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):