A Kiwi Retrospective

New Home For The Kiwi

2012-07-25T12:53:00.003+12:00

AkiwiRetrospective has now moved.

Find us here at:

http://akiwiretrospective.wordpress.com/

Extra Macro Lenses for the HS series.

2012-07-12T14:20:00.001+12:00

Filter Sized Macro Closeup Lens

One of the things that my HS10 had was instant zoom, which could be used at two different settings/levels. Very handy for doing macro work or even long shots.
In the HS20 this was dropped, something that really annoyed me when I discovered that.
In the HS30 its been brought back, but renamed as intelligent zoom and appears to work in a very similar manner to the HS10's instant zoom.

As most Fuji users know, these cameras are capable of some really nice macros. You can of course get the Raynox DCR-250 with a adapter ring for the Fuji 58mm lens thread from amazon at around $100.00USD if freighted.

There is however another route that the HS20 owner can take and that is to use a closeup lens filter such as these found on E-bay UK.These are the ones I bought. My daughter has just arrived back from the UK and was able to bring them with her. They cost 8.99 British pounds or roughly $16.00 NZD. There are many varieties and suppliers. A quick search on E-bay or Amazon using "Closeup Filter" in the search bar will get you to where you need to be.

I have had a very brief play with these and will do a more in-depth review in the coming days. The Borwin versions seen here are considerably more expensive and I have to wonder if they aren't one and the same and you are paying simply for the name on the product.
The closeup lenses I have show good fit and finish and come in a pouch, with individual pockets that use Velcro tabs to secure them. Included in the box was a small packet of Q-tips as well as a Pufferbrush for lens cleaning as well a good quality lens cleaning cloth. All in all pretty good value for less than $20.00 NZD.

Apology To Our Readers

2012-07-04T16:51:00.003+12:00

Maniac Spam Filter!!!

For some unknown reason a number of your comments have been dumped into the spam filter folder.
I have no idea why this is or what the cause may have been, but over the last 4 weeks the odd comments has been dumped.
Today the spam filter "coughed up" these comments that it had previously hidden.
I make it a policy to try and reply to all comments here on the blog.

All comments have now been reinstated so please don't think we/I am ignoring you.
We do get a small amount of spam and these are normally sorted by the filter, occasionally genuine comments also get swallowed up.

Cheers
Ralph

Examining The Competition.

2012-07-02T13:54:00.000+12:00

With the problems currently plaguing the Fuji X series and the general mediocre improvements with the HS30 where does that leave current or future Fuji purchasers. Is there anything out there that gives as much as you get as Fuji's HS series does for instance?
Well yes and no. It all depends on what you want or can forego if contemplating an alternative to let us say the HS30. The HS30 is by no means a bad camera, it just doesn't have a great deal to offer in the way of improvements over its predecessor the HS20. The new improvements are nice but if you are looking for a bargain then the HS20 is a definite buy.

FZ-150

OK, so where does this get us then?
The main competitors are:

P510

All of these cameras have long telephoto reach, from the Panasonic's 24X to the Nikon's 42X zoom.

All offer images stabilization and all have an electric zoom, most now sport a second zoom toggle on the lens barrel to control zooming while keeping the camera stable.

All these cameras use a 1/2.3 type sensor in various forms and all are smaller than the sensor in the HS20/30. While the difference isn't large in terms of area it most likely is when considering pixel density.

The SX40 and the FZ-150 as well as the Leica sport 12.1 MP sensors. The P510 comes in at 16.1 the same as the Fuji's, with the SP-810UZ at 14 MP and the DSC-HX200V coming in at an amazing 18.2 Mp on a 1/2.3 sensor. Based on pixel density you would expect the likes of the Canon and Panasonic cameras to be the least affected by sensor noise and the Sony would need to employ some fairly sophisticated noise reduction to give good imagery without affecting Image Quality.

SX40 HS

We already know that at 16.1 MP on a 1/2 inch sensor as in the Fuji HS20, it does indeed need to employ some fairly serious noise reduction software, and does so with some very good results. This shows that it can be done but at nearly 20MP density on such a small sensor one has to wonder where the upper limit lies for such a small piece of silicon.

Most sport a movable LCD as well as viewfinders of variable usefulness.

Sensors aside, all these cameras boast a plethora of shooting scenes, shooting modes, and video support. Some do these things well, but not necessarily perfect while others excel in some areas but lack in others.

SP810UZ

By and large image quality runs from very good to excellent depending upon the camera and the mode of shooting. All will give very good results if the time is taken to learn how to properly get the best from each of these cameras. If you arent printing above A4 sizes you wont be disappointed. Printing above these sizes will take some forethought and planning to achieve a really top result. By no means impossible, just a bit harder to do.

V-Lux 30

We now return to the original question, is there a really good alternative to the HS series from Fuji. Thats hard to qualify if you judge the cameras on image quality alone as some of them employ very different method for getting a nice crisp image.

Its probably better to check what you are giving up in terms of ergonomics and equipment. This depends of course on manufacturer differences. here are some of the things you will lose if considering other manufactures, not all of the items are lost on every camera. There are however things that the Fuji's have that none of its competitors have. These are highlighted by the red asterisk.

HX200V

Weight - the HS series has a nice small DSLR like form factor and weight with good balance and a very good grip.
Articulated LCD screen (Olympus)
Reduced LCD resolution.
Full manual control including full manual focusing ring (Ala DSLR)*
Fully manual Zoom Lens*
EXR shooting & Jpeg technology*
AA Batteries, something I find indespensible when traveling, especially lithium AA's at 1000 shots or better*(HS20 only). The Nikon's estimated amount of shots on the standard battery is appalling when matched against the others.
Std 58mm screw threaded lens, good for ND filters and polarizes.
Large number of external controls (buttons) this is unique to the HS series and the XS-1.*

I'm sure I've missed something off this list, so feel free to add yours as well. For me foregoing any of those items really isn't an option as I regularly employ all these and many other features in my HS20. Thats what makes the Fuji's such a nice camera to operate, and for those who use a DSLR as well they will quickly appreciate the amount of external controls the the Fuji applies. Theres nothing worse than having to delve through a large number of internal menus to get what you want.

The Fuji's are not without their flaws and I have said as much when necessary. It now remains to be seen as to what Fuji's direction will be for the coming year(s). I think the development of their Bridge-cam is a very smart direction to take. They are getting very close to what the more experienced camera user is wanting from these types of camera. It wont be long before the Bridge camera will rival the entry level DSLR if the manufacturers continue to develop this format, which is one that I think should be persued.

Not everyone is able to afford a DSLR but most folks are willing to stretch a bit if they can have a similar quality product that does just as well.

There is one caveat to this list and it concerns Panasonic's FZ-150 & the Leica V-Lux. They are one in the same camera, the only difference is cosmetic as the Leica version has all the Leica badging, and cost 30% more the the Panasonic/Lumix FZ-150. Heres an interesting comparison/report well worth reading.

Can Your Fuji Do This?

2012-06-25T10:57:00.001+12:00

Don't try this with your Fuji Bridge cameras, they wont thank you for it.
The Pentax K30 is now my first choice as a replacement for my HS series Fuji Camera. As its still very new to the market I will most likely wait until next year to get one. I will either buy just the body or a kit setup depending where the prices fall to.
As I already have a stable of good quality Pentax lenses on the shelf here at home, and with the Pentax wisely employing Sensor Shift Image Stabilization it means every Pentax lens ever made can be used with this and any other Pentax DSLR that sports a K series mount.

