Looks like Fujifilm are doing the right thing...

...finally.

The issue with "orbs" has been well-publicised for a while now, and although they don't affect every shot by any means, it's annoying when you get them.  More inexplicable was Fuji's decision to launch the XS1 when they knew their sensor had this issue.

However, it looks like Fuji have finally acknowledged that they have a hardware issue that can only be resolved with a new sensor - see the information linked below:

Link to DP Review site re Fuji press statement

I haven't seen too many orbs with my camera, but as the weather has got better, they're becoming more prevalent.  A quick snap on the dog walk yesterday gave me quite a crop:

It may not be obvious at the size you can view on this blog, but the image above has orbs in double digit numbers, of which five are easily visible when viewing at the kind of size that would fit a computer screen, and 2 or 3 still easily visible on a 7" by 5" print.  Night-time cityscapes are even worse unless you really up the ISO.

Bottom line for me is that until this issue gets fixed, I can't use the camera for some of the circumstances that I had planned for it - not least an upcoming family holiday to sunnier climes where the combination of reflections from strong sunlight, plus likelihood of orbs when shooting waves, means I can't rely on the X10 to produce the goods until the new sensor is available.  The GF-1 is back out of the camera bag and I'm reminding myself what a nice camera it is....

Hopefully in a few weeks we'll hear more about the sensor replacement programme, but in the meantime I'm lumbered with a camera that has a major flaw affecting the occasions when I wish to use it, whose secondhand value has now plummeted until a proper fix is available.  Hmmmmm.

Using the Pro Low Light setting

When you're shooting stationary objects, this setting can be surprisingly good, and is worth a go. 

Only available as 6MP jpegs. the camera takes multiple exposures and combines them into one file, aligning them as it goes along (handholding seems to work fine) and processing out random digital noise so you end up with detailed and perfectly acceptable files at higher ISOs (even 3200 is OK).  The camera does seem to veer towards overexposure in this mode, so I set some -EV using the compensation dial, and also tend to darken the shadows a little in post-processing. 

I'm also wondering if this is about as good as things are likely to get in tackling the dreaded orbs in night time shots - shooting at higher ISO should keep them to a minium, and using this mode should also help with the noise.  Another experiment for another time....

In the meantime, a couple of quick shots taken at home.  The watch is ISO500 (and looks great even at 100%) but poor old Beethoven had the noise turned up a little - ISO1000.  These kind of shots would have been unheard of from a small sensor camera until very recently:

A good reason to load the new firmware...

As I suspected previously, Fuji haven't been able to do much about the orbs with firmware.  It's a hardware issue after all, so indications are that when you're in EXR mode, the new version (1.03) essentially forces the ISO to higher values in an attempt to keep the orbs under control.  Hmmmm - people willing to shell out £400+ for this kind of camera aren't likely to be too impressed by that "solution" methinks.

However - it's still worth loading the new firmware (check out the link from the resources on the right hand side of this blog) because Fuji have made a few other changes, one of which addresses one of my irritations with the camera.  Now we have a configurable raw button!  Previously, you pressed it before taking a shot, got one raw+JPEG and then the camera reverted to its earlier settings - so if you thought you were still capturing raw shots, you weren't.  Now, you can use the button as a toggle switch to keep the camera in JPEG, raw, or raw+JPEG mode until you press it and choose again.  Much better, and saves digging into the menu system to find the raw option.

By the way, it's also possible to configure the raw button as an additional fn button instead, if that would be more useful to you.  In order to configure the raw button to do this, go into page 3 of the setup menu, and look under "fn" where you can configure both the fn and raw buttons.

Orbs haven't affected me too badly yet, but the firmware hasn't fixed two other bugbears for me:

(1) the histogram in manual mode is of absolutely no use - a big mistake for those who want to take care and enjoy using the M mode to work methodically before pressing the shutter.

(2) you can't adjust exposure compensation when attaching an external flash, which seems just silly to me.

I've yet to experiment to find out whether we still get nasty blown pinky red in JPEG shots under certain energy-saving lighting conditions - but I suspect that issue still remains as Fuji havevn't mentioned it in the information accompanying the firmware release.

Fun with Topaz B&W effects

For a while now, I've been amazed at what people can do with Nik Silver Effects, but for my purposes I'm afraid the price is a little high.  So after a search around the web, I found out that Topaz produce a more affordable converter - which has the advantage of being able to work as a plug-in within Lightroom too.  I donwloaded the free trial version today and suspect I'm going to enjoy playing with it.

Actually, I haven't as yet used it to produce any true black and white shots - because I discovered the fun to be had in playing with the transparency slider!  Here are my first three attempts:

I've also noticed that Topaz now have a "star effects" software (currently on offer at less than $20), and that's got me wondering....is it a possible semi-fix for the dreaded X10 orbs, or at least a way of reducing their impact?  I think I may have to shoot some and give it a go...

A few pics I thought I'd posted ages ago....

...being new to the whole blogging thing, I came across a post I put together in November - just after I got the X10 - and realised it had never been published.  At the time, I wrote about how much I was enjoying the camera, especially the colours that I was getting with JPEGs straight out of the box.  The uncharacteristically pleasant autumn weather helped too.  So, going back a few months, here are one or two of my first shots with the camera:

Having issues with image stabilisation?

