North Island Holiday - Part One.

I don't get out much.

Seriously - it seems the older I get, the less I want to leave the comfort of home. Twenty years ago I would have been out most weekends, up at the crack of dawn, chasing the good light - and the good images. But not anymore.

And I certainly don't go away on many holidays. I could practically count them on one hand.

To some extent, this comes down to the fact that holidays are so damn expensive - and getting expensiverer (yes, I know that's not a word) every year. And I'm not even talking overseas. Travelling in your own country, paying for accommodation, and eating out, can be eye-wateringly costly.

But then again, what price do you put on experiences? Or relaxation (not that travelling is all that relaxing necessarily - but I digress). Yes, it costs too much. But I do know that when my wife and I have bitten the bullet and gone away together for any extended period, 'on holiday', we have thoroughly enjoyed it.

So maybe I should. You know. Get out more...

Mawheraiti Rail Shed, West Coast. Fujifilm X100. f/5.6 @ 1/750th, ISO 400

So I did. 

My wife and I finally took a trip we had been talking about for at least a couple of years. We'd never quite managed it for all sorts of reasons - and almost didn't go at the last minute this time either (but that's another story that I'm not going to tell). But in the end, the Ferry was booked, accommodation sorted, the dog was kenneled, and off we went - to explore the central North Island. First stop - a night in Blenheim (so we could catch the Bluebridge Ferry and cross to the North Island early the next morning).

I didn't get far - about 30 minutes into the trip - before I wanted to stop and take a photo of the above shed (see, it's working already). Shot on the Fujifilm X100, it's just the kind of image I love taking. Little did I know at this stage in the journey that there would be a lot more images like this over the next two weeks!

Lake Rotoiti - Nelson Lakes National Park. Fujifilm X100. f/5.6 @ 1/1250th, ISO 400 

The trip to Blenheim takes you past the Nelson Lakes area, and in particular Lake Rotoiti - which is just a five minute diversion off the main highway. It's a beautiful lake, with stunning scenery in all seasons and in all weather. Although if you are there on a beautiful hot day in summer the mosquitoes will eat you alive! I was outside for all of about two minutes before I headed for the relative safety of the car. They really know how to ruin a good day....

The above photo, taken on the X100, has been cropped to square - simply because I didn't stay out with the mosquitoes long enough to compose perfectly, and also because in the original 3:2 image there was nothing happening on the left hand side. So I cropped it later in post. Ironically, when I had a Bronica film camera that used the square format I found it a real struggle composing 1:1. But now I tend to 'see' images in this format quite a lot. Go figure.

Wairau Valley Garage. Fujifilm X100. f/5.6 @ 1/1250th, ISO 400

Eventually we drove through the Wairau Valley - wine growing country - only 30 minutes outside of Blenheim. Again, I had to stop and take a photo of this abandoned garage, even though the light was dreadful! This would be amazing with soft light, or early morning light streaming into the front of the building. 

But I didn't have that kind of light, did I. I had very bright, mid afternoon, harsh light and shadows that were a nightmare to get detail from. Despite this, the X100 has done extremely well. It also helps that I shot it in RAW so I could push and pull detail out later on.

No, it's not great (or even good) light, but it is a great subject. I certainly wasn't going to hang around for a few hours for the light to get good. And that's another thing about being on holiday. Sometimes it will be the only time you will ever be at a particular location in your life, so golden light be damned! Just get shooting. And when light gives you lemons.... (or something like that).

Etrich Taube (Dove) - Aviation Heritage Centre. Lumix S5 with 20-60mm. f/5.6 @ 1/30th, ISO 3200

Our ultimate destination on day one of the trip - apart from our accommodation in Blenheim - was to visit the Aviation Heritage Centre. It houses the personal collection of WWI and WWII memorabilia of Sir Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame), as well as several full-scale diorama's built by Weta Workshop (more on them later).

We had somewhat limited time, so decided to concentrate this visit on seeing the WWI exhibition. We will definitely go back at some stage and see the WWII exhibit as well.

Since this is a photography blog and not the history channel, I won't go into great detail about what planes are which, where the were made, what battles they were in etc. But I will say that the exhibitions are a lot of fun (and a challenge) to photograph. Although I had been using the Fujifilm X100 up to this point on the trip, for the exhibition I switched to my Lumix S5 with 20-60mm - for a couple of probably obvious reasons.

Siemens-Shuckert D.IV. Panasonic Lumix S5 with 20-60mm. f/5.6 @ 1/200th, ISO 3200

Firstly, I was going to be dealing with a lot of low-light. So I wanted two settings to help me get sharp images; a high yet clean ISO setting, and image stabilisation. This the S5 has. The X100 - not so much.

Second, I wanted a bit more 'reach' at both ends - wide and telephoto. The fixed 35mm of the X100 was going to be too limiting in confined spaces. The Lumix S 20-60mm was perfect. The above images at ISO 3200 are fantastic - sharp and with very little noise. An excellent result.

Not a lot of people know this, but my 'other' hobby is building military scale models and putting them in dioramas. So getting to see these full-size dioramas from Weta Workshop up close was truly amazing. If you are in New Zealand, and find yourself anywhere near Blenheim, I highly recommend spending a day at the Aviation Heritage Centre.

Aviation Heritage Centre, Blenheim. Lumix S5 with 20-60mm. f/5.6 @ 1/800th, ISO 100. 65:24 ratio

For our first day on holiday, I'd say it was a great success, and an excellent way to start the trip. It wasn't a 'photography' holiday as such, but my wife is well aware of who she married - and we had scheduled our time to include creative stops along the way. As a matter of fact, she just happens to be a very good photographer herself, with an excellent eye for an image. And although she used her iphone the whole time, at least half of her photos are practically identical to mine! I would often get to a scene and start to get ready, only to find that my wife would already be standing in the exact spot I wanted to stand in! And now she's even talking about getting a 'real' camera! I approve....😊

So that's day one. We were away for 12 days. More posts will follow....

