…and JPEG for RAW Shooters!

by Rico Pfirstinger

One of the most persistent flame wars on the “photographic Internet” is the endless fight between RAW and JPEG shooters. If it wasn’t so sad, it would be funny. Readers of my book know that I prefer a comprehensive approach to this hot topic by advising to shoot FINE+RAW (SHOOTING MENU > IMAGE QUALITY) at any time, no matter whether you consider yourself a part of the RAW or JPEG camp. There are plenty of good reasons for being inclusive instead of divisive.

Why “RAW only” shooters should use FINE+RAW

Even if you consider yourself a hardened “RAW only” shooter, FINE+RAW makes sense for you. Don’t forget that you can preview exposures on your camera only in JPEG format. This means that even in “RAW only” mode, your camera will produce a JPEG out of every RAW file it saves to provide you with a preview file. Otherwise there wouldn’t be anything to examine in playback mode.

However, these preview JPEGs in “RAW only” mode are low resolution—often so low that it is impossible to tell whether image details are in focus when you zoom-in to 100%. Shooting in FINE+RAW mode with an IMAGE SIZE of L obviates this problem. With this setting, the camera saves a high-resolution JPEG “print” in addition to the RAW “negative”: You can use this high-res JPEG for precise focus control immediately after you snap it by pressing the command dial, thereby enabling the 100% zoom function. Moreover, the high-res JPEG file is a good point of reference for developing the RAW file later in your personal computer.

Admittedly, you could also opt to shoot in NORMAL+RAW mode instead of FINE+RAW, which doesn’t actually affect the resolution of the JPEG. However, this setting produces files with greater compression, compromising image quality. Dedicated RAW shooters should pay attention to this fact, because in some modes, the camera saves only JPEGs without any RAW files! Think of motion panorama or of ISO, film simulation and dynamic range bracketing as examples for such modes. In all these cases, your X-Pro1 or X-E1 (or X100 and X100S) silently switch the image quality setting from NORMAL+RAW to NORMAL, which means the only image they write to the memory card is a quality-reduced JPEG! And what X-camera user likes to skimp on quality?

Wait, there’s more! The camera’s IMAGE SIZE settings (3:2, 16:9 or 1:1 format with resolutions L, M and S) aren’t available in “RAW only” mode. They are greyed-out. This feature can be valuable for RAW shooters, though, because the camera’s light metering is influenced by the current format settings. If you intend to shoot (and later crop) images to a ratio of 16:9 or 1:1, the light metering works more effectively when the camera’s image format is set accordingly. That’s because parts of the image that are superfluous will be automatically cropped out and won’t affect the camera’s exposure metering (which is based on the current live-view image). Furthermore, it’s easier to target your desired image area when the image format in the camera’s viewfinder matches up with your intended end result. Finally, the camera adjusts the size and shape of the autofocus fields and redistributes them according to your selected image format. This means that you can continue to use all 49 of the camera’s AF fields even when you are shooting in the exotic 1:1 format.

No worries: Independent from any IMAGE SIZE or IMAGE QUALITY settings you choose in the shooting menu, your X-Pro1 or X-E1 will always record a full-size L, 3:2 format RAW file. You will not lose a single pixel.

Why “JPEG only” shooters should use FINE+RAW

Now that the “RAW only” camp has been served, what about the “JPEG only” crowd? After all, this is what this article is supposed to mostly be about, right?

The reason to opt for FINE+RAW comes down to this: All X-series cameras feature an internal RAW converter (PLAYBACK MENU > RAW CONVERSION) that allows you to change an image’s JPEG settings anytime after you take a shot. However, before we examine the implications of this feature, let’s find out about those mysterious “JPEG settings” and let’s see what they actually are.

JPEG settings (or JPEG parameters) are camera settings that do not affect the RAW file. Instead, they only affect the look of any JPEG files your camera spits out. Thinking of RAWs as “digital negatives” and JPEGs as “digital lab prints”, the camera’s JPEG settings determine how the JPEGs actually look like.

