Miami (they do not endorse/sponsor my posts here, this is a personal blog). The Fuji and the Leica are very different animals. I will explain.

1. The Leica M series are MANUAL FOCUS. You ought to see the look of surprise some customers give me when I explain this.

2. The Leica M series are optical rangefinder cameras, though they now have Live View and the option to add an EVF on top (Leica M and M-P)

3. The Leica M and a 35mm f/2 Summicron lens will cost you over $10,000 (plus tax) and the new Fuji X100T (with a lens) is $1,299

4. The Leica M is compatible with the full range of M lenses. The Fuji X100T does not have interchangeable lenses (not that the lens it comes with is bad, it's actually great, but you can't change it later on and that's an important consideration).

5. Lots of other reasons. Doesn't mean either camera is good or bad, but they are definitely different. Although I won't deny seeing a certain resemblance, don't forget the M cameras have been around for 60 years and the look of the camera has remained true to its origins ever since.

Fuji X100T perched on top of a Leica M (typ 240) with 35mm f/2 Summicron lens

Fuji versus Leica...

Sample images... more coming soon!

Quick studio test with Brittany / August 26, 2015 by Benjamin Traves

Brittany had never been a model before so she was nervous. We started out with a few serious faces but I could tell that her smile was going to end up being the best of the different expressions so I told her not to worry about being serious anymore.

I also enjoyed using this blue paper background, it is boring to just use white or gray paper all the time. The light for this was from a huge Elinchrom Octabank with an adapter for Profoto 7b lights. Really beautiful quality of light, great for working with people.

New Leica S (typ 007) Review & Sample Images / August 25, 2015 by Benjamin Traves

The brand new (but announced 11 months ago) Leica S typ 007 is finally here! I plan on borrowing one from Leica Store Miami as soon as possible for sample image purposes, although I've already held one and played around with it a bit. Should be able to take one for a spin fairly soon, so stay tuned.

My first impression from using the new S (typ 007): It is VERY FAST. Absolutely the fastest medium format camera I've ever used in my life. I have used everything from the original Leica S2 to the Phase One IQ180 and newer IQ3/XF body from Phase (not counting Hasselblad here because they are not user friendly whatsoever), and I can tell you this new S is phenomenal. And they dropped the price from the originally planned $25,000 to $16,900!!!

Everyone currently waiting for one this past year will be happy to hear that it is not only worth the wait, but comes with a very, very good price point. There are some caveats though, and I'm hearing that the warranty situation will work differently than with past S cameras. More on that soon, once I confirm with Leica.

So, the takeaway from this: Unquestionably the best medium format camera to actually use. Image quality looks phenomenal on a retina MacBook Pro. You can decide for yourself, very soon.

Image samples:

Sony A7R II Review and Sample Images / August 5, 2015 by Benjamin Traves

My review of the Sony A7R II is here! (Well, a rolling review which I will be constantly updating)

So, the elephant in the room, which every review will address: It has a 42 megapixel sensor. Yes, that is a ton of pixels. Last month I tested out Phase One's newest beast (the IQ3 digital back with the new XF camera body) which has 80 megapixels. And of course Canon now has over 50 megapixels with the 5Ds/R so it's really not that crazy for Sony to go with 42 for their flagship shooter.

I am curious to see how this new A7R II compares with the Sony A7 II and Sony RX1 as well as my Canon 5D Mk III. A friend of mine has a ton of Sony gear so I should be able to test it with a wide variety of lenses to really see which ones are best for it. Honestly, there isn't much similar to this camera in terms of a fair comparison because it's just so unusual. No mirror, full frame, interchangeable lenses (and adapters for almost any other brand of lens you might want to put on it), plus it's weather sealed so you can go outside and play. Oh, and by the way, it shoots 4K video and can record it internally, unlike the A7S.