Fujicolor Superia recipe for the X100

My exploration into film recipe's with the Fujifilm X100 OG continues - this time with a punchy, vivid green and blue recipe that I'm calling Fujicolor Superia. Superia X-Tra 400 is (was) a fine grained film from Fuji - which boosted the greens and blues in an image. Something like all the images in this post...

Hill House V2. Fujifilm X100. f5.6 @ 1/680th, ISO 200. Fujicolor Superior film recipe + grain

I like the results, but if I'm being honest, they are a little OTT (over-the-top) for my tastes. I like vibrant colours as much as the next guy, but maybe this is a little 'too much'? I actually prefer my Agfa Optima film recipe for it's more 'natural', slightly de-saturated colours, and I've been thinking that this is probably where I will settle for my three custom recipes. Kodak E100SW, Fuji Acros and Agfa Optima. Sounds like a good mix to me.

Railway Signal Box.
f5.6 @ 1/160th, ISO 200 + grain added

But I digress (slightly), because this is about my Fujicolor Superia film recipe. I may not go for it, but your mileage may vary. So here's the recipe for use with the X100 original.

Fujicolor Superia X-Tra 400

ISO: Auto

Dynamic Range: 100

Film Simulation: S (Provia)

White balance: Auto

White balance shift: +3, -4

Color: High

Sharpness: M-Soft

Highlight Tone: M-Hard

Shadow Tone: M-Hard

Noise reduction: Low

The photo opposite, of the Greymouth Railway Signal Box, was taken on an overcast evening with fairly dull flat lighting. The greens still pop, as do the reds in the image, but nowhere near as much as in the first image - Hill House V2 - taken on a very sunny morning. This recipe likes a lot of light, and if I were to shoot it regularly I would only use it on sunny days.

Whether I like the recipe or not, I'm having a lot of fun getting out with the camera again after a good few years of being in a photographic slump. The Fujifilm cameras are certainly a lot of fun to use - especially the compact range-finder style cameras. Would it be great if the X100 original had more film modes? Maybe? I would like a dedicated Acros mode. But then again, sometimes limitation can foster creativity - as with the one camera, one lens limitation.

Framed. Fujifilm X100. f5.6 @ 1/45th, ISO 200. Fujicolor Superia film recipe + grain

I'm also not feeling too constrained with the fixed 35mm lens. Using it as a 'walkabout' lens, I've been more than happy with the compositions I'm getting. I am a 'little' nervous about taking it away on an upcoming holiday - hence I've also decided to include my Lumix S5 with the 20-60mm lens. I started the New Year with a lot of bravado about the whole fixed lens, one camera idea, and currently that still holds true. But will it for the rest of the year? Apparently not, if I'm taking two cameras away on holiday with me. But if the exercise has got me shooting again - and excited about photography again - then maybe that's enough for the idea to have been of benefit?

Shawn the Sheep. X100. f8 @ 1/60th, ISO 200. Fujicolor Superia film recipe + grain

All of the images in this post (and the last few) have been just me wandering around my neighborhood of an evening. They are photos that I have passed by literally hundreds of time and never taken. And they are photos that I really like. I 'could' have taken them with my S5, it's not a stupidly heavy camera (I've owned a Canon 1Ds so I know what heavy is like). But the X100 is just such a pleasure to walk around with that I want to take it with me when I go out. Its 12MP sensor is more than enough for this blog - or A4 sized prints, even with a little cropping. And I honestly can't remember the last time I printed any of my photos (unfortunately). I actually think I should do something about that - but that's another post for another day.

Heritage Park silhouette. X100. f5.6 @ 1/250th, ISO 200. Fujicolor Superia film recipe + grain

Will I use this Fujicolor Superia film recipe in the future? Probably not if I'm honest. Not because I don't like the photos it produces - as I said, I'm very happy with these. It just comes down to liking my Agfa Optima recipe better, and I've only really got one slot left.

I've also recently read somebody talking about the X100 film modes, saying that they love the Provia colors from the Bayer sensor (as opposed to the X-trans introduced in the 100S). So I may play around with that next - shooting the film modes as standard.

With only about three weeks until I go on holiday, that's probably enough time to test out the standard film modes. If I like some of the standard film modes, then that will give me four or five different 'looks' out of the camera. And there's also RAW... Just saying.

Kodak Tri-X recipe for the Fuji X100

All good things come to those who wait (or so they reckon?). Having changed my mind last post and programmed an Ultramax 400 recipe instead of Tri-X, I thought tonight I would rectify the situation. So I did.

Cobden Lagoon. X100. f5.6 @ 1/1000th, ISO 400. Tri-X recipe with grain added in Color Efex Pro 4

For my Kodak Tri-X recipe I was going for contrasty and gritty. Well I certainly achieved that, and then some.... I actually think that the blacks have blocked in too much, so I may actually drop them back just a tad. Otherwise yeah - mission accomplished.

Cabbage Trees. X100 Tri-X recipe

Kodak Tri-X recipe

Film Base: Mono + R

ISO: 400

Dynamic Range: 200

White Balance: Auto

Highlight: Med Hard

Shadows: Hard (Med Hard?)

Sharpness: Med Hard

Noise Reduction: Low

The final results were what I was after from the recipe (but I'll change to Med Hard Shadows if I shoot with it again). I don't hate the results, but I also don't 'love' them, and will continue to use my Acros simulation for my black and white jpegs going forward.

What I am liking is adding the grain in Color Efex Pro 4. I have a couple of custom profiles set up so it's super simple to import a jpeg, add medium or hard grain to an image, and export it out.

Previously I also mentioned that I haven't forgotten my Lumix S5, and that I will also be taking this with me when I go on holiday. I watched a video on Youtube recently that compared all the recent major camera manufacturers standard mono outputs, one of which was Lumix (of course). Out of all the camera manufacturers, Lumix have the most mono profiles (4 in all), and the standard 'mono' setting produces beautiful black and white images without any 'tweaking'. It was very comparable to Leica's mono setting - not surprisingly - since Panasonic and Leica work together on camera technology. In fact, the other 4 mono settings on the Lumix all reference Leica profiles.