Why am I considering the Pentax over the new Fuji's?
Simple really, the last good quality camera made by Fuji in the SLR format was the HS20EXR. The HS30 seems to have a few shortcomings, nothing major , but to date it appears image quality is a little better in the HS20 than the HS30. The XS-1 and X10 while innovative have been a disaster in application, which is sad as they had the potential to be giant killers. The X100 while a nice idea was also plagued with a good many issues, some of which weren't curable with a firmware fix. If you like slow focusing retro styled rangefinder type cameras, then perhaps the X100 is for you.
This leads to the X-Pro 1, which by all accounts seems to be a really successful camera for Fuji. So why make it so expensive that virtually no one is even going to consider buying it? The Body for the X-Pro 1 plus a standard F1:4 35mm lens will set you back $3500.00NZD and while this is still considerably less than the Leica M9, You could buy two K30's or a one K30 and a bunch of extras, like Tripod flash, macro lens or an all in one 18 - 250mm zoom lens.
My point is Fuji should have been more concerned about the quality of product going to market if they wish to be long term contenders in what is a very tough marketplace at present.

The standard K30 kit with a 18-55mm lens will set you back $1600NZD. Compared to the current average XS-1 of $1200NZD. It may sound like a lot but the K30 will outperform the XS1 in every way.

If you want something a little less expensive then the Nikon D3200 is going to be a contender.At less than the average price of the Fuji XS-1, with the 18-55mm kit lens the D3200 is going to be well worth a look. While it isn't a sophisticated as the K30 it packs a lot of punch and used well again is going to outperform the XS-1 in every area.
Had the XS-1 not suffered from lens droop, less than stellar AF , softness at long focal length and the specular highlights issue, as described in D-Photo Magazines review as well as others, then Fuji just may have had a competitor that was able to foot it with the entry level DSLR's.
As it stands there is no clear indication from Fuji as to whether it will continue with the XS series camera. I hope they do and that this time they put real effort into getting it right rather than pleasing the marketing and sales departments. With the above items sorted the XS-1, next generation could well be a really good camera. The elements are there they just need to get them right.

AE Lock & Difficult Shooting.

2012-06-19T11:06:00.003+12:00

There's often times when you encounter a situation where no matter what you do you just don't seem to be able to get a well balanced shot. Either the sky overexposes or the foreground gets too dark and it doesn't seem to matter which setting you use nothing really works.
Sound familiar?
Thats where AE Lock comes into its own. The AE Lock button is the one directly below the red video button on the back of the HS20.
You find the settings in the setup menu and there are two that you need to set. The first is how you want the button to work. It can be set to toggle which means as soon as you release the button it reverts to the settings the camera chooses or you can select it to be used in an On/Off function. Just remember to switch it off when you have finished the current shot(s)
I prefer the On/Off method as it means I can recompose my image and refocus without the settings for exposure changing.

The following images show the scene in question. The camera was set in EXR Dr Mode, Auto ISO800 and Auto DR 800. The time was 8:35am, approx 35 minutes after sunrise. Conditions were frosty and the light comes from left to right. As can be seen the light at this time of the day is very low and angular and quite intense, creating heavy shadows and contrast.
The first image was taken using spot metering with -0.33 EV and centered on the middle shed roof.

The same was repeated in the second shot but average metering was selected. Why the change in metering?
While the first exposure looks good, it isn't right. The sky has suffered some burnout and the distant mountain has lost contrast and detail. The foreground shadows were a lot darker than the image suggests, in fact so dark that the black and white cows further into the shaded areas were all but invisible.

The switch to average metering didn't help either but made things a lot darker.The blue in the sky is now correct as is the color/contrast/detail of the small mountain in the background, although this too is a little darker than in reality. So we need to marry these to images together to get something a lot closer to how the scene actually looked. At this point you could try Matrix (multi) metering but all you would get is a combination of both these images without alleviating the problems.
With a little experimenting I settled on a area just by the yellow bus sign as the point for getting a good exposure, you can see the scene change in the LCD as you search for an area to use as the source of metering. Once you have a good balanced look in the LCD, adjusting the Ev as necessary, simply press the AE-l button and you will see the EL indicator come up at the bottom of the LCD showing the set exposure. Its then just a matter of recomposing and refocusing on the image and take the shot.
Note: Once AE-L is pressed you cant use any exposure control and this includes the Ev setting.

After resetting Exposure
& Setting AE-L

In the third image even after setting the AE-L there is still a little less light in the foreground.

Final Edited Version

To offset this I adjusted the foreground fill light in Post Processing to balance out the shadows closer to me. The finished image is now very much how the scene looked at the time I took this shot.
The only problem I encountered doing this was my fingers going numb from the cold. It was -3C at the time and I had taken my gloves off to better select the buttons on the camera. Gloves aren't your friend on this sort of occasion.

X10 & XS1 .. Progress Update

2012-06-19T09:43:00.002+12:00

A number of folks at Dpreview are now reporting that they have had the sensor changed in there X10's. For the most part this seems to be a positive move with the blooming issue being resolved. I have had the chance to observe a number of shots from these folk and by and large things appear to have been solved. I'm not entirely convinced that the new sensor is as crisp as the old one, but for now am willing to put this done to the differences in image display depending upon provider.

The XS1 apparently isn't considered for a overall sensor replacement, but it seems if you can prove the case (ie: send some images with the camera) they will consider the sensor exchange. It would be wise to check with your local Fuji dealer or the sales staff at Fuji headquarters for each country to check if this service is being offered for your locality. It also at this point appears that the lens droop issue isn't even being acknowledged by Fuji, even though many owners have reported this phenomenon to varying degrees.

Kim Letkemen is currently reviewing the XS1, and has reported that the lens droop appears to compromise the acuity of the lens.
You can see his full report here. Kim is a RAW shooter by preference , so if its RAW you prefer this article will definitively be of interest.

New Cameras

2012-06-10T11:11:00.000+12:00

While the problems surrounding the XS1 and the X10 continue and sadly they do, the competition is moving ahead.

Click this link for full story

Sony's new compact cameras as seen here could well spell the beginning of a new generation of high end travel compacts. Sporting a 1inch sensor, the XS1 and X10 aren't even going to feature in this race.

Sadly the same problems that have plagued the X10 in particular appear to still be there, with some users reporting that the orb problem has been reduced but has not been mitigated as well as was hoped.

The XS1 lens droop issue, which for me at least is by far its single biggest problem, doesn't seemed to have been noted or addressed by Fuji at this point in time.

It would seem on the surface at least that while Fuji is replacing the faulty X10 sensors it would still be prudent to see what if any improvements come from the next generation of these cameras.

Joining the race at this time is two new models from Samsung. Many consider this company as an also ran, due in part to a small stable of products. Samsung however has been in the high market for only a short while compared to some of the bigger competitors. I always liked the look of the NX11 as a substitute for the XS1 and at $966.00NZD for the two lens kit this would be a good buy. In size it is very close to the HS20. The only thing I found a detractor with the NX11 was its small hand-grip something I like about the Fuji cameras. With the new NX20 which builds on the NX11 platform, they have improved this and several other features to boot. Google the NX11 specs and compare it to the NX20 and you immediately note that there are some big changes, one of these is the articulating screen, something I would be very reluctant to forego when considering a new camera.

At 20.3m megapixels its not the largest APS-C sensor around, not when you consider the likes of the Nikon D800 at 36 megapixels, but that a whole camera class ahead of the Samsung. The NX20 however would give nothing away to its competitors in the same class and with a new range of lenses being announced for the NX20 its going to be a camera well worth consideration.

Coupled with this is Samsung's new NX210, sporting the same sensor as the NX20 this is a lot of camera for the dollars. But the real kicker here is the lens interchangeability. Buy the NX210 with the 20mm pancake lens and you have a high class walk about compact, that you can add other lenses to as well or a external flash.
There are others in this class, Nikon's 1 series and the Nex series from Sony are direct competitors in this class. The pricing from Samsung is very good and generally a little under the competition.