JPEG settings are:

• White Balance
• WB Shift
• Film Simulation
• Color
• Sharpness
• Highlight Tone
• Shadow Tone
• Noise Reduction (NR)
• Color Space

As you have probably noticed, there settings are scattered over the shooting and setup menus of the camera. With the exception of color space, they are also directly accessible via the Quick Menu and can be saved in sets known as custom shooting profiles. The same JPEG settings are available when you activate the camera’s internal RAW converter.

JPEG settings strongly affect the look of an image. The very same shot can look quite differently depending on what JPEG settings you have chosen. Here’s an example of a snapshot I took recently—the following pics all show the same RAW image (“digital negative”) processed with different camera JPEG settings to produce different “digital prints”.

Let’s start with three different color versions:

And here three different black&white versions, again all courtesy of the X camera’s flexible JPEG parameter settings:

As you can see, there can be both strong and subtle differences between different “digital prints”. There are virtually billions of possibilities of how you can combine these JPEG settings to generate an actual image. Quite overwhelming! With normal cameras and as a “JPEG only” shooter, you would have to know/guess and then set the “perfect” JPEG parameter combination for each image in advance. Can you actually do this? Honestly, I can’t.

by Rico Pfirstinger

While this column is officially due on Fridays, Fuji has a habit of issuing firmware updates (and press releases etc.) on a Thursday. And so they did today, releasing firmware updates for the X-Pro1, the X-E1 and the XF35mmF1.4 R – with a delay of two weeks due to a last minute bug fix regarding the XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS “kit zoom” lens. So I thought this may be a good opportunity to write up some tips regarding firmware updates and release it here ahead of time as well. Here we go!

What’s my current firmware status?

You can determine the status of the firmware in your X-series camera (and whichever lens you have attached at the time if it’s an X-Mount camera) by holding down the DISP/BACK button while turning the camera on.

Where do I find new firmware versions?

By following websites like Fujirumors, you can find out if there is a newer firmware version than what is currently installed on your camera. You can then download the new firmware updates directly from FUJIFILM using this link.

But… I can’t see it there?!

If you don’t see the new firmware listed on the global FUJIFILM firmware update site, there’s a good chance your browser or Internet provider has still cached an older version of that webpage. In this case, just delete your browser cache or force your browser to reload and refresh the page by, for example, holding the Alt or Option key while clicking on Reload.

My camera doesn’t recognize the firmware files!

When you download a new camera or lens firmware update to your computer, make sure you do NOT have previous firmware update downloads either for the X-Pro1, X-E1, other Fujifilm cameras or any XF lenses sitting in your PC’s download destination folder. File naming conflicts may cause your computer to save the new file under a different name (like FPUPDATE-01.DAT instead of FPUPDATE.DAT), which your camera won’t recognize and won’t be able to install.

Currently, firmware files for cameras are named FPUPDATE.DAT for the X-Pro1 and FWUP0001.DAT for the X-E1. Updates for lenses are named XFUP00xx.DAT, with xx being a number signifying a specific XF lens. For example, updates for the XF35mmF1.4 R always bear the filename XFUP0002.DAT. Do NOT ever change these filenames!

Follow these steps when updating your firmware:

