35mm Reviews

Lots has been written about the new XF 35mm f/2 WR, but a few reviews have risen to the top for me.

1. First is Jonas Rask’s. His reviews are always chalk full of excellent sample images, and drool-worthy gear shots. If you’re on the fence with the XF 35mm f/2 WR, his review will likely shove you violently over to the purchase side.
2. Second is Kevin Mullins, the guy I attempted to emulate at a family wedding I shot last June. If you’re looking for insight from someone in a professional space, look no further.
3. As it happens, Mullins suggests my latest inspiration candidate, Patrick La Roque, for further reading on the XF 35mm f/2 WR.

Smartphone Downsizing and User Error

Incredibly, I’ve been taken to task on my piece about the potential for data loss with Fuji’s mobile apps by some readers who insist this comes down to user error, and we should all STFU and RTFM.

This is absolutely not user error. It’s using marquee features with dedicated buttons as advertised. Suggesting the onus is on regular people to read the manual about a standard, discoverable feature which comes with a penalty that is fairly well hidden from the user is a terrible response when discussing a consumer device or consumer behaviour.

Think back to when you got your first Fuji camera. Did you read the manual before connecting it via USB or slapping your SD card in your computer the to make sure your files wouldn’t be downsampled? I thought not.

Just For Good Measure

Let me throw a couple analogies at you:

1. What if tethering behaved the same way? Captures are saved on the card, but are sent to the computer by default at a reduced size without the user knowing. The user formats their card thinking the images are already on a computer, and loses the original 16MP files. That would be crazy, right?
2. What if Apple automatically reduced the bit rate of songs when copying to a mobile device without letting the user know for faster transfer speeds and so your device could hold more songs? It would be pretty difficult to actually lose your data entirely in that case, but it would still be less than optimal UI design. Good design, is to have a checkbox for that setting on the import screen, as they have done.

Something Like This

An obvious button here, or at in the Browse and Receive screens would be ideal. Trashing full resolutions photos after would then actually be user error.

You might think using WiFi for image transfer is crazy, but the reality is there are a lot of people whose primary and/or only computer is a smartphone, and that number is growing. It won’t be long before waiting to plug a cable into something to transfer images will be considered quaint. Queue the #believeinwires tweets.

There are others, like Yours truly, going iOS-only for a considerable portion of their workflow. With mobile devices outpacing laptops in some benchmarks, destroying them in sales, and capturing images at 12+MP natively themselves, transferred images probably shouldn’t downsized by default, and they definitely shouldn’t be downsized without it being really clear to the photographer.

Inspiration: Patrick La Roque

It’s about time I plug some photographic talent from my home country. While there’s no shortage of talented photographers using X-Series cameras, one name does come to mind first.

Patrick La Roque

Patrick is a sterling example of the finest of art photography. He has all the talent, without a shred of the attitude. In fact, Patrick is incredibly humble, and just plain nice. This is especially admirable given his uncanny ability to turn any subject matter into impossibly captivating images.

He breaks every last “rule” of composition and comes out the other end of his masterful processing with images that are deceptively difficult to create. You might look at Patrick’s images, find yourself mesmerized, then erroneously think, “Well that’s just the simplest of objects, I could make an image like that.” You probably can’t. Sure, you might get lucky here and there, but Patrick routinely posts complete series’ of these kinds of images. They draw you in, and make you feel as though you were there, sharing the experience.

It’s not hard to see why the folks at Fujifilm Canada love this guy. Below is a handful of images of his that I really like. There’s a ton more where that came from including his most recent publication, These Subterraneans.

In addition, Patrick has a fantastic blog, and created one of, if not the preeminent Fujifilm collectives, The Kage Collective. If you happen to live in the Montreal area, or plan to visit, you could do much worse than learning from La Roque.

Fujifilm Apps and Potential Data Loss

My X-T1 had been powered off for long enough that it reset itself to factory defaults. After using the Camera Remote app for iOS to import about 50 photos, I was doing some post processing in Pixelmator where I noticed the pixel dimensions of an uncropped photo were conspicuously low. After a moment or two, it occurred to me what had happened.

This:

Please Throw Away 13MP of Each Photo

That is the default setting on WiFi-enabled cameras, and there is no prompt at import, or any indication of a reduction in file size in the user interface. Had I not realized before formatting my memory card,¹ I would have inadvertently thrown away 13MP of the data from a bunch of photos, some of which I really like.

