Rainy day in New York with the Sony RX100

It's always nice to have the little Sony RX100 tucked in a pocket. I never know when I'm going to need it. Took these shots with it on my way back from running an errand. I mostly shoot with the RX100 set to square format, which is why I've begun referring to it as my little Hasselblad.

Some thoughts on the new Fuji X Mount lens roadmap

A little while ago I wrote a blog column speculating about future development of accessories that could jump the Fuji X camera series up a notch with a fuller range of lenses having characteristics that many pros require. Most specifically I was referring to medium and long zooms with fast apertures of at least f/2.8, and some extra long and fast telephotos. I am not sure if someone from Fuji read that column (doubtful), or if I was reading the minds of the planners at Fujifilm (just as doubtful), but the new lens roadmap for the X series cameras contains all the lenses I suggested.

Of course, making a speculation like this is not rocket science. If we look at any pro lineup of lenses, it is bound to include just these types, and with good reason. Where we don't find such a lineup is for the smaller APS-C sensor cameras. Another recent post of mine mentioned Sigma as addressing this exact issue with its new Art series zooms, the super fast f/1.8 18-35mm, and the 50-150mm f/2.8 long zoom, both very high quality lenses intended specifically for APS-C sensors. What all this does show is that the APS-C sensor size has reached a maturity level where pros are beginning to accept it for mainline work.

Amen to that.

New Fujifilm X mount lens roadmap:

The two most important new lens announcements from Fuji are the mid-range XF16-55mm f/2.8 zoom (24-83mm equivalent), the XF50-140mm f/2.8 long tele zoom (75-210mm equivalent), a fast long super telephoto yet to be revealed, and a fast aperture wide angle. Also introduced is an all-around zoom, the variable aperture XF18-135mm f/3.5-6.7 (27-203mm equivalent). 

This extension to the Fuji optical lineup coupled with recent and continuing X camera improvements reinforce Fujifilm's commitment to the X camera system, and goes a step further in establishing the APS-C sensor, mirrorless cameras as a workable pro genre -- something most current X camera enthusiasts already knew.

A camera system is only as good as its lens support base. As Fuji X owners have come to realize, much of the appeal of the X system is that the manufacturer listens to its users and makes course corrections to accommodate them. This new optical lineup shows them doing it again.  I, for one, want to say thanks. 

Empire State Building at dusk with the Sony A7r and Leica lens

Last night I added some photos to a platinum series I am doing on various subjects. These were taken of the Empire State Building at dusk seen through the branches of winter trees. All were photographed with a 50mm Leitz Summilux mounted on the Sony A7r except for the closest view, which was done with the Leitz 135mm APO-Telyt-M.

An unfair comparison? -- the Fuji X-E2 vs the Sony A7r

On the face of it, the idea of comparing the results from a smaller APS-C 16mp sensor to those from a larger full frame 36mp sensor is a completely lopsided affair, and something I did not intentionally set out to do it. Quite by accident, while testing the Sony A7r for another blog review I intend to post later this week, I discovered that some images taken by the lower 24mp Leica M 240 were really quite close in quality to the A7r, and this started me wondering about how much of an improvement a high resolution camera like the A7r would be over something like the Fuji X series. So, just for the fun of it, I set up a comparative situation to see how close I could come to the full frame image quality of the Sony A7r while using the smaller sensor of the Fuji X-E2..

I chose a situation where I could use a reasonably high ISO -- in this case I settled on 1600, although I did the test in a range from 800-6400.  The real problem with comparing two unequal sensor sizes is that the final images are not the same size, but what I wanted to find out was how the images would compare if they were the same size.  This meant I had to either up-res the Fuji image to 36mp or down-res the A7r to 16mp.  I chose to go the high route and make both images 36mp.

My preferred method to up-res an image is to do it in Adobe Bridge where I can utilize the full 16-bit RAW file information in the process. Comparing the two images showed what I expected, namely, that the image from the A7r would naturally show a higher resolution than the one from the X-E2. What surprised me was that it did not show a significant difference in noise between the two at the 1600 ISO.  So my next thought was: Could I perform a gentle massage to the Fuji X-E2 file that would bring it closer to the image quality of the A7r file? For this I went back to Bridge.

