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Posts Tagged ‘X100s’

Photography, Travel | 0 comment

Washington DC – Capitol Dome

©TimeLine Media - US Capitol Dome at night

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Capitol Dome in Washington, DC. I had no idea this milestone was this close, but I have been taking many photos of the building lately. There are plans to completely cover the dome with scaffolding for the next 2 years because of the deteriorating conditions of the structure.

Capitol Dome

©TimeLine Media - US Capitol Dome at night
©TimeLine Media – US Capitol Dome at night

A story published on CBS News’ 60 Minutes program last night had a lot more photography from inside the dome and flyovers above the building. I know that the time will pass quickly, but I want to get as many photos as I can before the dome is covered. These photos were from a recent walk on Capitol Hill in the early evening with the Fuji X100s. The camera continues to perform very well for me!

©TimeLine Media - US Capitol Building at night
©TimeLine Media – US Capitol Building at night

Being that scaffolding is planned for the dome, wedding photographers have posted their concerns about photos around the city for the next couple of years. Indeed, it will be another way to mark this time in DC history. Additionally it will be completed by the time we inaugurate the next president. Progress and democracy will keep rolling on in our city.

©TimeLine Media - US Capitol Building at night
©TimeLine Media – US Capitol Building at night

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Family, Personal, Photography, Portrait, Technology | 0 comment

Thanksgiving with the X100s

©TimeLine Media - Thanksgiving apple tart

The Thanksgiving holiday presented another opportunity for me to learn more about using the FujiFilm X100s. This mirror-less camera was the only camera I took with me while visiting family. Traveling with this much smaller camera was very freeing! I did not have to keep track of gear, and it was much easier to move the camera around in right places like kitchens where lots of good food was prepared.

Food Photography

©TimeLine Media - Thanksgiving pancit
©TimeLine Media – Thanksgiving pancit 

On this trip, I specifically tried to use the built-in on-camera flash. There is a tiny rectangle above the lens where the stroboscopic light comes out of the body. This is different from many DSLRs with built-in flashes in that this does not “pop-up” above the lens. Seeing this setup, I thought that this would create problems with red-eyes because of the angle of the flash and lens were almost the same. This was the case, so I would not recommend using this for portraits. There is a hot-shoe slot on the top of the camera body, so I will try using an external flash unit with this body if I need to add light while photographing a lot of people.

Portrait Photography

©TimeLine Media - eating break
©TimeLine Media – eating break

It is possible to use a slow curtain sync with the flash in order to mix the flash with the ambient light.  In this case, the flash worked well to add some blur into motion-tracking photos. I can see this being useful where direct flash mixed with a bright background can add some creatively blurred photos much like the motorcycle photos. This would likely have to be done with a manual pre-focus on the subject since the auto focus tracking in the camera is very slow. In what I wanted to capture at family gatherings, this camera suited me just fine!

©TimeLine Media - Thanksgiving apple tart
©TimeLine Media – Thanksgiving apple tart

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Photography, Technology | 0 comment

First Impressions – FujiFilm X100s

©TimeLine Media - X100s in hotel ballroom

Alexandria, Virginia

The new Fuji X100s was the only camera I took with me to a fundraising dance event that we attended as guests. This is one of the hardest conditions to test a camera with very low available light in the ballroom. My first impressions of the camera was very positive, but it is also VERY different from using an SLR camera. For once, I did not have to carry around a huge camera body and lens with an attached flash much like this:

©TimeLine Media - X100s in hotel ballroom
©TimeLine Media – X100s in hotel ballroom

Mirrorless Camera

I brought  a camera that I could actually fit in my coat pocket! I did not need to have a strap, and it was so light to carry with me. Yes, there are a lot of compromises you have to make when using this camera. You do give up some performance when not carrying as much gear, but it almost makes up for it with the ease of carrying less. The above show was wide open at F/2.0 at ISO 4000. Considering how high the ISO, the skin tones still look good which is my biggest complaint of high ISO shooting. Another bonus of using these mirror-less cameras, is nearly silent operation. Because there is no mirror, you do not have a loud slap of the mirror and shutter curtain moving each time you take a photo. There is just a very quiet click when you press the shutter button – it is so quiet, the camera has a function to play a sound just to let you know that you took a photo!

©TimeLine Media - X100s in hotel ballroom
©TimeLine Media – X100s in hotel ballroom

This is perfect for making candid photos. For me, I can see this being very useful since I am not yet confident as to when the photo is actually taken with the camera. I end up firing 3-4 shots at one time. As with other point and shoot cameras, there is a slight lag in between pressing the shutter and the camera responding. Although it is not long, it does not seem as immediate as when shooting with a DSLR. Maybe as I get more experienced I will be better at know how and when to press the shutter. For now, it definitely cannot be used for an action subjects. Next, I will try the flash and flash commander functions to see how it shoots in more situations. I will only take this camera with me to Thanksgiving dinners to see more about what it can do!

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

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