A few "back in the game" & "new to X-T5" questions

[Meeces]

So it's been MANY years since I was very active in digital photography. The last time I took it at all seriously was back around 2005 or so, a few years after our first child was born. Once our second came along, the pace of being busy working and as a parent led to me just drifting away from the hobby. At the time I was using a Canon 20D and a variety of L series lenses.

I've been struggling lately and realized that I really need to get back into doing things I enjoy, so I did a little research and ordered a X-T5 and a XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR II lens, as well as all of the odds and ends I'll need to get bak into things on the hardware side of the house.

That said, I have a few questions I'm hoping for some help with rather than doing a bunch more research up front.

1. How far along has the in-camera jpg processing come in the X-T5, and am I likely to want to shoot in RAW?

2. I used to use Capture One, but my last license was purchased way back in 2003! What are the "popular" workflows & apps that are popular for folks to use these days to get the large files off their phones? FWIW, I'll be using a MacBook Pro for all of my image editing.

3. On my old Canon gear I used to assign "exposure lock" to the half-pressed shutter button (so I could select the area in the frame I wanted to use for auto exposure), and autofocus to a programmable function button on the rear of the camera under my shooting hand thumb to activate / stop the focus motor. I liked this better than having both happen by using the half-pressed shutter. Is there a way in the menus to set up a similar configuration on the X-T5?

Anything else I need to know as I ease back into things? Thanks for any and all help - I'm looking forward to getting back involved with the photography community!

Welcome to Fuji. The .jpg engine deserves the reputation it has. If you want a bit more leeway than JPG, but not full RAW, possibly consider taking and/or processing .HEIF image quality. Usually have to still export jpeg, but I find it offers a bit more leeway with editing before export (and non-destructive).

For processing further, it sounds like you might be thinking of software that isn't quite as involved as Capture One/Photoshop. A couple that might be worth checking out-

Nitro App- designed by one of the original Apple Aperture software program engineers. Works as stand alone or plugin for Apple Photos on Mac/iPad/iPhone and syncing updates nicely. Bonus is I believe it still has the option for one time payment or subscription. gentlemencoders.com is the website (or app store). Updates have not cost extra either, and it has some of the baseline Fuji sim choices built-in to choose from.

I also use Photomator quite a bit (recently acquired by Apple). Photomator has a bigger/more in depth big brother program as well- Pixelmator - that is closer to Photoshop. Also available on all Apple devices. This one was also non-subscription at one time, although I'm not sure how that may have changed since Apple purchased them. Works as stand alone or plug in on Mac, but I think has to be stand alone only on iPad or iPhone.

To get images off my phone- not sure if you mean off the camera instead? I will use the fuji app for occasional transfer direct TO my iPhone, but generally use sd card reader.

Would check out this page of the manual for focus/exposure lock options-

https://fujifilm-dsc.com/en/manual/x-t5/menu_setup/button-dial_setting/ and scroll down.

I saw your later post asking about film simulation settings, and I'd suggest checking out film.recipes and fujixweekly websites for about a bazillion simulations. They each also have apps that are handy to have. I'd also check out Kevin Mullins online -former Fuji ambassador and wedding photographer, but has some very nice recipes as well. I've got my recipes/settings set up on the back button- push in and rotate to whatever 'set up' I want for the moment, but the button set up is certainly a mileage may vary.

Bonus on the film sims- you can program the 7 custom preset slots into your camera- then save to the Fuji app, and you can save almost unlimited sets. Then choose which set of 7 you want, and download that back to the camera.

For primes- maybe check out Viltrox 75mm if you want a little more reach to pair with the 16-55. It is big (it's f/1.2). The updated versions of Fuji specific primes have a very well deserved reputation for being stellar (18/33/56)- I have and love the 18 and 33. Maybe rent to try first, or see what focal lengths you use with the 16-55 more often that might benefit a prime to supplement.

Second the Pal2Tech suggestion for youtube helpful/how-to Fuji related stuff.

Would you elaborate on how you have your camera set up to allow so many film recipe presets - I don't think I fully understand... I've already programmed all seven slots for custom recipes I found (mostly on the sites you recommend - THANKS!). I see where when I press my Q button on the back, it give me a grid of quick choices, and the top left one lets me use the thumb "wheel" to cycle through 8 options (A, and C1-C7). Is that what you mean when you mention putting your recipes/setups "on the back button"?

And I assume you mean the iPhone "XApp" Fuji offers when you mention saving/loading sets from the app???!!! That would be AWESOME, because I already feel like I wish I had room for more so that I can go experiment with them. I expect that I'll ultimately narrow down to a manageable number of favorites, but it would be very nice to not have to program in more to try while I'm "in the field"... I'll have to look at that to see how the loading to the camera is done...

Thanks for the GREAT tips - I really appreciate it!

I use the back thumb/scroll button to choose from the 7 (plus the extra "A" slot) sets I have loaded. I have it programmed to push in and rotate. It's a personal preference for sure. Some do use the top left square on the grid that you're talking about to choose/rotate through the loaded custom presets.

The multiples of 7 part does have to do with the camera and the fuji X app. The idea is that you load 7 custom sets into the camera, then back up that set of 7 to the phone app.

Next would be to overwrite 7 new presets to the camera and back that up to the phone app.

Can be done a bunch of times, so that you have 7 sets multiplied by however many times you back up a set to the app. Maybe one set of 7 is all black and white, or all for landscape, or whatever. Then you can pick and load a set of 7 to the camera. Just a way to keep/use more than 7 handy if you want (plus the bonus "A"/8th spot). The backups can be renamed in the app. I found that trick somewhere online, and thought it pretty cool for storing additional recipes on the go. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Night Pixel]

Here is a quick tutorial:



How To Save 8 Custom Presets on Fujifilm Cameras (+ No Need To Adjust WB Shift)

 

[GrendelBear]

Ah - gotcha! So it's not just backing up the film simulations, it's an entire camera backup/restore.

I think this will be useful for me, but not until I make sure I'm at a point where all the rest of the camera features are set how I want them, otherwise I'd end up restoring a number of older settings that I've since changed.

Still, great stuff - thanks for passing that along!

 

[Tony Hall]

Are there other workflows/software that are popular & competitive that I should consider?

Thanks for your input!

Fuji has very satisfying jpegs... possibly the best. I prefer Astia for the skin tones.

I'm a big fan of DXO Photolab, but for Fuji pics, Lightroom's raw profiles are unusually good. It's rare that you can shoot raw+jpeg and they sometimes look identical in Lightroom starting out.

But shooting raw+jpeg is a good idea anyhow because Fuji cameras have in camera raw processing and they even have a desktop app that allows you to use in-camera raw processing on your computer.