These are just some of the cameras that could easily replace any of the Fuji X series cameras and I will include the X-Pro 1 in this lineup as well. The X-Pro 1 does hold its own in the marketplace but for the money needed to use this camera effectively there are some very good alternatives at half the price. The results from Photokina this year are going to be revelation into the direction the camera makers are going. Who would have thought a couple of years ago that you could have a compact APS-C sensored camera with interchangeable lenses that gives DSLR IQ for less than $1000.00 NZD.
Somehow Fuji has to up its game if they want to stay in the race as a Ist class camera manufacturer.

Sharpness Settings ... Hard Vs Soft

2012-06-02T11:02:00.000+12:00

Full sized images can now be seen here.
I've seen some talk from time to time at Dpreview and other forums about the in camera sharpness settings, and what people seem to prefer, especially for the PP work.

I have always shot all my Fuji cams with the Sharpness setting on hard. I prefer the image from the camera in this format as it generally means less Post Processing sharpening is required. This then leads us to the conclusion that the image should no suffer unduly from noise.

So I set up a little test, one that anyone with a tripod can do, to see what if any difference there is in the image. I used HR mode to 800ISO. SN mode to 1600ISO and P mode 1600 and 3200 ISO.
These are the modes that allow you to change ISO to these levels as does manual and the PASM modes.
A couple of things to note. HR mode wont allow higher than ISO 800 to be set manually and to be honest I never shoot at anything over ISO800 if it can be avoided. SN mode allows a manual ISO setting up to 1600 and for a comparison I have added a shot at 1600ISO set to soft.
All the following images are straight from the camera other than the two that have been edited, but the original of them is also listed for comparison. The size has been changed due to the file size limit at Picasa. Anyone wanting a full sized version need only drop me a note here and I will add them to one of the galleries.

HR Mode
ISO 800
Sharpness = Hard

To start this off I have a ISO 800 HR image, shot in Hard mode. Its a pretty good image in that there isn't stupendous amounts of noise and detail is pretty good. All the images were shot using spot metering under a incandescent light bulb. WB was set to auto. Exposure compensation was set to 0.0. However Exif data shows the camera compensated to +0.33 Ev on two images. Something I wasn't aware it could do and at this point I'm not sure it did or whether ExifGui didn't report the data correctly. However this wont and didn't make for a huge difference to the images, but rather just lifted the light levels slightly. Remember we are testing for noise and sharpness.
In the above image we are concentrating on resolution/detail in areas 1 & 2. In areas 3 & 4 we are looking at noise levels. This is especially tricky in area three. The banana bowl is a very light red wine color and the color is apparent in the shadow it casts, making the difference between actual shadow color and chroma noise hard to distinguish.

Next up for comparison is our SN mode ISO 1600 image shot in soft setting. Its not bad but you may already see where the results may be heading.

SN mode
ISO 1600
Sharpness = Soft

Next up we have P mode at ISO 1600 followed by the same settings with sharpness changed to hardness. Are you seeing a trend yet?

P Mode
ISO 1600
Sharpness = soft

P mode
ISO 1600
Sharpness = Hard

Now we come to the ISO 3200 images and this is where things go change markedly.

P Mode
ISO 3200
Sharpness = Soft

P Mode
ISO 3200
Sharpness = Hard

This final set is of the ISO 3200 images both having been processed to exactly the same amount with Photoscape.

Identical amounts of sharpening were used on both images, with contrast changed to suit. Noise reduction settings were a mid level noise reduction, and that's the extent of the PP work.

P Mode
ISO 3200
Sharpness = Soft Edit version.

P Mode
ISO 3200
Sharpness = Hard Edit version

Conclusions:

So what if any conclusions can we draw from this. The most obvious of course is don't shoot over ISO 800 and you will get nice images, that don't suffer from noise or severe loss of resolution.

At ISO 1600 I could see myself printing that image as processing would help in improving it.

At ISO 3200 I wouldn't be printing anything unless I had to. How ever when viewed at web size or printed at 6 x 4 they would still look reasonable.

You will have noticed by this stage that the chroma noise is still well controlled in either sharpness mode at ISO 1600 but degrades rapidly at ISO 3200. Given the size of the sensor that's not too surprising and even then the images are still workable to some extent. No doubt heavy processing in Photoshop would help in this.

What is clearly evident in these images though is the amount of detail/resolution that is lost if the camera is set to soft sharpness. The most obvious point in the image to see this occur is the paper towel roll. It has a diagonal check pattern in the paper. In the images where soft sharpness has been used the detail in this area and the bar-code on the central orange is virtually non existent.

There is considerably more detail in the Hardness sharp images and this is the key element here.

Just as you cannot return detail to an image that has badly blown highlight areas, you cannot regain detail if it isn't recorded.

So what does this mean. In real terms most images shot at lower ISO levels wont show a great deal of difference between them. Once you increase the ISO you immediately sacrifice detail for a slightly softer/smoother looking image.

Where the sharpness set to high comes into its own thought is at lower ISO and Macro. The difference in images shot this way can be the difference between shots like this.

Shot in

EXR HR 3:2, Tone =Mid, sharpness = Hard, color = Mid

WB =Auto, ISO100. If shot with sharpness soft settings I may well have given up a small amount of resolution in this image.

Original image

Post Processed Image.

For me at least, detail and resolution are the keys to getting as much into the shot as you can. Thats why I primarily shoot in EXR HR mode, its giving the best in resolution and output from the EXR Jpeg engine before I even have to do any Post processing.
As can be seen above noise is not really a factor in these images as it remains constant no matter what mode you use.

Some may prefer shooting in EXR DR to gain a little more out of the shadow/highlights available and doing so can be very beneficial to the overall image. bear in mind though that in EXR DR you are giving up a small amount of resolution to gain the extra dynamic range so you will want to be shooting in the best light you can.

There is another technique I employ which helps overcome the Highlight/Shadow issue without leaving my preferred settings.

This will be the subject of the next article.

For now give it a go and see how much difference you note from doing a simple test like the one above.

As a footnote to the above, you might find that Setting the Sharpness to mid (Standard) is more to your taste and provides you with a best of both worlds scenario. Those that prefer to shoot in soft mode are by far the more prevalent of those considering this method when post processing. An even larger amount of HS20 owners in all likelihood haven't changed from the default (standard) settings.
As with all things photographic, its all a matter of taste and what suits your method best. But for those of use who value crisp, highly detailed images, then I suggest you give the settings for sharpness another look.

Happy Snappin'

Problems Using the new Blogspot Interface... Brazil & Others

2012-05-30T11:59:00.000+12:00

Link Problems in the new interface.
Update 2/6/2012 Images for this article can be found here

I looked into a more magazine style interface that Google now has for the blogs some time ago, but it was woeful to say the least.
As this website is mirrored by Google in several different countries, it is possible that the default for blogs in those countries is now the new interface.

In Brazil for instance, the new interface appears to be the new format and the default view is "Classic". I have just spent a fair amount of time looking at this site and it appears that not all of the links, for whatever reason actually work properly, especially those in the latest Photoscape Tutorial.

For now I recommend that those users experiencing problems of this nature would be best to use this address. akiwiretrospective.blogspot.co.nz.
This should still show as the old interface, and all the links work as I test them as soon as an article is published.

If you have any problems let me know and I will forward them to Google.

New From Pentax

2012-05-26T09:19:00.003+12:00

The K30 has now been formally announced by Pentax.
The new generation of Pentax DSLR's is certainly starting to get interest going.
As some of our readers will know, I'm a firm Pentax fan. Their ability to create high quality cameras at considerably less in some cases than their competitors has always been a draw card.
As a young aspiring photographer just starting out in the very early seventies, I well remember the photos that were published in the National Geographic and the Time magazines & later Rollingstone magazine as well.