Flax. Fujifilm X100. f5.6 @ 1/640th, ISO 200. Tri-X recipe + grain

The recipe certainly creates moody black and white images, if that's what you are going for. It reminds me quite a bit of the 'grainy b&w' art filter on the Olympus cameras. Although the Olympus look was even more contrasty and grainy. It was my favorite art filter on the Olympus Pen EP-3 when I used that camera - but I did not use to the art filters very often.

With a lot of light on your subject, the Tri-X recipe gives a reasonably nice tonality - as can be seen above in the Flax image. I recall liking the Tri-X recipe I had on my Fujifilm X-E2 a little more than this one, so as discussed a little more 'fiddling' might be needed if I was going to persevere with this on my X100.

Gated Community. X100. f5.6 @ 1/640th, ISO 200. Tri-X recipe + grain added

In the end though, I don't think I'll bother. As mentioned in a previous post, the X100 only has 3 custom slots for film recipe's, and my C2 is already taken up with Acros. So for the C3 slot, I think that I will play around with some more colour recipes. And I still do really like the look of my Agfa Optima recipe here. Two very different colour recipe's, and one mono, should give me enough options when out shooting. 

And finally, the image above - Gated Community - was my last, and favorite, of the evenings shoot. I've been watching a lot of James Popsys on Youtube recently and I think his shooting style is beginning to rub off on me. I wasn't a big fan of his images initially, but the more I've watched him, the more I've started to relate to his vision. I'd like to think that James would approve of the photo, although he would want it in colour. I may do a colour version as well. We'll see.

Agfa Optima film recipe for the X100

My last two posts have outlined the film recipes that I have programmed into the C1 and C2 slots of the Fujifilm X100. These will be the two styles I will probably use most often. So my C3 slot will be there as a more 'playful' option - something that I will probably play around with and swap out reasonably frequently? 

But to start with, at least, I have programmed in my Agfa Optima film recipe - a style that I really liked a lot when shooting on the X-E1 and X-E2.

Powerbox. Fujifilm X100. f8 @ 1/30th, ISO 250 - Agfa Optima film recipe

I love the colour palette of this recipe - it has a slightly more muted, pastel palette than my punchier E100SW recipe, and comes SOOC already looking quite 'filmic' (is that a word?). The colours aren't washed out or 'bleached' like some film looks try to be (is that really what most film looks like?), but have just the right amount of 'creaminess' to them. At least that's the feeling I get from this recipe - smooth, creamy colours.

Flax bloom. X100. f8 @ 1/50th, ISO 200

Agfa Optima 200 film recipe

Film base: Provia

Dynamic Range: 100

White Balance: Auto

White Balance Shift: +1R, -1B

Color: Low

Sharpness: Std

Highlight Tone: Soft

Shadow Tone: Hard

Noise Reduction: Low

ISO: Auto

Because of the vibe of this recipe, I usually use it with softer lighting, and it works well for landscapes or architecture. It's not so good for portraits as it does something a little 'funky' with skin colour. It's not unusable for portraits, but I would opt for the E100SW recipe if I was concentrating on taking photos with people in them (or better still Acros). But for landscapes and architecture, I love the look of this film recipe.

The photos in this post were all taken this evening (as I write this) as I wandered around my neighborhood. Nothing earth-shattering image wise, but I'm still getting used to using the X100 and figuring out how I want to shoot with it (and what film recipes I want to keep). And even though this was my fourth outing with the X100, the battery is still showing full power in the display (although I know it must be getting depleted by now?). As I said in my last post, I think this is helped by the way I'm shooting with the X100 - using the optical viewfinder and occasionally the lcd screen to compose rather than the evf. I've also decided to turn image review off as well, as it only annoys me when it pops up in the viewfinder, and isn't particularly accurate anyway.

Hill House. Fujifilm X100. f8 @ 1/50th, ISO 200 - Agfa Optima film recipe

Am I digging the fixed 35mm fov? I have to say that I am 'getting used to it', and must admit that the few times that I have taken the X100 on an outing I haven't felt frustrated or constrained. I've come back with images that tell the story of the trip, and that are distinctly different enough so as not to feel that they were all shot from the same position. I guess I'm 'zooming with my feet' like a 'real' photographer... (Yes, that was a joke. Kind of).

Treehouse. X100. f8 @ 1/90th, ISO 200

I really like the above shot - Treehouse. I've walked past this house a hundred times and always marveled at the massive lone tree on the front lawn. But I've never taken a photo of it. This is the sort of image you decide to take when you always have a camera with you. The X100 is so light and easy to carry, you hardly feel like you have it with you. There's no user-fatigue with this camera. And the lens is nice and sharp, especially since I'm using it mostly around f4 to f8.

Purple Explosion. Fujifilm X100. f8 @ 1/30th, ISO 200. Agfa Optima film recipe SOOC

As mentioned earlier, I really loved the look of the images from the X-E1 using my Agfa Optima film recipe. I love them just as much out of the X100. It's a 'keeper' for a different colour look, and I can see me using it quite a lot when travelling. But I also said at the beginning of this post that my C3 slot was going to be my 'fun' or experimental slot - so it may not always be programmed with this recipe. 

With my X-E1 and X-E2, I actually had more black and white recipes than colour programmed into the cameras, so next I will try my Kodak Tri-X film recipe for a more dramatic black and white look. Stay tuned.... 

Fuji Acros film recipe for the X100

We are now three days in to 2026 - my year of one camera, one lens, with the Fujifilm X100. Yesterday was my first 'official' 2026 shoot with the camera - and a chance to use the film recipe in my C2 slot - Fujifilm Acros.

Coal Creek Falls Track. Fujifilm X100. f5.6 @ 1/38th, ISO 200. Acros film recipe + grain

Acros is my favourite black and white film, and I used the Acros film simulation provided with the Fujifilm X-E2 all the time when I was shooting with that camera. Alas, the X100 does not have the Acros film simulation as standard - simply providing a 'mono' setting instead. But, with the ability to 'tweak' the settings in the X100 and program in your own recipes into custom settings, all is not lost. I have therefore used the C2 slot to program my version of an Acros film recipe.

