viltrox 23mm f1.4 – The Creative Camera

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A Single Image | Feb 27th

Posted on February 27, 2021February 28, 2021 by Webmaster

Gorgeously clear skies today so yet more opportunity to put the Fujifilm x-t1 and Viltrox 23mm f1.4 through it’s paces. This image, taken in the Geopark in Paignton, caught my eye purely for the colourful paintings on the sculpture against the bright blue of the sky. As usual, this image is a jpeg SOOC so no post-processing needed. It is based on my Superia 100 (Classic Negative) film simulation. The falloff at the top corners is not something I have noticed in other shots but here it is very apparent. I’m not too bothered by this as it’s quite reminiscent of the effect I have seen on film.

A Single Image | Feb 26th

Posted on February 27, 2021March 1, 2021 by Webmaster

My mate Paul is a budding musician who’s been playing the saxaphone now for a couple of years. He’s been a great friend so I was really pleased to give him his first saxaphone, a student something or other, that I had from when I closed down my music shop a few years earlier. He’d mentioned his interest in learning the clarinet on several occasions and while I knew I had a clarinet knocking around somewhere, I couldn’t lay my hands on it at the time so I persuaded him to take the alto sax instead. Paul was somewhat reluctant but my way of thinking was, it’s free and you blow in to it so how different could it be!! Persuaded, he took on the challange.

Two years and a huge amount of practice later, Paul has without any doubt mastered the saxaphone, so much so that he recently asked if I would take a few photos for his facebook profile. Of course I said yes. Social distancing when taking photos is not paricularly difficult and current rules mean that we are allowed to meet one friend socially for some exercise and unusally, the sun was out so I felt that some nice colour shots might help him out.

The above shot is a one of a handful I took using the Fuji x-t1 with what I tend to call, a Superia 100 feel. Actually, looking at some old photos from the 90’s, I think it’s a cross between Fuji Pro 400H and Fuji Superia 100 but I’m quite happy with that. The Fuji x-t1 doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of let’s say an x-t4 or x-pro3 so achieving something as “film like” as this is a real bonus for me.

For the most part, this image is SOOC but for those pixel peepers out there, I did add a small amount of grain using On1 PhotoRaw 2021. Sadly, there is no way to add grain in the x-t1 which to my mind and experience is what makes film look so uniquely different to digital. Anyway, here’s the Fuji recipe for anyone who’s interested in recreating or improving on this look.

Camera: Fujifilm x-t1
Lens: Viltrox 23mm f1.4
Target Film Look: Fujifilm Superia 100
Film Type: Pro Neg Hi
Custom White Balance: Grey card -1B -1R
EV: +1/3
DR: 400
ISO 800
Shadows: +2
Highlights: -2
Colour: -2
Sharpness: +2
Noise reduction: 0

I have to say that part way through the shoot I did reduce the ISO to 400 which results in the dynamic range being reset to 200 in camera and I also reduced the EV from +1/3rd to 0. This was because it was an incredibly bright day and the camera was shooting at such high shutter speeds that the electronic shutter was kicking in. No problem with this but I just felt I was pushing the envelope a little and backing off on the amount of light entering the sensor might yield a bonus. I cannot in all honesty say then that the shot shown above was at the exact settings I have outlined, it could have been at ISO 400, DR200 and EV 0.

Before I finish, a word on the Viltrox 23mm f1.4. This lens is crazy good for the money. Fast, sharp and colourful and a great addon to the Fuji x-t1. I have shot this lens with a few film simulations now, for example classic chrome, astia and pro neg but I come back mostly to the custom settings shown above.

A not so nice day at the seaside!

Posted on February 23, 2021February 25, 2021 by Webmaster

The weather here at the moment is bloody aweful. Rain, rain and yet more rain. Oh, and grey skies!! While getting out and about isn’t a huge amount of fun at the moment, it does offer some interesting opportunities for photography, especially if you’re into street / documentary as I am. Normally I seek out umbrellas as I just love the images this prop creates but this photo is quite typical of others I search out. Here, i’ve gone for what is called SOOC (straight out of camera), a technique I have been leaning towards more and more recently as I’m a big Fujifilm camera fan. I’m also a big fan of analogue film so getting “non digital looking” shots is a pastime of mine. This puts me at odds with many of my Sony, Canon and Nikon friends who all seek pixel perfect shots of everything from daffodils through to mountains but even so, it’s a technique and a style I enjoy. My most recent digital stuff also looks remarkably like the photos I have from the 60’s, 70’s and later so a big plus there.

