Fujifilm Apps and Potential Data Loss

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My X-T1 had been powered off for long enough that it reset itself to factory defaults. After using the Camera Remote app for iOS to import about 50 photos, I was doing some post processing in Pixelmator where I noticed the pixel dimensions of an uncropped photo were conspicuously low. After a moment or two, it occurred to me what had happened.

This:

image.jpg

Please Throw Away 13MP of Each Photo

That is the default setting on WiFi-enabled cameras, and there is no prompt at import, or any indication of a reduction in file size in the user interface. Had I not realized before formatting my memory card,1 I would have inadvertently thrown away 13MP of the data from a bunch of photos, some of which I really like.

Imagine If…

Someone new to Fujifilm goes on vacation armed with their brand spanking new camera and smartphone. Whilst on vacation, they go through the tedium that is importing images 30 at a time.2 They post them to their social media(s) of choice, get Likes, Stars, Loves, and Favourites, everything is great. After importing their photos,3 they do like all good photographers do, and diligently format their memory card. The next day, they proceed to merrily overwrite yesterday’s originals. Once home from vacation, they decide their images are so good, they’d like to print them. They send what they think are 16MP files off to the printer only to find out their pixel dimensions have been cut by more than half. That person would likely be pretty annoyed with Fujifilm.

This is a Pretty Big Problem

Fuji needs to address with either a firmware update, or an app update as soon as possible. Users should know when their images are being reduced in size. In the meantime, my readers can double check the setting that’s buried 3 menus deep to ensure they aren’t also in danger of downgrading their cameras from 16MP to three.

  1. I happen to also have SD card recovery software at my disposal, but that’s a. not typical, and b. has it’s own set of problems like renaming files. Plus, if our imaginary traveller is formating their SD card everyday, odds are most of the orignal files would be overwritten long before a recovery tool was used. ↩

  2. Are importing all photos and a “Select All” button too much to ask for? Oh, iPhones 6 optimization would also be good. And a new icon. And...↩

  3. And ensuring they have a backup, but in this case, they might be backing up 3MP images. ↩

35mm (and where I’ve been)

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XF 35mm f/1.4 vs. XF 35mm f/2 WR

After weeks of testing, my extensive comparison of Fuji’s 35mm primes is now online. See how well the new normal compares against the old normal.

Where I’ve Been

As a bit of an aside, regular visitors have likely noticed a serious lull in content and updates. Looking at my last post that happened in August, I can hardly believe it’s been that long myself. What happened? A combination of things.

First of all, I found new employment approximately 5 months ago. It’s been a big transition from my previous freelance gig, and the ups and downs of a new job on top a huge multi-month project, had all but squelched my capacity for creative photography, let alone photographic analysis. Fortunately, things have settled down considerably.

Secondly, I decided early last year to take control of my physical wellbeing. This started out with the standard physical fitness, but quickly morphed into an obsession with restoring mobility and range of motion I’d lost from 15+ years of sitting for 8-15 hours a day. It’s been hard work, and took up almost all my free time, but it was well worth it.1

Anyhow, it was always an internal struggle for me. I felt bad neglecting the site outside of replying to those who emailed or tweeted, but it was the right thing to focus on.

TL;DR

I’ve been busy with work and life, but plan to get content on the site more regularly now. It’s good to be back.

  1. Physical health is hardly a topic for this website, but if you’re at all interested in restoring your own capacity for movement and how good movement can apply to photography, I recommend Kelly Starrett’s CreativeLive Class. Simply being able to squat properly behind my camera (ass to ankles, heels on the ground, toes pointed forward) has increased my enjoyment of photography, and saved me from putting more bad loads on my knees. If you can relate to that last part, you owe it to your lower extremities to restore full range of motion in your hips and ankles.↩

Deal: X100S Canada

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While it’s unfortunate that Fuji has decided the X100S won’t receive any further firmware updates, it’s still an excellent camera that I keep in my Billingham as part of my daily carry.

For my Canadian readers, Aden camera have a killer deal on the X100S. Just $875. Compared that to a new X100T that goes for $1,499 CDN, the second generation X100 will save you a pretty big chunk of change after tax.

Come to think of it, that works out to just $665 in U.S. funds by today’s exchange rate; better than Amazon’s→ or B&H Photo’s→ prices, so U.S. readers might want to jump on it too. Just remember, you miss out on the warranty with cross-border shopping.

