taking a knife to a gun fight...

back alley · 07-01-2011

had my first outing with the x100 today...the 'silly summer' parade celebrating canada day...

these 3 were on the way to the parade...

it was a quick shot though they did stop to let me take it.

'one man float'...he was coming right at me...

i was surprise that this one is sharp, i just plunged the released w/o waiting for the 'green light'.

these 2 mounties were pleased to pose...

a heavily cropped shot...

i doubt that i would use the x100 at another parade...it felt very clumsy and extremely slow in my hands...in fact i am surprised that my shots turned out at all but they are all sharp...none are very good 'art' wise but as far as a first outing and getting to know the camera it was a good day.
it is slower than i would like and many of the shots i took have the action just leaving the frame...i need to learn the timing of the x100 as it is very different from my rangefinders.

tomorrow i will bring it to the farmer's market and see what we can do together, in a familiar and slower moving setting.

FrankS · 07-01-2011

So was it shutter lag that slowed you down or being unfamiliar with the camera?
Remember, I called dibs when you decide to sell.

back alley · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankS

So was it shutter lag that slowed you down or being unfamiliar with the camera?
Remember, I called dibs when you decide to sell.

no shutter lag...focus lag.
and the battery died way too quickly...

plus unfamiliarity with the camera.
shooting with the rd1 was probably a mistake till i know the x100 better.

ItsReallyDarren · 07-01-2011

Great picture of the mounties. A much better way to ride a horse compared to the horse on a stick I used as a kid.

back alley · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by ItsReallyDarren

Great picture of the mounties. A much better way to ride a horse compared to the horse on a stick I used as a kid.

thanks darren!
kids and parades are made for each other...

coelacanth · 07-01-2011

Joe,

I find using AEL/AFL button as AFL only and keeping focus for multiple shots works well. Also you can set to MF and use AFL button to AF (shutter release button remains MF).

Love that kids shot with ranger hats.

back alley · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by coelacanth

Joe,

I find using AEL/AFL button as AFL only and keeping focus for multiple shots works well. Also you can set to MF and use AFL button to AF (shutter release button remains MF).

Love that kids shot with ranger hats.

i bought the x100 to use as an auto everything camera and the less fiddling i have to do, the better.

the kids were cute, thanks.

mwooten · 07-01-2011

Those are really nice joe, and I truly love those Mountie hats.

back alley · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwooten

Those are really nice joe, and I truly love those Mountie hats.

thanks!!

i can't complain about the image quality...

Jamie Pillers · 07-01-2011

Joe,
One thing I would recommend that helps with the speed of operation. As you've found out, the camera 'goes to sleep' fairly quickly if its not making pictures. So I do what i used to do with my ricoh cameras... I've developed a kind of nervous habit of half pressing the shutter button every couple of minutes. I hardly notice that I do it anymore. This keeps the camera awake and ready to go.

back alley · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamie Pillers

Joe,
One thing I would recommend that helps with the speed of operation. As you've found out, the camera 'goes to sleep' fairly quickly if its not making pictures. So I do what i used to do with my ricoh cameras... I've developed a kind of nervous habit of half pressing the shutter button every couple of minutes. I hardly notice that I do it anymore. This keeps the camera awake and ready to go.

i do that with the rd1...with the x100 i kept it awake by turning all the battery saver stuff off, but then the battery died half way through the shoot.

Roger Hicks · 07-01-2011

Nothing to do with the pics -- which I thought were technically good and artistically a very long way from poor (Frances was quite impressed too) -- but the title reminded me of an ex-Hell's Angel chum. We all know that if it's a fist fight you bring knives, and if it's a knife fight you bring a shooter, but he and his mates knew they'd be up against guns. So as well as the shooters they brought a dozen hand grenades...

What would the photographic equivalent be? Noctilux vs. Summarit? Thambar vs. first generation Summicron? Elmarit-M 135/2,8 against 90/4 Elmar? Not, by the look of it, X100 vs RD-1.

Cheers,

R.

RayPA · 07-01-2011

The shots look really good. The color, DR, and WB look great. If you get a chance, open up the lens at the framer's market shoot. I think the lens really gets magical at f2.

Did you shoot with AF-S or AF-C?

I was disappointed with the battery life after my first shoot with it. I've since set up the camera to use less power, but I still carry an extra battery.

I do the same as Jamie. I keep the camera awake by tapping the shutter release.

/

back alley · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by RayPA

The shots look really good. The color, DR, and WB look great. If you get a chance, open up the lens at the framer's market shoot. I think the lens really gets magical at f2.

Did you shoot with AF-S or AF-C?

I was disappointed with the battery life after my first shoot with it. I've since set up the camera to use less power, but I still carry an extra battery.

I do the same as Jamie. I keep the camera awake by tapping the shutter release.
/

thanks ray. i used af-s.
i think most of these were at iso 400, shot at 5.6 mostly.
i'll try some tomorrow at a lower iso and at 2.

i'm thinking the camera will be better suited for a slower moving event.

RayPA · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by back alley

thanks ray. i used af-s.
i think most of these were at iso 400, shot at 5.6 mostly.
i'll try some tomorrow at a lower iso and at 2.

Also, try auto-ISO and aperture priority.

/

back alley · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by RayPA

Also, try auto-ISO and aperture priority.

/

these were aperure priority.
why auto iso?

back alley · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roger Hicks

Nothing to do with the pics -- which I thought were technically good and artistically a very long way from poor (Frances was quite impressed too) -- but the title reminded me of an ex-Hell's Angel chum. We all know that if it's a fist fight you bring knives, and if it's a knife fight you bring a shooter, but he and his mates knew they'd be up against guns. So as well as the shooters they brought a dozen hand grenades...

What would the photographic equivalent be? Noctilux vs. Summarit? Thambar vs. first generation Summicron? Elmarit-M 135/2,8 against 90/4 Elmar? Not, by the look of it, X100 vs RD-1.

Cheers,

R.

i always think of that line from sean connery in the al capone movie...

robklurfield · 07-01-2011

Joe, if you hadn't told us the camera was slowing you down, no one would have known from these nice images. I suspect half the battle is getting used to a the feel of a new tool/toy in your hands. Of course, with your record of moving from one piece of gear to the next, who knows whether this one will stay long enough .... Anyway, some great work here.

Harry S. · 07-01-2011

I see what you mean. I took my camera out yesterday while visiting my friend and her 18month old son. Little kids are never easy to photography but i was really fumbling with the X100. Lost of missed focus and I found it hard to quickly adjust the ISO on the fly. I think It just comes down to familiarity, the IQ is there.

Warren T. · 07-01-2011

Hey Joe, nice shots! I agree w/Ray, nice color, clarity, WB, DR, etc. So how many shots and/or hours did you get out of the one battery? (just curious)

...must...resist...GAS

--Warren

RayPA · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warren T.

...must...resist...GAS

--Warren

Ha! Warren, have you held one yet?

/

Warren T. · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by RayPA

Ha! Warren, have you held one yet?

/

no, not yet, i don't even want to be in the same room as one

.

--W

back alley · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warren T.

no, not yet, i don't even want to be in the same room as one

.

--W

as nice as the 20 is on the g1...this lens is better.

back alley · 07-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warren T.

Hey Joe, nice shots! I agree w/Ray, nice color, clarity, WB, DR, etc. So how many shots and/or hours did you get out of the one battery? (just curious)

...must...resist...GAS

--Warren

hard to say warren...i have been playing with the camera since monday, trying to learn it...i do know there were 3 bars (full battery) indicator when i started the day and within a few minutes it was down to 2...so clearly i had used a bit of juice prior to the start of today.

the image quality is hard to argue with...these are jegs, with a bit of tweaking...raw will have to wait till i buy a copy of lightroom.

Richard G · 07-01-2011

Auto ISO is great with this camera, although unnecessary for that parade. Harry mentioned the tedium of adjusting ISO indoors with kids - much better to set ISO to two hundred, put it on auto ISO and set the upper limit, the high ISO is so good. Even for another day out in the sun, if you like 400, still set it at 200 with auto ISO and then dial in your minimum acceptable shutter speed. That might be 250 for street shots, but if you do want to try wide apertures the camera will drop from the 400 it probably would have selected for the shot of those three girls down to 200. It's important because at f2 and f2.8 your maximum shutter speed is 1/1000s and you get 1/2000 max for f4 and f5.6 with 1/4000 only available for f8 and smaller. The other thing you can do with 1/250 and f5.6 is focus on something at the hyper focal distance, make the AFL/AEL button a focus lock button only and it's your rangefinder set up exactly. The auto ISO Is great for shooters like my daughter who just want to choose f16 and 1/125 regardless of the light. This is not a slow camera. Do keep it.