This shot, taken with the Fuji x-t1 with Viltrox 23mm f1.4, is typical of the jpeg’s you can get SOOC with the Fuji. The recipe I’m using is based on ProNeg Hi with modifications to shadows, highlights, WB, noise reduction, sharpness and dynamic range (through manipulating ISO). Top end Fuji’s have even more options to play with such as more film stocks eg Classic Negative (Superior 100) and grain which adds to the analogue realism that can be achieved. Although this photo has not been processed in any way, I might sometimes lift the shadows a little as well as add a little film grain but here I haven’t bothered as I just like the simplicity of the image. It’s quite nice not to spend hours on editing.

A Single Image | Feb 22nd

Posted on February 22, 2021February 24, 2021 by Webmaster

A quiet day today taken up mostly with paperwork. One bright spot was a short trip out to the park and a chance encounter with two of our grand children who live quite close to us and who were down in the park playing. Ever willing to act as supermodels I was pleased to capture this one frame that I really liked.

The camera was the Fuji x-t1 with Viltrox 23mm F1.4, a lens that I bought on recommendation but have had very little opportunity to use. My early thoughts that it lives up to the hype and for the price, it’s hard to justify buying more expensive Fuji glass. However, some additional time with the Viltrox will prove handy, especially if we get some better weather.

This image is SOOC jpeg and is based on a ProNeg Hi simulation recipe I created which is reminiscent of Fujifilm Pro 400H colour film. On older Fuji camera

Hands on with the Viltrox 23mm f1.4

Posted on February 22, 2021February 22, 2021 by Webmaster

If you are thinking of buying the Fujifilm 23mm f1.4 then hold on a moment, there’s a new kid on the block and he’s not pulling his punches!! The Viltrox 23mm f1.4 is pretty much a no brainer when searching for the ideal 35mm equivelent street lens. With a full frame equivelent focal length of 35mm the Viltrox 23mm has to be one of the best bang for the buck prime lenses on the planet and an ideal companion lens for anyone shooting candid, street or documentary. Sure the Fuji version might be better optimised for use on Fuji equipment but I doub’t you’ll notice any difference whatsoever let alone anything significant. It’s an amazing lens at a steal of a price. I think mine cost me £230 here in the UK.

The Viltrox 23mm renders colour extraordinarily well, has very limited distortion and weighs practically nothing. Supplied with a lightweight metal hood, the Viltrox 23mm oozes class. It looks great, works great and feels great. It there is one tiny flaw it is that is has no detent on the aperture ring (distinct click) so you may inadvertantly open or close the aperture in use. Personally, I prefer a detent click but for £500 less that Fuji version, I’m not going to get too precious about that.

When I’m shooting lazy street I simply set the ISO to 800, aperture to f4 or f5.6, put the Fuji x-t1 on auto and start snapping. The autofocus is super quick so you simply can’t miss any shots with that setup. Why such a high ISO? It’s because I like to shoot SOOC and with the ISO set to 800 and dynamic range set to 400, the shots I get have maximum dynamic range. The photos above are from a while back when I had just bought the Fuji x-t1 so I think I was shooting classic chrome simulations then. Nowadays, I tend to use ProNeg Hi as the base film with DR400, ISO800 and EV +1/3 – 2/3rd but that very much depends on the light I’m dealing with. The images below are from today and these were taken at the same basic settings as above but with EV 0. I was using ProNeg Hi with a custom white balance based on the ambient light and a grey card. I set the WB at the beginning of every shoot as well as if the light changes throughout the shoot. If I was taking these images again now, I would use EV +1/3 just to lift the expsore a little plus I would probably softent the shadows. I suspect with this recipe I am using Shadows +2 whereas I think for this lens, +1 would be better. Something to think about for next time.

