just a few test shots

Luke

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Location
Milwaukee, WI USA
Name
Luke
the UPS man just dropped off a new (used) X-Pro2. The light is fading so I wanted to fire off a few quick test shots before the sun goes down and still have time to walk the dogs.

I've got to say that the combo ISO/SS dial is a beautiful LOOKING design that is absolutely AWFUL to live with. I need to figure out some workaround.

The pets are fairly willing subjects most of the time....and they seem to look even more regal using the ACROS film simulation. All shot with the trusty old 35mm f1.4 wide open.

Charles is watching for squirrels (what else is new?)
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by Luke, on Flickr

Lucy looking radiant in the late afternoon gloom
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by Luke, on Flickr

Charlie's hair is rather tousled...and I love the uber-OOF twigs and branches just outside the window
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by Luke, on Flickr

And we can't leave out Oscar, the mean-eyed cat
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by Luke, on Flickr

Now I need to do some reading and get the settings just right. There's a WHOLE lot more going on in this thing than in the old X-Pro1...that's for sure.
 
Luke, very happy to help with settings'n'stuff - and welcome to the X-Pro2 club! It's a far better camera than the ol' X-Pro1. I love that second shot of Charlie, by the way ;0)
 
thanks Bill. I'm sure I can sort most of it out. The one thing that has me flummoxed though, is the ISO. On almost all of my cameras, I've been fine using Auto ISO most of the time, and really just setting it manually when final IQ (detail and lack of noise) is of the utmost importance and the low ISO won;t cause problems with capturing the subject. But now that the ISO is a more "active" component to the final look (I'm speaking here specifically about ACROS and the way it displays grain), I would like to be able to adjust ISO, but doing without that goddawful wheel. Can I assign it somewhere else? Or can I set up a custom setting or something. I don't think if I've ever bothered with Csutome settings before, so maybe I could just set up a few different ISo settings and leave everything else as it is?

How does the Lightmancer roll?
 
Very nice! I like the first one because you get a clear shot of the window. I am assuming the cat is the only one not looking out a window? Still a cute kitty (y)
 
...
How does the Lightmancer roll?

Sorry Luke, I missed this. My preference is Auto ISO set to top out at 6400. I make copious use of the exposure compensation dial and usually shoot 1/3 or 2/3 under. I also exclusively meter using spot, and use focus and recompose - no joystick nonsense for me. For Acros my settings are:

Acros R
Highlight +1
Shadow +3
Sharpness +1
NR -4

That gives the results I really like.

I think the X-Pro2 will really grow on you. It is one of those cameras that doesn't get in the way. My only gripe with it is that dioptre dial; I've set mine and taped it down!
 
Thanks Bill,
I set my auto ISO to top out at 6400 as well....and I also am using spot metering (for the first time on a regular basis).

a quick question regarding those jpeg Acros settings. When one selects positive numbers for highlights, does that mean it brightens them or attempt to "save" them? And the same for shadows...does a positive number mean it deepens the shadows or try to bring out detail. Sharpness is fairly clear. And I guess I wish I knew fully what the NR numbers do. One would assume that 0 means no noise reduction, but then would could negative integers imply.....that noise would be ADDED?

Also some clarity of the grain settings would be helpful. It seems from the little bit reading I have done that Acros adds grain (dependent on ISO settings) and I've read that the separate grain setting should be left "off" otherwise excess grain is added....is that true? Does Acros add grain regardless of the separate grain setting?
 
Good questions.

Higher numbers on highlights help to preserve detail. Higher numbers on shadows deepens them. NR 0 is NOT no noise reduction. -4 is none, and is a new setting. In the past the setting ran to -3 and you always had a small amount of NR. Now, by setting -4, you can turn it off completely (I appreciate it's a bit illogical - don't shoot the mesenger!)

Grain - now I could write a whole article on that. What Acros is doing is behaving more like film than we have seen before; it's part of the "Fuji heritage" that the people who worked on Acros film in the late 80s and early 90s when it first came to market are still on the job now. What's going on is a lot more sophisticated than just a bit of processing. Complex algorithms are applied to achieve the effect. The Acros setting has a "filminess"about it to start with; it becomes more "grainy" at higher ISO just like film. It's not a simple linear progression. I have yet to find a time when adding more grain is advisable, but I appreciate that it is a taste thing. I'd rather do such fettling on a large screen in post than in-camera.
 
Regarding your opinions about adding or removing grain I post, I agree. And a good chunk of what motivated me to sell the X-T1 and get an X-Pro2 is the Acros simulation, so I'll use it without grain....understanding that the simulation is doing something akin to what one might do in post, but doing it better.

I may shoot a couple shots in RAW and use the in-camera processing to spit out multiple iterations at different settings and then view them on a monitor to decide where my tastes lie regarding all the other jpeg parameters. I think I may be tempted to use the film simulation fairly straight ahead with the only tweak being turning the NR to -4. I think the tweaks to shadows and highlights are easy to do in post. And maybe if I start to see a tendency, I can go from there.

Thanks Bill. A few quick back and forths was much quicker than watching endless youtube videos (or trying to read the miniscule print in that manual).
 
I don't know if it will help you, Luke, but on the off chance it does...

I say this because it could help disentangle the Shutter Speed and ISO interactions from that troublesome dial. I started using Rico's suggested Shutter Speed setting a few months back and have fully moved in, married it, and knocked it up. I put the Shutter Speed dial on T, and I use the front dial under my pointer finger to roll it throughout its entire range. The basic exposure process:

1. Set WB manually.
2. Put the ISO at a setting that will allow me the range I need on shutter and aperture, and pretty much leave it there (ie, very very few interactions with the ISO dial required unless I change lighting more than 4 or 5 stops).
3. Put the aperture dial about where I want it, with an eye on what that'd do to my shutter speed. I'm leaving myself enough room here to not have to go too slow for my focal length / subject movement, so if I keep dipping down to 1/60 or 1/30, it's time to open the aperture more, unless I can't, at which point I knock the ISO up at least 3 clicks.

When combined with Preview Exposure in the EVF, this means I'm seeing about what I'll be getting, and can super easily just roll that front dial up and down by 1/3 stops to fine tunr the shutter speed. This for me has been the most "get out of the way" (hat tip to Bill) setting combo on the XT1.
 
This is the information I needed to adjust the XT20 and extra stuff to boot. That NR scale is a bit odd and the manual is pretty vague about the interpretation. The same for the highlight and shadow tone scales.
 
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