Hi there,

For the past 4-5 years I`ve tried to showcase my work in almost all the ways possible.

I`ve started with a Blog on Blogspot.com (Google owned), witch worked fine until I managed to wipe every photo off, just by deleting some Picasa albums. Eventually I had everything back on, but wanted a place of my own.

I bought a domain and the hosting and moved to a new home with a brand spanking blog under the WordPress platform. But I still wanted to showoff my favorite pictures…

By that time I had the designer fever and wanted to do everything myself so I drew what was going to become my first website. Not only my first website but actually my first design / written code. It was the first time I knew I can make money off the principles taught in school.

The first sketch looked like this and the next picture is what stayed on the server for a whole year.

By the time I felt the need to face-lift the website, I was already at the 3rd iteration of the blog. Felt I had it in me, so I drew the 2nd skin the website was going to have. Matched it with the blog theme at the time.

The more architecture you ingest, the less stuff you want to put in your projects, so the next trend was to go with “less is more”.

And now for 2012 “less is more” is not enough. I measured every button, every indent, every space … so that the website will have more usability. I even added a horizontal scroll that can be used with the normal scroll of the mouse! How cool is that !!! And all that … on the iOS and Android devices too. And Internet Explorer (although there might be something more to iron out for it) … for those 12% unlucky IE users. We heard `ya!

And I couldn`t have done it without the help of best friend Seth who debugged the sh*t out of pages and pages of pathetic written code all these years. 10x bro`!

So if it`s February 1st 2012 (or later) follow the link to the website.

Hi guys,

For the past month I`ve dedicated my time to my first MMORPG – Star Wars: The Old Republic (I skipped World of Warcraft due to 6 years of college that needed my undivided attention). It`s kinda self explanatory that I`m enjoying it a lot. (I have 12 full days of playtime already)

Thankfully I got this game as a birthday present and it came in Digital Deluxe Edition. Among the perks of this Deluxe edition there was a “in-game” photo camera. Nothing fancy, just a script that takes the HUD (head up display) out of the way, and moves the viewpoint to your character`s level. But it was all I needed to take some pictures in the game … not to get out of shape.

The first screen captures sucked because I was limited to the field of view imposed by the 1920×1200 screen resolution but soon I discovered that I can alter that if I switch to windowed mode and stretch the game on both my screens. This way the FOV was somewhere around 10-12mm on a full-frame camera. In some cases I even tried stitching 3-4 images to get better resolution or a higher vertical FOV. There`s not a single image without some sort of post-process done to them so these are not the actual colors in the game. (you`ve been warned!)

But enough about this, I`ll let you enjoy some of the planets the good guys at Bioware designed for us. (The images are slightly larger if you click on them – and you can navigate with the keyboard arrow keys)

P.S. If the good guys at BioWare somehow read this and care to make an add-on / mod with a more powerful camera (aperture control / shutter speed / field of view) I wouldn`t mind beta-testing the sh*t out of it. So please leave a message.

Dromund Kaas

Nar Shaddaa

Tatooine

Alderaan

Hoth

Quesh

Belsavis

Corelia

I hope you liked the pictures. If you did, just know that the game is far better.
If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comment section bellow.

CES is over, so enough about cameras. Let`s see something else every photographer should have in the toolbox!

If you take pictures you`re inclined to post-process them to whatever extent necessary, but the main concern is “are the colors right?”. Well, it depends!

Are the colors right for:

• print?
• online publishing?

The first one can easily be fixed without thorough calibration. You just pick 3 photos you like, go to your preferred printing company, make some prints, go back home, fiddle with the monitor until what you see on that paper resembles what you see on the screen. Hope they don`t change equipment often and … print away!

For online publishing, well, that`s tricky! Because even if you have everything calibrated, your pictures will look different on virtually every other screen. The people might not have their screens calibrated, the LCD panels might differ from one producer to another, the characteristics fade with time etc, etc, etc

But for us artists it`s crucial to put our best products out there and hope for the best.

So what I`m about to show you can and will be seen differently by each and every one of you. But don`t forget that the samples are as close to “how it should be” as possible.

The past 4 years I have kept my screens calibrated with Spyder 2 Pro and later on with Spyder 3 Pro (always borrowed, never owned) so it was high time to get myself such a product. The day I wanted to make my purchase (a Spyder 3 Pro) I called a friend to make sure what I was borrowing , was in fact what I was suppose to buy. That friend told me: “Don`t buy that! Datacolor is releasing a new Spyder in a few days”

Searched online … nothing! Not even on the company`s website.

