X-Pro2

The Digital Contact Sheet :: Episode 8

X100F 23mm f2 - 1/150, f2, ISO 200

This Digital Contact Sheet and the next one will be from the same documentary shoot, but with very different pictures. The theme is life-changing surgery and it’s from a project back in 2019. I won’t rehash the details of the story here but you can read all about it by clicking HERE

ContactSheetInfo8.jpg

I tend to shoot with two (sometimes three) cameras for documentary work. For this shoot, I had the Fujifilm X100F and the X-Pro2. The X100F has a fixed 23/2 lens and I was using a 35/2 and 50/2 on the X-Pro2. With the 1.5x crop of the APS-C Fuji’s, that was giving me a 35mm, 50mm, and 75mm. I also had the WCL-X100 for the X100F in my bag, which would give me a 28/2, but I didn’t use that till the next day. These f2 lenses are not the fastest, but as I would be shooting in a hospital, I knew that it wouldn’t be too dark and nothing would be moving that fast.

As you can see from the digital contact sheet, I was trying to get wide shots, mid shots and close-up shots to tell the story. At one point I was drawn to Mai’s bag. Other than a holiday, when does someone take a bag with a change of clothes etc to cover the unknown? Although she was with her husband, it was obvious that she was very alone and scared; this was a journey that only she would be making.

[My X100F file numbers might look as though it was brand new, but it had actually been round the clock.]

I shot frame 100F0016 and the frame after with lots of headroom; I wanted to have Mai small in the frame as I imagined that’s how she must have been feeling. This is my favourite shot of this sequence as I think it conveys exactly what I was trying to achieve. It also has all sorts of leading lines that pull the eye toward the subjects.

Frame XPR20937 (below) is pretty much the same shot using the X-Pro2 with the 50/2 lens for a close-up, but it’s not as visually compelling as the wide shot, although still a get storytelling shot.

X-Pro2 & 50mm f2 - 1/125, f2, ISO 250

Frame XPR20937 (above) is pretty much the same shot using the X-Pro2 with the 50/2 lens for a close-up, but it’s not as visually compelling as the wide shot, although still a good storytelling shot. The 50/2 lens is such a terrific little lens that gets very little attention in my opinion. Although not as dreamy as my 56.1.2, the 50/2 is the lens that I carry with me pretty much all the time.

X100F 23mm f2 - 1/125, f2, ISO 250

100F0020 (above) is also a favourite from this set. Again, it shows the loneliness and fear; possibly more so because Mai is sitting by herself with an empty chair on either side.

The next Digital Contact Sheet will be based on the following day, post-op, and more dramatic; where fear is swapped for pain and discomfort.

Kage Collective : The Wind Of Change

After an unintentional break this year, we have returned to the monthly magazine format at Kage Collective. I think by the end of last year and having produced each month to a deadline, we just wanted to go at it differently. But the last few months of not producing much has proved to us that deadlines work, like or loath them.

We've also had a change in lineup to. Flemming and Charlene have both moved on to do other things and we wish them both well on their global travels. But we are super happy to introduce our new member Ronas Rask. Jonas is not only an official Fujifilm X-Photographer, but he actually does all those amazing product shots for the brand. Kage will be an ideal place to show of his documentary side. So now we are 7. Patrick La Roque (Canada), Robert Catto (Australia), Bert Stephani (Belgium), Vincent Baldensberger (France), Kevin Mullins (UK), Jonas Rask (Denmark) and myself have new essays on our latest issue (13).

It took me a while to get back into that deadline mentality, but I finally decided to shoot the second part of my elements with a Lensbaby series. I shot this essay on the X-Pro2 with the Lensbaby Composer Pro and Edge 80 optic. The pictures and the text took a darker turn though when the news of the Manchester terrorist attack surfaced the morning of the shoot, which game me the title of The Gentle Breeze Of The Blast .

As it's the centennial of JFK's birth, I decided to write a review of My Kennedy Years - A Memoir by JFK's photographer Jacques Lowe. A terrific book if you're a fan of the long term documentary project, which this was the mother of them all.

