REVIEW: FUJIFILM X100VI - Is it better than you smartphone?

FUJIFILM X100VI 40.2MP APS-C with 23mm f/2 Lens

It’s been since 2019 that I’ve reviewed a Fujifilm camera and that’s a shame. I forgot how much I’ve enjoyed the Fujifilm platform. If my memory serves me correctly the original X100 was the first X series camera I ever reviewed!

While there are numerous improvements that addressed my complaints of the early x100 and x100s, the form factor and purpose remain the same – and that’s a good thing. What’s more, the support for teleconverters means that you can get a little more functionality out of this fixed length permanently attached lens – if you so desire.

Overview

You can click the photo at the top of the article to get all the specs at B&H, so I’m not going to bore you with that. I’m also going to get closer to the modern era by introducing this camera with a video overview instead of a wall of words:

It’s a super well built and designed camera that really has few faults for someone interested in this formfactor and feature set.

Real World Images

Click here to see a gallery of some of the photos I took using the X100VI during my time reviewing it. As usual, these are all straight out of the camera with one notable exception. This camera supports HEIF, but Zenfolio doesn’t provide a good way to give you direct access to them, so I had to convert all HEIF files to JPEG (when applicable). Inline images were resized by Zenfolio, but you can download full size originals of the images that Lightroom converted from HEIF to JPG for inclusion in this gallery.

Here are my thoughts on a few photos that I found worth discussing:

Here’s one of the first pics I took with this camera right out of the box with the camera default settings and before I bothered to read the manual to refresh my memory on how to set the autofocus point:

f/2 @ 23mm for 1/125 sec at ISO 1250

As you can see the bokeh is fabulous and the detail is quite good in the raindrops despite, literally pointing and shooting like a newbie to cameras would do! If you want to know what do you really get over a cell phone, here’s a good place to start looking!

I was also pleased that for ISO 1250 that it looked this good to begin with. This particular photo was the exact in-camera JPEG as I hadn’t discovered yet that it supported HEIF at this point in the review.

Here’s another impressive handheld shot at only 1/35 sec yet the gloomy day required ISO 8000! The detail and default processing was amazing:

f/5.6 @ 23mm for 1/35 sec at ISO 8000

I was super impressed with the detail of the fine grain details in the center of the flower that didn’t get destroyed by in-camera noise reduction, and the default color was fantastic!

Here’s a jaw dropping example of the quality of this lens and the in-camera images event at ISO 5000:

f/6.4 @ 23mm for 1/35 sec at ISO 5000

I’m very pessimistic these days about lugging cameras around as cell phones have become so good, but this definitely reminded me that I might need to spend more time with the latest cameras again as this was a very impressive result!

Here’s a pretty boring photo, but again these were camera default settings doing pure point and shoot (except I did manually set the aperture). In this case I was too lazy to lay on the ground, so I just held the camera down at the level of the slug, tapped the screen like I’d do with my phone and took several photos:

f/8 @ 23mm for 1/35 sec at ISO 5000

This did pretty good knowing how I took the shot – especially with a 23mm lens not known for being a good focal length for macro photography.

On a camping trip to the North Cascades in Washington, I woke up to see this beautiful scene so I grabbed the camera and just did a quick snap before going back to bed.

f/16 @ 23mm for 1/35 sec at ISO 800

This shot would be one of my first experimentations with a large f stop number to see if there have been massive improvements with diffraction, but ultimately that didn’t appear to be the case.

A little later I’d try again (below), but still the trees in the background are pretty soft for f/16:

f/16 @ 23mm for 1/35 sec at ISO 500

In brighter conditions at a low ISO, the f/16 results were significantly better so the poor quality of the previous two photos may have been attributed to the fog and losses caused by noise reduction.

f/16 @ 23mm for 1/40 sec at ISO 125

By this point I had also enabled the Velvia film simulation mode which Fujifilm is famous for, and it did not disappoint. The colors were amazing for this scene – if you like vivid images. If not, there’s a wide variety of film simulations to suit your taste.

I love the Velvia film simulation in the woods, but some might be turned off with how it crushes some of the shadow areas as shown at the base of the trees in this shot:

f/11 @ 23mm for 1/35 sec at ISO 2000

It also gives the water a more of an unnatural tint so some might find it better to manually process a shot like this from raw to get the best results.

Without resorting to manual settings or flash, I just took this picture of Kai (yeah, he’s grown up) the way a newbie would using default settings:

f/2.8 @ 23mm for 1/150 sec at ISO 125

This is a type of shot where modern phones with their in-camera HDR can’t be beat – the results are very disappointing, so amateurs will need a better understanding of light (e.g., turn Kai into the light and avoid harsh backlight) or they’ll be frustrated compared to what they see they can accomplish with their phone.

