usher99@xxxxxxx wrote:
> ............. The XA sounds like it would be fun to use though need to check
> on the diopter issue and worried about the fixed FL.
There is no diopter adjustment, but it's not the same problem as in an
SLR, since the rangefinder focus works quite differently. On the other
hand, I can't see the whole frame with my glasses on, and have to move
my head around a bit for exact framing. No parallax correction either.
Still love it.
> Moose's double digit OM is attractive, though might be too large. More than a
> couple list members like the F30. I don't recall that it does auto
> bracketing. This would a quick way to ensure no blown highlights. Much to
> consider. Thanks again.
There is no exposure bracketing. I had to look, because I wouldn't have
been using it anyway. Pretty much anything buried in the menus isn't
going to get much use by me. And Fuji encourages that by having two
different menus. The F button brings up a simple menu for iso, JPEG
size/quality and picture quality. Since I never change the bottom two,
it is simply an iso button for me. the other menus, accessed with the
Menu button, I hardly ever visit. Pretty unusual for a P&S, no menus
navigation needed for most uses.
I've generally done my own exposure bracketing - see below.
Parenthetically, I'm impressed with the way Fuji tuned this camera up
ergonomically from the F10 to the F30 version. on the F10, iso was the
second choice on the F menu and moving it to the top is a great help.
Also, they took EV compensation out of the menu and put it on a button -
VERY nice!
Those two changes are of more practical, day to day importance to me in
using it than the addition of "manual" control of aperture/shutter
settings. Of course, it isn't really manual, it's really AE and AS; you
still have to use the EV button to change exposure, but the additional
control is useful nonetheless.
Winsor Crosby wrote:
> A histogram would be useful with a camera that has a reputation for
> inconsistent metering and limited dynamic range.
Indeed, a live histogram would make this a just about perfect tiny camera.
On the other hand, it does have live view that fairly accurately
reflects the tonal/exposure it will create and spot metering. So for
many of the shots I take where capture range is an issue, I can simply
aim it to get the apparent exposure I want on the LCD, push the shutter
release half way, re-frame and shoot. The spot metering means I usually
don't have to move the frame far to alter the exposure. That is, by the
way, how I have done most of my exposure bracketing, even with the EV
button on the F30. It's so much quicker and more intuitive, for me, than
adjusting the EV - and it doesn't affect the next shot if I forget to
reset it. :-)
I agree that the F30 is a less perfect nice light snapshot camera than
some others in it's general size/price class. BUT, used knowledgeably,
it is capable of things they aren't. Funny how folks will eschew a
digicam for a DSLR, and keep it off the all auto settings to use their
knowledge and experience to control what they can do, but knock a mini
cam that allows greater than normal control of results, at the expense
of learning how to use it.
With the F10, I often bracketed exposures, both to get a best and to get
high and low ones to combine for wide contrast range scenes. I've posted
a number of samples of combo shots like that, some I think, rather good.
I was prepared to do the same thing with the F30 when I discovered that
Fuji had changed their JPEG process is a quite significant way. With the
F10, if you shot to avoid blowing highlights in a high contrast
situation, shadow detail got clipped, hence the need to also take a shot
exposed for the shadows.
With the F30, shadow detail is compressed down at the bottom of the
histogram, not partially compressed and partially discarded. This,
combined with the ultra low noise at the isos usually involved with high
contrast outdoor scenes. means that one may shoot to the right to
protect highlights - and recover shadow detail in post if desired.
Early in my use of the F30, I did my usual, shooting high and low, for a
scene with high contrast. When I went in to play combine games, I found
to my surprise that I didn't need to do that. Even though the low shot
had a fair amount of blank space at the top of the histogram, the whole
tonal range was present. Converting to 16 bit first, I got what I wanted
from the single shot. I know I have posted this before, but it still
reminds me of the excitement of the discovery I made with it. Take a
look at the histogram on the overlay image
<http://galleries.moosemystic.net/Summita/pages/DSCF1135a.htm>. And look
at the next shot, which shows an even greater range of tonality in an
apparently underexposed shot Straight from the camera, it's a dead loss,
processed, it shows a very diverse range of tonal detail. Of course,
I've learned a bit since, and don't tend to overdo "shoot to the right"
and end up really underexposing.
So much of the noise about the F30 focused on the low light capability,
and it is amazing. But the combination of really low noise at lower isos
and an altered JPEG process (That has to be intentional, doesn't it?)
add capabilities that many P&Ss, and especially the now hot 8 and 10 mp
ones with noticeable noise at heir lowest isos, can't touch.
So ya got yer cherce, good brainless snaps, or use your brain and expand
the possibilities. It is, by the way, capable of perfectly good sunny
snaps, if you keep your wits about you. That means to me generally keep
EV at -2/3 to -1 in outdoor bright sun and bringing it back up in
overcast or indoor conditions. Here's an early shot in direct sunlight
that looks OK at 1/3 under, but would have been better at -2/3. ShadowHi
saves the day <http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/MPhotos/Home/Berries.htm>.
In more delicate circumstances, -2/3 holds the detail in the backlighted
petals nicely. No shadowHi used here. Base image is only downsized,
otherwise right out of the camera. Notice the subtle tonal qualities in
the veins of the petal and the shadows both. I think this camera got a
bad rap <http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/MPhotos/Home/Sunsprite.htm>.
> Mike
>
>
>
>
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