Tiny waterfall. X100. f5.6 @ 1/30, ISO 200
Acros film recipe + gain added in
Nik Collections Color Efex Pro 4

Fujifilm Acros Film Recipe

Film base: Mono +Y

ISO: Auto

Dynamic Range: 100

White Balance: Auto

Color: Mid

Sharpness: M-Hard

Highlight Tone: Standard

Shadow Tone: M-Hard

Noise reduction: M-Low

Mono + Y gives me a nice contrasty base image to work from, and this is increased with a little extra sharpness and a little more richness in the blacks/shadows. With a black and white image I am never concerned with letting the blacks go completely black. I was told very early on in my photography career by one of my mentors to let the blacks go black and the whites go white for a good monochrome image, and I have taken this advice to heart. There's nothing worse than an insipid, flat monochrome image (imho).

In my last post I talked about using the optical viewfinder in preference to the evf, and this is still the case. I am also finding that I am composing and shooting with the lcd on the back of the camera - especially when shooting in monochrome as this gives me a preview of what it will look like in black and white before taking the photo. I think that using the optical viewfinder is also helping with the battery life of the X100. Most reviews of the camera take great pains to single the battery life of the X100 out as being truly horrible. I haven't found this to be the case at all. I'm on my third outing with this camera and the battery is still showing a full charge! Granted I don't usually take hundreds of images a day, and I turn the camera off between extended periods of not shooting. So for my shooting style, battery life is perfectly fine.

Forest Interior. Fujifilm X100. f5.6 @ 1/30, ISO 200. Acros film recipe + grain 

Also in my last post, I mentioned at the end that I recently had a computer upgrade and lost the Nik Collection in the process. Well, good news... the internet came to the rescue and I was able to find the software that Google offered as a free download again. So I can still use Color Efex Pro 4 to add grain to the final images I want to in post. Yay!

I don't go heavy on the grain - it is subtle. But it is there. And it just completes the 'look' that I'm going for. OK, it's not therefore strictly using images SOOC (straight out of camera) - but that's not what it's about. I don't mind adding an extra step to some of my jpegs to just give them that finishing touch. It's still a long way from shooting and processing RAW images. And to be fair, if the X100 had the ability, then I would be adding grain to the jpeg at the point of capture...

Coal Creek Falls. X100. f/8 @ 1/110th, ISO 200. Acros film recipe + grain with Color Efex Pro 4

I love shooting black and white with film, and this hasn't changed with digital. I adore the 'timeless' quality of monochrome - be it with landscape, portrait, or general photography. Which is why I have the Acros film recipe in my C2 slot, and don't feel the need to cover my bases by shooting RAW + Jpeg so I can get a colour image as well. Shooting monochrome is an intentional act that I am more than happy to commit to on a regular basis. And if I come across a scene that I feel would benefit more with a colour image, then I simply switch to my C1 slot for that photo and then move back to C2 for the Acros film recipe.

Is the final result exactly like Acros film? Probably not. But does it get me in the same mindset, whereby when I switch to the C2 slot on the X100 my brain also switches into monochrome mode? Yes it does. And that's more than good enough for me.

Kodak E100SW film recipe for the X100

It's Christmas on the West Coast, and the weather has been very up and down. But I've finally had a chance to get out with the Fujifilm X100 to start getting used to using it.

My son and his girlfriend stayed with us over Christmas, and although the weather was a bit up and down, we did have a few opportunities to get outside and explore some of the coast. My go-to place for trying out new camera gear is Lake Brunner at Moana, and so that's where we headed.

Joanna, Josh, Millie and Sabine at Moana. X100

First observation - I find using the optical viewfinder with information overlay to be a better experience that using the evf. The electronic viewfinder is quite dark compared to the optical system - and with the information overlay (even the histogram) available with the optical finder, this is the best of both worlds. A 'real' view of the scene but with helpful shooting information. I am still training myself to use the frame lines for 35mm and not take into account the whole view in the optical finder, but I'm sure that will come with time.

Second observation has to do with the lack of image stabilisation. Yes, the camera only has a 35mm lens, so should be able to be hand-held down to about 1/30th sec, but in reality the camera is also so lightweight that any movement when taking the image induces some softness and/or image blur. I am so used to image stabilisation handling all that for me that I suspect my correct shooting form has suffered. This resulted in several images that were very blurry when viewed on my monitor, especially in low-light conditions. The image opposite, of my family on the swing-bridge, was also taken horizontally and was the shot I preferred. But on closer inspection it was very soft and unusable. Doh! Note to self - slow down with the X100. Take your time setting up the shot. Soft release on the shutter. Breath slowly and naturally. No jerky movements. All that good picture taking advice from back in the old days of film photography. The original X100 is, after all, a system that begs (and actually almost requires) to be used like a traditional film camera. So slow down!

R&R Sally. Fujifilm X100. f4 @ 1/2000th, ISO 200. Kodak E100SW film recipe

When you do take you time, the results are fantastic. I have programmed three film recipes into the X100 - in the three available custom slots, and have programmed the RAW button on the back of the camera to bring these options up so I can switch between them easily. All of the images in this post were taken in the C1 slot - using my Kodak Ektachrome E100SW film recipe.

The X100 has limited scope for tweaking film styles, but it can be done. The same was true with my X-E1 which was also fairly limiting, so the film recipes I have programmed into the X100 have been directly ported across from the X-E1.

SeaDoo. X100. f8 @ 1/450th, ISO 200. E100SW Recipe

Kodak Ektachrome E100SW Recipe

Film base: Velvia

Dynamic range: 100

Colour: M-Low

Sharpness: M-Hard

Highlight: M-Hard

Shadow: M-Hard

Noise reduction: Low

White Balance: Auto 

White Balance Shift: +1R, -1B

ISO: Auto up to 3200  

As seen above, the recipe is based on the Velvia film simulation with some of the colour reduced and the contrast/sharpness increased. It gives a punchy result without being too in-your-face colour-wise, which is ideal for landscape and general photography. These images are SOOC, on a bright and sunny afternoon, so I needed to pay close attention to the histogram to make sure that the highlights weren't too blown-out - especially with the increased contrast. 