“Ok, I`ll trust you!”, I said, and a week later they came out with Spyder 4 series. And now I`m the proud owner of a Spyder 4 Pro.

I chose the Pro package because I needed to calibrate at least 2 screens for the same workstation. (sometimes as much as 4 linked to two graphic cards) The Essential can`t do that.

Costed me less than 180$ and given the circumstances = “the best 180$ spent so far”!

But now for the quick and dirty part:

New fancy sensor technology. Slightly better than Spyder 3.

“Spyder4Pro features a patented, full-spectrum 7-color sensor that can accurately characterize a variety of wide gamut and normal displays. Spyder4Pro software lets you use the same sensor to calibrate your monitor, laptop computer, iPad and iPhone. No other calibrator has this capability. The fourth-generation sensor uses double-shielded filters for longer life and better performance. On average, accuracy and precision are improved by 26% and 19% respectively.”

At the moment the software package can`t be found online at DataColor website. I found this annoying .

I, for one, don`t have a CD / DVD drive at my workstation. Haven`t had one in 7 years ! I wanted to download the software from them, but NO … “One does not simply get software over the internet”. I had to get a laptop, copy the CD contents on a USB drive, haul-ass to my workstation and THEN get the stuff installed.

On USB 3.0 the computer didn`t recognize the Spyder device. I had to yank it out and try a USB 2.0 port to get it installed. Only then it powered up on USB 3.0.

Calibration OFF. Uninstall Spyder 3 software. Install Spyder 4. Calibrate!

My main screen is a Samsung T240HD – 4 years old. (DVI connection)

Had ~215cd/m2 the day I bought it. Under Spyder 3 analysis it topped out at 106cd/m2 Brightness after 4 years. Now, with Spyder 4 I can set it at 120cd/m2 and still have room for more. (140cd/m2 seems like hitting the ceiling)

Uncalibrated. Rollover to see the calibrated view.

My second screen is a Dell 2311H – 1 yr old. (DVI connection)

I have no clue what brightness level it had when it came out of the factory but now I set it to 120cd/m2 (to match the other one) and i`m at 52% brightness. So there`s plenty of headroom there.

Uncalibrated. Rollover to see the calibrated view.

The Spyder 4 Pro software comes with some new analysis features that I didn`t bother trying. (few will so why bother!)

But I did like the fact that it keeps me informed about my gamut range; and I can compare it to older calibration profiles. And this way I actually know why I keep using sRGB instead of AdobeRGB. I mainly process for the web so EVERYONE ELSE has a fair chance of seeing what I see.

Overall it was a good investment for me, because I was buying a new product, but for someone thinking of upgrading from Spyder 3, it`s not worth it. I would probably upgrade from Spyder 2 tho. Can`t really put my finger on the right reason but I can justify 180$ with “It`s old and we could use a new one!” phrase all the time.

I got mine from F64, with a “frequent shopper” discount and some points I recently won, so I took only half the hit you`ll probably take.

If you have ideas about stuff you want me to give my opinion on, please leave a message and I`ll gladly answer. I know is`t hard taking a decision based on marketing bulls*it so I`m here to help.

Take your camera with you everywhere!

For Romanian press HERE.

“An opinion nobody asked for”

Fuji X-Pro 1 – Hands on preview

As you probably know already, Fuji just launched a brand spanking new camera @ F64. Yep, the X-Pro 1. If we look at the big picture it`s just a mirror-less camera. But that`s just scratching the surface.
To give you a short history lesson:

1. Fuji launches the X100, a fixed focal lens camera with a hybrid viewfinder and a retro design. Everybody is thrilled by this camera because it gets back to the roots of photography with a lot of manual controls and the built-in viewfinder that makes the photographer part of the picture again. Massive sales. Most of the customers complained about the shutter lag and 35mm fixed focal lens.
2. Fuji launches the X10 (retro design), a smaller compact camera with a fast zoom lens and a built in zoom optical viewfinder. Massive sales. Everybody was thrilled, some complained about that lack of info in the viewfinder and the small sensor (thus not the best ISO IQ in the world, not the best bokeh either)

Now they chose to shut everyone up with this new beast. The X-Pro 1

+ Interchangeable lenses (primes: 18mm f/2; 35mm f/1.4; 60mm f/2.4)
+ APS-C sensor 16Mpixels
+ Hybrid viewfinder (Optical AND electronic viewfinder) – and now … it zooms depending on the lens you have on. That`s pretty cool by any standards.

