A Private Party with the XP1

Speedfreak said:
What you see here is more Silver FX than Fuji. There is nothing "like film" in a digital camera. But it can be tweaked in post. (Which leads me to the question why not just shoot film in the beginning, but whatever...)

Nice shots anyway.
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So I can answer your questions -- I don't suppose you'll answer mine?

Why not just shoot film in the beginning?

1) It's expensive. If one has film bodies to begin with but not a digital camera I guess you have to offset that expense with the cost of a digital camera and digital cameras become obsolete and are more often replaced than film cameras, but the reality is the X Pro body price amounts to about 3/4 of a year of film and processing costs for me and I do my own processing. I kept my last digital camera for almost five years so it's a pretty attractive proposition.

2) Film involves time and aggravation to process, you can't see right away what you've done & fix things there & then. Even apart from impatience and laziness, I think a digital camera can be an excellent tool to help a person become a more knowledgable and thoughtful photographer since you can play around and see the results of that play immediately as you do it.

3) Film is, slower what with changing rolls every 37ish exposures and it means carrying around extra film if you're anticipating taking more than 37ish shots. I often go out with a Rolleiflex and just the film that's in it. And that's nice. But it's also nice, and a lot more flexible, to go out with the Fuji, a lens selected according to my mood, and just the battery and memory card in the camera.

4) You can ruin everything in processing. It happens -- I've done it lots.


I like film. I use it still, and use it often. But it's just silly to the point of trolling to pretend that there aren't reasonably compelling reasons that would drive someone to use a digital camera in many circumstances, even if one preferred the look of film or wanted something like a particular film. So my question -- why the trolling? What's the fun in it?
 
I shoot film, but when I need the shot (special occasions, etc.) I turn to digital.

I have a Epson V750 and a Plustek 7600i, and I have very little luck getting the tonality and range out of a negative that I can get with a good camera and Silver Efex Pro. Digital can blow out highlights and shadows, etc. - and some SEP2 film profiles do this automatically - but they don't have to.
 
Ryan - You're a step ahead of me so I'm hoping to learn a little before I make a potentially expensive (side) step. I shoot an M6 and am about to try an M8 for the same reasons you state: speed of digital workflow, ease of processing and shot-to-shot learning curve and use of my existing M glass. You say you had an M8 but decided to go XPro instead. Can I ask what the M8 didn't give you that the XPro does? I'm sure the greater ISO is nice, but do you miss the M style of shooting? Is it really fairly seamless between the M6 and XPro? If the XPro hadn't been invented would you still be happy with the M8 or was there something endemic to it that you disliked.

Thanks,
Chris
 
I think the M8 is a great camera. I loved it... However, I grew tired of the uv filters and really wanted something that produced cleaner images at high ISOs. Of course, the XP1 has it's quirks, but it actually feels more together than the M8 to me.

At the end of the day, what I really want is an M9... or an M10 - whatever that ends up being... But I'm not a good enough photographer to use a $9000 camera.
 
"No photographer is as good as the simplest camera".
Steichen

(in reference to your comment about being good enough for a $9000 camera - your work is mighty fine)
 
Ryan:

Impressed by your shots - 'from the camera' or not. (It's amazing how much better the slide guitar shot is in B&W.)

As with Domagojs's comments on the comparison shots, there are some flared background bits (and some moire inside the picture in the background), that adds some tension to the fuji image.

- Charlie
 
I think you are more than good enough to use a $9,000 camera. However your work will not suffer in the least if you keep using what you have now.
 
Ryan1938 said:
At the end of the day, what I really want is an M9... or an M10 - whatever that ends up being... But I'm not a good enough photographer to use a $9000 camera.
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A friend of mine like to say, "It's not the wand that matters; it's the magician."
 
Thanks fellas... Maybe I just got lucky and posted images that have some salt to them. In any case, I've got buddies that are real photographers. I'm not one of them and I'm totally cool with that!

As for the XP1, I'm still really enjoying it. So much so, that I'm now starting to think about that wide angle to sit along side my 35mm...
 
Speedfreak said:
What you see here is more Silver FX than Fuji. There is nothing "like film" in a digital camera. But it can be tweaked in post. (Which leads me to the question why not just shoot film in the beginning, but whatever...)

Nice shots anyway.
Click to expand...
unless you wet print in a darkroom, once you scan negatives you are shooting digital
 
Landshark99 said:
unless you wet print in a darkroom, once you scan negatives you are shooting digital
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A bit pedantic I think, and not accurate anyway. I can't quite see that when the inputs are different in the first place you can say it's one or the other. Hybrid, yes. Digital, partly. Analogue, partly. Does it matter? No.
The image is the end product, whether on screen or print, and that's the objective. Everything else is simply a means of getting there. Some choose one road, others prefer another way. Who cares?
 
I'm not one to care... at all. I just like take pictures. I prefer my M6, but the XP1 is a ball too...

39.jpg
 
Leigh Youdale said:
A bit pedantic I think, and not accurate anyway. I can't quite see that when the inputs are different in the first place you can say it's one or the other. Hybrid, yes. Digital, partly. Analogue, partly. Does it matter? No.
The image is the end product, whether on screen or print, and that's the objective. Everything else is simply a means of getting there. Some choose one road, others prefer another way. Who cares?
Click to expand...
I agree all that matters is the image in the end.
 
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