Great New Firmware From Fujifilm, But The X-Pro2 Ain't Feelin' The Love

Fujifilm has released new firmware for the X-T2, X-Pro2, GFX and even (unexpectedly) the X100F. Unfortunately the X-Pro2 got a little short changed this time around and it ain't feeling the love! But hopefully the great peeps at Fuji will put this right soon. You can find the latest firmware and a full list of what's new from HERE. But here are a few of my favourites.

FRONT COMMAND DIAL ISO:

One great feature that's been added to the X-T2 is the ability to control ISO from the front dial. This one appeared first on the X100F and is really handy when you want to lock in aperture and shutter speed and use the ISO to make adjustments to exposure. I do a lot of jazz concert photography and I tend to have to shoot wide open and with the shutter speed at 1/125th (my preferred minimum SS). The ISO dial on the top of the X-T2 is great, but it means taking my left hand of the camera to make adjustments. The front command dial is easy to access and let's me keep both hands on the camera. This feature was not added to the X-Pro2.

REAR COMMAND DIAL BACK BUTTON FOCUS:

Another great one from the X100F that's been added to the X-T2 is the ability to press the rear command dial for back button focus. You can actually assign a variety of functions to the rear command dial switch. I find the AF/L button on the X-T2 a bit too far to the right, but I can't switch it with the AE/L button because I poke my thumb into my eye with that one (I'm a left eye shooter). So pressing the rear command dial to back button focus is a great option. Sadly though, this feature was not added to the X-Pro2.

OPTION OF 'ALL' ADDED TO AF MODE

This one was unexpected and a really welcome feature. By selecting 'All' in the AF Mode you can use any of the command dials to choose any of the AF Modes. We do this in the exact same way as we change the size of the focus point. Press the Focus Selector Lever (the joystick) to turn the focus point green. Now rotate either the front or rear command dial to increase the size of the focus point, which cycles like this:

  • 6 different sizes of single point
  • 3 different sizes of Zone
  • Wide Tracking (it then loops back to the smallest single point)

I have my AF Mode assigned to the bottom button of the D-Pad, but by using this new method, I could leave it AF Mode set to 'All' and free up that Fn button for something else. It's unexpected gems like this that make Fujifil so great, but guess what - this feature is not on the latest firmware for the X-Pro2.

CONCLUSION 

As far as I know, no other camera manufactures virtually give away new cameras through frequent firmware updates. That might seem like an exaggeration, but quite often it really does feel like a new camera. I'm looking forward to the X-Pro2 firmware engineer getting back from his holiday at Skegness and bringing all the latest features to the other flagship X-Series camera - the X-Pro2. 

One firmware request I do have for another camera in the lineup (even though it might be discontinued), is to fix a bug in the X70 firmware. When using the WCL, the manual focus scale disappears from the LCD, which is a problem when zone focusing.

Jazz With Fuji's Acros & The X-Pro2 - SOOC

X-Pro2, 50-140mm f2.8: 1/60th sec at f2.8, ISO 3200 140mm

X-Pro2, 50-140mm f2.8: 1/60th sec at f2.8, ISO 3200 140mm

I shot two gigs over the weekend with The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra featuring Norwegian double bass player Arild Andersen. The orchestra were performing The Legacy of Charles Mingus and played a collection of Mingus tunes including the brilliantly titled 'All The Things You Could Be By Now If Sigmund Freud's Wife Was Your Mother'. The SNJO were on top form as usual and are celebrating their 20th anniversary. Orchestra leader Tommy Smith and Arild Andersen are long time collaborators and play regularly with drummer Paolo Vinaccia as The Arild Andersen Trio.

Most of the jazz photography I do gets converted into black and white in Lightroom, so I decided this weekend I would soot everything using the X-Pro2 and Fuji's newest B&W film simulation Acros. Everything you see here is taken straight out of camera (SOOC) and has not been cropped, sharpened or tweaked in any way (except where mentioned). Some of my exposures tend to lean toward the dark side (I am your father! Huuhhhhh), but I always prefer to bring exposures up in post, rather than bring them down.

