Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Mirrorless Cameras => Topic started by: rdonson on May 08, 2018, 02:41:39 pm
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http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/x/fujifilm_x_t2/features/page_09.html
I've downloaded and installed the update. Everything going smoothly. Looking forward to putting some of the new features through their paces.
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Upgrade went well.
Dave S
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I think the change in exposure bracketing is new in this update, though sometimes it's hard to keep track.
Instead of having just + and - bracketing, the ability to bracket just minus, or just plus and specify the number of steps is welcome. I've set my bracketing to 0, -2, -4.
You can go up to -3 in 1/3 stop increments.
The focus stacking will be useful for macro.
David
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I think focus bracketing will also be boon for landscape photography as well.
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My upgrade seems to have gone well.
Focus Bracketing is the most interest to me. Will need to figure out what the step values are. Suppose it will depend on FL and DOF. Not the Step value but which 1-10 to use. Landscape as well as Macro I agree. Will force me to use a tripod more, have gotten lazy in that respect.
Tried the larger EVF LCD info settings... do video folks like this? Didn't do anything for me. Turned it off right away.
PD AF updates are always welcome.
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Step values are not defined. The PDF simply says
• Focus proceeds from the starting position toward infinity.
• Small STEP values translate to small changes in focus, larger
values to larger changes.
• Regardless of the option chosen for FRAMES, shooting ends
when focus reaches infinity.
I foresee a fair amount of experimentation for both macro and landscape use.
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I have tried some focus bracketing runs on a music stand placed so that the holes in the back run diagonally away. Set the lens at f2 so that it was obvious holes were both in focus and out of focus. I have not got the bracketing settings sorted yet. Has anyone had success? If so, sharing of what to do would be very welcome!
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The exposure bracketing happened an update or two ago.
As I understand the focus bracketing, you focus on the nearest point you want in focus and the camera will commence taking shots, according to the step values, and focus further and further away until it reaches infinity.
Looking forward to using this for landscape. Experimentation always welcome.
The larger display settings were not of interest to me. I can see them being of use for LCD and a video shoot though.
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I've tried the focus bracketing but I've haven't honed the skills yet.
I've used it outdoors and it worked almost as I expected.
First I used my 16-55 at f/2.8 and 16mm for a wide spread
Frames = 9
Step = 5
Interval = 0
I focused on a close 8x8 post and wanted to see how much more of the back yard scene would be in focus.
I set up on a tripod and I also used the built in 2 sec timer rather than a shutter release
Given how wide the area in the photo was I didn't get everything in good focus. I'd say that about 2/3 of the scene was in very good focus. I will have to experiment more on frame count and step count until I've managed to get everything.
The PDF Fuji provides for the v 4.0 firmware release indicates this is the first time for the focus bracketing on the X-T2. Perhaps it was available for other Fuji cameras before this.
P.S. it rattled off the 9 shots like a machine gun. It might be worthwhile to see if the electronic shutter would be better in certain circumstances.
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Thanks for this Ron. I have tried it with the electronic shutter and the first time did not know it had taken all the shots! I will have another session, and will try it to see how it works on a flower, perhaps taking more shots, select those that get all the flower in focus leaving the background out of focus and then merge those.
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I have now had a chance to experiment with focus bracketing. Attached is a processed image of an alium taken in my greenhouse to mitigate the effects of the breeze outside where the plant pot normally is. Details are:
Fuji x_t2 with 90mm prime lens, auto focus set on nearest (central part)
Tripod used with camera set to 10 sec delay
f2, 1/850s no filters, spot metering
Bracketing settings 30 images, step 5, interval 0
The distance from front to furthest visible part at the edge is 8cm (3.2") and camera to flower head is 1.2m (4 ft)
On reviewing the 30 images, approximately the first 20 covered focus from nearest to furthest visible points
JPEG mages with Velvia in camera simulation used.
All 30 images processed in Helicon Focus, just doing load, render, save.
Output image cropped in Lightroom, no other adjustments.
Resulting image downsized in Photoshop Elements 15 to LL specs for uploading.
My opinion: OK for me, may try with Raws, and do some Lightroom adjustments. Use of the focus bracketing function will require me to do more tests to get my head round how to judge optimum bracketing settings on the camera, but for me it does remove the need to manually adjust the focus point. I think it is a useful addition to the firmware and I will use it.
If anyone else has tried it, I'd be grateful to hear about the experience.
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I found this YouTube video which was helpful although its not the holy grail of managing all the variables we might encounter with focus bracketing/stacking.
