The Fujifilm had released a firmware update 1.03 for Fuji X10 camera. The company statement says "Blooming (White disk) phenomena, which can be observed in EXR AUTO mode, is reduced." I have an impression that in the EXR AUTO mode the blooming (orbs, white disks) was quite well controlled with previous version of firmware compared to standard 12 megapixel mode at iso 100, at least in images taken at night. Anyway, I updated the firmware (my Fuji X10 came with version 1.02) and did a quick test at iso 100, 12 megapixel, Aperture priority mode. The light was harsh. I am talking about sunny Australia here. It was hard to look at cars even through sunglasses. Top picture has a couple very nasty orbs, and none were visible on another image at the bottom of this post. I have not tested EXR mode, it might be better. Make your own conclusion.
I probably should voice my opinion on the orbs issue. These are test pictures. Generally I do not take pictures of cars in bright sun. I am posting/doing this test because of traffic on this blog: post on orbs got the highest number of visitors. The orbs are irrelevant for my photography which is nature-oriented. I took some pictures of Brisbane at night, to see the orbs "first hand". Indeed, the white disks were appeared in some photos, but the images were acceptable for my taste. In these night images the white disks were quite small, and switching to EXR mode helped to some extend, too.
I understand that people have different standards, and for some the orbs are totally unacceptable. If you in this category be aware that the firmware 1.03 did not fix the orbs issue for 12 megapixel mode. To balance this statement I would like to remind that the X10 is not prone to blooming/white disks on natural objects such as glossy leaves in bight sun. IMHO, the orbs issue is grossly exaggerated (unless someone insists on taking pictures of cars in direct sunlight). I took over 3000 pictures with the X10, and the orbs issue is probably the last in my list of complains about this camera. I don't know how big is this issue for street photographers.
The firmware adds several other useful things including customization of RAW button (~ten option to chose from). Kudos to Fuji. Unfortunately it is impossible to set it for the control of image stabilization but there are other useful options.
"I don't know how big is this issue for street photographers. "
ReplyDeleteLet me help you out. The problem is MASSIVE. If the time of day is dusk or later, fully 30% or more of my images are FILLED with ORBS.
Thank you for posting this. I hope it will be useful for other people.
DeleteSometimes I feel myself guilty because the orbs do not appear in my pictures (macro, animals, plants). And I do like the camera. I have impression that on bright day the orbs can be quite big and nasty, especially on black cars (as on the first picture). But I do not do a (lot of) street photography, so this issue is rather irrelevant/non-existent to me. I took some pictures at night, and while the orbs were there, I found the images quite usable.
Sadly, they happen indoors:
Deletehttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7068/6862349335_6d403fc126_z.jpg
as well as outdoors:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6825907125_94dbf9d4de_z.jpg
Are these resized images or crops? The orb in indoor image is quite spectacular, and it wins over my orbs hands down (if it is resized photo). As for outdoor photo, I would say that the orbs there are not obtrusive comparing to other extreme examples (e.g. on the red car in this post, or your indoor photo). I do expect to see a strong highlight clipping at least at headlight (pointed into camera) and pole lights. Keep in mind that I am long-time Olympus user and got used to clipped highlights, and that I do very little indoor photography.
DeleteThose images are the "large" size as given on Flickr. So they are smaller than originals.
DeleteSadly, I have many, many examples of images stuffed with orbs. Indoors, outdoors, it matters not if there is a light source in the photo.
In my case the nasty orbs appear only/mainly on cars at bright day (I can tolerate these in my night shots, so I wouldn't call them nasty, and the EXR high sensitivity/low noise mode helps to some extend). I made a few test photos indoor with artificial light after I learned about orbs, with the lens pointed towards lamp, and the images were orb-free. The area around lamp was clipped but quite smoothly. Either the light was not harsh or there were no curved shiny surface as side mirror on car that are prone to orbing. In my pictures I have not seen anything similar to what you posted on your indoor photo. That's very nasty orb.
Delete