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Archive 2013Fujifilm SLR Thread

  
 
rattymouse
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Sep 09, 2013 at 04:47 PM
Krosavcheg
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p.2 #2Fujifilm SLR Thread
Ratty: Cute girl and a really nice shot.
Btw, how does it work with MF lenses and aperture set to minimum to avoid fEE error?
I would understand with chipped glass like Voigtlander...
Sep 09, 2013 at 07:45 PM
Krosavcheg
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p.2 #3Fujifilm SLR Thread
Ok. It was dark and I shot at ISO100 with dynamic range set to 400%..
ISO400 completely blew shots overexposed.
Takes forever to write a file to a card, but it's more so amusing rather than annoying..

So far - I really like the results. I have a lot to improve but at least now I know what I am after.
Obviously, there is a learning curve and I feel like a child learning to walk all over again.
Wonder how it will feel to shoot 5D MkIII afterwards..

http://www.3byk.org/imgposts/finepix5s/DSF4180.jpg

http://www.3byk.org/imgposts/finepix5s/DSF4184.jpg

http://www.3byk.org/imgposts/finepix5s/DSF4189.jpg

Ed: 2nd shot really didn't need any editing. The "painterly" quality of 5S drawing is very pleasing to me anyway.
Sep 10, 2013 at 09:30 AM
rattymouse
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p.2 #4Fujifilm SLR Thread
Krosavcheg wrote:
Ratty: Cute girl and a really nice shot.
Btw, how does it work with MF lenses and aperture set to minimum to avoid fEE error?
I would understand with chipped glass like Voigtlander...


There's a menu setting in the Set Up menu, under maintenance. There you can input the focal length and aperture so that your camera can meter.

I find manual focus with my S5 almost impossible @ f/1.4. I dont know how you do it.

Thanks! She's my daughter.
Sep 10, 2013 at 06:42 PM
Krosavcheg
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p.2 #5Fujifilm SLR Thread
I miss few, but I used to MF with 20D, and that kind of came back to life.
I actually believe I got more keepers with 20D/5DC than 5DM3, most probably because trusting too much into LiveView pre-focusing technique - it just doesn't work as well as I thought it would.
Sep 10, 2013 at 07:34 PM
rattymouse
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p.2 #6Fujifilm SLR Thread
Krosavcheg wrote:
I miss few, but I used to MF with 20D, and that kind of came back to life.
I actually believe I got more keepers with 20D/5DC than 5DM3, most probably because trusting too much into LiveView pre-focusing technique - it just doesn't work as well as I thought it would.


Interesting. I have the Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 and 85mm f/2.0 lenses and they are almost useless on my s5. I cannot obtain any reliable focus unless set to f/5.6 or greater. I am thinking of having a Katzeye screen put into my S5. The viewfinder as is just does not work for me.
Sep 10, 2013 at 08:35 PM
Krosavcheg
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p.2 #7Fujifilm SLR Thread
rattymouse wrote:
Krosavcheg wroteI miss few, but I used to MF with 20D, and that kind of came back to life.
I actually believe I got more keepers with 20D/5DC than 5DM3, most probably because trusting too much into LiveView pre-focusing technique - it just doesn't work as well as I thought it would.
Interesting. I have the Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 and 85mm f/2.0 lenses and they are almost useless on my s5. I cannot obtain any reliable focus unless set to f/5.6 or greater. I am thinking of having a Katzeye screen put into my S5. The viewfinder as is just does not work for me.


Was thinking about Katzeye for 20D, but it worked out as too much hassle for a camera up for replacement (got 5D few years after).
After I installed Ee-s screen in 5D, I got a drop in keepers compared to original screen.
Probably for me it lies in becoming sloppy in belief that I now can reduce the effort I put in focusing. And the same might go for LiveView focusing with 5Dm3..
Sep 10, 2013 at 09:10 PM
Mescalamba
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p.2 #8Fujifilm SLR Thread


Full size

Quick and dirty conversion along with very minor tweaks (done fast, will either replace it or delete it later, its not representative enough).

Now bit of that technical bits..

S5 Pro is 6+6 mpix camera. Contrary to popular belief it doesnt have AA filter, cause it never needed one and apart from that, you simply cant make AA for that kind of pixel array. That doesnt mean you cant get moiré, on contrary, you will get it. And sometimes in pretty obscure places.. And other demosaicing errors.