Artisan & Artist Silk Strap Review

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Thanks to Canadian Artisan & Artist dealer Digitec Trading, I’ve spent the entire summer with two the best straps for hot, sweaty days, the Round ACAM-301, and Flat ACAM-310.

Artisan & Artist straps are quite coveted, but do come with a price tag to match their premium quality. Are they worth it? Find out in my extensive review.

Artisan & Artist ACAM-301, ACAM-310 Silk Strap Review

Fujifilm X-T1 IR (Infrared)

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Fujifilm USA has announced the forthcoming availability of an Infrared (IR) version of the X-T1. I gotta say, this came out of nowhere, and is a surprising move in a way, but one need venture no further than Fuji’s other key areas of business to understand why they’d make a camera specific for “technical experts, law enforcement, medical research and scientific communities.” Fujifilm spends at least as much time blocking light rays as they do allowing us to capture them.

For $400 USD more, the X-T1 IR “adds advanced infrared technology to see light from the ultraviolet (UV), visible and infrared (IR) portions of the light spectrum (approximately 380nm – 1,000nm).”

One more body to consider in your purchase decisions come October. Hopefully this hints at the possibility of other niche cameras like perhaps a monochrome or astrophotography-specific version. Too bad Dexter is already over. Would have made for an awfully convenient product placement opportunity.

Inspiration: Thomas Menk

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As a reader of this site, you almost certainly already know Thomas Menk as the hardest working guy in Fuji curation. Lately, I’ve been enjoying the appearance his work as a photographer in my Twitter feed even more.

While I’ve always enjoyed Thomas’ photography, I really like the the images he’s been posting from a recent workshop in Venice. The processing is sublime. There’s a feel to them that I haven’t seen from him before that stops me from scrolling, and compells me to just enjoy the image.

Check out more of Thomas’ work here.

Affinity Photo

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If traffic stats are anything to go by, the majority of my readers are Mac users, so apologies in advance to my Windows visitors for this Mac-only post. Having written that, this could be another reason to consider a shift in desktop platform.

Affinity Photo→ has been available on the Mac App Store since July 9th. I was waiting for a trial like they have for Affinity Designer,→ but with the end of the launch sale fast approaching, I took the plunge and bought both apps without being able to test out Photo.

I’m only a day in, but so far I’m very impressed. These applications are super fast. On my Early 2013 Retina MacBook Pro, Affinity is opening PSDs and AI files (saved with PDF compatibility) faster than Photoshop and Illustrator respectively are. The “Edit in...” command from Lightroom is also significantly quicker when sending the file to Affinity Photo as compared to Photoshop.

It might be the initial excitment talking, but as it stands right now, I’m hopeful that what amounted to two months worth of Adobe’s Creative Cloud will allow me to cancel my discounted subscription when it comes up for renewal at the end of next month. The timing couldn’t be better. My current plan is to eventually purchase what I can only assume will be the last stand alone upgrade for Lightroom, and transition away from Adobe for home use entirely after that.

Now, you might be thinking, “That’s great and all, but what about my Photoshop plug-ins?”

Tadaaa!!!

Yep, Nik plug-ins work just fine with Affinity Photo. A quick work around as noted below is required.

Yep, Nik plug-ins work just fine with Affinity Photo. A quick work around as noted below is required.

Initially I had some trouble figuring out exactly how to set the Plugin search folders and Plugins support folders, but a quick tweet to @MacAffinity lead me to this forum post, and the settings below.

To get “/” you need to point Affinity Photo to your boot volume. Hit Command+Shift+C, then double click your start-up disk.

To get “/” you need to point Affinity Photo to your boot volume. Hit Command+Shift+C, then double click your start-up disk.

There’s lots more to consider, but pretty much all of the big holes I’ve been worried about so far have been satiated. Wacom support, check. Proper Curves adjustment? Yup. All the blend modes you can handle with live preview so you don’t have to use some weird key command to cycle through them? You betcha.

I’m really just scratching the surface here, but I’ll continue to compare and contrast Affinity Photos with Photoshop over the next little while. If you’re on a Mac, and looking for a way to ditch the subscription, Affinity might be your way out. Creative Cloud offers many more applications, of course, but as a photographer, art director, and designer, I mostly work with Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. With Affinity, I’ve got the first two replaced, and InDesign has been the least-used of the three for some time now. It would be fantastic if Affinity’s next project was a serious page layout application.