Some settings advice, if you please... - General Discussions on Fuji X Series Camera Forum - Fujifilm X-Pro1 X-E1 X100S X100 X20 X10 XF1 X-S1

franco

Hi All - need a little help.
I'm taking a trip up 'The Shard' (one of the tallest buildings in Europe) in London for some night time cityscapes tonight.
Im taking the X-Pro, 18mm F2, 35mm F1.4, Samyang 8mm F2.8 and some Zuiko OM primes (50/100) + a monopod. I think I'm OK for gear (!), but I'm a total novice with the subject matter. Black and white appeals, but some help on DR, Sharpness etc would be gratefully recieved.

Thanks!
Franco

lucsky

Hi Franco,

1. It's not "one of the tallest in Europe" it's "THE tallest in Europe" afaik ;)
2. I would seriously consider a tripod instead of a monopod. You really want to minimize the camera shaking to zero.
3. Shoot raw and decide if you prefer color or B&W at postprocessing time ;) I personnally prefer color for these kind of shots.

(not a Fuji pic, taken with a Canon SLR, sorry)

(not a Fuji pic, taken with a Canon SLR, sorry)

(not a Fuji pic, sorry, taken with a Canon SLR)

franco

hi @lucsky - and thanks!

1) I stand corrected! :-)
2) I hear you, but I dont own one - yet! The reason I'm taking it is actually to hoist the camera high enough, by hand, to look over the high glass panals on the outdoor viewing platform. In truth, I dont foresee much success, but I fear too much reflection otherwise. We'll see.
3) Yes, smart move - I think thats the way to go now actually. B/W in post, with RAW. Good plan.

Marvellous image - thanks for posting. If you still have the settings handy, would love to know.

Thanks!
Franco

lucsky

franco said:
2) I hear you, but I dont own one - yet! The reason I'm taking it is actually to hoist the camera high enough, by hand, to look over the high glass panals on the outdoor viewing platform. In truth, I dont foresee much success, but I fear too much reflection otherwise. We'll see.

Ah, right, if the viewing platform has lots of lights you will probably get bad reflections unless you can get very close to the glass surface. My Eiffel Tower picture for example wasn't taken from the Tour Montparnasse's 56th floor viewing platform but from behind my wife's 52nd floor office window (yes, that's the kind of view she gets every day). So you definitely can do it behind some glass in the right conditions.

franco said:
Marvellous image - thanks for posting. If you still have the settings handy, would love to know.

It was taken with the Canon gear that I sold last week to fund the X-E1 that I'm going to buy in the coming weeks (which will allow me to *finally* fully delurk ;) )

Anyway, pic info: taken with a Canon 40D at 24mm (on a 24-70mm f2.8 L zoom lens), ISO 200, f2.8, 4 seconds exposure. I'm pretty sure that the X-Pro1 low light capabilities will allow you to use much higher ISO settings and/or much lower exposure times though.

Take your time to experiment with your settings and compositions. I usually stay in my comfort zone for a few shots, take some obvious ones, you know, postcard style, but then try to get out of it and integrate other elements or people, take a few steps back maybe, for example: my kids, in my wife's office (yeah, Instagram picture, sue me :p )

Looking forward to see your pics :)

veejaycee

Luckily you can check the histogram when you've taken a picture but I think that as you will be looking down on most of the lights you may need -1/2 or - 1 stop ev and shoot Raw + Jpg.
I've climbed mountains and happily walked the 12-15 inch wide cliff-side routes of the Madeiran levadas, yet the edges of tall buildings still unnerve me so I won't be rushing to the Shard - although your pictures might inspire me to.

franco

thanks again guys. ism here now getting some exteriors while the light is good.gotta say...this samyang is good.

franco

So here's a few from The Shard - it was great fun, beautiful clear night, BUT they wont allow the use of a tripod OR monopod. Got some OK stuff in the end, even shooting through glass constantly...

First, on the 18mm F2 -

The Olympus Zuiko 100mm F2.8

And the new Samyang 8mm F2.8 (was impressed with this piece of glass)

Well worth twenty five of your English nicker...good fun.

lucsky

Nice shots! I love the one with the reflections. As an avid OlloClip fan I've been seriously considering the Samyang...

franco

Thanks @lucsky for your help too.
I 100% recommend the Samyang - had a lot of fun with it. I was going to go straight ahead and order the 85 F1.4 too...but I had some nice results from the Zuiko 100mm, so I will persist with that for a while yet.

Cheers!

pominpocket

Hi, I took this with my x10 from the ground level . I mean from the street . I think it had just opened . This is on my blog so not sure of the settings. But the black and white is on the film mode on camera .

franco

Nice one Pom. Thanks for posting - a pretty moody one that!

KaiserSoser

@Franco...lurve those black & white shots. Very much so!

franco

Why thank you @KaiserSoser - much appreciated!
You made my Monday! :-)

KaiserSoser

:-) Well deserved I reckon ;-)

pominpocket

I like the shot of St Pauls In black and white .

franco

Thanks man, me too. Olympus OM legacy lenses proving to be super sharp. Thanks again mate!

Hello Photographer!

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