Ron Martinsen's Photography Blog: X10

Showing posts with label X10. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

REVIEW: Fujifilm X30–The best one yet! (Part I of II)

When I first got the x100 to review I remember thinking “wow, this thing is special” (despite my later disdain for the fixed lens). When the x10 & x20 came out I had high hopes, but the x20 (at least my silver one) seemed to pale in comparison the likes of a x100s. Fast forward to this third version and it appears that Fujifilm has got it right. The x30 feels like a camera that deserves its hefty price.

Fujifilm X30 Rear View

The changes are plentiful and noteworthy. From a proper electronic viewfinder to a huge new LCD and wonderful control ring, this camera feels improved from the ground up. The net result of all the good new changes means this camera is heavier (12.45 oz / 353 g for the x20 vs 14.9 oz / 422 g for the x30), but I like the solid feel. The selector buttons make a great clicky sound and this camera is loaded with new and greatly improved features from end to end.

I can confess that this cameras weight is actually a positive to me. It feels as solid as a German luxury sedan, yet it’s super fast. All this new tech requires a bigger battery which doesn’t help either. The x10 & x20 were never going to win awards for their bulky design, but it was so charming you looked past it. The x30 is a bit like a Lamborghini where it’s big, bold and non apologetic about it!

I’ll discuss more in my next installment, but so far this camera has definitely made me a big fan.

Real World Sample Images

If you read my Nikon D750 review, this gallery might seem like déjà vu! The reason why is because I duplicated many of the shots I took with the D750 on the x30 shortly thereafter.

While the x30 is no match for the dynamic range of the incredible D750, you do see the advantage of a small cropped sensor when taking macro shots thanks to the greater depth of field. It’s also quite impressive how good many of these are when compared against one of the best DSLR’s on the market.

If you are new to my blog, what follows are in-camera JPEG’s with no modifications taken through the course of a normal day. The camera is mostly set to camera defaults but I do chose my AF single point and adjust the white balance as I see fit. Most shots are aperture priority but a few are using automatic modes as well. All but one shot long exposure shot in the gallery were also taken handheld.

You may view the photos for your pleasure, but please delete them and/or remove them from your cache when done. You may not edit, print, or otherwise use these photos. All rights are reserved. The full gallery can be found at http://photos.ronmartblog.com/fujifilm/x30.

f/2.2 @ 12.2 mm, 1/140, ISO 100, No Flash
This is one of those wow, I can’t believe it’s a “point and shoot” images. It looks so real and vibrant that I want to reach through the screen and grab it (especially on my 4k review display)!

f/2.8 @ 21 mm, 1/220, ISO 200, No Flash, Provia/Std Film Simulation
Fujifilm is known for great color, but as good as the standard Provia film simulation is, I still prefer the Velvia film simulation shown below. I use this often in my review because I just prefer the vibrant colors and deeper (sometimes shadow crushing) blacks

f/2.8 @ 28.4 mm, 1/220, ISO 200, No Flash, Velvia Film Simulation
Admit it, those leaves look pretty awesome with a simple film simulation mode change, huh?!!!

f/9 @ 7.1 mm, 1/850, ISO 100, No Flash, SP Sunset Mode
The x10 won my heart with the sunset shot I took in Hawaii with this auto mode (and a plate full of food in my right hand – ha, ha). In fact, that shot is still my Facebook cover page photo. The x30 didn’t disappoint here either. While it naturally doesn’t have the shadow detail of the similar shot taken with D750, I have zero complaints with this shot straight out of the camera

f/2.2 @ 10.4 mm, 1/125, ISO 100, No Flash, SR+ Mode
This camera is so good that I joked that I could just point it at the ground and press and it would make a vibrant and interesting shot. I think it did and that’s what you want from this class of camera – you want good results so you can capture the moment and move on

f/4 @ 13.7 mm, 1/340, ISO 200, No Flash
The sunset was raining down some serious yellow on these trees so this is actually still Auto White Balance in Velvia mode

f/2.2 @ 12.2 mm, 1/170, ISO 100, No Flash
The macro mode is still just as addicting as ever on this one

f/2 @ 7.1 mm, 1/60, ISO 1000, No Flash
Despite being such a high ISO, I see photorealism that makes me want to reach into the screen and touch it. There’s definitely an improvement in high ISO performance over the x10 & x20!