This is the naturally room lit scene setup for the test images. It was photographed with both cameras set to ISO 1600 and f/5.6. You can download the Sony A7r file and the up-res 36mp version of the Fuji X-E2 file with the links below.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL RES FILE FROM THE SONY A7R 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE WORKED ON, FULL RES FILE FROM THE FUJI X-E2 

In Bridge on the X-E2 RAW file I gently adjusted the sharpening and detail tools until I had a reasonable facsimile to the A7r image. Adding the sharpness, small as it was, increased the contrast and started to lose some of the highlight detail. To fix this I lowered both the highlights and the contrast until it looked right.

For the X-E2 RAW image I set the Resize to fit option to 36.2MP in the "Workflow Options" area of Adobe Bridge. This produced an up-ressed version of the Fuji 16mp file to equal the size of the A7r file.

Sharpening sliders in Adobe Bridge were set to 55 for Amount, and 50 for Detail. Luminance Noise set to 16, and Luminance Detail at 50. 

One difference between the two cameras was their lenses. For the Sony I used the Sony 28-70mm  zoom. This is not a very good lens and contributed some softness to the image. Nonetheless, it is the only native Sony lens available for this camera with a proper focal length for this test. On the Fuji X-E2 I used an equivalent 18-55mm zoom, which is far superior optically to the Sony lens.

Both cameras were on a tripod. For the Fuji I used a standard, screw-in cable release. For the Sony I used a 10 second delay timer because the camera only accepts a proprietary release that I didn't have.

Conclusion:

The purpose of this exercise for me was to see if I could approach a 36mp, full frame image quality of a superb camera sensor like that in the Sony A7r using a Fuji X camera and applying some moderate post-processing techniques. I actually surprised myself with the results. I did not go into this experiment expecting to come as close as I did to equaling out the two images.

There is an old adage that says: "It isn't the camera; it's the photographer."  What I think this experiment illustrates is that proper camera technique and good use of post-processing are as important as the camera itself in producing top notch results.

I also found the X-E2 a far easier camera to use. The Sony A7r has an annoying two-step process for changing the focus point, something that Fuji thankfully corrected with firmware awhile ago. The Fuji menus in general are easier to navigate, and niceties like the good old standard screw-in cable release socket make a photographers job that much easier.

The point of this exercise was not to see if one camera was better than another. Instead, I wanted to see if the Fuji X-E2 with its handicap of smaller sensor and lower megapixels could approach the level of a top full frame model. You can judge the results for yourself by downloading the images above. As far as I am concerned, the Fuji X-E2 came through like a champ.

Winter birds with the Sony A7r with 135mm Leica APO-Telyt lens

The temperature was 10° when I left the house early this morning to run some tests on the Sony A7r camera with Leica lenses. A light snow was still falling and I headed over to Union Square Park. There I found numerous birds in the low trees searching for food. Their feathers were all puffed up to keep them warm. It also made them look like feather balls with a small heads. They were perched on branches deep within the smaller trees, but the white snow and sky helped to outline them.

I had the Leica 135mm APO-Teleyt-M mounted on the Sony A7r via a Metabones adapter.  The maximum aperture of the APO-Telyt-M is f/3.4, which I selected to give me the shallowest depth of field that would isolate the birds sharply against the out-of-focus tree branches. With the Leica lens this is a manual focus situation, of course, and I relied on the focus peaking feature of the A7r to outline the birds in red when they snapped into focus.

Here are a few samples, all shot manual focus with a wide open lens:

A House Sparrow, one of the more common birds in the city.

A White-Throated Sparrow looking like a little fur ball. 

I actually like the shots best when there are a lot of branches so the bird blends into them, as this puffed-up White-Throated Sparrow did, even with his color.

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 zoom for Nikon APS-C - hands on review

Finally a lens manufacturer is addressing an important category of optics for the APS-C sensor cameras, namely, the high speed aperture standard zoom. The new Sigma 18-35mm DC HSM lens does just that. It has a conservative equivalent focal length spread of 27-53mm full frame equivalent, which is not impressive in it own right. However, when couple with an extremely fast f/1.8 fixed aperture it covers a zoom area that even full-frame camera owners would envy, and makes it the fastest zoom in the world.

The Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 fixed aperture zoom is a perfect fit for a Nikon D7100, D5300, or D3300 camera. 