I personally don’t chase pixel perfection in my images. I’m a child of the 60’s so my earliest photographic moments were with a Pentax KM with manual everything. Nowadays, I prefer my images to look look like they were taken on an old SLR rather than a super sophisticated digital camera. If I wanted that I’d buy a Sony.

The Viltrox 23mm f1.4 is something every Fuji shooter should have in their camera bag, whether you’re into landscape, candid or documentary. I personally wouldn’t use it for portraiture as I prefer a nifty 50mm or 85mm lens but it renders colours accurately so no reason why you couldn’t, especially for candid / street portraiture. The Viltrox coupled to the Fuji x-t1 is also something else. The x-t1 can’t compete with it’s younger sibblings e.g. the x-t3, x-t4, x100v or x-pro3 but my gosh, what a sweet camera to have with you when you’re out walking the streets. It compares nicely to my other favourite street camera, the Lumix GX-85 which when coupled to the 12-60mm is a dream boat of a date. These two cameras are simply amazing for street work but either will equally excell at portraiture or landscape given the right lens combo.

The Fuji x-t1. What’s not to like?

Posted on February 21, 2021February 22, 2021 by Webmaster

It’s no secret that I am a great fan of Fuji tech. I think that their X series in particular offers some amazing opportunities for photographers of all interests and abilities. Not only perfect in size, even the top of the range x-t4 is easy on the shoulder, but in operation too especially with those sexy retro dials and yester-year looks. Add to that the second-to-none jpeg engine every model of the x series has access to and we are talking special.

At the moment, my squeeze is the x-t1 pictured here. Old by today’s standards but no less a gold mine of useful functionality from the amazing viewfinder to it’s retro looks and styling. Show me another camera outside of the Fuji range, and I’m not an old-school SLR, that looks like this and I’ll (maybe) eat it. Now, don’t get me wrong, the x-t1 isn’t going to knock spots off even some of the lower end of the Sony range but that’s not the point. It’s a joy to use, a joy to experiment with and it produces some great images, especially jpeg’s SOOC despite its diminutive 16Mp X-Trans II sensor. Recent enhancements bought Classic Chrome to the firmware making it possible to get somewhere close to vintage Kodachrome styled jpeg’s albeit that a little bit of tweaking is required in post to add some grain and modify the tone curve very slightly to get the true film experience. That being said, there are plenty of SOOC jpeg’s that will pass muster “as is” especially in the right lighting conditions. My personal preference for achieving a true film look is shooting contra-jour, or against the light as this just seems to roll off the highlights in a way very similar to film.

With regards lenses, to-date I’ve persevered with the 18-55 f2.8-4 kit lens, although I actually bought mine seperately from the camera, the Samyang 12mm f2.0 which I bought for a interior photo shoot and the Viltrox 23mm F1.4 which I have had little opportunity to use at present. Other than these, the 16-80mm f4 definately interests me as well as maybe something a little longer. That being said, I haven’t felt that I am overly limited in any way because I tend to shoot documentary and candid so you’ll generally see the whites of their eyes when shooting.

In terms of outlay, the Fuji x-t1 cost me just £180 in perfect almost unused condition, and I picked up the 18-55 on Ebay for another £180. I also splashed out £130 on the battery grip from MBP as I’d read this makes the camera so much more useful on long shoots. All in all, I put this kit togther for just £490 which I feel is a good price for what is an amazing bit of kit. Since buying the x-t1 it’s been my primary camera despite the fact that for candid / documentary I loved using the diminutive Lumix GX-85 with go-to 12-60mm lens. That’s a great street camera by anyone’s standards and well worth looking out for if you like the idea of a touch screen and a great menu system.

Given that you can pick up the x-t1 for a song, especially if you already have a cupboard full of x-mount lenses, the x-t1 makes an ideal 2nd body or even a primary shooter if you’re on a tight budget. It’s a great way to get started with Fuji and I’m pretty sure that it won’t be the last Fuji you buy.

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