I had a trip to London and Italy last month and there are a few blog post that i wrote while i was there, i didn't update the blog on the fly, instead i jot down what i would write on my blog on my tablet, old school style, like a diary kind of style. I wanted to include the photos i took with my X100S on the blog. While the Fuji is smaller and lighter than big SLR, i still find it a drag to carry around, it still gives me sore shoulder. During the trip i wish i could leave my X100s in the hotel but thinking of all the photos opportunities, i just had to bring it. But that is just me. I'm too nitpicky. I love to travel really really light. I dont want to carry anything. I dont want to carry a shoulder bag which i did the whole duration of the trip. and it sores my shoulder. did i say that already? But the images of the Fuji is astonishing. Sharp and superb tonal range although there is one time when it misfocus i would love to smash it to the ground. It misfocus when the moment mattered. Nice........ that was really really frustrating. With the WCL fitted, makes it more heavier. and bulkier. I should have gone with the fixed 23mm, less bulk but i need the wide angle coverage. Bahhh!!
These are my opinions on the Fuji x100s as a travel camera but i'm too overly critical on certain things:-
- Most of the time i use aperture F8 - F14 on a bright sunny day to get the most depth of field, sharp picture front to back. No bokeh needed. and its easier for others/strangers who doesnt know to prefocus to take pictures of yourself/me so that it did not back focus/misfocus.
- Silent mode is best. Unobtrusive street/candid photography. Just let the X100s hanging on the neck and press the shutter button with the thumb while walking/moving.
- Pressing and holding Q button will activate the monitor sunlight mode, a must in bright sunny days so that you could see the LCD properly. Too bad no effect on EVF. I find the EVF to be dim in bright sunny days. but i also did not adjust the EVF brightness in the menu. To me, i find that adjusting brightness and monitor sunlight mode did not give the same brightness. its better with sunlight mode on than increasing the brightness to plus 5.
- I did not use much EVF. i mostly use the LCD for composition.
- I used high speed burst mode for candid photography.
- low light auto focus fail miserably. (smallest focus box) . That was frustrating. i keep getting the RED BOX of DEATH.
- No zoom can sometimes be limited. There are times i wish i could zoom. But i'm fine on 19mm all the time.
- I mostly shoots in JPGs. There are times when i shoot in RAW+Jpg. But 90% i stayed in JPG. I'm too lazy to get into Q menu and change to raw.
- I find the X100S gives me sore shoulder but that could be due to the sling bag that i carried too. But this is definitely better than DSLR.
- I wish i could fit the x100s in my pocket so i dont have to bring a sling bag with me.
- 5% misfocus in bright sunny day. which is annoying. Bright sunny day. Cmon.
I'm sure there are more but i forgot a few.
To summarise, i think i'm better off with a point and shoot smaller camera for travelling/personal/leisure (*i'm looking at you Sony rx100iii*). but thats just me. If it is a paid job, then of course i just need my Fujis!
For my style of photography, which are just snapshots, i better go with point and shoot for travel. i did not take time to think of composition and other photography skills. I think during my travel, time is of the essence, or time is gold, if that is the right quote, i mean there are so many places to go, to explore, i dont have time to take my time with my photography, i need to keep moving, its worst if you're in a group. Everyone else were moving and you're left behind because you were taking photos. and then you have to play catching up. Do that over and over in a day. no fun. so i just compose and take a shot and then move. But i'm too spoiled of Fuji's image quality. I'm looking at the thousand of photos i took during the trip, and the Fuji's IQ is superb! Super, super, super. I'm worried that if i finally indeed buy the Sony RX100iii, i might get disappointed with a 1inch sensor quality. But lets get real, when do i really going to print large? like really large? maybe a family portrait but the other snapshots? i dont think so. Since i like to zoom in, pixel peeping my photos, "occasionally", i might get disappointed with Sony's IQ as i have with my EM10's IQ just because i was spoiled with Fuji's great IQ. I wish Fuji can come up with a pocketable camera and still keeping with the retro design. But rumors has it that Fuji X30 is still gonna be a 2/3 sensor, why not 1inch? I dont care for XE2 EVF on it, i want a big sensor in a small camera and a decent EVF will be fine.
After the trip, i got sick of bringing my Fuji X100s anywhere but the image quality does made me think twice. To bring or not to bring?
I have a trip to Singapore coming, again, i might try and get the Sony RX100iii after all. Gadgets are like toys. Big boys toys.
UPDATE: When i first wrote this blog post, i just got back from the trip, and at that moment, i don't feel and i don't want to bring my x100s anywhere with me, but after looking at the thousand of images that i captured during the trip, i think its worth the sore shoulder. i just love the image quality, its astonishing! superb! The details in the JPG is so good. It puts a smile on my face.
No comments:
Post a Comment