The best digital camera

Supermacro on Fuji X10, crop and some editing in GIMP

The best digital camera is the camera you use to take pictures and enjoy it. Many of my favorite pictures were taken with 2MP camera. This old point-and-shoot camera would not much my current DSLR in image quality but I took more pictures with it. In last several months I took 5-6 times more pictures with the Fuji X10 than with my DSLR. The Fuji X10 is a "family camera", so I cannot take it with me every day. Image quality of Fuji X10 is sufficient for my needs. It does make me happy.

Take the image of the Hibiscus stigma posted above. It was edited in GIMP to greater extend that I normally do. It was taken with Fuji X10 at iso 400, F4.0, 1/56 sec, compensation -0.3 EV. I posted 100% crop from the original JPEG below. There are several problems with this image. Red channel was oversaturated and clipped to some extend, and I would like see more details in tiny hairs on the stigma. In order to take similar picture with a DSLR I need to buy macro lens and carry it together with zoom lens, while Fuji X10 fits into a small camera bag.

It also turned out that I am getting more sharp images with the Fuji X10 than with my DSLR. I suspect the mirror slap. It can be resolved with a tripod but it would add a couple kilos to my bag.

I really enjoy depth of field in Fuji X10: the image above was shot on cloudy day at F4.0, and to get the same depth of field on a DSLR I need to close the aperture for several stops.

Would I choose Fuji X10 over my old 2MP point-and-shoot? For sure. Would I damp my DSLR and use only Fuji X10? Probably not because I like the image quality of Olympus DSLRs, and occasionally I like to have a narrow DoF. Do I want to upgrade the Fuji X10 to another compact camera? I may buy another compact camera because I want to have camera with me every day but I am not in a hurry. I will wait for replacement of current high end compacts because I am very intrigued by 1' sensor in Sony RX100. Cameras with 1' censor still have relatively big depth of field but the image quality should be similar to what we see in current advanced compacts or even better due to improvements in the sensor technology. Olympus XZ-2 with 1' sensor and bright lens will be very tempting especially with the screen used in Olympus OM-D E-M5 (one of my complains about the X10 is the fixed screen). Samsung EX2 might be also interesting camera.

While I am not really happy with my DSLR I do not want to buy another big camera. I'd rather buy a mirrorless system camera. Frankly, the only major advantage of mirrrorless system cameras over DSLRs is a smaller size, but I would prefer to have a smaller camera with smaller lenses. The gap between mirrorless and DSLR cameras will narrow in the future to the extend when the difference will be irrelevant for practical use in 95% of situations. Nikon already demonstrated fast and accurate focus in their Nikon 1 cameras. The battery life probably can be improved to some extend.

Samsung

The latest Samsung NX cameras are still not available in Australia (= absent in Teds Cameras shop :-) ). One of the possible explanations would be the high demand/low supply for these cameras. Indeed, I saw a lot of complains from people in on-English speaking part of the world who cannot get the NX cameras. While the NX20 is pricey, it is still cheaper than many other available alternatives, plus in some countries Samsung bundles 30mm pancake lens with standard kits as a promotion.  

However, I am  more curious about the replacement for Samsung TL500/EX1. The rumors indicates that the Samsung EX2  might be announced either today or very soon. It ts expected that EX2 will have AMOLED display similar or identical to NX20 camera and very bright lens. Presumably there will be two models of which Samsung EX2F will have WiFi: the model is already certified as WiFi device.

Samsung in No 1 position in mirrorless marked and other myths

Samsung pursues quite intensive advertising campaign in Brisbane at the moment. Well, at least there are several posters in very prominent positions. However, several big camera stores such as Teds Camera shop or Camera House in Brisbane CBD have only the old models of Samsung mirrorless cameras at best. Teds has NX11 and NX100, and apparently Camera House has none. Maybe Australia represents just a tiny fraction of Samsung market, so the company does not bother about Down Under... But in this case why they advertise the cameras?

In the same time, Olympus OM-D E-M5 disappeared from the Teds shop but it is present in the Camera House shop (~1500 AUD for two lens kit - oooh). Certain Olympus lenses apparently also very popular: their 45mm f1.8 also disappeared.

Fuji X-Pro1 is available, as well as X100. I think the price might be a contributing factor. No doubt, the camera is worth every cent or penny (but it costs more if you pay in pennies:)), but I suspect not many people are willing to pay this price... Hopefully Fuji will release a cheaper version of X mount camera together with zoom lenses. Also, the updated X200 is very logical step, with the updated layout, new sensor and without sticky aperture problem.

