SiJy 2019 Discussion

I've been trying an X-Pro 2 alongside my GF1 being used for the challenge. I bought it secondhand last year but didn't get on with it. Now I've found out about Capture One Express for Fuji and I must say that that's a change I can live with, although counter to reviews I've read my copy of the 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM lens is definitely not sharp into the corners, indeed I would conclude it to be poor on both sides. I can even live with the colour images from that camera and that's saying something.
Barrie

I have to correct the impression I left with this post concerning the sharpness of the 18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens. The problem was me, or more specifically the way that focus was set up in the camera. I'm guessing it was set to zone or wide area focus and I found that on a prime lens I was getting it to focus at different places when I was taking a series of test shots at various apertures. I couldn't understand how my depth of field seemed to alter unpredictably between steps in the aperture setting when it should have smoothly increased as I stopped down. I've now worked out how to set the thing to single focus area and my impression of the lens has now risen dramatically, however I'm on a very steep learning curve with a camera that has many fiendish set up options. Time to rest my brain for a while.

Barrie
 
I thought it would be easier after a few days, expecting that I would get used to a 21mm lens. Not so much really, forcing myself to come up with something every day seems more important, although shooting with the 21mm has indeed become easier. But framing a shot is often a royal PITA because the lens is so greedy and excluding unwanted stuff often leads to wild perspective, and that's not something I really want. The easiest shots are those of relatively flat subjects because then focal length isn't all that important :). I have been experimenting with larger apertures like wide-open at f/2.8, but that didn't bring me much: the Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21 is an awesome lens, very well useable wide-open across almost all of the frame, but getting enough foreground/background separation is only possible by getting close to the subject, and the scene has to lend itself to that. And so I tend to shoot at f/8, also because recognizeable backgrounds are essential in my pictures.

Some form of routine is developing: it costs relatively little effort to come up with pictures that I'm not embarrassed about to publish, but that equally don't excite me too much, except for Day 3. So the real challenge will be to get pictures that I'm really excited about, and I'm honestly not too sure that that'll happen anytime soon. We'll see, we're not even at 25 % underway.

My underlying theme of all the shoots has essentially remained the same for the last two years, being something like documenting every day life. Before this challenge I almost exclusively used the Loxia 2/35mm and Voigtländer 1.2/40mm and I still feel these are the most suitable focal lengths for it. Street photography with the 21mm only appears to be an option when it's really crowded, otherwise the chances of getting something interesting look slim. Changing the theme is not an option, I'm simply not interested in anything else at the moment.

It's hard work. Still 24 days to go ...
 
I thought it would be easier after a few days, expecting that I would get used to a 21mm lens. Not so much really, forcing myself to come up with something every day seems more important, although shooting with the 21mm has indeed become easier. But framing a shot is often a royal PITA because the lens is so greedy and excluding unwanted stuff often leads to wild perspective, and that's not something I really want. The easiest shots are those of relatively flat subjects because then focal length isn't all that important :). I have been experimenting with larger apertures like wide-open at f/2.8, but that didn't bring me much: the Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21 is an awesome lens, very well useable wide-open across almost all of the frame, but getting enough foreground/background separation is only possible by getting close to the subject, and the scene has to lend itself to that. And so I tend to shoot at f/8, also because recognizeable backgrounds are essential in my pictures.

Some form of routine is developing: it costs relatively little effort to come up with pictures that I'm not embarrassed about to publish, but that equally don't excite me too much, except for Day 3. So the real challenge will be to get pictures that I'm really excited about, and I'm honestly not too sure that that'll happen anytime soon. We'll see, we're not even at 25 % underway.

My underlying theme of all the shoots has essentially remained the same for the last two years, being something like documenting every day life. Before this challenge I almost exclusively used the Loxia 2/35mm and Voigtländer 1.2/40mm and I still feel these are the most suitable focal lengths for it. Street photography with the 21mm only appears to be an option when it's really crowded, otherwise the chances of getting something interesting look slim. Changing the theme is not an option, I'm simply not interested in anything else at the moment.

It's hard work. Still 24 days to go ...
What works for me is making a point of 1) going out outside of my normal routine and 2) seeing something/ somewhere during the day and mentally booking it in to shoot later in the month. This, plus spontaneous opportunities should get me through (I hope). I’m saying all this in relation to that really wide FL - snapshots of items at home won’t cut it.
 