So when I heard Fuji had a “Leica contender” coming my way, I had to put my hands on one to see for myself if it will be a D700 replacement or not.

So this entire Hands-On Preview will be based on the fact that I want a new (LIGHTER) camera that mimics a rangefinder. So if I don`t get that … I`ll be pretty upset.

Nowadays you can take good pictures in low light with just about any camera so my main concern is “does it fit like a glove? does it feel the way I imagined?” I`ll try to debate that, and give you something to pixel-peep at at the end of the article.

THE CAMERA:

The shape desperately needs a larger grip. The one that comes by default is kinda small if you`re older than a 8th grader… After 2h of “street” I had finger cramps.

The weight is just right. It feels like a Leica M6 but it`s thicker.

The viewfinder is the main character of the show and If you loved the one on the X100, the new (v.2) will bring you joy. Honestly, I`m not a big fan of non-rangefinder viewfinders in general so I`m a bit biased but I can say for sure it will be fantastic for at least 75-80% of the buyers. The electronic viewfinder was something I tried by mistake. I accidentally touched the lever and went from crispy clear to happy pixels in 0.1s. Did not like the EVF at all. And I hate all of them equally (be it Sony, Olympus, Panasonic etc) Give it enough light and the image on the EVF will keep up with your movements. Turn off the light and prepare for lag! I also liked the fact that after the pre-focus the bright-lines shift to the right to correct for the parallax.

Auto-focus speed was decent. Not Nikon V1 fast but not too slow either. My biggest problem with the AF isn`t the speed though. It`s the fact that it hunts, and misses quite allot, if you`re looking through the viewfinder. If you`re using the back LCD it gets considerably better. (Still hunts but at least you can see if you have your subject in focus or not)

The dials are well positioned but the back dial was a bit loose. That made it a bit difficult to use with the Quick menu. In theory they should work like a charm, I hope the production model will have a stiffer dial.

The battery has 1200MAh – that`s 10% more than the X10 has and you get around the same number of frames.

THE LENSES:

As I mentioned at the beginning of the article the body comes with 3 lenses. All X-Mount (this new X-Pro 1 mount).

18mm f/2
35mm f/1.4
60mm f/2.4

Combined with the filter-less new sensor in the camera these lenses should have a spectacular sharpness. I said SHOULD because I wasn`t blown away. Not by a long shot. They are good, for 600$ lenses but there`s room for improvement.

The overall feeling of the lenses was 50/50. I loved the weight to volume ratio, but disliked the plastic feel. The focus ring is made of hard plastic and I would have loved rubber rings, or at least a tab for focusing. But that`s a wet dream, mostly because the system uses “Focus by wire”: a fancy concept for a ring that transmits info to a CPU that tells the lens to move. So there`s no way of knowing where the lens is focused just by looking at it. You have to use the distance scale in the viewfinder or on the back LCD.

So manual focus is a something I wouldn`t try with this camera and lenses. It can be done, but that`s just about it. Nothing to brag about here.

“One does not simply learn a new camera system in a few hours” – this is damn true. I bet this camera has allot more to offer than what I was able to pick-up while it was in my hands. And as for many other cameras on the market all the small downsides of this new system will be forgotten with time and clever use.

Overall the X-Pro 1 is a well rounded system for entry level photographers or anyone who wants the PRO package on vacation but considerably lighter and gives a run for the money to just about any mirror-less camera currently on the market.

It will sell like crazy because it can easily replace the entry level DSLRs, both usability and IQ wise.

If you liked the X100 but decided to wait until something with lenses came on the market, go ahead and pre-order this one. You won`t regret it.

Update:
1. And now, there`s a full preview on DPreview.com. Go check it out!
2. There`s a leaked lens roadmap on Mirroless Rumors.com

These are the lenses coming in 2012:

14mm f/2.8

18-72mm f/4.0 with IS (Image stabilization).

These are the lenses coming in 2013

28mm f/2.8 pancake

23mm f/2.0

72-200mm f/4.0 IS

12-24mm f/4.0 IS

And there are still two more unkown lenses to come within 2013.