Predominately displayed on the inside covers of magazines were the then "Big Three" from Japan. Pentax, Canon, Nikon were the Photo Journalists new tool. Compact, nimble and with plenty of additional lenses to choose from these cameras quickly became the mainstay of the Photo Journalist.And still are today with new generation DSLR's taking their place.

For young up and coming photographers, myself included we had to choose a lesser breed of camera as these exotic SLR's were more than a years pay for a student with an after school job. I was however able to get my hands on a very nice Practika L circa 1970 and second hand of course, and what a camera for a budding photographer, It took three months wages to pay for it. Solid German build and reliability, I took a good many photos with this camera, all black and white and mostly lost through various moves, however I still have a small collection of these old photos.

The new Pentax takes over from the very well regarded Pentax Kr, and sports a feature set that will even give its bigger brothers the K5 & K7 a serious run for their money.
Two features that immediately grabbed my attention were "Fully Weather Sealed & AA batteries " . Personally I think that's got to be one of the smartest moves Pentax could make in retaining this Kr feature.
That alone is going to make this the camera a must buy for travel photographers, sports and any other extreme weather/conditions environment. Couple that with a camera with the ability to use either Lithium or AA batteries and you have a winner. The only other item on the planet as accessible as Coke is the ability to buy AA batteries just about anywhere in the world. For the photojournalist that's a definite tick in the yes please box.

In terms of size the body of the camera is almost identical to the dimensions of the of the Fuji HS20/30, and apart from large lenses, coupled with an 18-55mm lens will weigh almost the same as well. An big improvement on the K30 body is the enlarged hand grip. It is now at least as big as the HS20's and that's a feature I have always liked with the Fuji.
Current US pricing suggest that the base kit camera will be around the $899.00USD and mostly likely $1300NZD which makes it very attractive to those who might have been considering the XS1 as an upgrade. As reviews come to hand I will keep you more up to date with the cameras progress.
Full information can be found here at Pentax Imaging

Pentax K30

Fuji HS20 -- Know your White Balance

2012-05-13T10:20:00.002+12:00

A while ago someone asked me how much difference there really was in the White Balance settings on the HS20.
My apologies for forgetting the name of the requester, I've been rather busy of late.
Anyway the "Super Moon" we were all treated to this month seemed like a Prime opportunity to show some of the different settings.

HS10 Image

For this exercise I shot in Black & White using Auto White Balance and Standard color with altered White Balance.
I've also included shots by way of comparison from my HS10 collection as a means to compare resolution between the two cameras. I've always had this nagging suspicion that the HS10, while an extremely slow camera has in actual fact got slightly better Image Quality.
After comparing images I think that in fact there isn't enough difference between cameras to be noticeable.

Note: When shooting bright source objects such as the Moon, especially at full zoom, always use Spot Metering. Nothing else will give you a clean shot. In the case of the Moon meter on the brightest section visible. When shooting the Moon best results can be achieved by using Black and White Film Simulation.

HS10 Image

First Up we have the HS10 images. These are followed by the HS20 images shot with Auto WB and in Black and White Mode.

Settings for the HS10 images were also B & W Film Simulation with spot metering . ISO 100,and a shutter speed of 1/250 for the full moon and ISO 100 with a shutter speed of 1/320 for the crescent moon.

The next in the series are images of the moon were taken this month. The partial Moon while a lot brighter than the crescent moon, still maintains a good amount of detail, as does the full moon after a bit of post processing. Processing of the Moon images when shot in B&W is limited to reduction of the glare by reducing the amount of Gamma, improving contrast in the grey tones and small amount of sharpen and a final increase in overall contrast.
The first image of the partial Moon was shot using Auto WB, manual settings ( not manual focus), B&W mode, 126mm, ISO 100, @ 1/160, F5.6

For the 2nd HS20 image, using Auto White Balance I switched to EXR SN mode at ISO 100. Film simulation was Astia converted to B&W. 1/280 sec @ F6.4 with EV-0.67. 126mm.

HS20 Image
Un-processed

The 3rd image shows the Moon shot in Standard color mode, EXR SN, using the "Shade" white balance setting. This has the effect of warming the image, and the color is what you would expect after the Moon had risen only a small amount above the horizon. The First image is the shot straight from the camera and the second image is after processing. You can see that while focus is good and the shot is correctly exposed there is a lot of glare in the image. This is where gamma correction plays a very big part in the processing of the image, resulting in much better detail and contrast.

HS20 Image
Processed, WB "Cloudy"

The next three images are all shot using a white balance setting of Incandescent (Tungsten), which is the setting I normally use when indoor shooting. EXR SN auto ISO 800 mode was used as well.

In all these images I left the EV setting at zero as I wanted the image to be shot using neutral settings.

The first image is taken at ISO 125 @ 1/250 sec f 5.6.

The next image is taken at ISO 160 @ 1/250 sec f 5.6.

HS20 Image
ISO 125, SN mode

So what gives? Why the change in ISO, all the other settings are the same. The difference is the metering. I'm still using spot here but in the first image I metered on the bright regions and in the second image I metered on the darker regions. This is why you need to be careful shooting like this as the camera will change the ISO which can translate into a noisy and non usable image.

The third image is the processed version of the ISO125 image. You will note how much more of the grey and darker areas come through when using "Shade" white balance.

HS20 Image
ISO 160, SN mode

My preference for Moon photography is to shoot in Black & White as the contrast between light and shade is better presented, especially as the Moon near its full phase.

HS20 Image
ISO 125, SN mode, processed.

The final image is one taken from the "Lunar World Record 2009" If you are interested in Lunar Photography or astro-photography, then this site makes for an interesting read.

Fuji HS30 .... The affordable super-zoom.

2012-05-05T10:16:00.002+12:00

As the title suggest, for the first time since the HS series from Fuji came into production a new model can actually be found at an affordable price. So we shall explore the options and see if the HS30 or HS25 is for you.

FujiFilm HS30EXR

At the time of writing this the HS30 is still proving hard to find here. There are various outlets that have it but strangely the more mainstream suppliers such as Dick Smith and Harvey Norman to name but a couple don't appear to be holding stock.
Those more mainstream online suppliers such as Photo & Video International have them stocked but at a premium price even though they say its a "Special Introductory" price.

FujiFilm HS25EXR

Smaller Fuji boutique stores such as Hamilton's Lindale Photocentre also stock them and at $849.99NZD is a little on the expensive side but at least you get good support from them.

However for those more budget minded or cash strapped can of course jump online and order one through these folk.
Expert Infotech.
You can save yourself a Bundle too by doing this.
Their current HS30 price is $579NZD and that includes GST.
Their current HS25 price is $475NZD and that represents extremely good buying. Especially as their current price for the HS20 is $488NZD and is a "special " price to boot.

FujiFilm HS20EXR

Lets now assume you are an HS10 or a F300 user for example looking to step up to a better class of camera. What to do. At $488.00 the HS20 represents pretty good value, but at a little less you have the HS25 and this is a new generation camera.

My answer is go for the HS25 as a minimum. Why?
Simple really, you get a lot of the new advances as seen in the HS30, intelligent zoom,new sensor,etc. You get the same body as the HS10/20 and the same EVF. You also get the same LCD as the HS20 and that's much better than the HS10's. This isn't a problem if you are like me, needing to wear glasses and as I wear graduated bifocals the EVF really isn't all that relevant.You don't get RAW image format and for most of us that's not a huge loss, but a few may grumble. You also don't get the improved manual zoom, but unless you are using a tripod for that type of photography that's really a non issue as well. Both also sport the improved AF & write speed times although to date I haven't heard much from users as to just how much it has improved.