Case in point, here’s what a iPhone 13 Pro photo of Kai taken in the same exact spot looked like straight from the phone:

Apple iPhone 13 Pro f/2.8 @ 9mm for 1/121 sec at ISO 64

So, if your goal is to take advantage of the shadows and get a more creative lighting shot then iPhone will be frustrating, but if you want a no brainer shot that is easy and just does HDR perfectly, it’s still tough to beat the best smart phones.

Here’s another example where the lighting was much more favorable:

f/4 @ 23mm for 1/250 sec at ISO 125

Yet, despite great light and God’s soft box being out in full force, with no exposure compensation the image was rather dark. Again, compared to the iPhone where the results were much more pleasing:

Apple iPhone13 Pro f/1.5 @ 5.7mm for 1/1377 sec at ISO 50

Right after this shot I started experimenting with the eye auto focus feature and got a much better result:

f/2 @ 23mm for 1/480 sec at ISO 125

This made me suspect that the default metering was to blame, so had I changed that setting I could have got results that are actually superior to the iPhone.

This also made me think about selfies – the feature that smart phone users seem to love the most. While I was out on the lake with my wife, I took a shot of my ugly mug completely blind but using the eye auto focus feature:

f/4.5 @ 23mm for 1/35 sec at ISO 160

This time, despite the sun setting with mediocre light, it did great. I’m also pleased to report that my old face didn’t destroy the camera. The Velvia mode made my skin appear a little more red than I’d like, but the rest of the scene looked great.

I was very satisfied with the quality of the lens and the super sharp details found in so many of the photos I took:

f/8 @ 23mm for 1/35 sec at ISO 500

This combined with great high ISO performance and visually satisfying colors (IMHO), made me happy to have this camera with me for my trip to the mountains.

I got a chance to give the burst mode a shot out on the ice, and while my framing was terrible, the results were good for this class of camera. Shooting on ice is tough so this is where you’ll need to experiment with the exposure compensation (+2 in this case), the white balance (florescent), and much more:

f/2.2 @ 23mm for 1/500 sec at ISO 1250

For the shots in this series I used the eye autofocus to see what it could do and I was satisfied with the results. I sucked, but the camera did its part. The iPhone was much easier to use, but I preferred the color I got using the X100 VI.

Video

While I did experiment a little bit with the video features, those who know me know that I’m not really a videographer. As a result, I can only say that it offers a wide variety of formats and settings that are certain to be superior to results found on a phone,

Viewfinder

The viewfinder on this camera supports both optical as well as digital, and that’s a good thing. The optical offers a traditional photography experience whereas the digital offers a way to see photos as they will appear on your computer or phone even in the harshest sunlight. It also provides a way to save battery when you elect to enable the EVF and turn off the rear display.

Conclusion

Once again I was reminded of the magic of Fujifilm and wasn’t disappointed one bit. Thanks to the Q menu, the touch screen and great controls, I was able to quickly dial in my favorite settings in a hurry to get the shots that I wanted. While I haven’t included many of those photos here for personal reasons, I do find this to be an extremely easy camera to use for those who understand the settings and features it offers.

I never had any battery life issues and could easily go a few days under normal usage without having to worry about recharging. When I did, I appreciated the support for USB-C to get a quick charge right in the camera.

Overall, this is a camera for photographers – not newbies – mainly because the best results will be achieved by knowing how to dial in the best settings. If you want smartphone results, use a smartphone, but if you are wanting better control over the lighting, color, shadows, and shutter speed, then this camera is going to be much more satisfying to use. If that's you, then I highly recommend this camera. 

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy today, or click here see other great cameras in the Fujifilm X-Series line up.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles

REVIEW: Angler Bi-Color Ring Light Kit with Light Stand (18")

Angler Bi-Color Ring Light Kit with Light Stand (18")

Hey friends, long-time no blog! :)

I’m writing today because I had a need for an affordable ring light for use with my iPhone and I wanted to tell you what I thought about it.

In my world these days it’s becoming increasingly rare for me to need to use my DSLR, so like a lot of people I frequently use my phone camera for internal use only product shots and education videos. That said, for amazing as modern smartphones are for creating phenomenally good HDR images and pulling off amazing results in low light, sometimes you just need more light to get your desired results.

In my case, I found myself wanting something that would allow me to interact and record a tutorial video or review of something I was interacting with, but I still wanted to see my cell phone while I was doing it. I also wanted the light to be very good – you know, like pretty much every YouTuber these days!