X-Pro2, 50-140mm f2.8: 1/125th sec at f2.8, ISO 640 140mm

X-Pro2, 50-140mm f2.8: 1/125th sec at f2.8, ISO 640 140mm

Acros Film Simulation

Acros in the X-Pro2 and X-T2 is not just a B&W version of one of the colour film simulations (like the other B&W modes in the X-Sereies cameras). It is a ground up custom algorithm of Fuji's Acros film. The grain is beautiful and actually gets better as you increase ISO, in the same way it would react when pushing the original B&W film. My friend Patrick La Roque did some testing on this and found a sweet spot at ISO 2000 (there's a link at the bottom of this post).

My settings for Acros are usually -1 Highlights and +3 Shadows (always -3 Noise reduction and +3 Sharpness). But the lighting conditions at a jazz gig are challenging to say the least. The lights are mostly orange and very harsh. So I adjusted the shadows to +1

The Upside Of Shooting With The X-Pro2 Over The X-T1

I typically shoot jazz gigs with two X-T1 bodies with the 50-140mm f2.8 on one and a wide prime (35mm or 16mm) on the other. But as the X-T1 doesn't have the Acros film simulation, I used the X-Pro2, which was good because I also wanted to see the difference between the X-T1's 16 megapixel sensor and the X-Pro2's 24 megapixel sensor. I've been using the X-Pro2 for a while now, but I'm so used to shooting jazz with the X-T1's, I knew I would see the difference easier.

The X-Pro2 is definitely a big step up in resolution and although I'm not a guy that always wants more in the megapixel department, the new 24 megapixel sensor is very welcome. I used to shoot jazz gigs with a Nikon D800, 70-200mm f2.8 and an X-T1 for the wide end. But when Fuji released the 50-140mm f2.8, the D800 was retired. The only downside was loosing the D800's 36mp resolution. But seeing the black and white X-Pro2 files in Lightroom and zooming in to 1:1, it looks like I have it back. It is 24mp compared to the D800's 36mp, but with the lack of a low pass filter on the Fuji sensor, I would say there's not a lot of difference. But on the plus side the grain is really nice on the Acros film simulation.

The Downside Of Shooting With The X-Pro2 Over The X-T1

I love the style of the X-Pro cameras and definitely prefer the rangefinder design to the X-T's DSLR style. But there are a couple of negatives.

1. The X-Pro2's viewfinder is smaller than the epic X-T1's. I don't mint that too much in general, but for gigs and portraits, I do like the luxury of the larger one.

2. I need that big ass 50-140mm f2.8 glass for live shows. It sits well on my X-T1's with the grips attached, but it is just too front heavy on the X-Pro2. I already had a leather camera strap attached to the camera, so didn't use the BlackRapid I normally use on the bottom of the lens. I made sure to hold the lens and not the camera as I think the weight of the 50-140mm is a bit too much strain to put on the lens mount. Shooting with the X-Pro2 was definitely not as comfortable as shooting with the X-T1's, but just as far as the 50-140mm goes. I shot the soundcheck with primes, which was ideal with the X-Pro2.

X-Pro2, 56mm f1.2: 1/125th sec at f2.8, ISO 3200

X-Pro2, 56mm f1.2: 1/125th sec at f2.8, ISO 3200

X-Pro2, 56mm f1.2: 1/125th sec at f2.8, ISO 3200

Grain

The image above is a crop of the previous one and shows both the fantastic resolution of the X-Pro2's 24mp sensor and the beautiful film-like grain in Acros. You can see it clearly on the edge of the piano lid (the bright diagonal line). You don't see it as defined on the face, but it blends with the skin to produce a really rich texture. I'm looking for a timeless quality to my jazz work, pictures that would sit side by side with anything from the Blue Note era and Acros hits the mark!

X-Pro2, 56mm f1.2: 1/1000th sec at f1.2, ISO 3200

X-Pro2, 56mm f1.2: 1/1000th sec at f1.2, ISO 3200

Straight Out Of Camera...Really?

