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11-04-2012, 01:22 PM   #2146
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Rupert and Stormtech (and anyone else) - Glad to provide! Shoulda provided sooner, I honestly thought people know about the Adobe stand-alone DNG converter because...because...doesn't everyone know all the stuff I know? I mean, really? ;D Being able to use the RAW capability of the X100 makes it into a professional machine, truly.

WillH - TY! I've wanted to get a "dramatic skies" shot with that 'Wicked' poster for *months*.

darrenleow - Ha! It didn't want to leave you I'm starting to think the X100 has the same mind-bending powers the DA15Ltd. does - The X100 Controls My Mind :P I actually had a detailed dream last night that I put my X100 on the market and bought one of the super cheap K-01s...and woke up really sad LOL!

ve2vfd - Welcome! Mwa ha ha ha - another X100 has found a victim, er, champion A word to the wise regarding the f/2 setting - at f/2 the X100 gets significantly softer, almost as if its a portrait setting (and I use it for that deliberately). If you want to retain sharpness, realize that you don't have to jump all the way to f/2.8, where the DOF really is noticeably different. You can use the weird little toggle under your right thumb at the top right of the back of the camera to electronically adjust aperture in smaller jumps than the aperture ring. Start at f/2.8 and toggle down to f/2.2 (annoyingly, the camera will forget you're on f/2.2 if you switch to macro or if it goes to sleep - I've gotten very automatic about re-selecting it when needed) F/2.2 is really sharp, but still lets you get almost-f/2 shots, as far as DOF and light collection goes.

ITA about the black and white rendering. I shoot 90% of my shots in black and white on the 'green' filter setting and dynamic range at 400% and the shots almost never need a thing - they are all stellar. Crisp resolution, creamy transitions, every corner of the photo full of light but no blown highlights - it's just a joy to shoot in monochrome. On these settings, it's the poor man's Leica Monochrom My personal tendency with BW post processing (and most of what I shoot is intended to be in BW) is to go with very deep blacks (though not overall dark images), so the X100 makes me look at BW a different way. It's good for me Here's my favorite shot illustrating the phenomenal ability of the X100's BW settings to capture light....where there is no light. No blown highlights, just tons of detail and a glow I can't reproduce elsewhere.




stormtech - TY for the compliment! This Seattle from the Street project has been ongoing and one I've really gotten into. So many of our amazing natural vistas in Seattle are best seen..from the freeway at 60mph. Inconvenient for photography! I can't really set on I5 and shoot these glorious landscapes, so I decided to go in the opposite direction - rather than 'landscape photography' I'd shoot 'street photography' and make it as gritty as the city actually feels on a rainy, urban landscape kinda day. All the photos and rambling er documentation are on my photoblog, here.

My favorite of them all thus far is Rainier set against the industrial-scape of the Duamish river:


A close second is this shot from the west Seattle bridge looking at the Port of Seattle cranes (I have a Thing For Cranes):


11-04-2012, 03:54 PM   #2147
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Very nice!
11-04-2012, 04:04 PM   #2148
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ecaterin Quote
My favorite of them all thus far is Rainier set against the industrial-scape of the Duamish river:


A close second is this shot from the west Seattle bridge looking at the Port of Seattle cranes (I have a Thing For Cranes):
All too familiar. I have to frequent that end of town on occasion. I would really like to get in there and get some snaps of those crans from a higher elevation than the ground. No way of course. But today I'd be scared to walk on the public sidewalk next to the Port and point my camera in that direction at the same time, seriously!

Last edited by tuco; 11-04-2012 at 04:13 PM.
11-04-2012, 04:07 PM   #2149
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QuoteOriginally posted by tuco Quote
All too familiar. I have to frequent that end of town on occasion. I would really like to get in there and shoot some of those crans from a higher elevation than the ground. No way of course. But I'd even be scared to walk on the public sidewalk next to the Port and point my camera in that direction at the same time.
Agreed! The best shot I had at photographing the cranes was with the Tamron 55b 500/1000mm lens. I stood on one of the piers and shot at 1000mm f/16 and got some lovely shots. With that lens, you could shoot from just about anywhere with enough clearance for a good view

11-05-2012, 07:28 AM   #2150
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Ec......I truly love that crane shot, the colors and "texture" of the shot is fantastic! I might spend some time cloning out the wires. however, I would wait until the little birdie was gone.