You do still retain the AA batteries, and that to me is a very good thing. To date I have seen reports that the claimed 600 shots on a fully charged battery in the HS30 is accurate, however I'm a fan of rechargeable Lithium AA batteries. A set of these will give me well over a 1000 shots and I usually review most images and have my camera set to auto switch off at 5 minutes. AA batteries are like coke vending machines. Every corner store anywhere on the planet stocks coke and AA batteries. For the traveler that's a very good thing and one I'm finding I'm reluctant to give up.

For those who want an improved manual zoom, with improved body to accommodate it, much improved EVF, standard lithium battery,RAW images capability then the camera for you will be the HS30 and at $579.00 its a bargain too.
In fact there isn't too much separating all three cameras with the HS25 really being a partly updated HS20 and the HS30 having the more complete suite of tools and improvements. I had really wanted to get an XS1 but having now seen a good many images from the XS1 its a camera I will avoid this time round. Hopefully its shortcomings will be addressed in the next iteration. For now it looks like the HS30 has the goods to give the XS1 more than a run for its money and at current pricing you could buy two HS30's for around the same money.

Up until recently I had decided not to get a new camera this year and wait and see how things went with the X series camera recalls and in fairness to Fuji they have now stepped up to the plate and offer a solution for the X series owners. I have been pushing the HS20 pretty close to its limits lately and was hoping to step up to a better unit. That now looks increasingly like the HS30 is the unit I will go for even though I don't like losing the AA batteries.
There looks to be enough improvement in the sensor to warrant another HS series camera, but as its almost winter now I will most likely procure the unit towards late winter early spring. Doing so will allow sufficient time to see how the improvements go in the XS1 before I make a new purchase. For those of you who cant wait just click on the caption under the images and it will take you to the website for Expert Infotech.

Fine Tune Your Images Using Photoscape 3.6 .. PT5

2012-04-26T18:26:00.001+12:00

Part 1 .. Photoscape Intro.
Part 2 .. Selecting the image & identifying faults.
Part 3 .. Using Photscape and its interface.
Part 4 .. Image Processing

The Finishing Touches.

There isn't a lot to do now. At the moment the image still looks a little dark, but that's been the goal for us.
There is nothing to say one has to strictly follow this tutorial click for click. Far from it. It does however serve to demonstrate just what you can do, to your own tastes with Photoscape. Remembering that we have only touched on some of the many options that are available with this software.

Now back to our image. We have so far calmed the image down, introduced more clarity and warmed the image as well. The image is still a little too bright in the back ground, so we will once again head to the Bright,Color button and select the Darken slider.
You may think this is a little odd to start with but watch what happens to the background. If we had selected Darken Middle for instance from the sub menus, we would have succeeded in darkening slightly only the mid tones, thus the background would still appear too bright as a result. Choosing this option is a more holistic method as it applies to the entire image.
Note that the steps taken earlier to isolate and warm the image help in keeping the image bright where we want it, on the Bee of course. The level I have chosen is 23. You may choose less or more for your own taste or as the image may require. Remember there not set rules to doing this, its generally what looks good and is pleasing to the eye.

Final Sharpen
Next up we are going to apply another sharpen. You may wonder why this is done. All the elements that we have introduced so far have added or subtracted in various ways from the image, we therefore want to ensure the image is a crisp as possible. I have selected 7 from the sharpen sub menu, as this will use a fine radius and be a less aggressive amount of sharpening. Remember all we are doing is making sure the image is crisp. I have zoomed up the image to 70% as I'm also making sure that I am not introducing sharpening Halos around the image. This would look like a faint glow around the edge of the image components.

Selecting final sharpening amount

That done I will then select the Full screen button and view it at full size on the monitor. I use a 22inch AOC widescreen monitor, color and gray-scale calibrated, using the software that comes with the monitor. This has proved to be very accurate when I have prints done. What I see on the monitor is what I get when I print. You too should be aiming to get the same result.
The reason for viewing the image at this point in Full Screen is to check the overall look of the image and see if we are achieving the result we were after. So far things look pretty good, so we can continue.

Noise Control.
Now that we have made all most of the changes needed it time to deal with the noise. Every time we adjust the image we risk adding noise to it. The worst contributor is sharpening. This is why I advocate using the HS20 with sharpening set to hard. The in camera sharpen in the EXR modes is very good and adds little discernible noise to the image. Shooting the lowest possible ISO at the time also helps hugely.
To deal with this issue I select Noise from the Filters menu. About now you are probably going WTF? Bear with me, all will be revealed. At this point the image is pretty well noise free, so we are going to introduce some. By default the noise control is set to 128. Move the slider to zero and watch the result, we are now sure that any noise still in the image can be handled with noise reduction.

Select Noise from the Filter Menu

To do this we will select smart blur from the filter menu. In the second image you can see the automatically applied amount. This image has little noise so we use smart blur to smooth it very slightly. Unlike the noise control options, which aren't adjustable we can select the level required for the image. An analogy would be akin to a woman using a foundation under her make up. Its designed to smooth and blend. This is very effective when used for portrait work and helps with skin tones.

Setting Noise levels to zero.

Crop & Contrast
Having now applied a little noise control we will crop the image slightly and get rid of the rubbish on the left. As I don't want to enlarge the subject, I am only cropping the width. The image shows a crop area that has the height reduced. By doing this I would have enlarged the image and this is not the result I want. To maintain the image aspect I therefore select the crop in a single direction. That done there is only one task left to us, in as far as the images processing is concerned, and that is to add some contrast.

Selecting the amount to crop.
Note that the Crop tab has now been selected.
You have the option to save your crop as a separate image if you wish to.

We do so by selecting the Bright,Color sub menus and selecting Contrast Enhancement. We do this rather than the standard contrast slider adjustment, as this method is more pixel oriented. Using this method enhances the contrast between the color boundaries of the individual pixels in the image. To use the main slider for contrast, we would achieve a totally different outcome. By all means have a play with the controls, you will soon get the hang of it.
Lightroom 3 users will have a similar set of controls in the Luminace Filters panel. The option for color and detail effectively does the same as Enhanced Contrast in Photoscape, but allows more subtle control.

Selecting level of Contrast Enhancement.

When you apply this its up to you to decide what looks best. I usually like to see the image pop when applying this change. As a rule I normally set this to middle and watch the image. Its best to have the image zoomed out so that its all visible in the editor window. You will note that when this has been done it almost appears as though you have sharpened the image again, and it certainly can give that impression. There is no residual noise created with this process.

Selecting the final look.
To help give our Bee a more personal looking space we are going to use a small white vignette to encapsulate our Bee and its branch. We don't want to treat this too boldly so we will use a small amount.
Access the Vignette sub menu from the Filters menu. You will see the word Vignette above the top of a list of numbers. Click the word not the numbers as we want to select our options first. For this image we will use the two horizontal lines choice, with 40% opacity selected. Remember that little Mayfly? we don't want to lose him entirely either, hence the opacity reduction. To use a white vignette simply click in the check-box marked white and then OK the selection and its all done.

Accessing the Vignette menus

Selecting the Type & Color and opacity of the Vignette.

The only job left to do now is to name and save your image. I always choose the first option as Photoscape will put your original image in a separate folder entitled Original. Kinda original don't yah think. :) Make sure that you select 100 for image quality when saving and if you are printing, click the DPI toggle at the bottom of the page and select 300dpi as this is the normal image requirement if you are getting really large prints done from a lab.

The Save screen and options.

The Last Word
Below are three images. The first is the original that we choose to use.
The second is the final product of our work.