When I started looking for options, the prices were more than I wanted and some of the purchases I made from Amazon were pretty bad. As a result, I reached out to my friends at B&H to leverage their expertise to find something that worked well but also didn’t break the bank.

My key criteria were:

1. Affordable
2. Diffused light
3. Ability to control the temp
4. Big enough to use for products as well as face lighting
5. Ability to see my phone screen while recording, so this meant a phone mount as well as a pivot arm design.
6. Easily portable for many use cases.

I’m happy to report that the Angler Bi-Color Ring Light Kit checked off all of the boxes and was almost perfect.

This shot was taken using JPEG only (doh) and mixed light (ambient light was tungsten with sources in front and behind the subject and edited heavily in Lightroom to make it suck less:

Kai with his dog Teddy using Canon 1DX II JPG and low brightness

Kai was struggling with the brightness, so I cranked it down low enough for him to tolerate it. If it wasn’t a quick and dirty shot (and a bit of luck with the dog), I probably would have taken a bit more time to make it much better. That said, that is what I like about this light – it allows me to do a lot better than my cell phone with very little effort. It makes experimentation much easier than traditional lighting methods thanks to the lightweight portable stand and battery powered light with adjustable temp and brightness!

A Closer Look

Here’s a closer look at the ring light itself:

Excellent diffusion panel on the front

Plenty of hot shoe mounting points for the camera adapter

Notice the inside and outside hot shoes all over things thing. It’s also shown with the batteries installed (included on some bundles), but it also includes the ability to just plug it into an outlet which saves weight.

Camera adapter could easily fit my iPhone 13 Pro with extra space left over

The camera adapter can be placed in any of the hot shoe mounts, but I elected to put it in the 6 O’clock spot. One side is spring loaded, so it supports many phones. My unit had a pretty strong spring, so I could only get it to open to just under 3 inches in width.

The hot shoe phone adapter could easily be moved to where I needed it

I used a Impact C-Stand  along with a grip head and extension arm
for added flexibility and reach for this scenario

With this setup, I could peek through and interact with the lens
on the table while monitoring the video
Notice how the captured content has drifted off the table!

Remember, my goal here was to test the ability to record where I was both interacting with and viewing the video of with an object on a table using my iPhone. I hate video editing, so I’ll spare you that boredom and just show a shot that I did with the iPhone 13 Pro and enhanced with Topaz AI:

iPhone 13 Pro static image taken using the ring light configured as shown previously

As a lighting tool, it did great. Where it failed miserably (as you can see if you look carefully in the prior image is that the ring light would drift and often overshoot the table. This seems to be due to the lack of any sort of teeth or serrations on the adjustment knob, so I really grew frustrated at this problem. While it might be fixed by adding a rubber washer or something, know that going in won’t “just work” for this scenario, It’s fine when upright vs this extreme angle with the weight of the camera on it, so if your goal is to do a podcast or more practical angles, then it will be great.

Testing in Complete Darkness

I wanted to test with a real camera in a normal scenario where the camera isn’t hanging from the hot shoe. For that scenario, it did great.

Light makes up for the lack of shutter speed, so I decided to push things to the limit, and this time using RAW, to see what I could do. Here were my light settings:

61% brightness in total darkness at 5400k

Even though the room was lit (by the ring light) for the shot, it was done at night with no ambient light beyond the Christmas tree for this shot.

For fun, I decided to use the Passport ColorChecker to make sure the foreground color was as accurate as I could get it, but for those who are new to the complexities of lighting – that only impacts the subject (Kai) and has zero impact on the ambient light on the background.

Canon 1DX Mark II f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/10 sec at ISO 100 from RAW

Here’s a behind the scenes look but I didn’t make any effort to get accurate colors or light for this shot:

The camera was on its own tripod for this series and just shooting through

Conclusion

For the price of about 1 to 2 tanks of gas these days (at the time this was written), I think this ring light offers a lot of bang for the buck. Its ease of use, portability and overall quality of light were way more than I was expecting.

Will it keep up with my studio lighting? No, but it’s great for on the go video that is all to common these days with social media influencers who need professional looking light when on the camera as well as when interacting with products.

The Impact Air-Cushioned Light Stand (Black, 8') included in this review was perfect for cost effective portability, but I wouldn’t recommend it for the product review scenario I mentioned. For that, you’ll definitely want to invest in a C-Stand or even better, a base with wheels  along with a grip head and extension arm. While you are at it, don’t forget a saddle bag (bring your own sand).

