Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Pentax K-01 / 18-55 kit / 135mm f2.5 Takumar Blues Bikes BBQ Fayetteville, AR 2013

Used reversal film for the shoot. I brought the Tak for the heck of it and found I really liked the way it renders. Most of the shots are with the kit lens but about a third are from the Takumar.



























Monday, September 16, 2013

University of Arkansas newly completed on campus construction taken with Fuji X-E1 w/ 35mm f1.4 XF lens

Vol Walker Hall showing old library/re-purposed as architecture building with new addition, on area.
Marlon Blackwell designed addition to old library/re-purposed architecture building

Founder's Hall, new student housing across from Kimpel on Ozark and Dickson. Great location for incoming students, no transportation should be needed for many classes as this is ground zero for incoming freshman.

New Hillside Auditorium topside entrance

Hillside Auditorium's northside

Thursday, September 12, 2013

University of Arkansas candids Fuji X-E1 35mm XF



I shot f1.4 indoors (why have it if you don't use it) but stopped down to f2.8 for this shot as 1/4000 isn't fast enough and I didn't have an ND filter. Still isolates the subject, which separates this camera from a small sensor point and shoot.














Fuji X-E1 35mm F1.4 XF

Spent part of the day on campus to give the Fuji X-E1 a decent trial. I miss the Leica X1 as a great walk around camera and decided to use the Fuji as it's replacement. The big difference is the Fuji's lens equates to a normal 50mm and the Leica was a normal-wide 35mm. I do like the 35mm's wider view but I wanted to see if I could compensate. Of course the Fuji is a faster lens (1.4 compared to 2.8) and it is not a fixed lens, so I can simply use a wider lens if I have the money to buy one. Here's a sample shot done twice. I shot all jpgs today. On this shot I did a bracket for HDR. The first example is one of three bracketed shots, which was cropped for effect and sharpened slightly. The second is the HDR with ghosts.
 All in all the camera and lens performed well. I'll be posting some shots from today over the next few days. For the price, the X-E1 with XF lens performs well. Out of camera shots are really good, especially when you stop down a bit. The f1.4 is a great tool and I love it for macro shots up close but the camera and lens are no Leica with Summilux but I didn't really expect it to be and for what it is and what it costs, it's very, very good. I did sell the X-Pro1 and kept the XE-1 because, subjectively, I liked it better. Part of it was based on price/performance but also part of it is based on the form factor. The X-E1 fits my hand nicely and is easy to carry around. I don't miss the real viewfinder much but I do use the electronic one a lot and am glad to have it.