Brrrrr .... And another test

Once again, jonesing to get out and shoot in spite of the very cold temps in NYC today. And I needed more work with the new 50-140mm f2.8 lens. I'm hoping to take three zooms with me this Spring on my trip to Israel: the 10-24mm  f4, the new (still to be released) 16-55mm f2.8, and the long zoom.  They're all large lenses compared with the other Fuji zoom and fixed focal lengths, but relative to the huge Nikon lenses and body I used to shlep, this kit is easily handled.

Using the optical image stabilization on the long lens makes shooting at relatively slow shutter speeds very magageable, even with my old shaky hands. These were all shot at 140mm ( 210mm equiv) and 1/125 sec. shutter speed:

Shot with my favorite (at least till the new 16-55mm comes out) lens, the 10-24mm zoom:

As I walked down Fifth Avenue, there was something special about the light and reflections from the store windows that made this shot seem to glow:

A Heat Wave

Stuck indoors for over a week until the temperature hit 30°F today in NYC. So I packed up my camera bag and took a walk on Fifth avenue.

During my downtime I took the opportunity to try to understand how the Dynamic Range adjustment on the Fuji X-T1 affects exposure range. Most of the other effects adjustments will affect only the jpegs that are generated by the camera processor. But Dynamic Range determines how the sensor registers tonal ranges, so it affects RAW images also. There is a significant difference between DR100 and DR400 in how tones are mapped by the sensor. I need to play more with the functionality to get comfortable with it.

I shot the whole time with the 50-140mm lens. It's a focal range that I'm not at all comfortable using, so it's going to take quite a bit of practice. I need to 'see' images happening quite a bit farther away from me than I'm used to. And I need to be a bit more patient and steady when I shoot. Quite a few of the images I shot today were slightly blurred because I was too quick in moving the camera after I pushed the shutter. Since I use the optical image stabilization, which works quite well with this lens, even though the image is frozen, if the shutter speed is slow - like 1/30 or slower - the camera still has to be kept steady. It's one of the three lenses I expect to be taking to Israel in the Spring, and even though it will probably be the least used of the three, I need to be completely comfortable with it.

My best shot of the day - with the flattened perspective and the very limited scenic area around the subject, it's quite a bit different from my usual street shots:

Frigid Days

Temps in the teens and wind chill below zero! It's tough to walk to my car, let alone walk the streets of Manhattan. I'm going a bit stir crazy. Jonesing to do some shooting, but it'll have to wait until next week I guess. I went back through my catalog to look at pics from warmer days. These two were from October in the area around Union Square.

Druggies calling their dealer for a delivery:

Dry run:

Hanukkah at 770

It's been a busy week for me. There have been quite a few menorah lightings and Hanukkah parties around New York City, quite a few sponsored by Chabad. Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit Chabad World Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn to photograph the lighting of the menorah on the sixth night. Since it was a Sunday there were quite a few kids in attendance, many of whom had just come from parties.

Busy Week Coming Up

This coming week begins the festival of Hanukkah. A lesser Jewish holiday (there is no Jewish holiday that celebrates any military victory) that celebrates the miracle of lights in the Temple after the defeat of the Greek Antiochus by the Maccabees. There'll be many celebrations around New York City with the lighting of menorim (menorahs), and festivities with children. The only relation it has to the Christian holiday of Christmas is that it occurs at about the same time of year. That's it. There's no spiritual or material connection between the two, no matter what any touchy feely new age philosophy may espouse. I'm looking forward to photographing many of the celebrations.

This is a set of pics of the people out doing their Christmas shopping. Makes for superb pickings for a street photographer.

Fuji 50-140mm Zoom Part 2

Well, this is really not a continuation of yesterday's blog in which I posted a number of test shots and the metadata from my test run with the new zoom lens. Today, three of the same shots after my conversion to B/W in Silver Efex Pro2. Doing some detailed work on the images gave me the chance to see just how wonderful the RAW images were:

Fuji 50-140mm Zoom Field Test

I braved the chilly temperature in NYC this afternoon to take the new Fuji 50-140mm f2.8 zoom lens onto the streets to give it a shakedown test. Yes, this lens is bigger and heavier than what a typical Fuji shooter may be accustomed to. I found that the tripod collar, even though it is quite lightweight, was an annoyance. It got in the way of being able to adjust the zoom ring, so off it came. The focus is fast and quiet, and the optical image stabilization (OIS) works quietly and is a great boon for an old guy with less than steady hands. I usually shoot with focal lengths of 10-50mm, so using this lens was an adjustment for me. As fast as the focus is, it just doesn't respond as quickly as a wide angle lens. And I found I have to anticipate shots more than I'm used to.

There was no attempt to do wonderful street shooting. The first five sets below are the same shot - first without OIS, then with OIS. Following that are thirteen random images I shot just to test the focus speed and lens acuity. The only post-processing was color balance adjustment. No exposure or noise adjustments. All shots were in RAW format, converted to jpg by Lightroom upon export. All shots were made between 5 and 6pm at the intersection of Broadway and 34th street. The focal lengths are all in APS-C format.

Set 1: 140mm, f8, 1/125 sec., the first shot at ISO 800, the second at 640. When I zoom in the second of the two is noticeably sharper:

Set 2: 140mm, f8, 1/30 sec., both ISO 200. No need to zoom in to see the second is sharper at this shutter speed.

Set 3: ISO 200, 140mm, 1/30 sec. the first is at f5 and the second is at f4.5:

Set 4: both images at ISO 200, 140mm, f6.4, 1/15 sec.:

Set 5: ISO 200, 140mm, f10, 1/8 sec.:

After those tests, I set the camera in my usual mode: Auto ISO, priority. OIS was on for all.  

ISO 6400, 140mm, f5.6, 1/60 sec:

ISO 800, 140mm, f5.6, 1/125 sec:

ISO 1600, 140mm, f5.6, 1/125 sec:

ISO 6400, 130mm, f11, 1/40 sec:

 

ISO 6400, 140mm, f11, 1/50 sec:

ISO 6400, 140mm, f11, 1/35 sec:

ISO 6400, 140mm, f2.8, 1/80 sec:

ISO 200, 140mm, f2.8, 1/160 sec:

ISO 2000, 77mm, f2.8, 1/125 sec:

 

ISO 6400, 84mm, f2.8, 1/80 sec:

ISO 6400, 140mm, f2.8, 1/110 sec:

ISO 1250, 59mm, f2.8, 1/125 sec:

ISO 2000, 140mm, f2.8, 1/125 sec: