Still Learning

In reference to the title of this blog entry...  I'm still learning a lot of things each and every day but, lately, I'm trying to learn as much as I can about a new-to-me medium format camera.  

Today I had a bit of a detour though.

I was working on doing some basic editing of these two photos, below, so I could post them here in the blog but Photoshop kept crashing on me and telling me that my GPU, DirectX, OpenCL, OpenGL and something else were 'not compatible' with Photoshop.  I knew that was nonsense because I've been using Photoshop on this computer for many months with no problems.  I ended up spending the entire day troubleshooting this problem but I think I finally have resolved this problem which, honestly, should not have happened in today's world.  It was an incredibly frustrating day!

So, back to this new-to-me camera.

There is a whole new menu system to learn and, even after about a week of digging into the menus, I'm still not exactly sure where to find specific features.  Then, when I search for a specific feature, I eventually get side-tracked when I come across another feature I had been searching for previously!  

I'm also trying to set up a feature in the camera called 'My Menu' which puts features and settings I desire to have quick and easy access to into my own menu tab and even in the order that I want.  Additionally, there is a "Q" menu (Quick menu) that has the option to set up 16 different settings at the touch of one button, the Q button.  These are both great features but I'm still trying to learn what features do what and which of them I would need to access often.  

I'm also trying to figure out how to set up all the function buttons on the camera.  Each button and dial on the camera body is customizable to how I desire.  I've set up the camera a number of times already and, with more use, I decide the change things even further...  and again... and again.

This Fuji GFX camera really is a great camera!  The list of features is extensive which allows me to get the look I desire for any particular scene.  Even though I am a perfectionist and only share a photo after I get everything in the photo just right, it is great to be capturing photos with this camera that are just about perfect right out of the camera.  The tonal qualities are amazing.  The color range is amazing.  The clarity is amazing.  Every time I've picked up this camera over the past week, I have said, "Wow!" when I review the photo I had just captured. 

For now, I only have old manual focus lenses to use with this camera which significantly slows down my shooting process.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it limits photography to fairly static objects.  I started photography shooting with old film cameras that had only manual focus so manual focusing is nothing new for me.  I've been spoiled by my Sony cameras in recent years though because they have lightning fast and very accurate auto-focus.  My plan is to continue to use my Sony camera for wildlife, sports, and our fast moving grandchildren and I'll use this new Fuji camera for landscapes, local travel, portraits, and walking around.  This is a larger and heavier than average camera so I don't think I'll want to travel far with it but local day trips and long weekend would probably be fine.

As you can see in both of these photos below, the tonal qualities are exceptional.  I love the smooth fall-off from the subject while the subject is in perfect focus...

I'm also loving the deep colors that this camera produces.  These colors aren't over saturated but are deep.  They can be very saturated if that is what I desire but I desire deeper, darker and warmer colors as seen in these two photos.  

I'm looking forward to getting outside with this camera especially when our local landscape begins to turn green again for a few short months.  Most modern digital cameras tend to render greens and reds almost in fluorescent shades but I prefer deeper colors and actually abhor overly bright and saturated fluorescent shades.  Indoors, it is clear that this camera can handle the reds beautifully.  I'm hoping the same happens with the greens when I finally get outdoors.  We're still covered in snow here at the moment so there is no green to be seen for now.  

It would be nice to find a couple of auto-focus lenses for this camera at some point.  I'm not sure that will happen anytime soon though.  There is a kit zoom lens that is pretty inexpensive on the used market but I haven't decided if that is the route to go.  It might be better to wait a bit and put that money toward a better lens.  Then again, this kit zoom lens I'm thinking of is small and lightweight which is nothing like all the other auto-focus lenses for this medium format camera so it might be best to start with this inexpensive kit zoom lens.  Time will tell...