Daily Archives: May 19, 2015

 

 

Are you in search of the Holy Grail of Photography?  Above all else, its Image Quality!  I know when you come here you expect to see a lot about my love for the Fuji X-System, but this article is not so much about that as it is about technique.  In the days of film a camera was a light tight box with a shutter that opened long enough to let you expose the film,.  It was the film that determined how images “looked”!  In the age of digital, the sensor and it’s magical firmware replaces film as the arbiter of what you produce. It is more important that you  know how to get the most out of your camera than anything else.  Nikon, Canon, Fuji?  It does not matter as much as knowing your camera.

 

Digital photography really insists that you experiment!  In the days of film, to try something new meant a lot of film and processing, (money), and waiting, (time), to find out if your adjustments worked.  With the modern digital cameras, we enjoy today, tailoring your camera to give you the results you want are easier than ever before!  It doesn’t matter what brand you shoot, all cameras offer some level of adjusting color, contrast, sharpness, and other parameters.  You can choose film simulations, in the case of Fuji they are actually named like the films they produce, or did produce!

 

It is truly worth the time and effort to “EXPERIMENT” with the setting available on your camera!  With built in filtration you an even produce spectacular looking monochrome images that once required a separate kind of film, special filters and special processing!  Well it still does, but it can allow be done in the camera!

 

The other major factor to image quality is the quality of the glass you put on your camera. There is probably more great glass today than ever before, but sadly there is some pretty poor glass out there too!  One of the reasons I review lenses is to confirm for myself their quality and to share what I’ve learned with you.  I’ve found that lenses fall into several categories; Legendary, professional quality, good (??? how good depends on your standards), unacceptable.  Get a relationship with a good dealer that will let you run a quick test and return a lens if it does not meet your standard!

 

So adjust your camera, use good glass, keep things sharp with a good solid tripod.   …..and join the the rest of us in a search for the Holy Grail!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Photo Note:  Image above with the Fuji X-T1 and Fujinon 60mm Macro lens at f 5.6  ISO 1600.