Deadliest Snatch. Fujifilm X100. f/8 @ 1/1400th sec, ISO 800. Kodak E100SW film recipe

For my first genuine outing with the Fujifuilm X100, I really enjoyed using the camera. It is certainly lightweight and easy to carry around, and I didn't find the fixed 35mm lens to be too limiting. Yes, there were times when I would have liked to have been able to compose a slightly different field of view, but this will always be a limitation (unless you carry a bag full of lenses with you everywhere). On the whole I was able to get the photos that I wanted without feeling constrained by 'only' having the 35mm fov. 

The Pub on the Lake. Fujifilm X100. f8 @ 1/750th, ISO 400. Kodak E100SW film recipe

My first outing with the X100 has been (mostly) a success. If I was on holiday and had been visiting Moana for the first time, then I would be very happy with the photos that I came away with. 

In the prime 'C1' setting, the Kodak Ektachrome E100SW film recipe is a perfect SOOC jpeg profile - nice and punchy colours without being oversaturated, with excellent detail and sharpness. It even works well for portraits, so will probably remain my go-to everyday colour recipe.

My next outing with the camera will concentrate on the C2 setting - my black and white recipe for my Fujifilm Acros look. I'll try to remember to slow down for my next shoot and make sure that I'm using proper technique to reduce the risk of taking blurry images - especially in low light. And I am also going to have to investigate a way of adding grain to my final images. The X100 can't do this in-camera, so I will need to investigate some post-processing solutions.

Lake Brunner, Moana. Fujifilm X100. Kodak Ektachrome E100SW film recipe

Over the Christmas period my son 'upgraded' my old computer to an Intel i5 10th gen chip that can now run Windows 11. Unfortunately to do this I lost some software that I had been using to add grain to images - namely the Nik Collection that I had downloaded when it was being offered for free by Google. I am also not subscribed to Adobe anymore, so no longer have access to Lightroom or Photoshop. I'm using RawTherapee instead. Since I'm trying to use jpeg images SOOC, I don't really need RAW editing software at the moment, but will do in the future. So I am in the investigation phase of looking at post-processing going forward. I'll let you know my solution once I've finalised it, but at the moment RawTherapee is filling the gap nicely.....

A Tale of Two Cameras (and Fuji Superia 200)

In recent posts (here) and (here), I've talked about starting to shoot film again - with a Minolta Dynax 7 and a Canon EOS 300V. I've been able to put a roll of Fuji Superia 200 through each camera in the last month, and recently had the film developed during a trip to Christchurch. Let's have a look at the results....

Cobden Lagoon. Minolta Dynax 7 with 35-70mm f/4 (@ 35mm). Fuji Superia 200.

First things first - both cameras work! Yay!! Of the two rolls I shot, under varying lighting conditions, the exposures were bang-on. So that's the first hurdle out of the way. Two fully functioning camera bodies.

Second, how do the images actually look? And again - no problems there. All the photos are sharp (or at least sharp enough for 35mm film scanned on a flatbed scanner) and have good colour rendition. In terms of the colour, I did find that all the photos tended towards a blue tint with the Fujicolor Superia. With almost all of the scans I removed some of the blue from the midtones and shadows to get the colour a bit more 'neutral'.

Lagoon Reeds. Minolta Dynax 7 with 70-210mm f4.5-5.6 (@100mm). Fuji Superia 200.

Since having decided to shoot some film this year, I have been thinking about how to digitize the negatives. As mentioned above, the photos here have been scanned on a flatbed scanner (Epson Photo V700). I just happened to have one, and so that's what I have used to digitize almost all of my 35mm negatives. But there is a lot of buzz on the interwebs about using your digital camera and a macro lens to 'scan' your negatives. This is, they say (whoever 'they' are), the better - and quicker - way to go.

I just happen to have a full frame 24MP digital camera, and a Sigma 105mm macro lens. So this is definitely something that I will be giving a go in the near future. I may even do a 'comparison' with the flatbed scan and the digital camera scan.

Brunner Mine Bridge. Canon 300V with 28-80mm f4.5-5.6mm (@50mm). Fuji Superia 200.

If I'm honest, I'm not quite sure of what I think about scanning 35mm film with a digital camera? You might argue that if you are going to do that, why not just shoot with a digital camera in the first place? And you might have a point.

But (playing devils advocate), if you want to show your photos on a digital platform, then you are going to have to digitize your negatives at some stage. So why not use the best re-productive system available to you? And if that happens to be your digital camera, then so be it. Having used a film scanner over the years, I have to say that they are a bit of a faff to use, and don't always produce the sharpest results - especially with 35mm.

Cobden Pigeons. Canon 300V with Canon 28-80mm (@80mm). Fujicolor Superia 200

Speaking for myself, the 'fun' of shooting film is in the actual process - and in the cameras I get to use. I enjoyed using both the Minolta Dynax 7 and the Canon 300V. Both very modern cameras - and yet both very different shooting experiences. The Minolta has a more 'pro' feeling about it - with a rugged magnesium-alloy body and lots of dials, whereas the Canon 300V is certainly a more consumer-grade shooting experience.

I didn't really 'prefer' one over the other - although if I'm honest I liked more of the photos I shot with the 300V. But that probably has more to do with the places I went to photograph rather than the camera's themselves.

Taylorville Bus. Canon 300V with Fujicolor Superia 200.

Thoughts of scanning aside, my first rolls of film through my two film cameras was definitely a success. I got images that I really liked from both cameras - enough to want to repeat the experience. I have a trip away to Nelson for a holiday coming up, and I'm deciding whether to shoot it all on film or not. The only thing that really gives me pause is the film stock situation. I have a lot of black and white film, but no more colour. I'm not sure I really want to shoot everything on black and white, so I may end up just taking the digital and leaving the film cameras at home until I can find some more cheap colour film? Anybody know where I can get some cheap colour film from?

