The Fuji X Files

I had a chance over the weekend to download the trial version of Lightroom 4.3 from Adobe's website. I'm looking at RAW Conversion software for the tricky X10 RAW files (Fuji call them RAF files), and had hit a brick wall with all of the options I personally owned (see last post). Except for a very brief stint several years ago, I've never been a Lightroom user - choosing Aperture instead. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and maybe Apple wasn't the way to go, but they were the first to come out with a 'Pro' RAW conversion application, and I was an early adopter. So I've stayed with them all the way through. But now it seems that they have lagged too far behind, offering no RAW support for the X10 (and an apparently inferior RAW processing engine, depending on who you listen to)? So I downloaded Lightoom, to see if it offers better support for the X10. Lightroom and Fuji RAF files - a beautiful thing. The above image speaks volumes! Finally, RAW suc...

One of the things 'real' photographers (as opposed to fake plastic ones?) look for in a compact camera is the ability to shoot in RAW. All top-end compact cameras now have this ability, and the Fuji X10 is no exception. However, as anyone who has owned a few different cameras from a few different systems will tell you - RAW is not created equal. In fact, no two RAW codes are the same. So, the RAW image from a Nikon D90 is different from the RAW image in a Nikon D80, which is different from the RAW code in a Nikon D200, which is different from.... you get the idea. This is why software like Lightroom and Aperture get frequent updates - to include all the new RAW coding for all the new cameras. This often means a 'lag' period before the new RAW code is reverse engineered and sent out to everyone, so early adopters of new cameras beware - you may not be able to process that RAW file in your preferred software for a few weeks (months) while the software engineers figure i...

Without wanting to tell you all how to 'suck eggs' (as the saying goes), what follows is a brief description of how I have initially set up the Fuji X10 for shooting. Of course the usual caveats apply - this is my shooting style, my output decisions, my workflow... blah, blah, blah. You get the idea. So what follows, for what it's worth, should be taken with a grain of salt. But it might help some who are setting their camera up for the first time, at least as a starting point into developing their own shooting style? Shooting info on the back on the X10 First, I always shoot in 'A' - Aperture priority. Why? It's a throwback from shooting on film and with DSLR's I suppose - but I think in apertures (specifically for control over depth of field - 'dof'). Now I'm aware that due to the smaller sensor in the X10 (which, although large for a 'point-and-shoot', is still relatively small compared to the APS-C sized sensors in a DSL...

In another month I will have shot my last wedding (yeah)! Don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed shooting weddings over the last five years. But it's also fairly stressful, time consuming, and not always what it's cracked up to be. So I've made the decision to end this season. That in and of itself is momentous enough. But I've also decided to retire my DSLR kit, in favor of the Fuji X10. After the last wedding is done, I'm selling off my wedding gear, so there's no chance of me 'coming out of retirement' to shoot one last wedding for a friend of a friend (which I was asked about just this week). My new Fuji X10. Sexy Why the Fuji X10? Well, I wanted something un-DSLR like - but still with DSLR controls (if that makes sense). I wanted something small and retro, but with a decent sensor, and a good zoom range. And something that looked cool as well - let's not deny the 'cool' factor in a camera :-) Finally, it had to fit ...