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy today. Don’t forget that you can apply for the Payboo card and get special financing to make it easier to purchase in these difficult times.

Enjoy more classic reviews on the Reviews tab.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Crazy Turn of Events on a Photoshoot

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I loved being a pro photographer, because I got to see and capture so many amazing things and events. But this past May, I had a unique experience that even I had never done before.

I had a blast at the Rock Chuck Olympics, a sporting event that my friend, Gavin Gear over at UltimateReloader.com, organized. He invited five YouTubers to compete in different challenges that were totally out of their comfort zone. I got to photograph them do some hilarious and amazing things. It was like a reality show with a lot of action and fun.

The participants were:

• Erik Cortina - F-Class World Champion and Precision Shooting Parts
• Jim Harmer - Founder of BackFire TV
• Nils Jonasson - Pro USPSA, IPSC, IDPA, 3-Gun and Steel Challenge style matches shooter who has won US Nationals and World Championships
• Pieter Milan - PRS Competitor and Hunter in South Africa
• Adam Weis - Better known as Who Tee Who on YouTube

It was an honor to meet Erik. He made me the long-distance shooter I am today, so I hope to find out later this year if the invitation to come shoot with him at his ranch was legit

Adam was a soft spoken gentle giant, but super down to Earth

The Shot - 245 Yards - First Try

I grew up in a small town where shooting was a normal hobby. I wasn't very skilled, but I had fun with my buddies doing it and other things.

But in 2020, everything changed. I needed something to do that was still open. I found a local range and it became a place for me and my son to bond over a sport. The range was safe and clean, and nobody got sick (or injured). We also got better at shooting, thanks to some of the YouTube videos made by the competitors. My son even was on a National Championship winning squad two years in a row!

While photographing the Pistol ELR event, I finally got my first chance to participate in the competition. It was tough to watch and miss out on all the fun, so I was happy to finally get my chance. When I did, I made the most of it:

More fun on Instagram

Pieter was a great competitor, but also an awesome dude to hang out with

Nils is genuinely a nice dude

Yes, Jon is as funny as you might expect in real life

I enjoyed being a photojournalist again, even though I wasn't raking in the big bucks like the good old days. It was a blast to explore Gavin's beautiful place and share some laughs with a great group of people. I also feel like I made some new friends for life - at least I hope so.

It was incredible being with Nils and seeing the guy who designed my pistol shoot it like a boss

When we had to go back down the mountain for the final time, I got to ride with Nils Jonasson, the designer of my Canik Rival and the Rival S, as well as Jim Harmer, the founder of Backfire TV. They were both awesome and we had a great time chatting.

I have a ton of photos that I shared with the particpants and sponsors, but I put a few on my Instagram for you to enjoy. Perhaps, sometime I'll post some more. Until then, here's a final shot that you can visit to go see some more of my latest photos:

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My last shot before heading home was after a great coffee and conversation with Pieter Milan and Jon Patton

Thanks Athlon

A huge shout out to Athlon optics for following up on their promise to donate some products to the team I coach. The boys and girls on the team, and especially the parents, appreciated their support.

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The Best Wireless Personal Video Conferencing Light I’ve Ever Used

Raya Bi-Color Round LED Panel Light (9")

Sometimes a product is so good that people who use it become instant fans and they are eager to tell everyone they know about it. Great examples include game consoles, the iPhone, Netflix, etc..

As you’ve probably noticed, I’m not reviewing much lately because my personal life has been dedicated to my family and my work life has been quite busy. However, when I tried this product out, I loved it so much that I knew it was time to get another article out as quickly as possible.

I think what won me over so quickly on this one was that my friends at B&H sent me a review unit that included a great support stand (which consists of several parts sold separately) and a battery pack with charger that makes this entire unit wireless. What you see in the picture is all you need and you can take it anywhere, set it down, turn it on, and voila you’ve got great light. What’s more, you can adjust the light temperature and brightness to give you subtle lighting improvements that are hardly noticeable or you can crank it up if you really want to bring your eye color out to the max!

Examples

My bedroom chair is one of my favorite places to have video conference calls when working from home or talking with friends, but I almost never turn my camera on because the light is just blah as shown here:

To be fair, this was actually a rare sunny day in the Pacific Northwest and the light is much better than normal but the challenge is the back lighting and the harsh side lighting. If I was taking a professional photo I’d use an reflector and be in good shape, but this is live video so that isn’t especially practical. However, with my Raya 9” light, I can give new life to my Herman Munster-like dark inset eyes as shown here:

Yes, I may have overdone it a bit with the brightness and the warmth, but you get the idea. I now have nice catchlights that bring out the color of my eyes better and improve the experience quite a bit.