Imagine If…

Someone new to Fujifilm goes on vacation armed with their brand spanking new camera and smartphone. Whilst on vacation, they go through the tedium that is importing images 30 at a time.² They post them to their social media(s) of choice, get Likes, Stars, Loves, and Favourites, everything is great. After importing their photos,³ they do like all good photographers do, and diligently format their memory card. The next day, they proceed to merrily overwrite yesterday’s originals. Once home from vacation, they decide their images are so good, they’d like to print them. They send what they think are 16MP files off to the printer only to find out their pixel dimensions have been cut by more than half. That person would likely be pretty annoyed with Fujifilm.

This is a Pretty Big Problem

Fuji needs to address with either a firmware update, or an app update as soon as possible. Users should know when their images are being reduced in size. In the meantime, my readers can double check the setting that’s buried 3 menus deep to ensure they aren’t also in danger of downgrading their cameras from 16MP to three.

1. I happen to also have SD card recovery software at my disposal, but that’s a. not typical, and b. has it’s own set of problems like renaming files. Plus, if our imaginary traveller is formating their SD card everyday, odds are most of the orignal files would be overwritten long before a recovery tool was used. ↩

2. Are importing all photos and a “Select All” button too much to ask for? Oh, iPhones 6 optimization would also be good. And a new icon. And...↩

3. And ensuring they have a backup, but in this case, they might be backing up 3MP images. ↩

35mm (and where I’ve been)

XF 35mm f/1.4 vs. XF 35mm f/2 WR

After weeks of testing, my extensive comparison of Fuji’s 35mm primes is now online. See how well the new normal compares against the old normal.

Where I’ve Been

As a bit of an aside, regular visitors have likely noticed a serious lull in content and updates. Looking at my last post that happened in August, I can hardly believe it’s been that long myself. What happened? A combination of things.

First of all, I found new employment approximately 5 months ago. It’s been a big transition from my previous freelance gig, and the ups and downs of a new job on top a huge multi-month project, had all but squelched my capacity for creative photography, let alone photographic analysis. Fortunately, things have settled down considerably.

Secondly, I decided early last year to take control of my physical wellbeing. This started out with the standard physical fitness, but quickly morphed into an obsession with restoring mobility and range of motion I’d lost from 15+ years of sitting for 8-15 hours a day. It’s been hard work, and took up almost all my free time, but it was well worth it.¹

Anyhow, it was always an internal struggle for me. I felt bad neglecting the site outside of replying to those who emailed or tweeted, but it was the right thing to focus on.

TL;DR

I’ve been busy with work and life, but plan to get content on the site more regularly now. It’s good to be back.

1. Physical health is hardly a topic for this website, but if you’re at all interested in restoring your own capacity for movement and how good movement can apply to photography, I recommend Kelly Starrett’s CreativeLive Class. Simply being able to squat properly behind my camera (ass to ankles, heels on the ground, toes pointed forward) has increased my enjoyment of photography, and saved me from putting more bad loads on my knees. If you can relate to that last part, you owe it to your lower extremities to restore full range of motion in your hips and ankles.↩

Deal: X100S Canada

While it’s unfortunate that Fuji has decided the X100S won’t receive any further firmware updates, it’s still an excellent camera that I keep in my Billingham as part of my daily carry.

For my Canadian readers, Aden camera have a killer deal on the X100S. Just $875. Compared that to a new X100T that goes for $1,499 CDN, the second generation X100 will save you a pretty big chunk of change after tax.

Come to think of it, that works out to just $665 in U.S. funds by today’s exchange rate; better than Amazon’s→ or B&H Photo’s→ prices, so U.S. readers might want to jump on it too. Just remember, you miss out on the warranty with cross-border shopping.

Artisan & Artist Silk Strap Review

Thanks to Canadian Artisan & Artist dealer Digitec Trading, I’ve spent the entire summer with two the best straps for hot, sweaty days, the Round ACAM-301, and Flat ACAM-310.

Artisan & Artist straps are quite coveted, but do come with a price tag to match their premium quality. Are they worth it? Find out in my extensive review.

Artisan & Artist ACAM-301, ACAM-310 Silk Strap Review

Fujifilm X-T1 IR (Infrared)

Fujifilm USA has announced the forthcoming availability of an Infrared (IR) version of the X-T1. I gotta say, this came out of nowhere, and is a surprising move in a way, but one need venture no further than Fuji’s other key areas of business to understand why they’d make a camera specific for “technical experts, law enforcement, medical research and scientific communities.” Fujifilm spends at least as much time blocking light rays as they do allowing us to capture them.

For $400 USD more, the X-T1 IR “adds advanced infrared technology to see light from the ultraviolet (UV), visible and infrared (IR) portions of the light spectrum (approximately 380nm – 1,000nm).”

One more body to consider in your purchase decisions come October. Hopefully this hints at the possibility of other niche cameras like perhaps a monochrome or astrophotography-specific version. Too bad Dexter is already over. Would have made for an awfully convenient product placement opportunity.