flysurfer
Hall of Famer
Nobody seems to like the X-S1. It's widely ignored, it was initially plagued by issues ("orbs", "blue dot", "zoom creep"), it certainly doesn't look retro or stylish. And yet, the X-S1 is a very good superzoom bridge camera (arguably still the best superzoom bridge camera that currently exists). However, sales pretty much suck, so those rumors about an X-S2 are probably just wishful thinking. That's too bad, because all this reminds me of the now legendary S100fs, another Fujifilm bridge camera with a 2/3" sensor. When it hit the market, people bashed it due to its chromatic aberrations instead of applauding it for its amazing image quality, clarity and sharpness. I still have a working copy of this camera sitting on my shelf, and I have no intention of parting from it.
Here's the thing: Once the S100fs was discontinued and replaced by the smaller sensor S200EXR and eventually the HS series, people started to appreciate the S100fs for what it really was. I have a sour feeling that history will repeat itself with the X-S1.
Now, I admit that I underappreciate the X-S1 (as in underusing it) myself. I am using the full line of X series cameras (yeah, lucky me), and there's always new stuff being announced or released for the X-Mount system, not to mention frequent firmware updates. So basically, there's always something else to try out or shoot with.
When I was "commissioned" to shoot yesterday's birthday party of two kids at our stable, I happily chose the X-S1. The results would only be shown on the web, on Facebook and in flyers, so there was no need for maximum resolution. On the other hand, the flexibility of the superzoom lens would allow me to keep a safe distance and interfere as little as possible. You don't want to spoil the fun for kids, it's their party after all.
I put the camera on 6 MP mode, Auto-ISO 1600 and Auto-DR and set the OIS to mode 1 with movement detection on. That way, the camera would rather up the ISOs instead of producing shots with motion blur (a common issue with snapshots of celebrating kids, they tend to move). Of course, the motion detection isn't perfect, so sometimes the camera would unnecessarily up the ISO, in other cases it wouldn't even though there was some motion. If you want to avoid this and want more consistent results, I recommend setting the Auto-ISO to 400 (or 800).
With the EXR sensor, dynamic range isn't much of an issue:
You can shoot in the shadow of a tent and still see what's outside in the bright sun. By the way, I processed everything with Lightroom 4.4. Adobe has improved EXR sensor support in the past year. For EXR cameras, Lightroom would always be my converter of choice. Forget everything else, including Silkypix 5 or Raw File Converter EX, which is included with the camera.
2/3" is a small sensor, but you can still set object separation and bokeh if you carefully choose and place your subjects:
Here's are a few examples showing the camera's decent dynamic range:
When it comes to shooting people (especially women and kids), I like to go the high-key route with glowing skin tones. This one was shot shot with ISO 1600:
Here's another one at ISO 1600. At open aperture (f/4.5), the camera could still just use 1/160s, so there's still some motion blur.
A rich high-key exposure automatically leads to high-ISOs and/or motion blur. You can't have it all.
Here's the thing: Once the S100fs was discontinued and replaced by the smaller sensor S200EXR and eventually the HS series, people started to appreciate the S100fs for what it really was. I have a sour feeling that history will repeat itself with the X-S1.
Now, I admit that I underappreciate the X-S1 (as in underusing it) myself. I am using the full line of X series cameras (yeah, lucky me), and there's always new stuff being announced or released for the X-Mount system, not to mention frequent firmware updates. So basically, there's always something else to try out or shoot with.
When I was "commissioned" to shoot yesterday's birthday party of two kids at our stable, I happily chose the X-S1. The results would only be shown on the web, on Facebook and in flyers, so there was no need for maximum resolution. On the other hand, the flexibility of the superzoom lens would allow me to keep a safe distance and interfere as little as possible. You don't want to spoil the fun for kids, it's their party after all.
I put the camera on 6 MP mode, Auto-ISO 1600 and Auto-DR and set the OIS to mode 1 with movement detection on. That way, the camera would rather up the ISOs instead of producing shots with motion blur (a common issue with snapshots of celebrating kids, they tend to move). Of course, the motion detection isn't perfect, so sometimes the camera would unnecessarily up the ISO, in other cases it wouldn't even though there was some motion. If you want to avoid this and want more consistent results, I recommend setting the Auto-ISO to 400 (or 800).
With the EXR sensor, dynamic range isn't much of an issue:
You can shoot in the shadow of a tent and still see what's outside in the bright sun. By the way, I processed everything with Lightroom 4.4. Adobe has improved EXR sensor support in the past year. For EXR cameras, Lightroom would always be my converter of choice. Forget everything else, including Silkypix 5 or Raw File Converter EX, which is included with the camera.
2/3" is a small sensor, but you can still set object separation and bokeh if you carefully choose and place your subjects:
Here's are a few examples showing the camera's decent dynamic range:
When it comes to shooting people (especially women and kids), I like to go the high-key route with glowing skin tones. This one was shot shot with ISO 1600:
Here's another one at ISO 1600. At open aperture (f/4.5), the camera could still just use 1/160s, so there's still some motion blur.
A rich high-key exposure automatically leads to high-ISOs and/or motion blur. You can't have it all.