Creating custom Photo Styles on the Lumix S5

In my last post I said that I was going to have a play around with making my own Photo Styles for my Panasonic Lumix S5 - a bit like the Fujifilm 'recipes'. When I shot with the Fujifilm E1 and E2 (excellent cameras and I rather miss them), I spent a lot of time creating my own film 'recipes' and then shooting them in either RAW + Jpeg, or sometimes even Jpeg only. I decided to try and replicate them in my S5, just to see how close I could get, and whether the results would be worth it or not.

For the colour styles, I wanted a classic film look (similar to the Classic Chrome film simulation of the Fuji's), as well as a more punchy 'Velvia' style. Above is my 'Classic Film' Style next to the Standard Panasonic picture profile, and my 'Velvia' next to the Vivid picture style that comes with the camera.

The 'Classic Film' style certainly has a slightly de-saturated film look compared to the Standard profile, since it's based on the L. Classic Neo photo style. My settings for the Classic Film look are:

Base: L Classic Neo

Contrast 0

Highlight 0

Shadow -4

Saturation +3

Hue +2

Grain Effect: Low

Colour Noise: On

Sharpness 0

Noise Reduction 0

For my Velvia photo style, I started with the Vivid base, and then ramped it up a bit more:
Base: Vivid
Contrast +2.5
Highlight 0
Shadows -1
Saturation +4
Hue -2
Sharpness +2
Noise Reduction -2

For the monochrome styles I wanted two contrasting styles - and these I've called Acros and Tri-X.

Acros is based on the standard Monochrome Picture style and is not a huge change, although it does add grain and a yellow filter. For my Acros style I used:

Base: Monochrome

Contrast 0

Highlight -1

Shadow +1

Tone 0

Filter: Yellow

Grain: Low

Sharpness +1

Noise Reduction +2.5

And for my grittier Tri-X style I used:

Base L. Monochrome D

Contrast +3

Highlights +1

Shadows -3

Tone 0

Filter: Red

Grin: High

Sharpness +1

Noise Reduction -2.5

Does the end justify the means? Is it worth all this fluffing about - especially when you can achieve all of these results with just the one RAW file in post?

If I'm honest, it's probably not really worth the hassle - and I basically came to the same conclusion when shooting Fujifilm. Unless you are a Jpeg shooter only, who wants their images to have a particular look and feel SOOC (straight out of camera). Then all this picture style stuff really does make sense.

The only picture style above that is markedly different from Panasonics own offerings is the gritty, contrasty Tri-X style. But even then, I discovered while playing around with picture styles that there are also 'Filters' that can be set as well (although not in conjunction with Picture Styles). Most are just gimmicky (sepia, fantasy, stars etc), but a couple of them might be worth using. Especially the Dynamic Monochrome which gives results like (you guessed it) Tri-X! 

I've got the above Picture Styles programmed in now, so I may as well keep them there. But will I shoot with them? Maybe. Just maybe....

Exploring the Panasonic Lumix S5 Photo Styles

In my previous post I talked about getting back into film photography. And on that note, the film I ordered from AliExpress, that was due to arrive in about two months from that slow boat to China, actually only took a couple of weeks. Excellent! If I like the look of the 400 ISO Lucky film, I may have to order some more....

But why, in this day and age, would anyone want to shoot film (I hear you say)? And that's a very good question - thanks for asking. Well, one of the main reasons to shoot film relates to what I just said about the Lucky film from China. It has to do with the 'look' of the film. Its rendition of colour (or monotones). Its grain structure. The way it handles contrast - mid tones, highlights etc. 

It's the reason film photographers have favourite film stocks. Some like the 'look' of Portra, while some prefer Velvia. Which of course, also speaks to the Fuji vs Kodak debate. Fuji tends more towards greens and blues, while Kodak tends more towards reds and warm colour tones.

Film shooters will argue that they get to change their camera's 'sensor' every time they change their film stock. Kodak for portraits, Fuji for landscapes, and TMax for moody black and whites. Whereas a digital sensor is just an electronic device capturing 1s and 0s in a predictable and repeatable manner - right?

Cobden Lagoon. Lumix S5 with S20-60mm. L Classic Neo Photo Style + Low Grain.

Well, actually, digital camera manufacturers have gone to great lengths to reproduce colours from digital sensors in very specific ways. It's why two manufacturers can use the same digital sensor, and yet the images that they produce will be very different in the way they render colour. Very much like film shooters preferring a particular film stock, you will now hear digital photographers talk about preferring a particular 'colour science' from one brand over the other.

Every digital camera you buy offers 'Picture Profiles' (some call them 'styles') with titles like Landscape, Portrait or Natural (to name just a few). These give you different 'looks' to your photos - if you shoot Jpegs. If, however, you only shoot RAW, then these picture profiles are basically redundant (although they will be what you see through the viewfinder and on the LCD screen when you review the image).

Perhaps the manufacturer who has taken these picture styles to the extreme is Fujifilm. With a rich history of 'film' (duh), they offer styles called Velvia, Acros and Eterna (among others) that get baked-in to the jpeg and simulate their film stocks. An entire community has been created around photographers coming up with new 'recipes' that simulate film stocks for Fujifilm cameras. But they aren't the only players in the game...

Photo Styles from the Panasonic Lumix S5.

Above is an overview of the 15 Photo Styles (plus one with grain added) available in the Lumix S5. It may be difficult to pick up some of the subtle (and not so subtle) nuances in each style, but they are certainly different from each other. Many of the styles are 'as advertised', in that Natural is quite 'natural' looking, Vivid is more 'vivid, and Monochrome is - you guessed it - 'monochrome'. Others, like 'Landscape' or 'Portrait' are also fairly self-explanatory.

But then there are also options like L Classic Neo, L Monochrome D and Cinelike V2 which are a bit more out of the ordinary. L Monochrome (Lumix Monochrome - or Leica?) has been added to Photo Styles with the S series of cameras, together with Monochrome D and monochrome S. D is a more punchy b&w - more suitable for architecture and landscapes, while S seems tailored towards portraiture? That's how I would use them.