Why its "soft". Actually it isnt. You can check full-size pic with some heavy dose of sharpening. As you probably know, you cant create details from nothing, no matter how much sharpening you use (I made it so even blind can see).

As you probably noticed, its 6 mpix file. Why? Well, if you want it to be really sharp, you need to use certain RAW developers, which in case if you want absolute sharpness (like regular camera) gives you only 6 mpix. Cause anyway that camera doesnt really have more resolution.

Those 12 mpix is down to fact that there isnt any AA and that its 45° tilted sensor which allows using of some less than conventional demosaicing. Mostly is that 12 mpix quite crappy. But there are some exceptions, with some positives and negatives.

1) RAWTherapee gives 12 mpix, quite sharp, you can use deconvolution sharpening, if you want, to enhace it (but its not that effective as on regular Bayer).
With RT, you loose bit of highlight DR. And its not easiest to work with it.. (tho thanks to my intervention, one issue was solved - red cast is now possible to fix)

2) SilkyPix 5+ gives you 12 mpix of reasonably sharp image, thats if you disable that pesky NR it uses and tweak internal sharpening a bit. SilkyPix is bit unique in ability to actually use both sensor to create resolution. It causes some artifacts, if you push it too much, but other than that it kinda works. Except being bit softer and clumsy to use, its actually good piece of SW. DR isnt perfect tho.. if you push it too much, your highlights will be magenta

3) ACDSee 6 (but 4 works too I guess) gives you 6 mpix of blody sharp image and good colors. You loose a bit of highlight DR.

4) RPP - MAC only SW, gives 6 mpix, reasonably sharp and about infinite DR (crazy DR squeezing software). Colors are bit iffy and WB work isnt easiest. Could use better demosaicing algorithms, but author feels that what he uses is good enough.

5) ACR - can output to native 6 mpix (or 12 mpix with that small * signing its not native), resolution isnt exactly great, colors are off (just shift reds +15 towards orange and its ok-ish - its under color calibration). I suspect that neither ACR or LR can use 14-bits of data in case of S5 Pro. Colors are simply less smooth than they are from some other options. DR is pretty good.

6) LR - pretty much crap, emergency use only, DR survivable. If you downsize on export to 6 mpix, its somewhat usable (just dont sharpen much in LR if you plan to downsize to 6 mpix).

7) Hyper-Utility 3 - Fuji native convertor, hard to use, limited options, but if you got piece without stuck pixels (rare), then usable, resolution ok, DR work.. not much.

Others.. Capture One - useless due bugs, DxO Optics - bad as usually, Photivo - obscure, hard to use, S7raw - hard to use, not worth it.


Im pretty positive that pic could be bit sharper, but my lens maybe isnt perfectly calibrated for infinity (not even on F8) and apart from that, it seems to be sharper somewhere from 1m to 10m. Might be due wierd pixel arrangement on S5 Pro too, but I suspect my Zeiss simply isnt top notch for landscapes (does pretty good flowers tho). Noise on that pic is cause sharpening (and zero denoising, literally zero). Plus its I think underexposed by 1 eV or so. Yea, exposure with MF lens is kinda up-n-down (in my case usually down, underexposed by 1eV, depending on aperture).

Colors are nice with S5 Pro. Its not best, my KM-7D has pretty much as good colors too (and certainly is way more friendly in most aspects of using). But, for skin tones, Sony A900 is top, then 1Ds MK3 or 1D MK3 (same CFA). Then usually a lot of various Sony cams. Plus from those old, Kodak SLR/n comes to my mind. Or Leica DMR. Best colors with my S5 are for me from SilkyPix, ACDSee and RT.

DR, keep it on 400% as if you shoot RAW, its pretty much on-off switch, doesnt matter what you set as long as its over 100%. Dunno if it has effect on metering, didnt test it yet (I like it on 400% so no reason to try it). DR usability varies with RAW developers (highlight only).

About MF, well there is focus confirmation dot in OVF. Simply rack your lens to MFD, use center AF point and turn it towards infinity until it blinks. When it blinks and after that its just lit up, its in focus (tho when it lights up, dont turn more). Its quite accurate, needs just bit of training. Downside is obviously, that you need focus-recompose and that you dont really see DOF. But its doable, Im using it sometimes on more distant subjects, or when Im not so sure about my eyesight.