Large sensor compacts from Olympus and Panasonic

Rumors on the web sometimes behave as positive loops, especially when rumors coincide with expectations. There are quite a few threads and posts about the expected replacements for Olympus XZ-1 and Panasonic LX5 with large sensors inside. The 1' sensors are now available from two companies, Aptina (used in Nikon 1 cameras) and Sony (used in Sony RX100). The 1' sensors are twice bigger than 2/3' sensor used in Fuji X10. Olympus XZ-1, Panasonic LX5, Nikon Coolpix P7100, Canon PowerShot G12, Samsung TL500 aka EX1 all have slightly smaller sensors. All these advanced models were available for couple years, so the replacements are expected soon. Canon already has Canon PowerShot G1X with big sensor (slightly bigger than 4/3 sensors) but it is the camera in its own class. But the Sony RX100 indeed might be a game changer that would force the camera makers to take the same route.

Fuji X10 in dim light

Just a few photos from St John's Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane. The light was dim but I used the lens wide open at iso below 400. The images with stained glass windows were edited in GIMP (crop, levels). It is very beautiful building, and it is very quiet and peaceful inside.  

St John's Cathedral, Brisbane | Fuji X10

Stained glass windows in St John's Cathedral, Brisbane | Fuji X10

Not very traditional theme for cathedral. The building was completed just few years ago, so there are some modern themes.

Stained glass windows in St John's Cathedral, Brisbane | Fuji X10

more rumors!

Canon probably will release a mirrorless camera in nearby future. The specs are unknown but it would be logical for Canon to use sensor from G1X or their latest APS-C with "Hybrid AF" appeared in Canon EOS 650D. Some people expect announcement in June... If "Hybrid AF" from Canon is similar to that of Nikon 1, it might be very interesting camera.

Then there are rumors about new very capable small camera... It does not sound like a mirrorless but the original source is quite ambiguous. Definitely this year is very interesting for digital cameras, with all these expected updated for the advanced compacts...

cost of mirrorless

I guess the mirrorless cameras have less details than DSLR. The whole mirror mechanism is absent, and many mirrorless cameras do not have a viewfinder. So the manufacturing cost should be less than for DSLR. But now in Australia some Nikon DSLR kits are cheaper than Nikon 1 mirrorless cameras. Obviously, I am talking about cheap DSLRs such as Nikon D3000 or D3100. Also, Nikon 1 cameras have 1' sensor that is smaller than APS-C censor used in DSLR, and generally small sensors cost less...

Obviously, the cost depends on many factors including production volume, price of spare parts and cost of design. But do the camera manufacturers make any profit from entry-level DSLRs? Entry-level Canon DSLR kits cost below 600AUD while Canon Powershot G1X is priced at 800AUD.

I have not realized that now we have essentially 3 (three) companies producing "traditional" DSLRs. I am talking about cameras I can buy in Ted's. It seems that Sony moved to NEX and SLT models, and traditional DSLRs are mainly produced by Canon, Nikon and Pentax. Of these, only Canon does not play mirrorless game...

Another photo with Fuji X10

Brisbane skyline | Fuji X10 | June 1, 2012

The photo above was taken through the window glass. I rotated the image for about one degree in GIMP and applied an unsharpen mask to the resized image. Unedited crop from the original JPEG is posted below. It is not remarkable image by any means but it is not bad. I suspect Olympus E-30 will take similar image in the same conditions. Would it be significantly better? I doubt it. It might be visible better if taken with prime lens but I don't have prime lens. The image quality of Fuji X10 is sufficient for my needs, and I don't need to carry bulky and heavy DSLR with big lens attached. And really like very comfortable handling of the Fuji X10.

Frankly, I thing that many other DSLRs will produce image of similar quality in such conditions if coupled with consumer lenses. A little bit more resolution, and probably more details in shadow or low contrast areas. I doubt that I would see big difference after resizing to the web size.Would any 700$ DSLR camera/lens combo be able to take better picture?

I am not saying here that the X10 is equal to DSLR in quality in any situation. For me the image quality of the X10 is sufficient. I would like to see more details in shadow and low contrast areas but again, it is a compact camera.

Olympus revolution: PEN E-P5, XZ-2 and other rumors

According to 43rumors Olympus will revolutionize its PEN cameras. Apparently the E-PL3 is more successful camera than the E-P3, or at least the demand for Olympus E-PL3 exceeded the expectations of the company, probably because of tilting screen and lower price. It is reasonable to expect migration of the latest sensor and stabilization system into PEN body. Will Olympus eventually produce E-P5 as version of OM-D E-M5 without a viewfinder and E-PL5 with smaller number of buttons? Just keep the tilting screen...