I thought this might be useful for those of us just starting out in this endeavor.
https://youtu.be/BG82pWcnaSM
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Thanks, Ron, for the link. I used the electronic shutter, with the 10 sec delay before shooting. I did not use manual exposure. This did not matter as I set the interval to 0, not the 1 or 2 secs that the video recommends. The whole sequence of 30 shots only took about 4 seconds, so was very quick and there was little opportunity for lighting change. Helicon Focus is very easy and quick to use. My main uncertainty that does not seem to be covered much in the video is how to set the two camera settings of frames and step to get an optimal sequence. As I wrote, the 30 I took with a step of 5 gave more images than needed, only 20 were required. This did not seem to matter as Helicon coped well. It therefore is a matter of setting the number of frames and step to give enough images covering the required focus variation. Too few will be no good, too many may not matter so much. Perhaps it is a matter of practice.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
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Is anyone experiencing the display flicker that the update is going to resolve?
https://www.fujirumors.com/fujifilm-x-t2-bug-fix-firmware-coming/
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/61121946
I'm not and tried some of the suspect settings.
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Is anyone experiencing the display flicker that the update is going to resolve?
I have not seen this, nor either of the other two issues that Fuji is reporting (http://www.fujifilm.com/news/n180517.html). (Well, I never convert raw files in camera or with Fujifilm X Raw Studio, so I shouldn't comment with respect to that one.) While it works out the bugs, Fuji has released a roll-back patch (http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/software/firmware/x/xt2/index.html) that reverts the firmware to the 3.00 rev.
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Thanks, Ron, for the link. I used the electronic shutter, with the 10 sec delay before shooting. I did not use manual exposure. This did not matter as I set the interval to 0, not the 1 or 2 secs that the video recommends. The whole sequence of 30 shots only took about 4 seconds, so was very quick and there was little opportunity for lighting change. Helicon Focus is very easy and quick to use. My main uncertainty that does not seem to be covered much in the video is how to set the two camera settings of frames and step to get an optimal sequence. As I wrote, the 30 I took with a step of 5 gave more images than needed, only 20 were required. This did not seem to matter as Helicon coped well. It therefore is a matter of setting the number of frames and step to give enough images covering the required focus variation. Too few will be no good, too many may not matter so much. Perhaps it is a matter of practice.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Jonathan! When it stops raining here I'm going to do some more experimentation myself and the electronic shutter is definitely top of the list.
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Is anyone experiencing the display flicker that the update is going to resolve?
I've not experienced any of the issues with V 4.0
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Fuji now has a 4.0.1 update which basically rolls the camera to v3.00 firmware according to FujiRumors. The issues with 4.00 are the following:
1. When RAW files, which were taken by X-T2 (before firmware ver.4.00), are converted in camera (ver.4.00) or by “FUJIFILM X RAW STUDIO”, they are not converted properly.
2. When pressing the shutter button halfway under certain conditions, the live view can flicker.
3. In rare cases, a hang-up can occur.
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To me I don't convert in the camera or use X-Studio, and I have not seen the display flicker or the hang ups, so I am keeping the update and using it. I am sure that will get it fixed soon.
Alan
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yeah. I've decided to stick with V4.00 unless something crops up.
I don't use X-Raw Studio either.
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Fujifilm have just removed the 4.0 firmware update. Here's the link to a report: petapixel (https://petapixel.com/2018/05/17/fujifilm-pulls-x-t2-firmware-v4-0-after-discovering-malfunctions/)
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I'm sticking with V4.00 until they come out with the fixes. I'm not affected by the bugs identified.
I keep experimenting with focus bracketing and I'm loving it!!!!!
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Fujifilm have just removed the 4.0 firmware update.
That's why I always archive a copy of every firmware update.
Like several others who have posted to this thread, I haven't experienced any of these bugs, so I'm staying at the 4.00 level.
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Yesterday I did some more testing and got excellent results with focus bracketing. For the backyard scene I was shooting I dropped the "Steps" to 4 and let it shoot 20 frames. The first scene stopped at 12 frames and the second stopped at 17 frames. I was shooting everything at f/2.8 on my 16-55 and the results with PS were excellent.
This is making my non-Fuji friends a bit jealous. ;D
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I have to experiment a little more but 12 shots for a landscape sounds a little too much, the chance of movement in between the frames will be quite high. I hope decreasing the aperture in F8 range will get good results with 3-5 frames only.
So far I shot some close ups with it but didn't have the time to play with them.
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Yes, I could have used 3-5 frames at f/8 but that wasn't the point of the experiment.
I purposely set up tough tasks at f/2.8 to see how it would perform. In my mind the camera and firmware passed with flying colors.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mHzVQkyL9DAf50WP2 (https://photos.app.goo.gl/mHzVQkyL9DAf50WP2)
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I've been testing in my office to get a grasp of what is happening. The Step value being the most interest, number of frames and interval seem to be just what they are, up to infinity for the frames.
I'm using the kit lens and the scale on my paper cutter.
At f4 with Step=1 the stepping is very small. 10 frames only created a focus depth of 1cm.
At f4 with Step=10 the 10 frame depth is about 5cm
At f6.4 with Step=10 the 10 frame depth is about 8cm.
The Step=10 setting seemed to provide adequate coverage/overlap - I don't have a particularly fast lens testing here though.