f/5 @ 7.6 mm, 1/30, ISO 2500, No Flash –1 EV
This was a case where I actually preferred the X30 results to the similar shot I took during my Nikon D750 review. With a point and snap it it managed to capture the vibrant colors of the trees very well yet still not get too dark for the train tracks

f/2.2 @ 12.7 mm, 1/20, ISO 400, No Flash, SR+
Clearly the beauty of the x10’s EXR mode still isn’t in this model It is sad too because the x10 nailed tough exposures like these

f/4 @ 10.4 mm, 1/30, ISO 3200, No Flash
ISO 3200 starts to show some grain but with a little Noiseware this shot is totally salvageable and impressive for a small sensor camera!

f/2.5 @ 18.7 mm, 1/40, ISO 800, No Flash
See my Nikon D750 review and notice how the Nikon needed ISO 12,800 to get this shot taken minutes apart. As a point and shoot it once again does a great job that I feel confident IS better than your new fancy smartphone (yes, even that one)

For more photos see my On Vacation with the Fujifilm X30 (Includes a Mom’s 2 Cents) article and visit http://photos.ronmartblog.com/fujifilm/x30.

Conclusion

CLICK HERE for part II and my conclusion.

Where to order

Click here to learn more or order on the B&H web site.

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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

REVIEW: Canon PowerShot G16–The Best G Series Yet? (G15, s120 & Fujifilm X20 Comparison)

Canon PowerShot G16 Point-and-Shoot Camera

The Canon G12 was my favorite G series camera with great features like an ISO wheel and articulating display. However, between the release of the G12 & G15 I found a new love – the Fujifilm X10 and moved away from the G series. What were once considered the affordable pro’s point and shoot, they had fallen behind the times from an image quality perspective. The G16 comes along and tries to change that with better image quality thanks to improvements like the DIGIC 6 processing unit. New usability features also include wireless file transfer and a monster burst mode that goes Up to 12.2 fps for up to 6 frames and Up to 9.3 fps for up to 522 frames. Indeed, in my testing it was a beast that makes it the best G series ever for parents with active kids.

Compared to the G15 – Should you upgrade?

Canon PowerShot G16 Rear View
Sadly there is no articulating display like the G12
or touch screen like the s120

Physically there’s no significant differences between the G15 and G16 beyond the typical shuffling around of buttons and new WiFi label. I covered the WiFi features previously in my s110 review, and the only thing I noticed is that it seems to be faster with integrated cloud support.

Where the G16 really shines is that overall it feels much faster and the DIGIC 6 processor make it the best G series yet in terms of internal image processing/handling. This begs the question, should existing owners upgrade? I’d say yes if you have kids or if you long for Wi-Fi transfer and are dissatisfied with Eye-Fi. If you just use it as a travel or hobby camera and don’t have kids, then I’d probably skip upgrading at this time to see what the next generation holds.

Here’s a link to the G15 gallery of images, including the bookshelf images that you can compare to the G16 gallery.

Compared to the Canon s110/s120 – Is the s120 just a small G16?

Canon PowerShot s120

At the time this article was written, the s110 and s120 were both available. Due to the holiday season orders, I was only able to test with a s110. I’ve had hands on use of the s120 already, and the big improvement it offers is the DIGIC 6 processor also found in the G16. Beyond this they are near identical, so consult my s110 review to see my thoughts on S versus G series.

Canon s120 Rear View

I’ve always been a fan of the physical size of the Canon S-Series compact cameras, and the controls are very nicely laid out. With excellent improvements in video autofocus and a very handy touch screen, both the s110 and s120 offer the best ease of use on the market. For as nice as the G16 is, it’s lack of a touch screen give the smaller S series an advantage in quickly changing the focus point. Specifically, the s120’s ability to tap to set the focus point (and optimally shoot), as well as swipe to change pictures and pinch to zoom make it feel more phone like – but in a good way. With that said, you do lose two buttons and a knob from the G series which makes for much faster access to important features, but the S series adds a control ring by the lens that gives you the knob back (and it’s programmable).

Personally I find the G series additional buttons more handy in the field, but with the touch screen and control ring the S series is pretty darn close. If I had to chose, I’d probably go for the G16 but I think most would find the s120 to be just as good. The gap between the two cameras has been closed, so the decision is really about ruggedness and the presence of another physical button. In the end, I do find that the s120 is basically a smaller G16 so if you can live without the extra controls you’ll probably be just as happy with the smaller s120.

Compared to the Fujifilm X20

Fujifilm X20 (also available in black) - Review

I was a huge fan of the Fujifilm X10 so I automatically upgraded to the X20 when it came out. While I’ve been a little disappointed in that camera (no EXR mode button and poor video), it has served me well. As a former G series owner of multiple previous units dating back to the G9, I’ve moved forward with the Fujifilm X series and never regretted it.