THE PIXEL-PEEPER HEAVEN

(stuff you have to judge for yourself)
(for the full size pictures – right click -> open in new tab)

ISO test

This was the whole frame

And these are the crops at ISO 100-25600- Caution LARGE IMAGE (7500x4800px)

Sharpness Test

18mm

This was the whole frame

Center

Top left corner

35mm

This was the whole frame

Center

Top left corner

Fringe Sample @ f/1.4

60mm

This was the whole frame

Center

Top left corner

Sharpness Sample

Comparison Fuji X-Pro 1 with 35mm @ f/1.4 vs D700 with 50mm AF-S @ f/1.4

Random Samples @ smaller sizes

And a few by George Dobre:

Howdy,

Today I`ll tell you a few things about a toy that`s really fun to use.

The Supersampler!

It`s a Lomography camera with 4 lenses and each lens exposes 1/4 of the frame. The lenses have individual shutters and the camera has 2 shooting modes: Instant Shutter (4 exposures in 0.2s) or Delayed Shutter (4 exposures in 2s).
I got this bad boy as a birthday present from my best-friend two years ago, and only managed to expose 1 roll. It`s fun but i`m a control freak so this camera will probably see 1 roll / year at most.
The good part is that you can`t go more low-maintenance than this. So for everyone looking for a Lomo camera. Go ahead and buy it. It comes with a big album full of insanely sick photos.

Samples? Sure, why not!?

So here it is. The blatant truth:

9 weeks ago I started a workout program, and never told anyone the name of it (not even my best friend). The less info they have, the more motivated I`ll be to keep at it.

The program was (in fact, as many of you thought) Insanity.

The naked truth is that the program won`t change any of you into a male-model over night or in just one run. For me that wasn`t the point, to begin with.

I started this because 6 yrs of college came with 30kg (60lbs) weight gain and everything was becoming harder and harder to do. The program starts with a fit test. Can`t do that … most definitely you`ll be slacking during the rest of the exercises. So the 1st time I tried the program I FAILED miserably at the 4th exercise I got nausea, I turned green … not enough air, too much fat. I was 95kg (190lbs) that day and I was competing with those two athletes in the video. Yes, I was that sure of myself. FFS, I did martial arts for 2 years before college. I am Chuck Norris!

So after the failure I figured “let`s get back in shape the easy way” : eat better and swim. So I did that for a month. I dropped from 95kg to 87.5 and stopped that for 1 week and boom ! 89kg !

This was the start of this 9 weeks madness. After the first 4 days I had muscle soreness in my legs. The first 4 weeks of the program are meant to boost your stamina, the 5th is a recovery week and then all hell breaks loose. The next 4 weeks are  very demanding. Instead of the 45min/day routine you get 60-80 or even 120 min of workout. And trust me, it`s INSANE ! Thus … the name of the work-out!

Out of the last 4 weeks I managed to do the first , and then it`s a blur. I think I did 4 more days sporadically throughout the rest of the program.

And because of that now I have my stamina back, and not the 6pack abs of my dreams.

If you take a look at the chart down below you`ll see improvement, but the pictures don`t show it … YET ! (so no point in embarrassing myself)

P.S. The workout comes with a food guide witch I chose to ignore. I payed attention to what I ate, but I never went the whole nine yards with it.

This Monday I`m giving it another go.  (I`ll try to do better this time) So in another 9 weeks, expect some news.

Catching up on stuff.

I finally managed to get done a big batch of photos for the Dear World project. First thing: Share with the whole World. Second: get some sleep!

The project is pretty simple: ask people to send messages to the world by writing them on their body.

Alexandra Sandu and Ioana Toma are also working on this project. It was brought to our country by GRASP

Make-Up: Ioana Toma

Hello there!

Not to disturb the previous post about the Samsung NX200, I`ve decided to make a 2nd entry with samples, some … artsy, others … not so much, but rounds-up the 1st review a little bit.

For those of you with “pixel-peeping” as a hobby, I have uploaded many of these photos, with a terrible watermark, in a Picasa Album.

Samsung 18-200 f/3.5-6.3 @ 200mm

Samsung 30mm f/2

Samsung 60mmf/2.8 Macro

Samsung 85mm f/1.4

Make-Up: Ioana Toma

Hi folks.
Long time no see.

I have been reviewing Samsung NX 200 for the past two weeks already and now I have the time to post this on-line for everybody to see.

Today’s review is based on the actual presentation that I did for the launch of the NX 200 camera, so the slides that you will see are the actual slides that I have presented for everybody present at the launch, they are 1920×1080 pixels so they might be a bit large for most of the laptop screens currently on the market.

This review will be split into 3 chapters:

1. NX and the future of mirror-less cameras.
2. NX 200 – The Beast Within
3. NX lenses

1. The NX system and what we should expect from Samsung in the near future:

For those of you who do not know what mirror-less is, I have attached a picture and the quick explanation is: WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). The photographer no longer sees the real image through an optical viewfinder, instead he sees what the camera is going to save after the shutter-click. So there`s no more “what shutter-speed should I use?” or “is this the right white-balance for the situation?”. There`s no more mirror in the body to send the image into a penta-prism; no more camera shake due to the mirror hitting the matte screen. Long story short: smaller camera and faster results.

They [Samsung] leaped into the mirror-less market about 2 years ago with the NX5, than the NX10, NX100 (smaller body, no viewfinder), NX11 to replace the first two and now the NX200 to replace the NX100. They started slow building up the lens system betting everything on a “long-run” strategy. And in my opinion, it was a wise decision, mostly because competitors haven`t gone to far either, and now with the introduction of this improved sensor and processor, we have a glimpse into the future of the mirror-less trend, and market.

So by analyzing the specs of the NX200 we can speculate what the customer is in for with the next NX camera … be it NX20, or in a couple of years, NX300 etc.

2. NX 200 – The “I`m a believer” turn of events

The moment I saw the camera, I fell in love with the design. It`s so simple, the lines are perfect. Every curve is there for a reason. The grip is better than NX100, the slimmer body gives it a better grasp. The buttons are where they should be and the backbone is magnesium, just like the professional cameras.

The new 3″AMOLED screen is quite nice. It not perfect but it holds up to the competition. I would have loved more than 630k pixels and I could have lived without the green hue when looked at from an angle, but overall it is a big step forward from the old LCD on NX5.

20Mpx

I`ve always said that 12Mpx are enough for anybody, and if I can make money using 12 Mpx … everyone can. But now, after 2 weeks of chimping, zooming in, zooming out of 20Mpx files it`s damn hard to move back to my D700. Feels like going back to stone-age.

It comes with a price: if you have a small hard-drive, or small memory cards … they will fill up pretty fast. A regular JPEG is around 7MB and a RAW is 44-45MB. That`s allot, in my books.

[if you right-click them + open in new tab] The following slides are 1980x1080px and the big images have a 1:1 scale. 1 pixel of your screen should be 1 pixel of the image.

ISO 100-12800

Up to 1600 is wonderful, and keep in mind were talking 20Mpx here on a APS-C sensor (23.5mm x 15.7mm). ISO 3200 can hold it`s own. It`s on par with the competition. ISO 6400-12800 are usable if your life depended on that. 12800 has serious banding issues.

Samsung iFn

I dismissed this new feature for being to mainstream. But after half a day of forcing myself to use it, I realized that it`s usable, and on top of that, it`s actually USEFUL!

Nearly all NX lenses have this iFn button and a 2nd ring on them. Press the iFn button once, and a tabbed menu pops on the screen. You have tabs for just about every setting that`s part of the picture taking process. Rotate the ring on the lens and “Voila!” The setting has changed. And the best part: The tabs can be selected within the menu so if you only need EV compensation and WB tabs … you can have only those.

Smart Panel

Another one of those “This can`t be better than what`s already on the market” moments.

But after close inspection, the smart panel is mother of all configuration screens. It gives you everything at a click of a button and the menus change based on your shooting mode!

If you go in the camera`s menu, set everything to you liking, the first day you get the NX200; with the help of the smart panel, you can forget about everything else from that point forward.

7 fps

This can swing both ways.

The good: it shoots 7 fps for a max of 11 frames. It can also burst 10-15-30 fps at lower rez.

The bad: even with the fasted SD memory card, it still takes the camera a while to transfer from the buffer to the card. If you shoot Jpeg Fine … it`s not that bad, but it can get ugly!

The ugly: Don`t try RAW bursts. EVER!

