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F30 field study report

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Arn

Arn

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Hi.

http://www.pbase.com/arn/fuji_f30

This is the first edition of my "field study" of the F30. It was kind of a rush job, because I promised myself (and some other people) that it would be finished now. So, there will be typos... :) I will correct and update the text in the future. I hope to add a table of contents, more images and examples, better structure, etc. in the future. Your comments are of course welcome. I hope you find the text useful.

I guess the text is pretty long, so I'll write a short TOC here:
  • Contrast and exposure on F30
  • Metering
  • White balance
  • Sharpness and detail, barrel distortion
  • Chrome color
  • Blue / magenta fringing
  • PTlens settings for fixing CA
  • fixing other fringing
  • Some scene modes
Scene mode: text
Scene mode: portrait
Scene mode: landscape
  • Compared to a DSLR
  • What's in favor of the DSLR
  • What's not so hot on a DSLR
  • My post processing workflow for F30 (in order of execution):
  • B&W conversion in post processing
--
pics: http://www.pbase.com/arn
 
Thanks Arn, much we agree on, doing noise reduction first (I feel validated on my NI settings when you shared yours, very very close) as well as your order of steps in photo shop.

I too feel the scenic modes as well as the chrome modes are virtually worthless for all the reasons you mentioned. The only time I have gotten anything valuable with chrome was when the flash was on, but still didtn like it better then normal.

I have PS7, I dont think it has highlights and shadows, so I use levels and curves to work with shadow and highlights, do you recommend any different approach on ps7 to bring up shadows and knock down highlights?

I have tried contrast masks on my sunset photos but they always seem to screw up the highlights, sky, sun and sunset colored light....any thoughts.

Also, you didnt really speak about the flash, did I miss it, did you have it somewhere else, have you not looked at it yet?
--
Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/poochdp F11/F30
 
Juli Valley said:
I thought that was usually applied last.
Click to expand...
Juli,

NR should always be applied first. Two reasons:

1) You should be using a good set of device profiles that have been created from references images so you don't have to try to profile an image that may have no detail-free areas in it. To use device profiles successfully, you need to use them before you do anything to the photo that would changes the noise characteristics.

2) When you reduce the noise, subsequent operations will create fewer artifacts that interrupt smooth areas. This makes a huge difference after a few operations, especially application of curves or shadows and highlights, both of which can really amp up the noise.

My Neat Image work flow works really well if you care to give it a try:
http://letkeman.net/Photos/neatimageworkflow

--
http://letkeman.net/Photos
 
Nice Kim, somehow I missed that before. I tried your method and I got some pretty impressive results from some ISO3200 and 1600 pics. Thanks for sharing.
--

 
... experimented a bit myself and have been sticking to this "always first". :-) Thanks again Kim!

Best regards,
Hugo



‘Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.’
Henri Cartier Bresson

http://www.photo.net/photos/hpic
http://hugopoon.blogspot.com
Kim Letkeman said:
Sinan Tarlan said:
Nice Kim, somehow I missed that before. I tried your method and I
got some pretty impressive results from some ISO3200 and 1600 pics.
Thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...
You are very welcome. Glad it worked for you.

--
http://letkeman.net/Photos
Click to expand...
 
Arn,
Very well done- thanks!!

I was surprised that you found sharper results at larger apertures. I was trying to shoot at f8 yesterday but now I'll stick to larger apertures. I will reshoot a few pics using the tripod. Also I will get closer to gain sharpness by using the wide end of the lens. I enjoyed reading your notes. Great info on WB too.

Thanks,
--



Roberta
http://www.pbase.com/roberta
Fuji F30, Canon 1D Mark II, Canon 10D, Sony H-1, Canon A80, Sony 717, Nikon FM
 
An excellent and comprehensive review/tutorial.
Thanks for your time, effort and for sharing it.
--
Sunshine (Fuji F11/F30/OLY C4000Z)
A smile is worth nothing unless given... :))
 
The example image in the text was an old pic showing the settings for some DSLR image. I updated the image with a pic showing the settings for an ISO400 F30 pic. I'll write the settings here too:

Noise levels:
High +50%
Mid +0%
Low -55%
Y +65%
Cr +35%
Cb +35%

Noise reduction Amounts:
High 100%
Mid 0%
Low 0%
Y 30%
Cr 40%
Cb 40%

High quality and High resolution selected.

The Noise Level attributes could do some fine tuning, but they don't affect the end result nearlt as much as the Amounts do.In Noise reduction amounts for ISO 100-400 images at least, I've found that I only need to use the "High" slider in Noise Reduction. For ISO 200 I use 70% in Amounts/High, otherwise same settings as for ISO400.

For sharpening in Neatimage (at ISO 400), I use:
  • Concervative
  • Select only "Y" channel
  • High 20%
Now, I'm off from the computer to get some fresh air... Thanks for all the comments so far, I'll answer them when I get back...

--
pics: http://www.pbase.com/arn
 
Pooch2 said:
Pooch2 wrote:
Thanks Arn, much we agree on, doing noise reduction first (I feel
validated on my NI settings when you shared yours, very very close)
as well as your order of steps in photo shop.
Click to expand...
About the Neatimage settings. The settings that were in the text previously, were sor some DSLR image. I've fine tuned the settings a little for F30. Sorry about the old settings.
Pooch2 said:
I too feel the scenic modes as well as the chrome modes are
virtually worthless for all the reasons you mentioned. The only
time I have gotten anything valuable with chrome was when the flash
was on, but still didtn like it better then normal.

I have PS7, I dont think it has highlights and shadows, so I use
levels and curves to work with shadow and highlights, do you
recommend any different approach on ps7 to bring up shadows and
knock down highlights?

I have tried contrast masks on my sunset photos but they always
seem to screw up the highlights, sky, sun and sunset colored
light....any thoughts.
Click to expand...
Yes, there are some contrast some contrast masking techniques which sometimes work and sometimes don't! :D I think you are well on the right track and I'd pretty much try what you are doing - Curves & leves and contrast masking in PS7.
Pooch2 said:
Also, you didnt really speak about the flash, did I miss it, did
you have it somewhere else, have you not looked at it yet?
Click to expand...
As for the flash, I haven't really used it other than a few quick snaps, but I very first reaction was amazement. I noted that it works better than on any other pocket camera I've ever used. I don't usually use the built-in flash with any camera, even on a DSLR. If I use a flash, it's usually external.

--
pics: http://www.pbase.com/arn
 
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