As you can see from the images here, there’s A LOT more physical controls which comes at the cost of a larger physical size (click here or watch the video later to see the size differences). What’s more you get better in-camera processing of the images which means that for the things I use a point and shoot for – I’m done – no additional post processing is required. That’s not true with the G16, which I consider to be at the same starting point as a typical DSLR.

Fujifilm X20 Rear View

From behind is where the additional buttons really start to show, and that pretty much sums up why I like using the X20 over the G16. The G16 definitely has a better burst mode, video quality, and indoor focusing performance. However, the X20 is the best of the X series in this department too so I never find myself frustrated by the X20.

I’d still pick a X20 over a G16 for my needs, but if I were looking to downsize from a X20 I’d probably give the s120 a serious consideration and not automatically go straight for the G16.

Bookshelf Test

These are taken from in-camera JPEG’s with zero modifications taken during everyday life events. Nearly all were taken in Aperture Priority (Av) mode using a timer and a tripod with stabilization turned off. The goal of these samples is to have a common measuring stick in a controlled environment by which you can measure the lens and sensor performance. What’s more you can also compare these to bookshelf shots of other cameras that I’ve reviewed to get an idea of how a camera really compares. See my other camera reviews for links to additional bookshelf images.

Visit http://photos.ronmartblog.com/canon/G16 for a full gallery and click the images to see the full-size originals. All images are copyright Ron Martinsen – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may view them, but you may not store, edit, print, distribute or otherwise reuse any images without written consent.

f/2.8 @ 30.5 mm, 3.2s, ISO 100, No Flash
Click for full size

Overall I found the results to be excellent with good details in the shadows, but the auto white balance was a bit on the cooler side. There’s also not the vibrant warmth you get from Fujifilm's default images, but that can be accomplished via post-processing.

f/2.8 @ 30.5 mm, 1/10, ISO 3200, No Flash
Click for full size

At ISO 3200 things start to get a bit rough, but the image is usable for web and normal print sizes.

Here’s ISO 6400 from RAW in Lightroom 5.3:

This is what I call “salvageable” noise because with the default settings of Noiseware (Tutorial) and some selective sharpening I get an image that would show on the web or print just fine when viewed at normal web/print sizes (not 100% as shown here):

Using the default in-camera noise reduction I’d probably never shoot above ISO 3200 and I’d try to stay at 1600 or lower whenever possible.

Walkthrough Video

In this video walkthrough I compare the physical size of the Canon G16 to my point and shoot, the Fujifilm x20:

Click here to view on YouTube

Real World Sample Photos

These are taken from in-camera JPEG’s with zero modifications taken during everyday life events. Nearly all were taken in Aperture Priority (Av) mode unless otherwise noted, and all were handheld. The goal of these samples is to show you exactly what you’d expect to get if you were taking your own real world shots.

f/1.8 @ 6.1 mm, 1/1000, ISO 6400, No Flash
It should be noted that this is the only one of 4 cameras I was testing
that rendered the color of the the Bull Crap bag accurately

f/4 @ 9.54 mm, 1s, ISO 100, No Flash
Shot using a Leica Tabletop Tripod and Leica Large Ball Head combo

f/5.6 @ 15.22 mm, 4s, ISO 100, No Flash
Shot using a Leica Tabletop Tripod and Leica Large Ball Head combo

f/5 @ 9.54 mm, 8s, ISO 100, No Flash
Shot using a Leica Tabletop Tripod and Leica Large Ball Head combo

f/5.6 @ 16.15 mm, 1s, ISO 100, No Flash
Shot using a Leica Tabletop Tripod and Leica Large Ball Head combo

f/2.8 @ 6.1 mm, 1/30, ISO 400, No Flash, Macro Mode

f/1.8 @ 6.1 mm, 1/20, ISO 100, No Flash
Somewhat shallow depth of field is possible – compare to f/8 below

f/8 @ 6.1 mm, 1s, ISO 100, No Flash
f/8 is the largest f-stop number, so this is pretty sharp considering that fact

f/1.8 @ 6.1 mm, 1/60, ISO 3200, No Flash
I wasn’t super happy with the way red was rendered but I felt ISO 3200 was fine for this shot

See more images at http://photos.ronmartblog.com/canon/g16.

Real World Sample Video

I hate doing video, so my apologies to those videophiles out there but here’s a couple sample videos I took with this camera. These are originals uploaded to Zenfolio shared for your viewing enjoyment:

Click here to download the 1080p version

There seems to be some new issues caused by Zenfolio as I see some shifting in the images that doesn’t occur in the original. You can see the quality of the image though which I find to be a bit on the soft side. The original wasn’t completely smooth (partially due to me and partially due to the video itself).

Click here to download the 1080p version