Yea it has LiveView - exactly 30 seconds of it. Dont use it too much as it heats up sensor and you will get some hot pixels after (might be ok during winter ). I use it only if I "MUST" get that shot.. which I usually dont. Prolonged use of LV might end badly as CCDs dont like heat.. and probably isnt best idea to let it face sun or something like that.

My piece tends to eat batteries for breakfast. I have always one more in my pocket. They dont seem to be old, so maybe camera just needs to eat.

Yea and its slow, cause RAWs are huge for 12 mpix camera. And they are huge, cause its 6+6 14-bit files. Thats why it writes so long..

Maybe I will summarize my thoughts bit more some day and write a bit more about this. Its sorta nice camera, just bit quirky..

Edited on Sep 10, 2013 at 11:23 PM · View previous versions
Sep 10, 2013 at 10:55 PM
Mescalamba
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p.2 #9Fujifilm SLR Thread


One bit more representative of Zeiss/S5 Pro. Im usually using pretty heavy color tweaks (and lots of others).



Im quite positive this one is without color tweaks (eg. its pretty much output of SilkyPix).
Sep 10, 2013 at 11:09 PM
Krosavcheg
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p.2 #10Fujifilm SLR Thread
Mescalamba:

Thank you for the ton of valuable input!!
I actually was trying to to find a better processing software for my RAW files, but so far I am out of luck.
ACR HSL allows me to correct colours to my liking, but I still have to resort to curves and level after to find that tiny appealing spot. I will need to find the settings for ACR to open files as 12Mpx...

ACDSee crashed on me when I was on windows at a rate of 3 crashes per image. Plus it seems to be written in LISP or brain f**k or something along those lines. Took about 1 minute to move a slider. When it didn't crash, it corrupted its catalogue. This is where I developed allergy to it.

RAWTherapee looks most appealing, but I sincerely hope it doesn't use library or any of the nonsensical "workflow optimisation for professionals by professionals".

Was looking to buy 1Ds MkIII, but its size scared me off. At the time I wasn't aware of all factors in sensor designs, so I foolishly expected 5D MkIII to be on par with 1Ds MkIII. Experience - priceless! Too late now, except if someone would want to trade their low shutter actuation model for a 5D MkIII..

Sep 10, 2013 at 11:32 PM
alba63
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p.2 #11Fujifilm SLR Thread
Hi,
I have to say there are a few misconceptions out there.
1. The S5 pro not only has an AA filter! It has - according to a technician who examined it - the strongest ever built into a DSLR. Except for the few samples that had it removed. A german guy (nickname "nightshot") has been removing AA filters of different DSLRs for many years. When he was asked to do this with an S5pro (by a friend of mine) he worked a long time for a solution and the first thing he wrote was that the AA filter in the S5pro is really thick! He then had to look for an IR filter that had the right strength in order to not disturb metering of the WB and the AF which he said was very tricky. I closely inspected the results from the few (less than 5) S5pro cameras he converted and found that the additional artefacts in the AA- less version were too strong to accept in return for the slightly higher acuity or sharpness. I passed on the experiment and left my S5pro untouched (I still have it).

2. Fuji did not add the 12MP as an option to impress the customers with a higher number. Unlike normal Bayer Pattern sensors the pixel array in the Super CCD as used in the S2, S3 and S5pro does not have pixels in straight geometric lines, but a more or less complicated pattern (S2 pro 6 million physical pixels, S3 and S5 6 + 6 MP) or interleaved lines. Epson used this technique in their flatbed scanners to improve resolution without actually implementing CCDs with the indicated physical resolution (like 1200ppi etc).
So: The native files size of any S2 - S5pro is 12MP really, 6MP JPEGs are down- interpolated from that. The real resolution of course - as with the Epson scanner - is not 12MP, but - depending on the model - slightly above the single resolution of 6MP. S2 pro with a very sharp lens had a quite crisp 12MP output, the S3pro added the best DR of any DSLR for many years to come , it's AA filter was weaker than the one in the S5pro.

What one has to keep in mind is the insane amount of interpolation going on in an S3 and S5pro:
1.) 6 --> 12MP up- interpolation because of complicated pixel array.
2.) Interpolate S and R type pixels in order to increase DR.
3.) Bayer pattern interpolation.

