Baby, It's the STEALTH!

PeterFXCassidy · Dec 28, 2012

Fujians,

OK, I finally made the plunge into mirrorless but please don't tell the S5 Pro!

I ran around on errands today and found the color trueness and responsiveness of the X-E1 to be impressive, by my standards, anyway.

But I have to tell you what really makes this machine a completely new tool is its stealthiness in Auto mode. It knows what to do. You just sneak about and point it at subject matter.

I've never been able to capture portraiture with this degree of casual engagement. Pull from pocket. Shoot. Return. Call me Secret Agent Photog

Now, safe to say, I am never surrendering my S5 Pro and Zeiss 21mm. That combination was inspired by fortune, provenance and a good year at work. But this wee gizmo, yes, I will have some assignments requiring invisibility and this is just the kit to have on hand.

Peter

Midwest · Dec 28, 2012

I can't say photos like that do much for me but if that's what you enjoy then you're all set!

rattymouse · Dec 28, 2012

Midwest said:
Midwest wrote:

I can't say photos like that do much for me but if that's what you enjoy then you're all set!

briny · Dec 28, 2012

I like it. I like the angle, the colours, the DOF...and I will never ever post a picture in this forum. You guys are a tough crowd.

BobsYourUncle · Dec 28, 2012

briny said:
briny wrote:

I like it. I like the angle, the colours, the DOF...and I will never ever post a picture in this forum. You guys are a tough crowd.

This forum is tame compared to some others. Don't be afraid to post something and if it gets some contrary opinions so be it. You can limit them if you wish by asking for "no C &C" but if the members behave themselves by temporing their responses, they can be a source of constructive info.

Bob

adamburns2000 · Dec 28, 2012

pretty creepy pic of the checkout girl at whole foods, dude. i'm sure she'd be stoked to find out someone posted a quite unflattering photo of her on the internet. that's great that you got a new camera and are excited to try it. but no one wants to see sh*t like this.

rattymouse · Dec 28, 2012

briny said:
briny wrote:

I like it. I like the angle, the colours, the DOF...and I will never ever post a picture in this forum. You guys are a tough crowd.

There are plenty of places on the net where you can get your back slapped and an atta boy if you are not interested in real opinions.

rattymouse · Dec 28, 2012

adamburns2000 said:
adamburns2000 wrote:

pretty creepy pic of the checkout girl at whole foods, dude. i'm sure she'd be stoked to find out someone posted a quite unflattering photo of her on the internet. that's great that you got a new camera and are excited to try it. but no one wants to see sh*t like this.

Daniel from Bavaria · Dec 28, 2012

adamburns2000 said:
adamburns2000 wrote:

pretty creepy pic of the checkout girl at whole foods, dude. i'm sure she'd be stoked to find out someone posted a quite unflattering photo of her on the internet. that's great that you got a new camera and are excited to try it. but no one wants to see sh*t like this.

PeterFXCassidy · Dec 29, 2012

You've got a more fertile imagination than I to get creepy out of an industrial portrait. My newspaper stuff and trade magazine stuff was all people working at one job or another, sometimes in frame-filling full-face portrait, sometimes with tools and vehicles. The last newspaper photo I placed was a potter, prepping a piece for glazing.

The key concept isn't voyeurism if that's what you're getting at. What changes with a camera like these X kits is the level of intrusiveness required to capture a high-quality (at least theoretically) story telling image. I keep a small Fuji on my key-chain and while I can get inside action unobtrusively but the images more often than not won't allow me to make a large print. With X-E1 you get the image capture quality and a level of unobtrusiveness that allows the photographer to virtually disappear.

Here's a candid taken with the main rig - the S5 Pro, fitted with a Nikon 75mm for a little reach - at a temple in central Bali earlier this year. Three frames into it - KER-CHUNK! KER-CHUNK! KER-CHUNK! - the subjects started getting spooked and stampeded. Had I X-E1 with me, I dunno, I could have gotten my shoes off jumped and gotten further inside the story, maybe some of the details on the offering wreaths they were laying at the fountainheads.

Water Temple - Ubud, Bali, Indonesia April 2012

PeterFXCassidy · Dec 29, 2012

briny said:
briny wrote:

I like it. I like the angle, the colours, the DOF...and I will never ever post a picture in this forum. You guys are a tough crowd.

Thanks. It's a nice demonstration of the camera's competence more than mine. I cranked the aperture wide open, aimed up from chest level, cranked a few frames and vanished. All the flexibility of a compact with the image detail of a DSLR. Oh, the Fuji forums are very nice compared to a lot of others, most others, in fact.

TexasBuyer · Dec 29, 2012

PeterFXCassidy said:
PeterFXCassidy wrote:

You've got a more fertile imagination than I to get creepy out of an industrial portrait. My newspaper stuff and trade magazine stuff was all people working at one job or another, sometimes in frame-filling full-face portrait, sometimes with tools and vehicles. The last newspaper photo I placed was a potter, prepping a piece for glazing.