Regards!
11-05-2012, 08:39 AM   #2151
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ecaterin Quote
A word to the wise regarding the f/2 setting - at f/2 the X100 gets significantly softer
QuoteOriginally posted by stormtech Quote
Awesome set of pics Pat - looks like the X100 fits you well!
Thanks! Yes, I think the X100 is working out quite well for me!


QuoteOriginally posted by WillH Quote
Great photos Pat! The last one would be grand in color! I like color!
Thanks! I also took the same pic in colour, but I found the BW one to appear more dramatic.


QuoteOriginally posted by Ecaterin Quote
A word to the wise regarding the f/2 setting - at f/2 the X100 gets significantly softer
Indeed, yet I find the f2 setting already pretty darn sharp... thanks for the info, I found out about the little toggle quite by accident, but it seems to work ok... I would have preferred a thumb-wheel but meh... My messing around has also concluded that the BW with green filter is the most pleasing for a decent contrast. I am shocked at how "non muddy" the in camera B/W's are. Thats a great tunnel shot btw! wow!


Pat
11-05-2012, 08:48 AM   #2152
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QuoteOriginally posted by Rupert Quote
Ec......I truly love that crane shot, the colors and "texture" of the shot is fantastic! I might spend some time cloning out the wires. however, I would wait until the little birdie was gone.

Regards!
Thank you, Rupert! Took me an hour to ease my way through a bunch of different techniques to eke that texture and color out, and I ADORE the effect! So I'm reeeally glad it's appealing to others as well.

As one of the 'From the Street' set, it gets to have all its ugly wires and lamp standards and such...though this one is so clean otherwise, it would be easy to re-tool it as a clean Port of Seattle shot, and I keep coming back to it, trying to decide if I'll do just that.

For years I've shot in this city going, "Damnit, if I could just remove THE INFRASTRUCTURE, this would be a fabulous shot!" Part of my 180 on this project is saying, "The reality is, the infrastructure of the city is our frame for all the beauty, both natural and man made. I shall include it, loud and clear!" It goes against the photographer soul, doesn't it?

I've recently decided to start a new series that is JUST about wires and what we see through them. Between electric, telephone and electric-bus cables, some of our niftiest historic buildings can only be seen through a tangle of wires. I was looking up at one of them last week going, "If only there was LESS INFRASTRUCTURE...oh wait! Ah ha!" So now I'm going around, noting every place there's an obnoxious snarl of wires with something worth photographing beyond it.

We have to live with the practical ugliness of infrastructure every day, and get used to tuning it out. I'm trying to see it, and see something in it. I figure that's good for the photographer soul as well, even though it's occasionally uncomfortable. GET THOSE WIRES OUTTA MY SHOT!

Here's the best "Rainier Snagged in Power" shots I've gotten so far - over there, deep in, on the left :P:



.

11-05-2012, 08:53 AM   #2153
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QuoteOriginally posted by ve2vfd Quote
My messing around has also concluded that the BW with green filter is the most pleasing for a decent contrast. I am shocked at how "non muddy" the in camera B/W's are. Thats a great tunnel shot btw! wow!


Pat
The ironic part is that with real BW film a green filter is seldom used by most people, I'd say. I shoot BW film and these BW filters in software people use are not too accurate to what you get with the real thing ( I have plenty of examples).

That's why you want to edit your RAW. More dynamic range can be had than OOC JPEG and you can adjust the contrast curve to taste which is what BW is all about.

Last edited by tuco; 11-05-2012 at 11:30 AM.
11-05-2012, 11:23 AM   #2154
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QuoteOriginally posted by ve2vfd Quote
Indeed, yet I find the f2 setting already pretty darn sharp... thanks for the info, I found out about the little toggle quite by accident, but it seems to work ok... I would have preferred a thumb-wheel but meh... My messing around has also concluded that the BW with green filter is the most pleasing for a decent contrast. I am shocked at how "non muddy" the in camera B/W's are. Thats a great tunnel shot btw! wow!

Pat
The toggle is weird, isn't it?? It does one other thing that I like - it changes the size of the focus point in EVF - makes it bigger or smaller. Getting that focus point down as small as you can really increases the accuracy of shallow DOF focus!

