p.3 #1 · Do you usually record Fujifilm x-trans jpg or raw files?
gdanmitchell wrote:
- Camera manufacturers are pretty good at adding default post-processing settings that give us useful and attractive jpgs under many reasonable and typical shooting conditions. (This past week I was pondering how these cameras and these processes do a better job of that automatic "interpretation" than the old drug-store film developers did.)
I still have control over my camera settings. I create profiles with different sharpness, noise reduction, etc. I can choose to process using the great film simulations. Most importantly, if I properly expose my image then there's far less work to be done in the first place. Roughly half the cost of your expensive camera paid for the R&D that went into fantastic in-camera post-processing. I choose to use it.
- I frequently wonder why folks are concerned about having cameras that provide excellent image quality potential when they aren't interested in taking advantage of that potential. This is an honest bit of wondering, and it is not intended to insult anyone. For example, the jpg file output limits your ability to deal with high dynamic range scenes, to tailor a range of settings (sharpening, color balance, and more) that get the most from the images, and so forth. Getting these abilities seems to me to be the main reason for acquiring more expensive and more capable camera equipment.
Wonder no more! I want a camera with a nice big sensor. I want to be able to control aperture and shutter speed. I want to choose my lenses. Not only that, but it is possible to do post on a jpeg. You can still recover 2 or even 3 stops with the DR and you will still have a file that can be printed. If I need to recover 5 stops on a raw file then I've done a poor job taking the actual picture. I try to get it right when I take the picture so that the only post I have to do is maybe a bit of straitening or some light touch up. Most of the time I'm happy with what I get SOOC.
- We have different points of view on this, judging from your post, but I have always regarded post (whether optical/chemical post — aka "the darkroom" — or digital post) as part of the process of getting the photographic results I desire. In other words, for me the composition of the scene is no more or less important than what I do in post production.
I took several photography courses in college and loved processing film in the darkroom. So much so that I set up a DR in my first apartment. My reluctance to do so much post processing now is because I spend quite a bit of time at a computer when I work. I don't want my hobby to feel like work. Maybe if I win the powerball or when I'm old and retired I'll be more willing to sit at my screen with Lightroom. Perhaps I should go back to film and build a DR in my basement...
Regardless, you won't change my mind, nor will you deter me.