Now, I know some of you are probably saying – heck, that before is way better than the lighting I have at my office, I’d take that any day so I don’t see the value here. Ok, that’s fair, so how about a more common problem of overhead light that casts shadows over your face like this:

versus something more evenly lit across the face like this?

Now, imagine I get that light up higher (to address the camera left eye shadow) and possibly throw a handkerchief or other softening material over the light to make it light without the harsh highlights? You get the idea, that it can make a big difference without much effort but if you do put some effort into it then it can be as professional as you want it to look – for not that much expense.

Even outdoors, where light isn’t splashing all over shiny countertops and stainless refrigerator doors I was able to take an acceptable lighting scenario like this:

into a subtle, but improved lighting on my eyes with catchlights like this:

This sunny day sitting under the deck umbrella just got a whole lot better with this portable light – without any wires cluttering up the space. I didn’t need to worry about wires that the dog would chew on or trip on to bring my light down at the worst possible time. It just worked as easy as it was to bring my phone (in this case) or laptop to a outdoor environment to enjoy a online meeting with friends.

How it works

So the “trick” here is two big batteries that look like what some of us might recognize from camcorders in the 90’s. They are those two big rectangles in the middle of the light that hold a lot of power but also add weight to help stabilize the light so that it’s not falling over with the lightest breeze outdoors.

The two orange knobs control light temperature and brightness. If you aren’t going to be moving it around then you can skip the batteries and go for the power cord that comes with the light and never have to worry about charging anything, but for me the batteries make it so mobile that I want to use it everywhere around my house.

Here’s everything you need based on the picture above:

Impact Large Magnet Grip Mount with 50mm Stud and 6" Baby Pin Adapter Kit

Oh, did you notice something cool in that title? Yes, the base is a big magnet so if you have something metal to set it on then it’s rock solid. I stuck it on my refrigerator, but my wife didn’t like that too much (but hey, it worked!).

You’ll also need TWO Watson NP-F770 Lithium-Ion Battery Pack (7.4V, 4400mAh) batteries (7800mAh and 10,050mAh versions are also available for even longer battery life). To charge them you’ll need a Watson Compact AC/DC Charger for L & M Series Batteries.

Don’t need it to be portable?

If you just want to mount it to your desk and forget it, then ignore all of that above and just get this and use the power cord that comes with the light:

Yeah, but how does it work with video?

I hate video editing, so here’s a video I did using just my iPhone and the Raya light outdoors on my deck. Please forgive the poor reduction in video quality and horrible color after YouTube’s terrible video compression when viewing on a PC, but it’s less terrible on iPhones:

Night time iPhone Video

Day time iPhone Video

If you are a content-creator, you might be interested in the full Livestreaming Kit.

Why should you care what I think?

Many of you who have followed this blog may not realize that my primary job has always been in high tech at a company you’ve definitely heard of. With 6 years of experience in building cutting edge video conferencing solutions for the biggest companies on the planet, I know a thing or two about the challenges many users face when collaborating with others over video.

Typically, my photography life outside of work doesn’t directly cross paths with my day job, but when B&H contacted me to say they had a cool personal light for photography and video conferencing, I couldn’t pass up the chance to check it out. What I didn’t expect is that it would be a wireless solution that would allow me to have great light wherever I landed with my laptop or even phone to have a meeting!

I am not allowed to endorse items for work, so I can’t mention who I work for or what I work on (but it’s easy to figure out). As such, this is my personal opinion formed outside of work using personal products for personal meetings with friends and relatives, but after this is done I do plan to show my friends at work and use it to enhance my personal meeting experiences.

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy today.

Other articles you may enjoy

Enjoy more reviews on the Reviews tab.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this. I was not paid to do this review, but I was allowed to keep my review unit.

Imagenomic Portraiture 3 ai Discount and Video Review - 2022 Edition

Check out the latest tutorial using this image and more

Video Tutorial

Check out my latest video tutorial on Imagenomic Portraiture 3 ai:

Before and After Images

Click to view the full original unedited image

Click to view the full image after Portraiture 3 ai editing

Conclusion

I've been using this product since it first came out and still to this date there's nothing I like more. Check out the free demo for Photoshop and Lightroom to see for yourself - it really makes skin enhancements a simple one minute step in your photo editing workflow.

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy today.

Enter the code and click update to apply the discount

Enjoy these and more on the Reviews tab as well as Ron's Recommendations.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.