See the attached images.
The step depth does seem to be effected by the f-stop.
Seems that 5 and less values would be used for macro work. Normal and landscape shooting can use 5 and greater.
I expect that focus distance is going to have an effect as well. Longer distances will create bigger steps.
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As you suggest.... (I think) the Step values depend on the distance from the camera with regards to your numerical choice. I tried one very similar to what I shared in my last post at 5 and it wasn't as good a result as using 4 in the next tests. I'm guessing that in the more typical landscape where you're looking at distances from hundreds of feet to miles the higher numbers are a better bet.
It would be nice to get some guidance from Fuji on this rather than testing the snot out of things.
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I'm using the kit lens and the scale on my paper cutter.
At f4 with Step=1 the stepping is very small. 10 frames only created a focus depth of 1cm.
At f4 with Step=10 the 10 frame depth is about 5cm
At f6.4 with Step=10 the 10 frame depth is about 8cm.
Thanks for sharing the results of your tests.
I don't know understand why Fuji hasn't published more information about the focus-bracketing parameters. The illustration in the updated user manual is ... ahhh ... less than illuminating.
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I agree unless Fuji is reluctant to accidentally share some secret sauce with their competitors.
That said, I'm willing to wait. There is a good chance they will be hearing feedback about that and they're generally very good in responding to what their customers are saying. I'm willing to wait until they release this feature (again) in the upcoming fix release.
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Have done another test, this time of a floral display. Taken with 35mm f2 prime, electronic shutter, 20 images, step 6, 0 interval so only a few secs to take all images. The display is about 2ft top to bottom and 18 inches front to furthest visible at top. On inspecting the 20 images only 6 covered the focus range, so I put these in Helicon Focus and this is the result (albeit with a little contrast and clarity adjustment in LR on the Velvia simulation JPEG and then down sizing for LULA). Guess that I need some estimation in each case, but better to take more than necessary and then select for stacking to one image. I'm happy so far.
I'm not doing anything in firmware v4.0 to cause problems so carrying on using it till next update.
Best wishes.
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Thanks for sharing, Jonathan.
I am curious why it took 20 shots instead of stopping before that number was reached. I wonder if it was fooled by the background or that it truly needs to reach infinity focus before it stops (as explained by Fuji).
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Ron, I think it does however images you specify whether or not it goes beyond the furthest necessary focus point, but I may be wrong! It's one of life's little mysteries.
Best wishes.
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I see Helicon Focus mentioned a few times. I've been using Photoshop CC. Is HF significantly better?
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I do not know if Helicon Focus is better than Photoshop cc as I only use Lightroom. I have the lite version of Helicon Focus and it can be used as a Lightroom plug-in or a stand alone. I find it very easy to use. You just load the images you want to merge, press render, and the stack is merged into one in-focus image which you then save. It suits my needs and I purchased a lifetime licence. Both my images in this thread were processed this way.
Best wishes.
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Ron, I think it does however images you specify whether or not it goes beyond the furthest necessary focus point, but I may be wrong! It's one of life's little mysteries.
Best wishes.
As I reported previously I had to runs where it stopped shooting before hitting the 20 mark which I set and I was very pleased with the results. Fuji has only said it will stop earlier to the max shots if it gets to infinity focus.
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I took a few series with the 60mm macro and at some distances the first 2 shots are not aligned with the others, almost as if the shutter shock moves the camera a little. The rest though, from nr 3 to the end are relatively aligned, focus shift notwithstanding. I forgot to do it just with the electronic shutter, next on my project list.
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Here is a quick focus stack done in Photoshop, with the 60mm, 18 frames, step 10 (I think). Few minor stacking errors, I should be able to fix them manually in Photoshop if the picture was worth it. I also attached a 100% screenshot from the middle.
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Playing a little more (it reminds me why I don't usually try this, it takes too long and you end up with too many shots)
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One more. I find easier to stack than with the Olympus, the Photoshop gives me less stacking errors. I'm not sure if it's something in the settings or the Fuji has more consistency.
This particular one was with the 60mm macro, step of 10, 12 frames, distance of around 3 feet (give or take)
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Nicely done, Armand!
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Nicely done, Armand!
Thank you!
Here is another one, tons of stitching errors in Photoshop, took me forever to fix (a reminder why I don't do this too often) so chances are there isn't anything intrinsically better with Fuji.
I'll try some landscapes when I have time and see how that goes.
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Did I hear that the new X-T100 has in camera focus stacking (processing not just shooting)? Thought I heard this in a review video. Looks like a very nice camera for the money BTW. Need to start a thread on the pros and cons of the 24mp bayer sensor
Not sure I would use in camera stack processing.. I don't use in camera pano stitching either.
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On the Fuji the in-camera pano wasn't that good, my cellphone does a much better job.
X-T100 (or X-A5) with the new 15-45 is very appealing for backpacking if you don't expect much rain. Shoot it at F5.6-11 and you are set.