This lens is another model brought out in Sigma's new "Art" series of high quality, professional lenses. For what it delivers -- and its DxO score is the highest of any Nikon APS-C zoom lens out there --  it is quite reasonably priced at $799.  Of course the dues you pay for most high speed aperture zooms, and particularly those with built-in auto-focus is that they are large and heavy. This one weighs in at 1.78lb (811gm), is 4.76" long with a diameter of 3.07 (78mm), and takes 72mm filters -- not excessively bulky by pro standards, but definitely feeling large on a smaller DX camera.  When we take into account that f/1.8 is ground-breaking aperture technology for any lens in this category, things don't seem so bad. After all, I would have to carry around at least three prime, fast-aperture lenses just to cover the range of this one zoom.  Not so bad when I look at it that way.

For such a relatively short focal length range of 18-50mm (27-75mm equivalent), this lens cuts a large figure when mounted on the smaller D5300 DX Nikon camera.

While the super fast f/1.8 aperture of this zoom is impressive enough in its own rite, the performance factor of its optics is what really clinches the deal. Suffice it to say I don't think I have ever seen any other lens that can top it within this zoom category on a DX camera such as the Nikon D7100, D5300, or D3200. The Sigma 18-35mm even out-classes many of the top prime lenses. If you were to pair this lens with Sigma's new 50-150mm f/2.8 and toss in a super-wide to complete the package, you'd have a fully equipped, pro quality assortment of lenses for a DX outfit --  pretty much a perfect combo for a D7100.

What you do not get for your $799 lens is a weather-proof body -- not a deal breaker if you like the price and don't shoot in demanding conditions. A weather resistant Nikkor zoom, like the 24-70mm f/2.8, will cost more than twice as much.

This lens is also compatible with Sigma's new USB lens docking station. This accessory allows you to access the lens AF and focusing firmware through Sigma's Optimizaiton Pro software, and make micro adjustments that customize it to your specific camera.

The lens can focus down to 11" for a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:4.3.

The f/1.8 maximum aperture makes this Sigma zoom the fastest in the world. Combined with its decent close focus range it delivers excellent bokeh results in out of focus areas, a feature that should also be of interest to anyone wanting it for video use.

Click here to download the high res version of this file

This photo was taken at the widest focal length setting of 18mm and aperture of f/8.  Click here to download a high res version of this file.

This photo was taken at the longest focal length setting of 35mm and aperture of f/6.3.  Click here to download a high res version of this file.

 Conclusion:

Someone needed to address the issue of supplying lenses with pro characteristics for the APS-C sensor format, and Sigma was first out of the gate with an impressive beginning. As APS-C sensors continue to improve, its camera format should begin to usurp many of the tasks now assigned to full frame machines, but this can only happen if pro quality lens support is available. Sigma's 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM is not only an impressive performer in this category, it sets a benchmark that is going to be hard to beat, even by some top prime lenses.

If you are planning on purchasing this lens, you can help support this site at no extra cost to you by purchasing from one of our affiliate sellers listed below -- and thanks for your support.

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Lens for Nikon can be ordered from:  BH-Photo   Amazon   

Starting the New Year with my Fuji X-E2

I like starting off the new year with an early morning walk camera in hand to see what compositional gems I might find in the residue from the previous night's festivities. This year my camera choice was a no-brainer. It was the same camera I have been grabbing for all such occasions where I want the freedom of a small and light system coupled with the versatility of a wide assortment of focal lengths and excellent optics. That boiled down to a Fuji X-E2 and two zooms, the 18-55mm and 55-200mm -- easy enough to stick one on the camera and the other in a jacket pocket.

So off I went and gathered the following images within only a few blocks of where I live in Manhattan. I especially like it when the subject tells a story or conveys a double entendre.  Here are a few of this morning's examples:

A New York sidewalk version of the Milky Way. Someone left a trail of stars behind them as they went down the street.

Maybe some of the revelers should have paid attention to the warning sign before going out last night.

I always find some clothing left behind. Last year I found a pair of shoes. This year I found this purple jacket, a shirt, and numerous gloves with no mates.

I liked the way this had was just tossed in as an after thought with the wrapped up garbage.

This photo and the one below tell the story of a fairy princess and a prince who met at the ball.

Puttin' on my top hat... .

I loved the way the many colors balanced each other out in this spontaneous scene.

Anybody missing their balloons?

I liked the way the warm, early morning colors in this scene convey its story.

This little guy doesn't quite fit the theme, but he allowed me to put the 18-55mm zoom right in his face without any concern. After what he probably witnessed on New Year's Eve, he is ready to face up to anything. Gotta love the way the X-E2 allows you to put a pinpoint focus right on the eye, even with a wide open aperture.  Looking forward to what Fuji has to offer in the way of its new high speed f/2.8 zooms for 2014.