Fuji X-M1 and new lenses samples

[flysurfer]

DSCF2116 by ricopress, on Flickr

First test shot with my new old Helios 44M-4 lens. Got it for 16 pounds on eBay from the UK, plus shipping, plus a Novoflex M42 adapter that was 4 times as expensive as the lens.

 

[flysurfer]

DSCF2035 by ricopress, on Flickr

DSCF2043 by ricopress, on Flickr

DSCF2031 by ricopress, on Flickr

DSCF2103 by ricopress, on Flickr

DSCF2087 – Lightroom 5.2 by ricopress, on Flickr

 

[flysurfer]

DSCF1500 – Lightroom 5.2RC by ricopress, on Flickr

DSCF2079 – Lightroom 5.2 by ricopress, on Flickr

 

[flysurfer]

DSCF1960 by ricopress, on Flickr

Another Aperture-RAW sample.

 

[BBW]

I'm glad you've been having such great weather, Rico - and that the "new" lens has worked out so well with your X-M1!

 

[flysurfer]

I love it, 16mm is much more relevant to me than 18mm, and I am not missing the 55mm of the heavier and more expensive older kit zoom, 50mm is just as okay for me.

 

[BBW]

I know I feel the same way about the 16 vs 18, for sure...not that I have either the camera or the lens...at this point, anyway.

 

[flysurfer]

I know I feel the same way about the 16 vs 18, for sure...not that I have either the camera or the lens...at this point, anyway.

The X-A1 will be here, soon. I have a feeling that you won't resist.

 

[BBW]

Oh, Rico.... I am so indecisive! Basically, my "problem" is that I moved in May and am living in a house that is under renovation...and have been very lazy and really only using my - dare I say it - iPhone for photography and using Snapseed...but truth be told, I like it! Though the second truth be told is that it would be a helluvalot easier to see what I'm doing on an iPad, which I don't have.

Honestly, I should be happy with what I have - when I was using my X100 and X10, I believe I got great results. But let's face it, we all enjoy new forms of expression.

I look forward to your Xpert review of the X-A1!:biggrin_old:

 

[flysurfer]

But the X-A1 will look so good on you! I already know exactly which color version will be right.

 

[BBW]

Black and silver.:cool_old:

 

[flysurfer]

Black and silver.:cool_old:

I am thinking red and silver, with silver lenses. Think of the XF1 in red as a template. It looks so much nicer than the leaked blue image on Fujirumors. Unfortunately, the X-A1 won't be officially announced this week at IFA, so patience remains king.

 

[BBW]

Hmm, I've never owned a colorful camera. I'll give it some thought, Rico...but I tend towards the classic look.

Either way, it will be fun and interesting to see what this new little sibling will be all about.

 

[flysurfer]

First attempt with Photo Ninja:

DSCF1160 – Photo Ninja 1.2 by ricopress, on Flickr

 

[Armanius]

Rico, did you develop XM1 RAWs through Aperture? I just tried running it though Aperture and it says it doesn't support the XM1's files.

 

[flysurfer]

Yep, Aperture works.

 

[entropic remnants]

Just tried some stuff with the trial version of Photo Ninja from my trip to Longwood Gardens of Friday with the X-M1. Down at the pixel level Photo Ninja did MUCH better with details in the greenery, as well a few other areas, when compared with Lightroom 5.2.

Although I've been using the RAW conversion in Lightroom, I don't feel it's quite as nice as the in-camera conversions. I'll have to try some 3-way stuff doing a RAW, in-camera JPG, and conversions by the two programs with some of my material I like to print. It'll be interesting to see where each RAW conversion (including in camera) shines.

 

[flysurfer]

Photo Ninja offers better demosaicing not only for X-Trans, but also for Bayer. It easily beats the built-in JPEG engines, and it easily beats Lightroom, for both CFAs.

I spent a major part of this weekend testing Photo Ninja and exchanging notes with Jim (the brain behind PN), and I am now in the happy position to have a prerelease version of PN that supports the X-M1 and the X-A1.

Obviously, I have already redeveloped some of my shootout samples in PN, and as expected, the lacking AA filter clearly shows, there's more clarity, more detail, even the noise at ISO 6400 is more refined (I completely turned off all luminance NR for these samples).

 

[entropic remnants]

Very nice. In my shots I saw three things that were better in Photo Ninja vs. Lightroom with my "best attempts" in each (although I haven't done very many images yet)

• Very small patches of color might be washed out in Lightroom or suffer from adjacent or surround color bleed that seems to shift the color. PN is better.
• Ditto edges of changing color I see less bleed in PN.
• Certain areas of monochromatic detail (like the famous greens) did show some luminance smearing as well and those are almost non-existent in Photo Ninja.

In short, everything looks better and I'm thinking I'll be buying PN long before the trial is up, lol. For my big prints, it will be the bomb and let me have the security of RAW shooting, and the full rendering advantage of the X-Trans.

Thanks for demonstrating this -- it's going to be a great addition to my toolbox.

 

[jloden]

Interesting - I'll check out Photo Ninja with some of my shots as well. I hate to lose my all-in-one workflow with LR but if it can do better with foliage details it may be worth it at least for when I'm processing X-trans landscapes.