The third image is the same as the two above, but I have excluded the warmth changes and used a black vignette to show how the same image with very little effort can look a lot different in the final rendition.
As always these things are a matter of personal choice. We could have easily worked on the original image, leaving it bright and changed the look completely by doing so. The result of our effort here I think achieves the objectives we were aiming for, namely to calm the image, reduce background interference and personalize the Bee's environment, so as to create an effect whereby we are looking into its world. I think to a large degree this has been achieved. Give it a go. I'm happy to host the images here if you would like.
The original image is full sized, just click through to the full image and save it to your computer. Have fun.

Original Image

Tutorial Editing.

Black Vignette Option.

Fuji News...

2012-04-26T15:53:00.006+12:00

X10
Dpreview have just published a set of images showing the new improved X10 sensor at work.
From the preliminary work done so far I think there are going to be a lot of relieved X10 owners.
Find the article here http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/04/26/Fujifilm-X10-white-orb-update

HS30
There is a new firmware update now available from Fuji for the HS30. Nothing to dramatic but you may want to check it out and see if you need it.
Follow this link http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/software/firmware/s/finepix_hs30exr/index.html

Fine Tune Your Images Using Photoscape 3.6 .. PT.4

2012-04-25T18:42:00.002+12:00

Part 1 .. Photoscape Intro.
Part 2 .. Selecting the image & identifying faults.
Part 3 .. Using Photscape and its interface.
Part 5 .. The Finishing Touches

Image Processing

Sharpening

The first step is to load the image into the editor.
Once done I will normally click the auto level and auto contrast buttons. All I'm looking for here is to see if the editor can exhibit any obvious changes. It doesn't always present you with the look you want, but the beauty of doing this is that it can give you a starting guide for exposure and tone. Click undo all when finished with this view as its only a preliminary guide.
You will note that doing the above with both settings button shows a drop in the light and contrast intensity and tells us that there is plenty of room to move with this image.

The aim of our editing here will be to show the subject (bee) in a microcosm environment. To the bee its the immediate area that surrounds it that becomes it own point of focus (and ours). We also want to try and give the image more three dimensionality (depth) or 3d perception. In essence we are going to reduce the impact of its surroundings to create a more refined and private setting for the bee. Sound like a whole lot of work? It may well do but the result might just surprise you.

So here's the image loaded in the editor and set to go. After doing our little auto levels test the next thing we need to know is how much we can sharpen the image. Theres no point doing anything else unless we know that the sharpness and apparent focus can be improved.

In the image above you will note that I have selected the main sharpen button and the default settings have been applied. You can change these as you wish. Selecting the arrow toggle on the Default button will bring up a sub menu of sharpening settings as seen in the image below.

You now see a setting of 9 highlighted above. Note how the radius and amount has changed. A setting of 1 is very fine in both radius and the amount of sharpening used. I seldom use more than 10 from this sub menu as I like to keep the sharpening as fine as possible. This sub menu for sharpening is always available, just click the toggle to access it, select the required amount and the processing will take place. No further user input is required.

Setting 10 from the Sharpen sub menu.

When applying changes I usually zoom the image up to 50% to see how well the change worked. One trick I use all the time is toggle the undo/ redo buttons.
If I'm not sure how good a change was I will look at the image with the change applied, click undo to revert the image back to how it was prior to the change being applied. Don't worry if you hit Undo All, just click click redo to re apply the change(s). I find that this method while available to the user in other software packages just doesn't seem to work as intuitively as it does in Photoscape. In Lightroom for instance the undo option is quite limited although available via shortcut keys. I personally like the speed of the mouse click option.
Sharpening the image has brought out more of the detail in both the bee and flower. Clicking the button next to the percentage indicator will bring you back to the editor window. The option of instant 100% view is available via the button next to the edit window button. The third button available is the Full screen button and is a great way to check and see how the image looks full sized on the screen.

You will note that when a view size other than the native resolution of the image is selected a small box appears in the right corner of the image showing a thumbnail. Use this to move to any part of the image simply by clicking and dragging the image either onscreen or in the thumbnail view.

Color, Hue & Tone

We now want to calm down the image somewhat as its still too bright and the background too busy. One of the most powerful tools in Photoscape is the Gamma setting. Select the main Bright,Color button and adjust the gamma slider. In this case I have reduced the gamma to 0.64 ( 1.00 is default). A good many of the post processing software packages don't include the gamma setting, and most disappointingly Lightroom doesn't have this provision. It does have a "Recovery " slider but by comparison this is very limited. The image above shows my selection, and you can see the result is quite marked. Just click OK to finish. We are now beginning to see the direction of the image taking shape.

Having adjusted the gamma we now need to consider how the background should look. I am going to deepen the mid-tones of the background, however you may wish to use a lighter level in which case select deepen/low. You can see from the image above that using deepen Middle has calmed down the background. Selection for this process is from the sub menus of the Bright,Color button. We are going to takes this one step further using the same set of sub menus. This time I will select Deepen/Low (gray tone).
The effect is quite subtle but helps again to reduce the background.
When you compare the original to where we are now you can see that when have very effectively reduced the intensity and tone of the background. Doing this has begun to add that 3d look we are after. At the same time we have been able to leave the flower and the bee well lit without reducing the ambient light. This is an important factor as this is how you go about lifting the subject from the background. There are several other techniques for doing this depending upon what software you have available.
You will further notice that at this point we still have a good amount of color tone in the background but it no longer overshadows the color of the bee. By the way have you spotted the small Mayfly that's sharing the flower with the Bee?

Adding Warmth
Most likely you will have noted that the overall image has a very green tone to it. As we have concentrated on the back ground, now we need to look at the overall color tone of the image, and it needs a little warmth added to it.
As you can see from the first of the two images above, we are going to use the Color Curves sub menu. Access this via the Bright,Color sub menu toggle as previously shown.

To add warmth to this image we are going to adjust the Red channel only. To do this click the Red check box and deselect it as seen above. Click a point along the angled line and drag the point to the position you most prefer. In the image above I have selected a point approx. 60% of the way along the graph, knowing that this will introduce a reasonable amount of red to the image. The amount is controlled by how far you drag the selection spot from the center line of the graph. To deselect this or any point and start over, just right click the selection point and hey presto its gone.
I'm happy with the selection at this point, there's a little more red in the image and the violet of the flowers has been intensified a little as well, and you will note a good deal of the intense green has gone too. I should point out here that the wing of the Bee isn't focused simply because it vibrating at a very quick pace. Oh and have you spotted the Mayfly yet?

Improving Color Tone
I'm a fan of color, and Fuji color in particular. As this image was shot using Velvia we want the color to be strong and a little more punchy. To do this we will adjust the saturation curve of the image.

Select Saturation Curve from the Bright,Color sub menu. For this image I selected the curve at the mid point and slowly introduced more saturation to the overall image. You will note that the amount isn't large. It's best to use this method sparingly as it has a very powerful output. The image now has a good deal more vibrancy to the color and this is now evident in the flowers along the top of the stem exhibiting more of their natural violet color.

If you compare the original to where we are now, its evident that the image has much more impact than it did originally. The feeling on looking into the bee's world has become more prominent as well, as this was the effect we were hoping for right from the start.

In the next section I will go through the steps for finalizing this image.

Fine Tune Your Images Using Photoscape 3.6 .. PT.3

2012-04-25T15:27:00.000+12:00

Part 1 .. Photoscape Intro.
Part 2 .. Selecting the image & identifying faults.
Part 4 .. Image Processing
Part 5 .. The Finishing Touches

Using Photoscape

For those new to Photoscape I will start by giving a brief tour of the functions.
The image below is a screenshot of Photoscape 3.6 with the image we are going to be working on already loaded.
Key components are the Home/Object/Crop/Tools tabs. These supply access to all the main functions of the editor.
The second set of components are the control buttons that are accessed for fine control of the image. The names on each of these buttons needs no explanation, if you have done editing work before you will be familiar with the names. Each of these buttons has an arrow alongside it (arrow down indicators) , and this gives access to a wide variety of extra features that are commonly used. Don't worry if this seems a little alien, I will show images of each step in the process and what controls are used.

