Fuji X-E1 at iso 1600

Common Brown | Fuji X-E1 & XF60mm Macro

Some time ago I've rented Fujinon XF60mm Macro lens. The XF18-55mm is not the best lens for macro, and I miss the close-up ability, especially after being used to the supermacro option on Fuji X10. I can swap X-E1 and X10 cameras every second day, but I prefer the image quality from the X-E1 for all other situations, especially for landscapes. It is in a different league compared to the X10.

Shooting macro can be challenging. I am talking about bugs and flowers, not studio type macro. For this type of macro a big depth of field is very important, so the good light is essential. Bright light creates a lot of problems, especially highlights clipping. And sometimes there is just not enough light. So, the iso goes up very often, especially on cameras with big sensors.

Here is a picture of Common Brown, one of the local butterfly, taken with Fuji X-E1 and XF60mm Macro at iso 1,600 at f/5.0 and 1/105 sec exposure. I believe the exposure compensation was set up to -0.7 but I need to check the original file (Exif on flickr does not show any exposure compensation for the cropped image). The lens is not stabilised, hence the exposure has to be relatively short. The image is cropped in GIMP and saved at ~77% JPEG quality. The bigger version is available on flickr including the original resolution.

Butterflies with Fuji X10

 Euploea core | Bowen park, Herston, March 30, 2012 | flickr

Both pictures were taken with Fuji X10 in Macro mode at maximal focal length (~112mm equivalent) at iso 100. Both are cropped, especially Lemon Migrant.

Sometimes it is just impossible to get close to the butterflies because of dense vegetation in the park. That's where I hit the limit of the camera: minimal focusing distance in Macro mode at 112 mm. Even for these fairly big butterflies the frame is just big, to post the original JPEG without cropping. The camera does not focus close enough.

I have impression that all camera manufactures put supermacro mode on short end of the zoom in these days. It seems that none of current cameras have macro focusing capability similar to Olympus C-8080 with supermacro at ~90mm covering as little as 4x3cm.

Catopsilia pomona (?) | Bowen park, Herston, March 30, 2012 | flickr

Butterfly with Fuji X10

Euploea core | Bowen park, Herston, March 30, 2012 |  flickr

Common Crow, Euploea core sitting on dry fruit(?) of Canna lily. Fuji X10, supermacro / aperture priority mode, iso 100, F4.5, 1/120 sec. Cropped and resized in GIMP, and unsharpen mask was applied locally. The unedited 100% crop from the original JPEG is posted below.

I bet people who created this camera do not take picture of flying insects. Otherwise it is hard to explain why the premium compact has macro at 28mm (35mm eqv). It is hard to get very close to insects, and at short distance lens shade becomes an issue. I wish the camera would have supermacro implemented on the long end of zoom, or at least around 50mm (equivalent).

Unedited 100% crop from the OOC JPEG