No wonder there are artefacts. ALmost a wonder that those cameras put any photos out at all. And beautiful ones!
I have to say that despite the lack of biting sharpness the files of the S2 (my first DSLR in 2003), the S3 and S5 have something in their look that is just so... natural. The dramatically larger DR - specially in the lights and extreme highlights (where it really counts) also contributes to this, I have never seen files so malleable, so consistantly good- looking even with the most modest lenses. Even with a Nikon kit zoom (18-55mm VR plastic phantastic) the S5pro produced wonderfully looking files. I took the S2/S3/S5 twice to India and made many thousand files with it.

As for the best RAW converter for the S2-S5: That is an easy one: Fuji Hyper utilities, it produces the smoothest files with the best (by far) colours and WB. Lightroom gets contrast curves, WB and tonality/ colours ok, but not nearly as good as Hyper Utilities. Workflow is frustratingly slow, but the resluts are just better than the rest.
Compared to the old S3/S5, the X-E1 and X-Pro 1 with the "X-Trans" has of course much better detail and better high ISO; but colour, tonality and DR are clearly inferior to the old DSLRs.

Cheers
Bernie
Sep 11, 2013 at 04:15 AM
rattymouse
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p.2 #12Fujifilm SLR Thread
Bernie, I'd love to see some S5 Pro shots from India. That country has some amazing colors which must have made the S5 Pro sing!

Sep 11, 2013 at 05:46 AM
Krosavcheg
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p.2 #13Fujifilm SLR Thread
+1 to ratty. Pics or it didn't happen..

So, it is possible to remove AA filter from S5 sensor?
Sep 11, 2013 at 06:24 AM
Mescalamba
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p.2 #14Fujifilm SLR Thread
Wonder how given that aligment they managed to create AA filter. Its fairly easy for regular Bayer pattern, not-so-easy with something like this.

I wouldnt try to remove it, its giving artefacts even under normal circumstances. And not few of them..

And no, its not 12 mpix .. its upsized 6 mpix. That second part of sensor 6 mpix is used only for DR. Unless you are using SilkyPix which really can use both parts to create somewhat improved resolution. Native is 6 mpix of resolution. Heck, you can even output those files unaltered with 45° tilt, if you wish and its really just 6 mpix.

RAW files are in fact 2-in-1, its double 6 mpix files, which are either combined in RAW developer, or in case of some, one is thrown away (probably, frankly thats bit unclear in most cases - I can confirm only that SilkyPix, RPP, ACR/LR and S7raw doing it right - last has options for various ways of combining sensor).

ACDSee Pro 6 (64-bit) is perfectly fine on my PC (Win 7 SP1 x64). Older variants were unstable, true that.. Internal engine is DCraw, just in case anyone wondered. I dont use catalogues with it, LR is what I have for file management (and its probably best in it from things I tried so far).

Latest builds of RT

RT is free to use, based on DCraw (based but its not only front-end to it). Latest version is mostly stable for me (free SW is usually bit less stable). It can do things that nothing else can, which is why its part of my workflow. Explore if you wish.

If you want to try SilkyPix 5+, then be prepared for less-than-smooth workflow. Its damn slow.. But so is Fuji own SW, so.

Since Fuji own SW cant reduce noise effectively, neither remove white/hot dots. Which is why I cant use it. I dont plan to remove by hand every stupid hot pixel that CCD produces.

Btw. this SuperCCD matrix is as much flawed as X-trans, so I had good time laughing at first X-trans adopters as they learned nothing about Fuji. Its kinda sad tho, Fuji had ages to develop something "different-but-normal" and they always tend to kick themselves into nuts with creating something that could be good idea, if someone used brain. Which clearly they didnt..

How-to-get-12-mpix-out-of-ACR.





Btw. alba63 you tried every RAW developer I mentioned? Cause I did. I can test HU-3 for colors, which is only thing I didnt. I just categorize colors from RAW developers as "usable" or "not-usable" or "usable with tweaks".
Sep 11, 2013 at 11:20 AM
carstenw
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p.2 #15Fujifilm SLR Thread
Mescalamba wrote:
And no, its not 12 mpix .. its upsized 6 mpix. That second part of sensor 6 mpix is used only for DR. Unless you are using SilkyPix which really can use both parts to create somewhat improved resolution. Native is 6 mpix of resolution. Heck, you can even output those files unaltered with 45° tilt, if you wish and its really just 6 mpix.