I thought it would be easier after a few days, expecting that I would get used to a 21mm lens. Not so much really, forcing myself to come up with something every day seems more important, although shooting with the 21mm has indeed become easier. But framing a shot is often a royal PITA because the lens is so greedy and excluding unwanted stuff often leads to wild perspective, and that's not something I really want. The easiest shots are those of relatively flat subjects because then focal length isn't all that important :). I have been experimenting with larger apertures like wide-open at f/2.8, but that didn't bring me much: the Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21 is an awesome lens, very well useable wide-open across almost all of the frame, but getting enough foreground/background separation is only possible by getting close to the subject, and the scene has to lend itself to that. And so I tend to shoot at f/8, also because recognizeable backgrounds are essential in my pictures.

Some form of routine is developing: it costs relatively little effort to come up with pictures that I'm not embarrassed about to publish, but that equally don't excite me too much, except for Day 3. So the real challenge will be to get pictures that I'm really excited about, and I'm honestly not too sure that that'll happen anytime soon. We'll see, we're not even at 25 % underway.

My underlying theme of all the shoots has essentially remained the same for the last two years, being something like documenting every day life. Before this challenge I almost exclusively used the Loxia 2/35mm and Voigtländer 1.2/40mm and I still feel these are the most suitable focal lengths for it. Street photography with the 21mm only appears to be an option when it's really crowded, otherwise the chances of getting something interesting look slim. Changing the theme is not an option, I'm simply not interested in anything else at the moment.

It's hard work. Still 24 days to go ...
That's why it falls into the category of "specialty lens", it's just not how we usually see things. I know many people want to get used to their least used gear for a challenge, but if it were me I'd try to crop the 21mm in post if that makes a better images.
 
I really would like at least a tilt screen on the XE3. If you noticed my “street turtle” pics today, the camera was sitting the ground and I was on all fours. Fortunately, it wasn’t a busy street.
If it had a tilt screen I might even sell my X70.

It's also the one thing that makes me consider trading it for a Pen F. But phase AF still wins that feature balance (articulated + IBIS vs phase AF + controls + better high ISO, if the screen were a tilt and not articulated it would be closer).
 
I think this SIJ has been good to help get my thoughts on attempting to create meaningful compositions within a deliberately confined context and space. I skipped SIJ '18, even though it was held during my favorite season of the year. I was going through a period of intense indifference to photography, and had even entertained the notion of selling my photo gear. I don't think I even took any of my usual Autumn road trips. It was during the construction of my first ukulele that I was inspired by the creative process, sometimes finding myself down in the workshop at 0400 local time. I really cherish those silent, contemplative early morning hours.
 
I thought it would be easier after a few days, expecting that I would get used to a 21mm lens. Not so much really, forcing myself to come up with something every day seems more important, although shooting with the 21mm has indeed become easier. But framing a shot is often a royal PITA because the lens is so greedy and excluding unwanted stuff often leads to wild perspective, and that's not something I really want. The easiest shots are those of relatively flat subjects because then focal length isn't all that important :). I have been experimenting with larger apertures like wide-open at f/2.8, but that didn't bring me much: the Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21 is an awesome lens, very well useable wide-open across almost all of the frame, but getting enough foreground/background separation is only possible by getting close to the subject, and the scene has to lend itself to that. And so I tend to shoot at f/8, also because recognizeable backgrounds are essential in my pictures.

Some form of routine is developing: it costs relatively little effort to come up with pictures that I'm not embarrassed about to publish, but that equally don't excite me too much, except for Day 3. So the real challenge will be to get pictures that I'm really excited about, and I'm honestly not too sure that that'll happen anytime soon. We'll see, we're not even at 25 % underway.

My underlying theme of all the shoots has essentially remained the same for the last two years, being something like documenting every day life. Before this challenge I almost exclusively used the Loxia 2/35mm and Voigtländer 1.2/40mm and I still feel these are the most suitable focal lengths for it. Street photography with the 21mm only appears to be an option when it's really crowded, otherwise the chances of getting something interesting look slim. Changing the theme is not an option, I'm simply not interested in anything else at the moment.