In addition, the expected replacement of premium compacts from Olympus and Panasonic may have 1' sensor as Sony RX100 and Nikon 1 cameras. I suspect other companies will follow the same route very soon. It is obvious that people are ready to pay top price for compact camera with good image quality. Sony have proved that it is possible to build very compact camera with relatively big sensor and open a new niche in compact camera market. There are people around who would like to have a camera with twice more pixels than the Olympus XZ-1 but with the same quality, and doubling the sensor size might be the best solution.

The gap in sizes between 2/3' and 4/3 sensors is way too big, and Nikon was the first to realize this and produced the sensor sitting in the middle.

Amazing facts about Olympus OM-D E-M5 in Australia

It seems that Olympus has huge supply of the kit lens, and the company is desperate to get rid of this product :) And the shop has no E-M5 in stock anyway.

It is also possible that it costs 19 Australian dollars to remove the lens from the box.

Sony RX100 is real!

The camera was announced. It is amazing how small it is considering big sensor. It looks like beefed up Canon  S100 :). TechRadar already posted a review of RX100 and according to this site both noise and dynamic range are more or less similar to other premium compact.

Sony proved that it is possible to build a small camera with big sensor. Imagine this sensor combined with brighter lens and body with buttons and dial... 

If the image quality of the RX100 is similar to current crop of premium compacts I would not change Fuji X10 to RX100. I don't need so many pixels, but Fuji has very good lens that is significantly brighter at long end. Beside of high MP and small size the Fuji X10 wins hands down. I am talking about me here, and by image quality I mean dynamic range and noise. I also understand that with similar noise level images from camera with bigger pixel count will be better but I am not sure about low contrast areas.

Olympus OM-D E-M5: Gone with the wind

I went to Teds camera shop today but all Olympus OM-D E-M5 cameras have gone. The same story at Camera House. Now in Brisbane we are in the same situation as the rest of the world :( There were also no step-down rings.

However, there were lenses on display. The 45mm f1.8 is very small and cute. I also noticed that the R version of 40-150mm lens is slightly smaller then the original lens.

Sony RX100: new compact camera with big sensor

Preamble. I am very impressed with Fuji X10. Both the image quality and usability were exceeded my expectations. By usability I mean not only handling and user interface but also ability of camera to satisfy my needs. It is not perfect camera, but I like it a lot. I discovered that viewfinder is not necessary for taking pictures. It might sound stupid but for someone who always used viewfinder – that is a revelation.

Now the story. It seems that Sony will produce a compact camera with a relatively big sensor, Sony RX100 (note the "X"). The sensor will be two times bigger than in Fuji X10, similar (identical?) in size to sensor used in Nikon 1 cameras but smaller than 4/3 or m4/3 sensor. The lens is about one stop brighter than on Canon G1 X, and the Sony weights nearly half (!) of the Canon. On the long end of the zoom the Sony is a tad brighter (and longer) than the Nikon 1 kit lens, and in the same time the weight of RX100 is similar to that of Nikon 1 J1 (body only. It is even lighter than Fuji X10! The RX100 does not have a viewfinder but for small camera with moderate zoom it should not be a big problem (based on my experience with Fuji X10). The whole package does look very attractive to me.

There are several things that I don’t like. It seems that the camera uses the memory stick, a proprietary Sony storage thing. For me it is a minus because I already use CompactFlash, SD cards and proprietary xD picture cards from Olympus – the last one is the slowest type of storage.

The camera has 20MP sensor, so the pixel density is somewhat comparable to Fuji X10 and other modern premium compacts such as Olympus XZ-1, so the quality probably will be quite similar. I don’t need that many, but some people prefer high pixel count. If the camera does not clip highlights aggressively I would not bother. The files will be big but I can cope with that issue. Cannot stop the progress here :)

At far end of the zoom the lens is still only f4.9 while Fuji X10 is two stops brighter. For me it is rather amount of light going to the sensor, not depth of field. The brighter the lens, the lower the iso.

It seems that the RX100 has “supermacro” mode at wide zoom settings, similar to Fuji X10, while minimal focussing distance at tele end is about 50 cm. Unfortunately, no miracle here. I guess putting second supermacro at tele end of the zoom would make the lens big but I don’t mind to have slightly bigger camera with slightly brighter lens and supermacro implemented at long end of the zoom.

I am not sure if it is possible to put a filter on the lens, and I would prefer to have one.

Fixed rear screen as on Fuji X10. It is usable but tilting screen would be more useful.  

Anyway, the specs of the Sony RX100 are very appealing. I hope the rumors are not a hoax. It would be interesting to see the performance and price for this camera...

New Olympus DSLR in 2012?

