Seeing Is Believing - Updating Works

A couple of days ago the national trainer for the Fujifilm company visited our shop and took us in groups for sales training. It was interesting to see the new components in the X-series cameras explained - the question of the new X -trans sensor in particular. He was a great speaker because he finally explained the real cause of moiré patterning in images and the various means that have been adopted to deal with it.

He was also a great speaker because he showed me how  to update the firmware on my X-10 camera. It was done in about 3 minutes and the difference it has made in the operation of the camera is magic.

I also took courage to re-jig an another Fuji X camera and watched it go from good to great. See the images for this post. The hot rod was taken with my standard package of Nikon D300s, 18-200 lens, and SB700 flash on a Stroboframe rig. Note limited depth of field that is just enough to get the car in.

Now look at the Fuji image - the '49 Mercury. It is under different conditions - a bare studio set and some studio lights. There is less contrast as the light source is huge.

There are some similarities - the sensors in both cameras are APS-c size. It was flash exposure so the shutter speed was about 1/250 second - no movement.

The lens focal lengths were different - 120mm for the rod and 23mm for the Mercury. The f stop for the rod was f:22 and for the Mercury, f:16. This is the smallest stop the 23mm lens can do. Of course they are both going to be affected by diffraction, but unless you sacrifice DOF by sticking to f:8, you are going to have to deal with it.

Or not - if you buy the new Fuji X-100s. There is a special computer program in it that specifically targets areas that are spread by diffraction while preserving the portions of the image that are not so afflicted - the result would be dramatically sharper resolution in the picture. I don't know, because I am still using the older X camera, but the new guys are going to get world-beating results.

Note also that the update added the capability to see "focus-peaking" in the LCD screen. It is the enhancement of the in-focus portion of the image with a black or white rime. It is evident even in small areas and allows you to get a sharper manual focus than you could do with a bare eye. I could "walk" the focus back from the headlight of the car to the front of the windshield to maximise the depth of field. Beats peering into a small viewfinder in the dim focusing light of the studio mono-blocks.

My honest conclusion is that it is an image as good as or better than that produced by my regular studio tabletop rig. Provided I want to point of view to be that of the 35mm lens on an older film camera, it is ideal. If I wish to replicate the 50mm on an old film camera it will still have to be the Tokina 35 macro - if I want wider views the Sigma 8-16 will be needed. At least I now have and excuse to have another camera!

Gather Round The The Tabletop

Tabletop photography attracts some strange creatures. I know - it attracted me. Let's see if we can interest you...

The tabletop photo can be easy to define but hard to do. It is anything that you can make as an artificial scene - and surprisingly may not be on a table top in a studio. Some of the best of them are photographed on portable sets out in the sunlight.

They have traditionally been seen as an activity that filled the long winter months for northern hemisphere photographers who could not travel to exotic climes. As it is, these days everyone seems to be travelling either too or from exotic climes so there must be another charm to the genre. There is - when you create your own world you can sometimes be more than a mentor, superstar, or ambassador - you can be a deity. If you are a good deity you get good pictures.

As with all close-range subjects, your chief bugbear is going to be gaining sufficient depth of field to make things look real. Of course you will have some images that benefit from bokeh - believe me as soon as you relax your vigilance in this game the bokeh will run out from under the couch and bite you.

The best way to get the depth of field you need is to use as short a focal lenght as you can consistent with the angle of view that you want. If you are using a camera with a big sensor, you will need a longer focal length so consider deliberately choosing an APSC or micro 4/3 camera. You really will gain an advantage.

Consider getting a camera that will display what you do on a clear screen as you do it - peering into a small optical finder or through a dusty ground glass and hoping for the best is not only inconvenient but unnecessary. I know - I did just this for years and now revel in the clear view that the digital screen delivers. If you can find a camera that has a swivelling LCD screen so much the better.

You definitely need a camera that will allow manual focus - there is very little need for AF in tabletop work. There are times when you need to create layers in the picture with manual focussing onto each layer - get a lens that focusses easily.

Cable or wire remote release is mandatory and a synch socket or at least a hot shoe to let you use studio lights is perfect.

Which leads me to the pictures of the panasonic GH3 camera - Micro 4/3, and all the other necessary attributes right there on the body. Chose a lens to suit your point of view -I favour the 12-50 or the 14-42 - and away you go.

Quite what you choose to put on your table top is your own affair - I do toy cars and buildings and then combine them with live models. I've seen marvellous model seascapes on acrylic sheets. One worker makes paintings using food...

And DO check out Paul Michael Smith on the net.

Note - we've got the Panasonic and a shelf of great lenses for it in shop right now. Come see.

Table Topple

I like table tops. You can take pictures on them, you can eat your dinner off them, and you can sleep on them after 18 bottles of beer. Actually, these days I can get there in 6, which means I can afford a pillow for the tabletop...I generally use a pile of old chip wrappings.

As photographic supports, however, they can leave something to be desired - mainly a backdrop behind your main subject. If you are doing pack shots or product photography you frequently need a bland or invisible backdrop so as not to encroach upon your subject. Herewith several suggestions:

1. Get a large sheet of cardboard from the newsagent or Jackson's art supply* and tape it to the front of the tabletop. Let it run back as far as you need for the subject to sit and then curve it up. Support it with a pile of books. Light the subject with $ 2000 worth of studio monolights or $ 1000 worth of speed lights and the pictures will look good. Light it with the sun and the pictures will also look good but you will have to contend with flies and wind.

2. Put your subjects inside a Glanz or Promaster light cube and light as before. The tent will shelter the subject but will itself catch the wind. Be cautious outside but don't be discouraged - many people light jewellery successfully with a light tent and a reflector and the Western Australian sunshine.

3. Promaster product table. Now you're talking. Attachment points for lighting supports and a translucent curved base - you can fire a flash up from below to eliminate shadows. Not expensive and folds out of the way. Our preferred product platform. in store now. No, you can't have the one on the floor because WE need it...we have more upstairs.

* Same cardboard but you can get Lotto tickets from the newsagent. And a smile.

Hands Across The Table - Cullmann Studio Set

I wish I had an underwater studio. Then I could employ an octopus as an assistant and whenever I was trying to photograph a complex setup on the tabletop there would be extra arms available to hold things.

As it is, what might look like a simple bunch of toy cars and their associated scenery might be propped up with toothpicks, Blu-tac, double-sided sticky tape, folded matchbooks, piles of rice...the variations are endless as I try to show he object but hide the support. Photoshop is helpful to erase shadows but the more you can do at the time the less fiddling you do later.

Enter the Cullmann Flexx Studio set. A whole kit wrapped in a nylon carry bag that attaches to table edges, or smooth flat surfaces, or cranes over from a light sand. there are clamps, grips, and a ball head with a cold shoe for a speed light. There are extension poles and goosenecks. It should allow me to get a steady shot while holding a lot of the heavier little components at awkward angles.

Guess what I am going to push for as a Christmas present...

PS: You can get smaller sets as well, but this is the big daddy and I deserve the best...