The 42 megapixel sensor is certainly interesting, though really not a huge difference in terms of image size from the previous generation of 36 megapixel sensors. I think the real key difference will be in dynamic range and low-light performance. That, and the ability to crop with an APS-C factor, which still leaves you with a very usable 18 megapixels.

** OK, so probably the most interesting thing about the new Sony A7R II that I've noticed so far is that, unlike with most other cameras, this one seems to have files that look much better on the computer than they did on the camera LCD screen. Usually, when you go out and take some pictures, you look at them on the camera and they seem great, then maybe just ok once you put them on the computer. Not so with this new Sony. It reminds me of the medium format Hasselblad and Phase One cameras I've used in the past, because on those the picture is barely even worth looking at on the rear LCD (which is why most pros shoot tethered to a laptop when using medium format digital backs like those) but once you see them on the computer the images are mind-blowing and incredibly detailed with outstanding colors and quality.

I will be working on this review and posting more text soon, but in the mean time you can check out some quick sample images below:

Pretty impressed with the little Sony/Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 and I'm looking forward to testing the new Zeiss Batis lenses soon. I'm a long-time Canon L user and the bokeh from the 50mm f/1.2 L glass is a bit smoother, although this Sony/Zeiss lens is far sharper wide open.

The colors from this sensor are phenomenal, with no adjustments needed.

I also tested the APS-C crop mode, which gives you the look of a longer lens (although it is not the same optically). Still, if you are using a fixed focal length and you don't have anything else with you (like me when I happened to see this peacock wandering around) it's nice to make the 55mm into an effective 82.5mm lens with the APS-C mode (multiply your focal length by 1.5x to figure out the conversion, i.e. a 35mm lens becomes a 52.5mm and so on).

Crop of the photo above this one. This was a "Normal" quality JPEG (I didn't remember to switch to RAW+JPEG until right after this, sadly)

And another quick crop test, this one was taken by my friend with his Sony 70-200mm f/4 (through a window, from his apartment on the 15th floor) while we were testing out the gear:

See the rectangle? That's approximately a 100% crop...

And here's the cropped image. I did not make an effort to recover the highlights. The boat is only over exposed due to the darkness of the water around it, which is most of the original image. Anyway, if this is your boat, be sure to say hi in the c… — And here's the cropped image. I did not make an effort to recover the highlights. The boat is only over exposed due to the darkness of the water around it, which is most of the original image. Anyway, if this is your boat, be sure to say hi in the comments :)

Now, for a high-ISO test... this next one is ISO 4000 at f/4.5 and 1/250th

Another shot at ISO 4000 (and keep in mind I set Noise Reduction to Low in camera and also sharpened this to +50 in Lightroom) — Another shot at ISO 4000 (and keep in mind I set Noise Reduction to Low in camera and also sharpened this to *+50* in Lightroom)

This one was shot with the relatively new Sony/Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 mounted on the Sony A7R II

The capabilities of this camera are truly astounding. I'm looking forward to doing much more shooting in the next few days, and of course I will be posting more images as well as my thoughts and impressions of this beast.

More images coming soon!

Also testing out the 4K video...

Lightroom 6 - Testing the new Panorama feature / July 28, 2015 by Benjamin Traves

This is a handheld image, no tripod, stitched together from nine (9!) separate images automatically. I selected the images in Lightroom after importing and went to "Photo Merge," then "Panorama" and I got a stitched image which I proceeded to work on like any normal photo. After the usual tweaks, I did some extra work in the form of a digital graduated neutral density filter (right half of the image with all the windows was way brighter than the kitchen area on the left). Then on to Photoshop to remove myself from a reflection in a mirror and to do a bit more dodging (brightening) until the place looked like you see above. I will post the original images soon for comparison.

Bottom line: The new Panorama feature in Adobe Lightroom is awesome and worked great in this scenario. I only had a 35mm lens with me, and I managed to stitch together an ultrawide shot from what is hardly considered a wide-angle lens.