Partial lunar eclipse. Brisbane, June 4, 2012. Olympus E-30 with ZUIKO 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD

Rumors about a new Olympus product "even more exciting than the E-M5" circulate around the web for some time now. Recently 43 Rumors added some oil in the fire indicating that Olympus may release two DSLR cameras: replacement for E-5 and another model (something similar to E-30 or E-620). If true this move can make some people very happy. Olympus has very good lenses for 4/3 cameras, and many people probably will buy DSLR just because they already have the lenses. Lenses are the drugs of photography: expensive and very addictive :)

There are even some photos of "E-7" on the web that were noticed by 4/3 community on dpreview forum. From what I can see, the source might be the same.

New Olympus DSLR would not change the fate of all DSLR and probably would not attract many new users, but the current owners of 4/3 DSLR probably would be very pleased with ability to prolong the life of their glass. The E-5 is very capable camera, and replacement of sensor and processor definitely will be very welcome event. The same can be said about E-620. I doubt that the "E-720" will cut the sales of Olympus mirrorless cameras because it will be attractive mainly to current owner of 4/3 lenses.

Back to the photos. There was a partial lunar eclipse in Brisbane this night that I nearly missed. I took several pictures, and quickly posted on flickr. It is noisy, and I processed it in hurry. Can be done better.

In two days Brisbane will have chance to see the transit of Venus, the last in this century. It will be visibly for several hours. I have two options: put R72 on on 50-200mm lens and use swivel LCD monitor to position the camera. I may need step-down ring because the R72 filter is quite small. Alternative is camera obscura and supermacro on Fuji X10... May be I should try both...

Fuji X-Pro1 and Olympus O-MD E-5M

Both Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Olympus OM-D E-5M are available for some time now, and a number of reviews were published. Thom Hogan recently have published very useful X-Pro1 review by  on his Sans Mirror site. He has a quite lengthy section on new filter mask/array used by Fuji and good example of color smearing attributed to complex demosaic process on Fuji X-Pro1. Quite a few reviews are available for the Olympus OM-D E-M5 including one from the dpreview where the camera got a GOLD AWARD (aka highly recommended). I also like ongoing commentary on the Olympus E-5M and m4/3 system in general by Melbourne photographer Gary Ayton. Note that this link is to his blog, and in the future the top/first posts will be different.

It seems that Fuji X-Pro1 has the best image quality with some minor drawbacks (the autofocus is not as fast as in some other mirrorless cameras, occasional color smearing). It is very expensive (unless you compare it to Leica).

The Olympus OM-D E-M5 is a big improvement over previous Olympus models, and it does look like a very good addition to m4/3 system. It is not cheap camera but the price is in the range of "upper" models from several other companies (Panasonic GH2, Sony NEX-7, Samsung NX20(?)). Well, Samsung NX20 is not yet listed in any mainstream camera shops in Australia but the recommended street price is available for a couple days, and it is just a little bit above 1000AUD.

In Australia the buying into OM-D E-M5 will give you the latest 4/3 adapter if you pay before the end of June but better check the official Olympus Australia site for promotions.  

Red with Fuji X10

Poinsettias near the Old Museum building at Herston / Bowen Hill, Brisbane.
Fuji X10, iso 100, f5.0, 1/950 sec, exposure compensation -0.3

Red is very tricky color for many cameras including Fuji X10. The red channel can be easily oversaturated / clipped. I am more or less satisfied with the photo above but less so with the image below. Anyway, checking the histogram is a good idea if you have red color in your image.    

The photo below was taken at iso 200, f2.8, 1/750 sec. The "red flowers" are in fact modified leaves called bracts. The plant is originated from Central America but now it is quite popular around the world. It is known under different names such as Poinsettia, Flor de Noche Buene or Ataturk Flower (in Turkey).

Remarkably, the US has National Poinsettia Day (December 12) established by an Act of Congress to mark the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett.

Depth of field on Fuji X10

Fuji X10, max focal length (112mm eqv), f2.8, 1/950 sec

Fuji X10 is a compact camera with small sensor, and the shallow depth of field is problematic. Still, it is possible to separate the main object from the background to some extent at maximal focal length and open aperture. The photo was resized and unsharpen mask was applied locally after the resizing.

The Fuji X10  is the first camera that I use mainly with a rear screen, not a viewfinder. The proper word would be "exclusively"... It turned out that the camera does not shake much with that style of shooting. At least, it is not big issue for me. Tilting screen would be very handy, especially in bright sun. Also, the higher shutter speed in Aperture priority mode at with open aperture would be really handy. Very often the camera give me a warning with shutter speed over 1/1000 sec. It is possible to close the aperture and get shorter exposure, but I suspect the diffraction might be an issue. At f4 the shutter can go to about 1/2000 sec but the depth of filed will be bigger, too. Neutral density filter might be useful.