I think the image stabilisation on the X10 works pretty well, but I've seen a few negative comments in some of the internet forums.  I've posted a few suggestions that might help in the hints and tips page - follow this link: x10-user.blogspot.com/p/some-general-hints-and-tips

Chees,

Jon

If you haven't checked out Boxed Light already....

.... you really should!

I've included links from this page (check out the sidebar) to Jim Radcliffe's thoughts on the X10.  It's good reading and even better viewing - some wondeful images which show what the camera can do in the hands of a great photographer.

The best camera you have...

...as we all know, is the one we have with us.  The X10 is a perfect size for me - small enough to carry easily (espeically in its case, which has a great grippy shoulder strap) but large enough to handle easily (I don't love tiny cameras).  I've not posted any new images on this blog for a while, so here's one from today's dogwalk - Brockwell, Park in South London, UK (click and it should come up larger):

 

Great service from Fujifilm UK repair.....

.... I was more than a little mortified (although perhaps you can only be fully mortified - once, unless you are a cat - rather than a "little" mortified?) after I dropped the X10 when out walking the dog.  I sent it back to Fujifilm in early January and in less than a week they were able to provide an estimate for the repair (actually quite a lot cheaper than I had feared it would be) which involved giving it a general service, plus new top plate, bottom plate, exposure compensation dial and lens cap.  I was happy that they'd got that far so soon after the Christmas break, but even happier that after I paid by telephone, the camera was repaired the same day, and back in my "safe" hands less than 24 hours later... looking and working like new again.  Brilliant!

PS - this little experience persuaded me to buy the leather case for the camera (once I'd tracked one down at a slightly more reasonable price).  I have to say I really like it - it's well made and fits nicely, and the magnetic catch means it's quite easy to use the camera with the full case attached, rather than taking half of it off and stuffing it in your pocket.  Only issue is that taking the camera out to replace batteries and memory cards is obviously a little more time-consuming but that goes with the territory.

PPS - take a look at the page on raw files here - I've added a few thoughts that might be interesting to some but the short answer is "if you play with the JPEG settings carefully (especially noise reduction) there often isn't an enormous benefit to shooting raw unless the going gets tough".

Thoughts after a couple of weeks

I deliberately held off commenting about the X10 until after I'd tried it out for a while but I think I've had it long enough now to begin to form a view, so here goes.

First of all, the most important thing...how it looks!  Actually, I didn't love the looks from the photographs, but in the flesh I think the X10 is a great looking little camera: neat, unobtrusive and straightforward.  It's nicely put-together too, the only bit that lets it down being in my view the rear sub-control dial - which is somewhat small and fiddly.  There's enough real estate on the back of the camera for that to have been made a little larger.

It's relatively easy to find your way around the controls and menu system, and this is definitely a camera that will appeal to people who like to fiddle with settings rather than leave it in the full auto modes.

In terms of image quality, I've not really explored RAW yet (I want Adobe support before I head in that direction) although a bit of fiddling in Silkypix suggests that RAW will give a useful improvement in image quality compared to the JPEGs.  And JPEGs are really pretty good: the colours are great, dynamic range in the EXR mode is a significant improvement from previous compacts I've used, and noise handling really does seem to rival the earlier micro four thirds bodies - so much better than my expectations from a small sensor, and really quite usable up to ISO1600 and perhaps beyond.

The viewfinder is nice too - nice and bright although perhaps not likely to be used as much as I thought before I bought the camera.

In total, I really do enjoy using this little camera and it provides a pleasure in ownership not unlike some of the classic cameras of the past - eg the Lumix LC1/Digilux 2.  However, as with all cameras, there is an element of compromise.

So, what do I not care for?  I've not yet suffered from the "white blob synndrome" associated with spectacular highlights that some other users have experienced: but I don't like what I've seen.  In addition, there are a few foibles that I hope can be sorted in a firmware fix, such as:

(1) the histogram does not work properly in manual mode (in fact, it is quite useless, which is very irritating)
(2) you can't use exposure compensation if you attach an external flash (ridiculous)
(3) you can't shoot RAW in the EXR mode, even though the camera is actually capable of doing so
(4) I'd like to be able to configure the RAW button differently (so it works for more than just a single shot)
(5) An RGB histogram would be useful - esp as the JPEGs blow the red highlights too quickly

In addition, I would love to be able to use the OVF with the LCD turned off most of the time, but have the LCD turn on automatically for a few seconds if you turn the rear control dial - so you can see what aperture or shutter speed you have set before it turns off again to save battery.  Currently, if you want to check or change a setting, you need to keep the LCD turned on, which rather defeats the object.

And on the subject of the OVF, it would have been nice to have some kind of markings for the central focus point (including one to correct for paralax error); 35mm compacts used to have that as a matter of course, so I don't see why it couldn't have been implemented in the X10.

All that said, the bottom line is that I think Fuji have got a lot right with this camera, and the compromises are all ones I personally can live with.

Over the next few weeks I hope to post more sample images and comparisons on this site, and work out how to get the best out of this great little camera - so I hope you'll come back and visit in a while to see what's new.

Cheers,

Jon

The colours from this thing are fantastic....

I'm loving the X10 as a capable carry-anywhere camera that is great fun to use and delivers excellent results.  JPEGs straight out of the camera require hardly any work in post processing, and the colours are wonderful.  Here are a few from London today - en route from a meeting to the railway station:

Excellent intro video about the X10 - worth checking out