Movies at 1080p are industry standard at the moment and this camera makes good use of it by having access to some sweet lenses.

There are enough shooting modes to satisfy every type of customer:

P/A/S/M (including in video mode)
MOVIE
PANORAMA
SMART (the stupid-proof mode) (pre-focuses for you!)
SCENE
MAGIC (a bunch of goofy frames and software lomo conversion kits)
iMODE (SMART with the use of iFn button)

3. LENSES

The most appealing thing about the NX system is the availability of great lenses from day 1.

Samsung has released 9 lenses so far and I bet they plan on releasing at least 5 the next year.

Out of everything I had to test, I`ll say a few words about 1 from each of the 4 categories (Carry, Optima, Omnia, Premium)

[Carry]

The 30mm f/2 is small enough to fit w/ the body in your jeans back pocket. Best lens for street. It makes you unobtrusive. Focuses fast enough for the majority of potential buyers. It`s sharp and it`s the only one that doesn`t have iFn (it was one of the first lenses released back when iFn was just a dream)



[Omnia]

The 18-200 f/3.5-6.3 is the only lens you`ll ever need when traveling. (I wouldn`t leave home without the 30mm/2 but if you have to pick only one lens, this one get`s the job done)

It`s kinda soft at 200mm and that f/6.3 is not Prince Charming either, but for daylight it should get the job done. It has Optical Stabilization to fight camera shake.

[Optima]

The 60mm f/2.8 was my favorite lens by far for it`s sharpness and close focus possibilities. It`s a game-changer. It has a supersonic motor and optical stabilization. It`s form factor is just perfect as a portrait lens and it`s sharpness is way off the charts. Paired with the 20Mpx sensor of the NX200 and it just blew me away.

[Premium]

I got this bad boy at the end of my review. Used it for a couple of days, and I have to say that if you`re into creamy bokeh, this is the cream machine (not to be confused with Leica 50mm f/0.95) This one renders the out of focus areas beautifully and as far as I know it`s the only 85mm f/1.4 on the mirrorless market at the time of this article. And for around 1000 Euros … beats the **** out of the competition. Just my 2 cents.

And, as always, I left the sum of less impressive things at the end:

1. The green tint of the display it`s not as bad as you think but given enough time, it can be annoying.
2. No viewfinder. At the moment the EVF of the NX100 does not work on the NX200, so we`re waiting for a proper EVF. I have banged the camera to my forhead at least 4 times in the first day.
3. Small battery. I have squeezed 380 frames out of that 1030MAh cell, and it`s over the 350 frames stated by Samsung, but I bet other people will chimp more often and will not be able to get more than 250 frames out of one single charge, and that`s not fine.
4. 20-50mm and 18-55mm lenses will be forgotten really fast by experienced amateurs. I would have loved a 20-50 f/4 instead of that 3.5-5.6 version.
5. The kit flash is actually a small hot-shoe flash. Too easy to lose.
6. Some banding issues at iso 3200-6400-12800.

Now, don`t be scared by what I found less appealing. It might not be the case for everyone, I`m pickier by default…

Overall the NX200 is a wonderful camera and the lenses currently available for it are amazing. And when your mind wraps around the fact that it`s light as a feather … buying it will be a no-brainer.

If you`re in Romania, you can buy the kit and some lenses from F64. (kit)(30mmf/2)(50-200mm)

UPDATE:

There are MORE SAMPLES in the NEXT ENTRY !

For Romanian press here.

Another week, another review.

Towards the end of the year the camera manufacturers try to launch as many gadgets / cameras / accessories to keep the people world-wide buying stuff throughout the holidays.

After last`s week Nikon 1 V1, a mirror-less system with interchangeable lenses, this week the F64 guys gave me a Fuji X10 sample. (I mention “sample” because it`s not in the stores yet and the firmware might change over the next weeks).

Launched about 2 months ago (with a release date of dec.2011), it aroused interest in the photo-communities world-wide. Lots of fotogs are waiting for a proper review of the camera, to tell them if it`s as good as Fuji makes it look.

All I can say is that in it`s price range … the acquisition is a no-brainer.

But let`s start from Adam and Eve…

One year ago Fuji launches the X100 (priced at 1100$); direct competitor to Leica`s X1 (2000$). Kicks the shit out of that segment`s sales, and continues to amaze the whole world with it`s simplicity, retro-design, ergonomics and high-ISO images.