The pixel pattern looks like this. There are 6 million small and 6 million large pixels. You can decide if that is 6MP or 12MP. The camera can deliver both.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/FujifilmS5Pro/images/SR.jpg
Sep 11, 2013 at 12:42 PM
alba63
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p.2 #16Fujifilm SLR Thread
Krosavcheg wrote:
+1 to ratty. Pics or it didn't happen..

So, it is possible to remove AA filter from S5 sensor?


Well, it is possible to remove, but it requires quite a bit of experimenting. I only know one photographer in person who has had it done. And regretted it ultimately because of the amount of artefacts showing up in the files of the modified camera.

As for the pics, the problem is more the galleries I have uploaded them which apparently do not directly link here....
I try however (I just found out I have to add some html tags) - sorry for the different size and frame, they originally were from different galleries:
This was my first trip in 2003, S2 pro:









In a "street floor bookshop":


Sep 11, 2013 at 12:48 PM
alba63
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p.2 #17Fujifilm SLR Thread
Hmmm. I have plenty of them, still S2pro:



">

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">

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Later some S3pro and S5pro...
Sep 11, 2013 at 01:07 PM
Mescalamba
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p.2 #18Fujifilm SLR Thread
carstenw wrote:
Mescalamba wroteAnd no, its not 12 mpix .. its upsized 6 mpix. That second part of sensor 6 mpix is used only for DR. Unless you are using SilkyPix which really can use both parts to create somewhat improved resolution. Native is 6 mpix of resolution. Heck, you can even output those files unaltered with 45° tilt, if you wish and its really just 6 mpix.
The pixel pattern looks like this. There are 6 million small and 6 million large pixels. You can decide if that is 6MP or 12MP. The camera can deliver both.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/FujifilmS5Pro/images/SR.jpg


Not really. 6 mpix pixels is only for extending dynamic range towards highlights, they are "naturally" underexposed by 4 eV. I can show you how that pic looks, its very dark, capturing only very bright highlights. Yea and it doesnt contain colors (its BW image).. So, how exactly you think it can contribute in creating 12 mpix?

Only way that it can contribute is by way SilkyPix uses. That DR part of sensor is brightened by 4 eV, denoised a bit (median) and than used as luminace source of resolution. Color still needs to be interpolated, so there is bit of clever additional interpolation to avoid color issues (mostly works). Tho simply interpolated 6 to 12 mpix looks bit better as its smoother, this add sorta "pixelisation" to it. But kudos to SilkyPix developers for trying. Suprising is that they added this in v5 of SilkyPix, which is quite recent version. And years after S5 was made..
Sep 11, 2013 at 02:49 PM
alba63
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p.2 #19Fujifilm SLR Thread
Mescalamba wrote:
Not really. 6 mpix pixels is only for extending dynamic range towards highlights, they are "naturally" underexposed by 4 eV.


400% expanded DR = -2EV, no? not -4EV....

And yes, the small set of 6MP is only used to blend in if highlights are burned. About the SW only image I am not so sure. Extreme highlights near white naturally do not look as colourful as darker tones, but still they are recorded in colour. It is still a sensor with Bayer matrix, no?

But anyway, it does not matter that much for the result, which generally was ultra- smooth, with very convincing colour, just not so great resolution. But mostly enough.

Bernie
Sep 11, 2013 at 03:09 PM
Mescalamba
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p.2 #20Fujifilm SLR Thread
Good question and in this case I have just theories, not sure why its like that. Apart from fact that those 400% are just, well number, it has effect only on JPG.

For RAW its only enabled/disabled. If you shoot without DR extension (might try it now, good idea), then RAW file is 6 mpix and it should (in theory) behave as any 6 mpix CCD. If you shoot with anything else than 100% (lowest is I think 130%, never played with it much) then in RAW file, you have full DR. And output is 12 mpix.

Btw. if you shoot RAW without JPG, then only right after shot you get 12 mpix review. If you cancel it and load again, your review is 6 mpix only. If you shoot with JPG, resulting JPG is your image review (which depends on size you shot). Quite interesting..

Another interesting thing is, that S5 Pro output most of the time resembles CMOS, not CCD. Its like hybrid between both, having that bit of colors depth of CCD, but smoothness of CMOS. Probably caused by DR..
Sep 11, 2013 at 03:19 PM
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