Moving to the Fuji X-Series cameras has brought many advantages to my photography. I started out with the original X100 when it was released and the size of the camera and the quality of the picture was great. The X-Trans sensor came a year later with the X-Pro1 and that, along with the best lenses I have ever used, gave me the sharpness of a mother-in-law's tongue and colours that I was unable to get out of Nikon.

Post processing can be enjoyable to an extent, but not when you have hundreds of pictures from a job and maybe a backlog of a few jobs. The X-Series produces JPEG's out of the camera that save me so much time due to them being most of the way there. My dream is to one day shoot in-camera JPEG's that need no work other than choosing the ones to deliver to the client. I think Acros just might have made this a reality! As long as you nail the exposure, you will have a great B&W photograph (obviously you need subject and composition to go with this).

X-Pro2, 50-140mm f2.8: 1/125th sec at f3.6, ISO 3200

X-Pro2, 50-140mm f2.8: 1/125th sec at f3.6, ISO 3200

A Little Tamperfering

The picture above is straight out of camera. It is a little underexposed for my liking, even though I do like my B&W's to be contrasty, dark and moody. So I made a couple of minor adjustments in Lightroom to bring it up to where I would tend to have it (see below). I moved the Exposure Slider to +0.50 and Clarity Slider to +15. I tend to add +15 clarity to all my files after importing into Lightroom so this is normal. That's about all I would do with this picture. As a rule of thumb, I tend to only do darkroom style editing to my pictures (exposure, dodge and burn etc).

+0.50 exposure and +15 Clarity in Lightroom takes this to where I like it.

+0.50 exposure and +15 Clarity in Lightroom takes this to where I like it.

X-Pro2, 50-140mm f2.8: 1/125th sec at f2.8, ISO 3200 140mm

X-Pro2, 50-140mm f2.8: 1/125th sec at f2.8, ISO 3200 140mm

Acros Plus Red, Green or Yellow Filters?

A colour filter was a useful addition to the front of your lens when shooting B&W film. They would help to emphasize parts of your photographs, like darkening the blue sky or improving skin tones. Fuji have not only given us the standard Acros film simulation, but an additional three versions that simulate a red, green or yellow filter.

Across +R (red) tends to be a good all rounder, but didn't work on this occasion due to the orange stage light, which made the faces too light with the red filter. I have the film simulations on one of the D-Pad buttons, and it's really helpful that you can scroll through each one and see the effect in the viewfinder. I settled on Acros + G (green) during the soundcheck and although I'm 80% sure I made the right choice, I would like to bracket these in a future experiment to make sure.

X-Pro2, 56mm f1.2: 1/125th sec at f2, ISO 3200

X-Pro2, 56mm f1.2: 1/125th sec at f2, ISO 3200

Conclusion

Over all I'm happy with how the two Acros shoots went. It's strange when I put the viewfinder to my eye and see a B&W image in the EVF because I expect to see colour as I normally would. I should have tried the optical viewfinder, but I don't like the OVF with longer lenses because the picture area ends up being a tiny box in the viewfinder.

I would love the option of shooting a film simulation to each card. Acros to slot 1 and Classic Chrome to slot 2 would be great. Obviously I could shoot Acros to one card and a RAW file to another, but I would then need to spend the time processing the RAW file to look like a finished Classic Chrome JPEG with the Noise Reduction, Sharpness, Highlights and Shadows settings that I prefer to use. I could also bracket film simulations, but that only works in 3's and there is too much of a lag after each shot.

I wonder if Fuji could take the same algorithm they have developed for Acros and use it to add a similar organic grain to Classic Chrome. I don't know if this would fit with the type of film it replicates, but who knows. Maybe for higher ISO's?

Maybe I need to upgrade to the X-T2 after all.

X-Pro2, 50-140mm f2.8: 1/125th sec at f3.6, ISO 3200 50mm

X-Pro2, 50-140mm f2.8: 1/125th sec at f3.6, ISO 3200 50mm