It's hard work. Still 24 days to go ...
I always expect to crop when I am shooting that wide. In fact, I find myself cropping in my head before I press the shutter. It sounds like you are trying to limit your cropping, You have my utmost respect, I won't even TRY that.
 
I always expect to crop when I am shooting that wide. In fact, I find myself cropping in my head before I press the shutter. It sounds like you are trying to limit your cropping, You have my utmost respect, I won't even TRY that.
Yes, I try to avoid heavy cropping. I will crop, mostly to straighten verticals and get rid of small details at the sides, but the challenge would defeat its purpose for me if I would crop with a 21mm to ultimately arrive at the framing I would have done with e.g. a 35mm; in that case I might as well switch lenses. I'm starting to feel that the 21mm lens is just not the right choice for the things I do these days; I almost always come home with something I'm not embarrassed to show here but I'm not so sure if I want to keep making those kind of photos.
 
Just a little note: I tried shooting with the cheapo Canon IXUS 132 today. After reviewing the shots, using that camera again is a resounding no-no. I remembered better results - but they can't have been taken with the wide end of the lens, and I'm not in the mood to search for a sweet spot that's most probably not even there; light was very good today, too. I'll let it rest until I feel like taking some crappy shots. So it's the M10 or nothing until I get back home. That said, not to worry - I haven't needed the backup yet, and I doubt it will become necessary.

M.
 
9 days gone and with exception of two days managed to give some time for photography, also.

What I’ve learned of Leica Q is that it requires shooting RAW, or at least I can’t master the jpegs with it. (Compared to Fuji X-T1 and X100S, which we’re dead easy to shoot with jpeg and I dumped raws fully.) Luckily developing raws only needs two clicks most of the time in Lightroom. Auto Tone, and small adjustments, and sometimes Auto Transform. I can live with that :D

This way the colors really pop and at least I'm happy with the results. And the Q resolution is enough for quite heavy cropping, when needed. For social media at least.

Am I growing a bond with the Leica Q? Honestly, not sure. I might still end up to sell it and keep the X100S, which I luckily haven't sold yet, Leica M8 and Nikon Df. Let's see.
 
9 days gone and with exception of two days managed to give some time for photography, also.

What I’ve learned of Leica Q is that it requires shooting RAW, or at least I can’t master the jpegs with it. (Compared to Fuji X-T1 and X100S, which we’re dead easy to shoot with jpeg and I dumped raws fully.) Luckily developing raws only needs two clicks most of the time in Lightroom. Auto Tone, and small adjustments, and sometimes Auto Transform. I can live with that :D

This way the colors really pop and at least I'm happy with the results. And the Q resolution is enough for quite heavy cropping, when needed. For social media at least.

Am I growing a bond with the Leica Q? Honestly, not sure. I might still end up to sell it and keep the X100S, which I luckily haven't sold yet, Leica M8 and Nikon Df. Let's see.
So the Leica JPG isn't good? Or is the Leica Q actually a Panasonic under the hood?
 
What I’ve read Leica has never put so much effort to jpeg engines. I’ve seen examples of good sooc jpegs also from Leica Q. But it isn’t easy for me to adapt the required settings. And because raw developing is easy, it’s better to work with those.

I wouldn’t do the fast conclusion of the said connection between two brands Leica and Panasonic. It’s on the other way round. Panasonic is utilising their production capabilities to produce Leica design on some of their products.
 
I shot an X-E3 with a few fuji lenses for a whole year in 2018 before switched to Canon, and C1E for Fuji is a good option for free, but if you're serious with the Fuji, buy the Iridient X-Transformer and it makes a real difference IMO, the software developer is also very friendly answering questions about how you can set the options to get the best results.

For me the Fuji was nice, but not without flaws. My main complaint is with flash metering, Panasonic has issues with external flash auto ISO and that was what I discovered during 6 years shooting m43 before switching to Fuji, after those experiences Canon became an obvious choice.

Innovations are fast these days, but unfortunately they leave important things behind.
I never think about flash. The only ones I have are the tiny ones that come with the OMDs.
 
Well, missed day 9. Wasn't feeling well, so didn't go out, and couldn't think of anything interesting to shoot inside the apartment. Depending on how my issues continue to present, there may be a lot more inside stuff than outside for the rest of the month.
 
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