L Classic Neo is Panasonic's attempt at simulating colour negative film. The colours are intended to have a more nostalgic and gentle colour film look. And to be fair, it does a pretty decent job of it (see the first photo in this blogpost).

Another example of Photo Styles.

The final row of Photo Styles are more geared towards video shooting, although you can produce still images using these profiles. The final, V-Log is a very flat profile, ideal for colour grading of video, and not really useful if you are purely a stills shooter. I did, however, quite like the colour rendition using the Like 709 style on the landscape image above, so there's no rule that says you can't use these video-centric style for your photography. But again, remember these are for Jpegs only, so the resulting style will be 'baked-in' to the final image.

Greymouth Wharf from Cobden Lagoon. L Monochrome D + Grain High.

Almost all of the above examples are of Picture Styles using the default settings. Each individual Photo Style can also be 'tweaked' to create your own style (or 'recipe' to steal the concept from Fujifilm). The S5 allows you to programme a further 4 custom styles of your own making for quick recall. 

Adjustments such as contrast, highlight, shadow, tone, hue and sharpness can be set by adding or subtracting values and will vary depending on the picture style (you can't set hue and saturation in the monochrome styles for example). For Monochrome (and Classic Neo), you can also add grain structure in 3 settings (low, standard or high), as well as adding yellow, orange, red or green filter effects. The options are almost endless! With a bit of trial and error, I'm sure you could dial in something resembling your favourite film stock.

Grain can be set at either Low, Standard or High for that extra film look.

And if this wasn't enough, the latest Lumix S cameras (not my S5 unfortunately) can also accept LUTs - colour profiles that are usually used at the post-processing stage by videographers to simulate different colour gradings or film stocks. Fujifilm eat your heart out!

Photo Styles (or film recipes - call them what you will) were something that I played around with a lot when I was shooting Fujifilm cameras. It seemed like a natural thing to do when you were starting out with styles called Provia. But there's really no reason why you couldn't do the same thing with Lumix cameras like the S5 using their Photo Styles as a base. 

If you enjoy shooting jpegs, and trying to get a particular 'look' to your images SOOC (straight out of camera), then have a play with Photo Styles. I'm going to have a play with some of my own, and I'll share what I've come up with. Can I get Kodak TMax 400 and Fuji Velvia out of a Panasonic Lumix S5? Why not....

2025 - The Year of Film!?

I love black and white photography. Always have. It's what I cut my teeth on when I first started learning all about photography (way back when). It's classic, the images often have a timeless feeling and there's something 'evocative' about monochrome that color doesn't match.

Perhaps that's why I enjoyed shooting the Fujifilm cameras and playing around with the film recipes so much? At least half of the recipes I programmed into the cameras were black and white (mostly trying to replicate Acros - my favorite b&w film). And shooting with all these 'film stocks' on a digital camera was a heap of fun (and a huge rabbit-hole it turns out).

Aailyah. Lumix S5 with Panasonic S 50mm f1.8. 1/60th sec @ f2.8, ISO 100. 

Shooting black and white with digital is a simple matter of choosing a monochrome profile instead of color. Then, if you shoot RAW, you get a b&w image in the viewfinder (if you're shooting with a mirrorless system), but the RAW image still has the color information attached if you change your mind.

You can also choose to shoot in RAW + JPEG, in which case the jpeg will have the b&w profile 'burnt' into the file, while the RAW will still retain the color. The best of both worlds. 

I don't shoot Fujifilm cameras anymore, having moved to the Panasonic Lumix S5 full-frame camera. But when I did shoot with Fujifilm, I would often only shoot in JPEG - meaning that the resulting image would only be monochrome. No color info - no going back. It was a bit like shooting film, but with digital. 

Some are very happy with this work flow - creating 'pretend' film images on digital. Heck, you can even add grain to the image at the point of capture to further enhance the film look. 

Say 'Cheese'. Lumix S5 with Panasonic S 50mm f1.8. 1/60th sec @ f2.8, ISO 100.

The portraits in this post were all taken on the Lumix S5 using the Monochrome S profile. The S5 has a variety of monochrome profiles you can choose, with the 'S' profile seeming to give the best rendition of skin colors. But since they were all shot in RAW, they were infinitely 'tweakable' in post-processing anyway. And as much as I do like the final look, there is a part of this jaded old photographer that thinks to himself "If you want the film look to your images, just damn well shoot film"!

Storytime with Grammy. Lumix S5 with S 50mm f1.8. 1/60th sec @ 4.5, ISO 1000.

So that's exactly what I've decided to do in 2025. Shoot some film.

Early last year, a very good friend gifted me a Minolta Dynax 7 film camera body (thanks Stew) and I've meant to shoot it ever since. The time for thinking is over, and it's time to get doing! 

First step was to actually get some film for it. Given all I've said in this post so far, I was only going to be looking at monochrome film - for two reasons. Firstly for all the reasons I've given in this post 😁(didn't I just say that?), and second - the cost. B&W film is cheaper to buy and, if you have your own processing tanks and chemicals (which I do), cheaper to develop. Much cheaper. 

I brought some Rollei APX 25, 100 and 400 ISO film, and then actually scored some cheap expired color film online, just for giggles. Don't know when I'll use the color (especially since one of them is a slide film which is horrendously expensive to develop), but it's there just in case.

I then decided to get a 'standard' lens for the Dynax 7, and I knew just which one to get; The Minolta 35-70mm f/4 macro. It's a lens I've owned before and used with Sony A-mount digital cameras. It's a great performer, very sharp wide open, with a constant f/4 aperture.

The 35-70mm f/4's come up reasonably regularly, and are a fairly cheap price for such a good lens. The one I bid on was actually attached to a Dynax 7xi, so I got another film body as a back-up to the Dynax 7.

When Stewart gifted me the Dynax 7 it came with a 50mm f2.8 macro lens, so I decided my new film kit would be complete with a telephoto lens. Enter the Minolta 70-210mm f/4.5-5.6. I had actually purchased a 70-210mm f/4 'beercan' but had to send it back because it wouldn't focus to infinity! Damn... I might get another one later, but for the meantime the f/4.5-5.6 will do.