The key concept isn't voyeurism if that's what you're getting at. What changes with a camera like these X kits is the level of intrusiveness required to capture a high-quality (at least theoretically) story telling image. I keep a small Fuji on my key-chain and while I can get inside action unobtrusively but the images more often than not won't allow me to make a large print. With X-E1 you get the image capture quality and a level of unobtrusiveness that allows the photographer to virtually disappear.

Here's a candid taken with the main rig - the S5 Pro, fitted with a Nikon 75mm for a little reach - at a temple in central Bali earlier this year. Three frames into it - KER-CHUNK! KER-CHUNK! KER-CHUNK! - the subjects started getting spooked and stampeded. Had I X-E1 with me, I dunno, I could have gotten my shoes off jumped and gotten further inside the story, maybe some of the details on the offering wreaths they were laying at the fountainheads.

Water Temple - Ubud, Bali, Indonesia April 2012

Wow, how did you get them to let you take those pictures? When I went to the Water Temple, I recall that the holy bath area was behind a 10 foot stone wall and there were two guards there who would only permit admission-paying Hindu worshippers to enter that restricted area.

PeterFXCassidy · Dec 30, 2012

I paid the fee, wrapped the rag around my butt like instructed and ran into the temple and went after the images. No one arrested me. I was able to get inside a lot of the activity in the temple.

MuMinded · Dec 30, 2012

PeterFXCassidy said:
PeterFXCassidy wrote:

You've got a more fertile imagination than I to get creepy out of an industrial portrait.

haha...industrial Portrait...nice one.. Keep telling yourself that and you will believe it. Face it, the shot is creepy and you defending it is more creepy.

PeterFXCassidy said:
r. Three frames into it - KER-CHUNK! KER-CHUNK! KER-CHUNK! - the subjects started getting spooked and stampeded. Had I X-E1 with me, I dunno, I could have gotten my shoes off jumped and gotten further inside the story, maybe some of the details on the offering wreaths they were laying at the fountainheads

Ok, well now your taking pictures of people at their place of worship and you describe them as stampeding... Your opinion of humanity is pretty low to sent it.. Your posting of this image is justification that you have issues and you need to address them before your stalking/ voyaure tendencies turn more strange..

I doubt very much you have ever got an I,age published in your life..

MuMinded

rattymouse · Dec 30, 2012

MuMinded said:
MuMinded wrote:

MuMinded said:

PeterFXCassidy wrote:

You've got a more fertile imagination than I to get creepy out of an industrial portrait.

Click to expand...

haha...industrial Portrait...nice one.. Keep telling yourself that and you will believe it. Face it, the shot is creepy and you defending it is more creepy.

MuMinded said:

r. Three frames into it - KER-CHUNK! KER-CHUNK! KER-CHUNK! - the subjects started getting spooked and stampeded. Had I X-E1 with me, I dunno, I could have gotten my shoes off jumped and gotten further inside the story, maybe some of the details on the offering wreaths they were laying at the fountainheads

Click to expand...

Ok, well now your taking pictures of people at their place of worship and you describe them as stampeding... Your opinion of humanity is pretty low to sent it.. Your posting of this image is justification that you have issues and you need to address them before your stalking/ voyaure tendencies turn more strange..

I doubt very much you have ever got an I,age published in your life..

MuMinded

Well said.

nawknai · Dec 30, 2012

If you're indoors on someone else's private property, and you're taking sneaky photos of people, it's probably off-limits. Not getting caught is not the same thing as "having permission." It's wrong.

It doesn't help that the photo sucks.

This photo is like a gateway drug for this new "stealth" camera owner. Next stop, upskirts. :-D

VisualFX · Dec 30, 2012

adamburns2000 said:
adamburns2000 wrote:

pretty creepy pic of the checkout girl at whole foods, dude. i'm sure she'd be stoked to find out someone posted a quite unflattering photo of her on the internet. that's great that you got a new camera and are excited to try it. but no one wants to see sh*t like this.

knize10 · Dec 30, 2012

The people of Wal Mart.

Midwest · Dec 30, 2012

nawknai said:
nawknai wrote:

If you're indoors on someone else's private property, and you're taking sneaky photos of people, it's probably off-limits. Not getting caught is not the same thing as "having permission." It's wrong.

It doesn't help that the photo sucks.

This photo is like a gateway drug for this new "stealth" camera owner. Next stop, upskirts. :-D

A pair of shoes with mirrors on the toes.

Midwest · Dec 30, 2012

VisualFX said:
VisualFX wrote:

VisualFX said:
I'm not sure why there is an influx of kiddos on this forum shooting "stealth". That, and just switching the camera to B&W mode and thinking you are going to take great street photos. I mean really, are you going to keep photos of people you don't know in your collection, especially creepy snapshots?

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who sees it this way. I've seen some interesting street shots but 98% are just photos of strangers - in B/W of course - either from behind, or from the front, unnoticed by the subject. I wonder who on earth would want to take photos like that? And what can possibly be done with them? They're not even interesting.

Baby, It's the STEALTH!

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