Photoscape 3.6

Selecting the main Brightness & Color controls. Note where the cursor is positioned.

Selecting the Brightness & Color controls sub menu. Again note the position of the cursor to access this sub menu.
Tip:
Of all these controls only the Filter control button has no underlying sub commands.

Fine Tune Your Images Using Photoscape 3.6 .. PT.2

2012-04-25T14:54:00.001+12:00

Part 1 .. Photoscape Intro.
Part 3 .. Using Photoscape
Part 3 .. Using Photscape and its interface.
Part 4 .. Image Processing

Part 2.. selecting the image & identifying faults.

Selecting an image for processing isn't always as easy at it seems, especially if you have a fast moving subject and you have been shooting in burst mode. If I'm using burst mode for insects I generally set the HS20 to take 4 shots at 3 frames per second. The reason for the low number of shots is to speed up the write time to the SD card. The frame rate may seem slow at only three frames per second but this allows sufficient time between frames to better show the movement of the subject. It also means that you don't take the shot and miss what could be the best frame of the day. I've shot at much faster frame rates with the HS20 only to find that the best shot was the last one and the subject has moved half way out of the frame. Slower frame rates can dramatically improve your keeper rates. As with all things experimentation is the key until you are happy with the results.

The image I have selected for our use here is the following image. Click on the image and select save target as... if you wish to try this exercise.

Some notes about this image.
This was one of four images taken in burst mode with the settings as described above.
The Exif data is attached if you are interested.
It was shot in EXR HR mode with the image size set as 3:2 medium. I don't usually shoot HR in medium file size as this yields a 7 megapixel file size. However even at this resolution the HS20 is capable of very nice images if shot well. I used average metering with the Ev set at +0.33 as I wanted a bright image thus allowing more room for changes in the processing stage. I always check the image in camera to see if there are any areas of blown highlight. If you haven't done this before with the HS20 its really easy to do. Press the image review button and scroll till you get the image you want. Then press and hold the bottom of the two AF buttons ( that's the one directly above the white balance button), this brings up the image information as well as a small preview window. If there is any over exposure in the image this will be blinking on and off. Its at this point you can decide whether to keep or discard the image. This image showed a small amount of blown highlight on the flower but the bee was well exposed so I kept this image.
However once I had the camera back home and the images on the computer it became apparent that there had been some slight movement in the shots yielding slightly blurred or soft focused images. This doesn't show all that well when reviewing images in camera with the LCD.
So we have a bright image, slightly overexposed and a little off in the focus. The question now is can we salvage anything from this and the answer is yes we can.
This is where post processing comes into its own. Imagine the image above was the only one you had after you had been on a special trip, that's true of this image. I can't go back and shoot it again, if nothing else the bee is unlikely to be there and the flowers will now have wilted. We therefore have to do the best we can.

Areas needing attention in the image below can be seen from the arrows.

The bee looks a little blurry and washed out. 1
The flowers are blown and color has been lost in the petals. 2
Areas to be cropped out as they add nothing to the image. 3
Background is busy and distracting
No real appearance of depth of field ( image appears flat).

The image does then present some problems and at first glance you could be forgiven for tossing this one straight into the trashcan. Doing so could rob you of a useful image after post processing.

Now that we have identified key areas and requirements for this image we can start to get to work in the editor.

Part 3 .. the updated Editor interface.

Fine Tune Your Images Using Photoscape 3.6

2012-04-25T13:06:00.000+12:00

Part 2 .. Selecting the image & identifying faults.
Part 3 .. Using Photoscape
Part 4 .. Image Processing
Part 5 .. The Finishing Touches

Part 1...Photoscape

This tutorial is for those that shoot Jpeg or who shoot RAW and then convert the image to Jpeg or a Tiff file.
The first part of this tutorial will cover some of the reasons why I personally use this editor as my preferred tool. Bear in mind that I don't as a rule intend to process my work into objects of art as some people do. Thats a separate talent and process in its own right. I'm more interested in taking the image that I have shot and finishing it in a way that demonstrates how I saw or envisioned the final image to be.

A note here about file types:
Photoscape can convert a number of RAW formats but sadly Fuji RAW File format isn't one of them. I use Silkypix and convert to Jpeg or Tiff and then process in Photoscape.
Make sure that you set your Silkypix settings to zero as the default import/open settings. That way you don't get the automatic settings being applied to your images in SilkyPix. I currently use the latest version of SILKYPIX Developer Studio Pro English if I'm converting RAW files.

How I want the image to look in its final rendition relates directly to how the image was shot. I always review the shots in camera to see if the result is close to what I had in mind when looking at the subject prior to taking a photo. For our purposes here I will use one of the many shots I have taken recently of insects on roadside flowers.

Photoscape Front Screen

The conditions for doing this are not always kind. Sometimes there is too much light, sometimes too little. Then there's the subjects activity to take into account as well as environmental factors such as dust and wind to contend with. I subject my Fuji HS20 to a great deal of environmental abuse, as it travels on the front seat of the truck, in very hot sunshine, lots of dust, and is often bumped and knocked in the process of getting "The Shot". Its a pretty harsh environment generally and the HS20 has never missed a beat or shown any sign of being anything other than reliable. If you were worried about Fuji's build quality with the HS series camera, don't be they will stand up to the punishment without trouble, even when you drop it as I did recently.

Now with all that in mind, why use Photoscape? Its really quite simple, for me its the best Free photo editor bar none. Its powerful and comes with a large suite of tools as well. Such as screen capture,batch editor, raw converter,image splitter ( a rather interesting tool) plus a host of other handy tools as well as a very good photo editor.
There really isn't a lot that's missing from this editor and I find that there is very little that I need to do in Lightroom 3.4 that I cant do in Photoscape. Add to this regular updates and bug fixes and you have a tool that has good support and a reasonable online help file/tutorial.

Part 2....Starting the processing

D-Photo Magazine Photo Comp.

2012-04-24T18:17:00.000+12:00

Calling all Kiwi Photog's

D-Photo Magazine is running the annual Nikon Photo Competition for non professionals so now's your chance to get in on the Action.
I have entered in four of the categories and I have to say I'm feeling a little underwhelmed ( or should that be over whelmed ) with the standard of the competition.
Checkout all the entries to date

Nikon has put up some really nice gear for the grand prize and individual sponsors of the sections are putting up a prize as well.
I sent this image in taken with my Fuji S5700 for the landscape image. Could be a winner but somehow I don't think so :)

A sign of the times.

2012-04-12T18:52:00.000+12:00

Spotted this on the road to the beach at Kawhia. First is the scene from where I was sitting, second is zoomed not cropped. HS20EXR working in Dr mode with Velvia Film simulation. What were they smoking?

You gotta wonder what the tourists make of this.
This was shot through the windscreen of the truck. Note how the tinted band in the windscreen changes the color of the sky. Velvia also helps exaggerate the color.

For the love of Velvia.

