Camp Rock Performance Day

[jloden]

I've posted about this a little over at mu-43.com as well, but the past 2 weeks I volunteered several days at Liquid Church's Camp Rock event for kids. We have a week long camp at 2 of our campuses, where kids come to learn all sorts of art and media. They work on video, dance, singing, improv, singing, music, and more. I was volunteering with the photo team for part of both weeks, documenting the event and making sure all the kids got fun portraits and candids of them at camp. It was really fun but also very challenging, and I think 5 days of shooting full time has measurably improved my work

I photographed the camp events with Nikon and m4/3, but today was the performance day at our Morristown campus and I shot with my X-E1 so I thought I'd share a few shots. The kids got to show off everything they've been working on for all the parents and church members. Since I wasn't working on the photo team today these are just shot from my seat in the audience, but it gave me a fun chance to try out the 55-200mm which I only got recently.


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Camp Rock MT 2013 (Performance) by jloden, on Flickr


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Camp Rock MT 2013 (Performance) by jloden, on Flickr


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Camp Rock MT 2013 (Performance) by jloden, on Flickr


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Camp Rock MT 2013 (Performance) by jloden, on Flickr


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Camp Rock MT 2013 (Performance) by jloden, on Flickr


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Camp Rock MT 2013 (Performance) by jloden, on Flickr


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Camp Rock MT 2013 (Performance) by jloden, on Flickr


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Camp Rock MT 2013 (Performance) by jloden, on Flickr


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Camp Rock MT 2013 (Performance) by jloden, on Flickr

 

[Gary]

Pretty nice J. What's your opinion regarding the Nikon IQ versus the Fuji IQ?

 

[jloden]

Thanks Gary. The Fuji output holds up really well IMO, especially for high ISO & low light as in this example. Looking at everything ISO 3200 and under I'm very happy with the look of these files, and I'll certainly shoot to 6400 if I need to, similar to the Nikon output. Sharpness and crispness/clarity is also very good, which I attribute to the excellent Fujinon glass

The issue here was AF... the 55-200 was really, really struggling. That's not a huge surprise to me with f/4.8 at the long end, but we're talking 4-5 attempts to even achieve a focus lock. Not a big deal as I don't intend to use this lens for these types of events generally. Hopefully it does better outdoors in good light. Fortunately when it does lock, I'm really impressed with the crispness of the images. Oh, and the stabilization is excellent for such a long lens!

 

[Gary]

I have the 55-200 also ... typical Fuji glass ... which typically very very good. I too wish it was faster.

Gary

 

[xdayv]

Jay, I have to say that your shots from the Fuji stands out better than those from the GH3. Not saying the GH3 were not good, but the Fuji seems to be a touch more pleasing and nicer!

 

[jloden]

Jay, I have to say that your shots from the Fuji stands out better than those from the GH3. Not saying the GH3 were not good, but the Fuji seems to be a touch more pleasing and nicer!

I agree Dave. The conditions for these events are extreme and it's one of the cases where the larger sensor does make for a visible difference. Where there is noise, the Fuji does also seem to have a more appealing or at least less distracting pattern too.

 

[Gary]

I think the difference is more X-sensor verses Bayer. I also agree that the Fuji images looks better than the Panasonic images.