And YES! Isn't it weird that the *green* filter produces the best results in BW? When I'm processing from a color RAW in Silver Efex, I only rarely use the green filter (to bring out lips or green eyes, primarily) and it looks very different from the X100's version. But whatever settings get us the best results, I say!

The BW on the X100 has such completely *creamy* gradations of gray, doesn't it? The shots are completely crisp, even at higher ISOs. When I'm shooting friends and family in a low-light environment, I know I'll get *everything,* all details, esp. if Dynamic Range is set at 400%. Love it.

TY on the tunnel shot compliment. I love that shot! That's one of our train/bus stops in the transit tunnel here in Seattle. The way the X100 captured the lovely lines of the ceiling is so beautifully complimented by how it renders THE LIGHTS! I love the lights!
11-05-2012, 02:48 PM   #2155
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Hey X10 owners - Rupert, Will, grainbelt, KGH, and others I might be overlooking....

Since selling my X10, I still have the Ergonomic Extension kit. I figured it wouldn't get much activity trying to sell it here in the Marketplace, so I thought I would see if any of you folks might be interested before I list it on eBay. Send me a PM if you might be interested - I'll basically sell it to our members in this thread for basically 1/2 price of new.

Last edited by photolady95; 04-17-2016 at 01:50 AM.
11-05-2012, 04:48 PM   #2156
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QuoteOriginally posted by Rupert Quote
Wow! That's gorgeous...it would make a great large print, and brighten up any room! Love it!

Regards!
QuoteOriginally posted by tuco Quote
Nice seasonal picture!
Thanks! It now resides on my desktop wallpaper....maybe a large print to come.
11-05-2012, 08:23 PM   #2157
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Stan...Thanks, but I like my little X10 plain vanilla....although I would prefer a silver top and bottom plate. Offer appreciated anyhow!

Ec.....I spent most of a day cloning out hundreds of wires and poles crossing this shot several years ago. It now hangs in the office of one of the richest men in Texas......right there in one of those tall buildings, so I guess it was worth it.
[IMG] [/IMG]

Problem: I can't get that Adobe DNG converter to convert my X10 Raw files....any answers as to why?

Regards!
11-05-2012, 09:06 PM   #2158
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QuoteOriginally posted by Rupert Quote

Problem: I can't get that Adobe DNG converter to convert my X10 Raw files....any answers as to why?

Regards!
I got it to work - when I select the folder containing the raw files, I don't see any of the image files which is weird. Anyway, after selecting the folder where the Fuji raw files are, and the screen is blank (not showing the individual images or files), I then hit the "select" button - then a new window opened up and it showed the raw files being converted one by one. That worked for me but.....I then went the open the dng file in DxO, and it caused DxO to hang...and hang....until I had to kill DxO with the task manager. I've never had DxO hang like that and I have edited other dng files with it. But I was able to edit the dng files in Acdsee.
11-05-2012, 09:29 PM   #2159
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stormtech & Rupert - Hmm, neither of those things happen to me BUT I'm using the application on a Mac Powerbook, and Adobe provides different hot and cold running bugs for each operating system!

In Mac OS it's simple - I open the DNG converter, choose the folder I have the raw files in, click the button and away they go. It'll convert dozens of files in less than a minute and the DNGs open right up in Elements. An earlier version of the DNG converter did something annoying - it would convert *all but the last file* - then it would hang and hang. I'd have to trick it by sticking whatever file got stuck in a new folder with another random RAF file and running the converter again. I was very happy when they fixed that! The current Mac OS version is working perfectly.

Looking at people's complaints on the Adobe discussion boards, this is happening elsewhere for Windows users. I wonder if an *earlier* version would work more reliably for you guys? DNG Converter has recognized and converted Fuji files for many versions now, so you can roll back to an earlier version and it'll do our files. I'd try this for you guys till I hit on one that worked, but I don't have a Windows machine in the house any more!

Here is the page with the earlier versions (you want Adobe DNG Converter, not the Camera Raw update....unless you've got a newer version of Photoshop/Lightroom, in which case the Camera Raw plugin update is your oyster!)

If someone wants to take the time to experiment, the rest of the Fuji folks would, I dunno, undoubtedly shower you with adoration LOL!

Rupert - WOW ON YOUR SKYSCRAPERS PHOTO!

.
11-06-2012, 09:15 AM   #2160
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Rupert.............a stunning skyscraper image...........I hope you signed it...
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