2012-04-06T23:22:00.000+12:00

Sounds like a novel right?
Well not really, I'm exploring the use of the Velvia simulation provided in the HS20 and I have to say for Autumn colors it looks to be a winner.
Some of you no doubt will have seen some of these images before but I'm always looking to get new ones.
These are all taken using EXR HR or DR depending upon lighting and at 3:2 file size. This makes for slightly quicker shot to shot times and faster write times.
The series is entitled Velvia & Vignette.
All images we Post Processed in Photoscape 3.6 and saved at full file size. Exif data can be found at my Flickr page

Light Metering With The HS20 Pt 2 .. difficult scenes

2012-04-06T11:05:00.000+12:00

Light Metering With The HS20 Pt 1 .. general scenes

EV Multi

0 EV Spot

0 EV Average

As we saw in the first section, there is a consistency about how the light meter in the HS20 works. For general scene work its easy to see that average metering gives the best overall balance and multi metering gives reasonable results. What is highlighted here is just how much difference spot metering displays. This mode is to my way of thinking most useful for telephoto work and where you need a centrally lit area to be the main focus as in some macro work. This isn't a hard and fast rule but the differences in metering can have a dramatic effect on the overall IQ of an image and how well the AF can achieve focus. Especially so when it comes to poorly lit areas.

-0.3 Ev Multi

-0.3 EV Spot

In the next series of images,of my left knee as it happens,in bright light the metering differences become even more extreme. This is a hard task for the metering to deal with as there is a large amount of highlight to overcome if we wish to see any background detail at all.

-0.3 EV Average

We start with 0.0 EV. As you can see, in the multi metered image there is a good amount of background detail but the knee and
steering wheel have badly blown highlights. In the spot metered image the correct exposure is used and highlight controlled, however almost all other detail is lost.

-0.7 Ev Multi

-0.7 Ev Spot

-0.7 Ev Average

In the average metered
image some background detail is maintain and the exposure of the knee and steering wheel shows less blown highlight. PP work with the spot image will provide the best chance of a workable image as its easier to lift shadow detail, whereas blown highlight detail is gone for good. The same conditions apply when more and more negative EV is applied. Spot metering consistently gives better highlight control, but loses the shadow detail, while average maintains some blown highlight but more shadow detail. In almost all cases multi metering supplies slightly better shadow detail but suffers from large blown highlight areas. In all cases I would be looking at PP'ing either the spot or averaged metered images as you simply cant get back the highlights from the multi images.

This is why I say to avoid the Multi Metering mode if you can as it has the propensity to continually overexpose the highlight areas in photos, and when used with the Auto modes in the HS20 this can tend to have very nasty consequences at times, not to mention its rather unreliable between similar shots as well.

Light Metering With The HS20 Pt 1 .. general scenes

2012-04-01T09:05:00.001+12:00

I've fielded a number of queries recently in regard to my advising not to use The Multi metering setting when taking a photo with the HS20.
I found early on in my use of the HS20 that the results from using "Multi (pattern) metering aren't particularly accurate. Its also one of the main reasons (but by no means the only one) for so many incorrectly exposed images when people use it in Auto or EXR Auto modes.
Essentially multi metering should provide the best of both worlds for tricky lighting conditions to give the most balanced light/shadow. Unfortunately this isn't the case, and I wish it wasn't as it would help immensely with some of the shooting conditions I find my self confronted with.
We have been most fortunate lately to have had some very nice clear Autumn weather. Big blue skies, lots of light and contrast. So while sitting in the truck contemplating nothing in particular ( I get to do a lot of that in my job), I noticed this scene and thought you might like to see the results.

I set the camera as follows:
Image Format 3:2
EXR HR @ 16mp
0.00Ev to start, and let the camera do everything else as far as shutter speed & f-Stop is concerned.
DR100% and ISO 100.
White Balance - Auto.
The part of the scene I choose for the first test series is the sign seen at left in the above image.There is a lot of differing light variables both with the sign and its surrounds.
Point of focus is the yellow chicken.

-0.33 spot metered

-0.33ev multi metered

-0.33 Averaged metered

At first glance there doesn't appear to be much in it at this point and all these images would be useful prints. There are however a few clues and when you look closely they are evident although very subtle. Checking the Histograms in Lightroom agreed with the in camera histogram s well. Correct metering is the "Averaged" setting. In the averaged image the background behind the chicken is more accurate in color, there's less highlight blowout on the white part of the sign, and the blue baling cord isn't showing as much blown highlights as the top two images.

Tip: For those new to the HS20 when you review your images in camera, press and hold the AF C-S-M button on the left of the camera body, this brings up the Histogram and other associated info for the image. One very important component of this is the highlight indicator. If a region of the image is overexposed this portion of the image will blink on and off to highlight the problem area. This is the best way of telling if your exposures are good. I use this process all the time when needing instant feedback from the images.
Now back to the above images, all the images when reviewed in camera showed over exposure of the white part of the sign, the "Averaged" image showing a small amount compared to the two other modes.
So how would it look at -0.67EV?

-0.67ev multi metered

0.67ev spot metered

-0.67ev averaged metered

Again its close and again the "Averaged" is the closest to being correct. In camera review showed slight over exposure on the white sign but nothing else. The spot setting was considerably off and the Multi image was very close to the Averaged but showed more blown highlight in the white sign and the bars of the gate still show slightly blown as well. For this test apart from the one spot metered image they are all very close and handled the scene fairly well.
You will have heard me say that when using Spot metering you need to use + EV and that when using average metering use -Ev. The images above give a fairly good indication of why I've said this in the past.
Note too that I have not processed this images they are exactly as they were shot straight from the camera.
In Part 2 we will examine a scene that has more concentrated highlight areas and see how the camera performs.

Light Metering with the HS20 .. Pt 2

Fuji's long awaited announcement...Updated

2012-03-13T20:22:00.004+13:00

Not exactly a product recall... but ...well you be the judge.
Apparently May/June we should start seeing x10's & XS1's with the new sensor.
Here's a link to the full announcement at DPreview.com

Update... 24/3/12

After watching the reaction from X10 and XS users, its fair to say there are a lot of very unhappy X10 & XS1 owners out there. There are also a lot who are happy using these cameras, and it appears build quality between batches is highly variable, with some reporting no highlight issues or focus problems, or the lens droop in the XS1.

That said, both of these cameras should never have been released onto the market. The quality control and manufacture process has been disastrous. Offering a firmware fix to the XS1 owners for a clearly defective sensor is nothing short of stupidity on Fuji's part. Its the same sensor as seen in the X10, yet they try to fob the owners off with a very poor firmware update and suggestions that one shouldn't shoot the camera under 800 ISO.

I've seldom heard anything so bloody stupid.

The saving grace in all of this may be the HS30 and the F750, which are both showing promise from initial reports from early adopters.
Here in New Zealand its price point is far too expensive as is the F750's.
With the x1-Pro coming in in excess of $3000.00 for the body & a couple of lenses there really isn't much on offer this year. Even when they do release the revised cameras (X10) with a changed sensor to the market they will be on the verge of announcing the next generation of the HS & X series cameras, so it makes little sense to buy what could still be a flawed camera when the newer ones wont be too long from coming to the market.
My advice for would be buyer of XS1's and X10's is wait until the new generation of the cameras come to market, Fuji will hopefully have redressed these design issues.

Have I lost faith in the Fuji brand. To a large degree Yes.
I was going to upgrade from the HS20 to the XS1 as a logical improvement path. Unfortunately that's not likely to happen in the near future. I have considered the HS30 as an alternative but am yet to be convinced that I will get a "Significant Gain" over the output of my HS20 to warrant changing. In essence Fuji have forced my hand in the purchase of a new camera firmly towards the DSLR market. I don't really want a DSLR camera, I want an all in one shooter, that has the versatility of the HS series with as close to DSLR image quality as I can get. That was supposed to be the XS1. Hopefully it will now be the XS2. In the meantime I will keep the HS20 and use it until something better comes along.
In the meantime Fuji would do well to revise their processes and consider the damage to their reputation. If they really want to be the third largest camera producer then they really need to step up to the plate. Near enough is no longer good enough, especially when going up against Nikon, Canon and Sony.