With the Minolta in the bag I thought I was now sorted for a film kit. Turns out I was wrong! Since I was looking through all the listings for film cameras on our New Zealand auction site (TradeMe), I was seeing other cameras that were catching my attention. I had my eye on a Canon EOS5 body that looked like it might go cheaply, so I put in a 'low' bid and left it at that. And yes, I won it (for the princely sum of $35.00NZ).

Film cameras (and film) have experienced something of a resurgence in the last 5 years, which has seen the prices go up considerably. Film itself is eye-wateringly expensive (which does give pause when looking at getting back into shooting film), while old film cameras that used to be given away (or thrown out), are now going for more that older digital camera bodies. Crazy...

But there are still bargains to be had (can't complain about $35.00NZ for a Canon EOS5) if you look out for them and are patient. Strangely enough, it's the older, more manual film cameras that are the most popular. The more 'modern' looking film cameras tend to go for cheaper prices. Suits me.

I'm looking forward to getting a bit more 'hands on', a bit more 'tactile' with my photography this year. Not in a hipster, 'look-at-me-aren't-I-cool' sort of way (I'm middle aged, bald and fat - hipster I ain't) - more in a photography as 'craft' kind of vibe. I'll let you know how it goes....

OMG! - A Macro lens for my S5!

It's no secret that I've been struggling with photographic motivation over the last few years. My image production, and time spent out and about doing photography, has reduced insanely!

But if there is one genre that has pulled me slowly and inexorably back into the picture taking process, it's been fungi/macro photography.

Over the last two or three years, whenever I've posted on my blog (and no, dear reader, that hasn't been frequently), it's mostly been about macro/fungi photography. Therefore, not surprisingly, whenever I've gone out to take photos, it's to do fungi photography. I've even kept a Sony A99 around to shoot with because it has a specific 100mm macro lens. If I was going out fungi hunting I would leave my S5 at home, since I only had the 20-60mm 'kit' lens and standard 50mm f1.8.

That was, until very recently.

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 DG DN Macro Art

I had always hoped that I would one day get an L-mount macro lens for my S5, but given the price of them, I thought that 'one-day' would be a long way off! I had been keeping an eye on the Panasonic 100mm macro lenses on the second-hand market here in NZ, and a good copy is going for around $1300.00NZ (and about $1850.00NZ new). Yikes!! Too rich for my blood!

Fortunately for the L-Mount system, Panasonic (and Leica) aren't the only game in town. Sigma is also part of the L-Mount alliance, and bring another option to the table. And with their 'Art' range of lenses Sigma produce some of the best lenses in the world. As a third-party manufacturer, they also tend to be 'slightly' cheaper than the maker's own lenses. The Sigma 105mm f/2.8, brand new, is around $1100.00NZ - some $700.00NZ cheaper than the Panasonic. This is definitely a savings, but still a lot of money for a poor boy like me.

But recently, while looking through a New Zealand second-hand photography Facebook group, I came across the bargain I had been waiting for. A used Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Art Macro L Mount lens, at a very reasonable price. It was, in fact, for about the same price I thought that I could get for the Panasonic GH3 kit that I had sitting around unused. I'd purchased the kit at the start of the year when I thought I was going be doing a lot of real estate videography, but this never actually happened (don't get me started).  

Long story short, I sold my GH3 kit to a local photographer, contacted the seller of the Sigma on Facebook, and a few days later I was the very excited owner of a mint/like-new 105mm macro lens! It would be a month later before I would have the chance to get out and shoot with it, and pickings were slim this time of the year, but I did manage to find some fungi to shoot in my local area.

Coal Creek Fungi. Lumix S5 and Sigma f/2.8 DG DN Macro Art. f/18 @ 0.5 sec, ISO 400

The Sigma 105mm f/2.8 DG DN Macro Art is a beautiful lens -both in its construction and in the images it produces. It is packed with all the latest technology - as opposed to the Panasonic version which is very much a bare-bones offering. Both lenses have a focus limiter (fairly standard for macro lenses) and a MF/AF switch, but the Sigma also adds an AF lock button, an aperture ring, an aperture ring click switch and an aperture lock switch. The Sigma also has a dust and splash resistance structure, with water and oil repellant coatings.

Fade to Black. Lumix S5 with Sigma 105mm macro. f/11 @ 0.6sec, ISO 400.

Although it is a reasonably hefty lens at 715grams (over twice the weight of the Panasonic), it still balances well on the S5. The front half of the lens consists of a ribbed soft-grip to aid in manual focusing (important for a macro lens). The lower half is mostly smooth metal with aperture ring (yes, an actual aperture ring), and the aforementioned buttons. It's an elegant and practical design, making the lens a joy to use.

As well as being twice the weight of the Panasonic, it is also twice the height, especially with the provided lens hood attached. Despite this, the front element filter size is smaller than the Lumix offering (64mm for the Sigma and 67mm for the Panasonic). This, for me, is the only unfortunate thing with the Sigma. It would have been ideal if the filter thread was the same as the Panasonic so that I would only have to carry one set of filters. I do, however, already have a 64mm polariser - which is probably the only filter I'll need to use on a macro lens - so in the end its not a huge issue.

Stand out from the Crowd. Lumix S5 with Sigma 105mm. f/18 @ 1/6th sec, ISO 400.

As a first outing with the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 DG DN Macro Art lens, I'm very happy (ecstatic) with my purchase. From the moment I got the S5 and decided it would be my 'forever' camera, I've wanted to get a macro lens for it. I thought it would take me a lot longer than this to get one if I'm honest, so I am very grateful that the planets aligned and I was able to make it happen sooner.

I've still got a few technical 'tweaks' I want to make to the S5 when shooting macro images (I'm not sure I've set it up to make optimal use of the manual focusing aids the camera has to offer), but I've got a couple more months to get this sorted before fungi season really kicks in. 

At least my first outing with the lens was a great success! Bring on autumn and more fungi fun!