Same concept, smaller package…

Probably at the same time with the X100`s development, Fuji was also sketching what would become the baby-X100. Named X10. The first compact camera with a zoom optical viewfinder. Long story short, the viewfinder zooms as you turn the zoom ring on the lens. It`s close to the Holy Grail of rangefinders, and Fuji is milking the proverbial “cow”.

Now, the X10 tries to give us the joy of shooting a Rangefinder, in a smaller package, with a more affordable price-tag and free of the hassle of lugging lenses with you all day.

“The all-round good guy”

To keep the preview short I`ll jump straight to what I liked about it … and towards the end I`ll say a few words about what kinda needed some polishing.

1. Manual zoom ring. Like they say “Once you go black there`s no turning back” it`s the same thing here. Once a zoom ring user, there`s no going back to those zoom by wire shitty cameras. The other cameras are light years behind X10 when it comes to this. The zoom ring is smooth and precise. At the 28mm end there`s a spot to retract the front element to keep it compact. The same idea as the Nikon 1`s kit lens but way better.

2. The lens has it`s equivalent focal distance engraved on the barrel. 28-112mm. All that happens at f/2 – f/2.8. For a compact camera, THAT IS FAST! Way better than the Nikon 1 V1 and at least as good as Olympus XZ-1`s f/1.8-2.5.

3. If I get into details about the new image processor (the EXR), we`ll be here until next week, so I`ll just say that the EXR shooting mode will try to give you the best dynamic-range possible (details in the shadows as well as in the highlights). Those coming from dSLRs will not be as impressed, but for those that upgrade from an average compact camera … it will be awesome.

4. I loved THE IDEA of a optical zoom viewfinder; I found the actual viewfinder a bit underwhelming.

5. Every button was ergonomically designed to fit the X10 body. The P/A/S/M wheel and the exposure compensation wheel are just where they should be. There`s a Fn button that can be set as ISO. The shutter button reminds me of Leica; it can fit different spacers and also an old-school cable release. The two wheels on the back are set for aperture and shutter-speed values. There`s even a display button. One can toggle between different LCD modes and even turn the display off to save battery. The RAW button is a good addition in the worst spot possible. I keep pressing it with the inside of my palm.

6. Macro and super-macro = WIN. Ioana really wanted a macro lens and I couldn`t justify one. The price was to high for the 3 uses yearly that I would get out of one. Now this “soap-bar” of a camera can do awesome 1cm macro work. Just what the doctor ordered!

7. 7 fps at 12MP. My D700 can`t do that without the grip and I payed 4x the price of the X10. Enough said!

8. Advanced Panorama Modes. Other cameras have had Panorama modes for years but now I can actually tell the camera the way I want my panorama. On top of that I can make a VR pano straight from the camera (the software bundled with X10 will take care of the rendering). It will, for sure, cut down on my panorama stitching time. It`s not the same as using a panorama rendering software, but for quick use and internet sharing … it`s brilliant.

9. Fast focus and no shutter lag. Maybe as fast as Nikon 1 V1. It was a pleasure to find myself shooting from the hip.

10. Looks retro and doesn`t stand out, especially when they see you bring it to the eye, they`re thinking you`re shooting film so they cut you some slack.

After 2 days of street photography only a few things bug me about this camera:

1. The viewfinder is just that … a plain viewfinder. No info inside. No focus points. No focus confirmation. No nothing. Just glass. I kept the “in-focus” sound ON just to be sure I can trigger the shutter. The camera has a bright red-green LED near the viewfinder that tells you about focus status but I found it hard to get used to.

2. Small battery. Just 1000 MAh. No wonder they put a “turn off LCD” button on the back of the camera.

3. 41 focus points but ended up using just one. The center one! It`s so cumbersome to change the focus point that you`re better off with “focus – re-frame”.

It took me a whole day to get used to the silent treatment I was getting from the viewfinder. The parallax effect was easier to get used to coming from a rangefinder…

In the end,

For 2399 lei, it`s probably the best choice in it`s range . The small quirks (small battery, “speechless” viewfinder and mediocre high-ISO) are easy to live with. There are too many good things to say about this camera to let a few bad ones getting in the way.

For somebody who wants a compact camera, large aperture, fast and ergonomic … no point in searching any further. Just go buy the Fuji X10!

Enough for this week,

Drive slow!