1. Locate the latest firmware for your camera or your specific lens on the FUJIFILM website and download it to your personal computer. Unzip the file if necessary and then double-check that your computer hasn’t given the downloaded file a name different from the filenames mentioned above.
2. Make sure that you have a fully charged battery in your camera.
3. Connect an SD memory card to your computer. The card must have been formatted in your camera (SETUP MENU > FORMAT). If your computer has an integrated card reader, use it; otherwise you will need an external card reader.
4. Copy the FPUPDATE.DAT (X-Pro1) or FWUP0001.DAT (X-E1) or XFUP00xx.DAT file (when you’re updating a specific lens) to the top directory level of the SD card.
5. Disconnect the SD card from your computer (using your operating system to properly unmount it first). Make sure your camera is turned off, and insert the card into the appropriate port on your camera.
6. If you are updating a specific lens, make sure this lens is now affixed to the camera. However, if you are updating the camera body, make sure NO lens is attached to the camera while doing so.
7. Turn your camera on while holding down the DISP/BACK button.
8. Follow the directions on the LCD monitor and do not interrupt the update process. Do not turn the camera off before you receive confirmation that the process has completed!

The updating process can take several minutes, so it is important that your battery is fully charged. You wouldn’t want your camera to shut down during the update because if it did, you might need to have a professional service your camera.

Lenses and camera bodies must often be updated together. If you attach an updated lens to a camera body that has not yet been updated, the camera will detect this after you turn it on by indicating that a firmware update for the camera body is needed. Conversely, the camera will also indicate that a lens firmware update is needed if you attach a lens that hasn’t been updated to a camera body with a newer firmware version.

Anything else?

Today, the CP+ show did kick-off in Japan. Watch out for news regarding Fuji’s XF lens lineup! Oh, and if you use a X-Pro1 or X-E1 and haven’t already done so: consider getting a copy of my book “Mastering the FUJIFILM X-Pro1” (Kindle Edition) (Apple iBook Store) (German version).

For your convenience, here’s a TOC with links to my previous X-PERT CORNER articles:

• How to Clean the X-Trans Sensor
• Using the XF14mmF2.8 R
• Decoding XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS
• Comparing RAW converters: JPEG vs. Lightroom, Capture One, Silkypix & RPP
• XF14mmF2.8 R appears to be almost distortion free
• How to Expand Dynamic Range
• How to Use Extended ISO
• EXR, anyone?
• Capture One – When the Going Gets Tough…
• Using Shooting Profiles and the Quick Menu

Rico Pfirstinger studied communications and has been working as journalist, publicist, and photographer since the mid-80s. He has written a number of books on topics as diverse as Adobe PageMaker and sled dogs, and produced a beautiful book of photographs titled Huskies in Action (German version). He has spent time working as the head of a department with the German Burda-Publishing Company and served as chief editor for a winter sports website. After eight years as a freelance film critic and entertainment writer in Los Angeles, Rico now lives in Germany and devotes his time to digital photography and compact camera systems. His book “Mastering the FUJIFILM X-Pro1” (Kindle Edition) (Apple iBook Store) (German version) is available on Amazon and offers a plethora of tips, secrets and background information on successfully using Fuji’s X-Pro1 and X-E1 system cameras, lenses and key accessories.

by Rico Pfirstinger

It’s another X-PERT Friday! Before we begin, please let me thank all those of you who have already read Mastering the Fujifilm X-Pro1. If you find the book (and hence this column) any useful, I’d be honored if you spent a few minutes of your time dropping a brief review on Amazon.com. As you may already know, the book is just as useful for X-Pro1 users as it is for users of the X-E1. I have also set up sample photo sets on Flickr, showcasing hundreds of pictures I took with both cameras. Click these links for sets of my X-Pro1 and X-E1 samples.

Now, let’s get into this week’s topic. The settling of dust and dirt particles on the sensor is a fundamental problem for all digital cameras with interchangeable lenses. These particles can mar images by showing up as distracting spots in the light areas of an image (e.g., sky, clouds, walls).

To minimize the effect of this problem, the X-Pro1 and X-E1 offer an integrated cleaning mechanism that runs when you turn your camera on or off. Navigate to SETUP MENU 2 > SENSOR CLEANING to control this setting. You can choose to run the cleaning manually (by selecting OK), or you can choose to have the cleaning process run whenever you turn your camera on and/or off.

I have my camera set to clean the sensor both when I switch it on and when I turn it off—it’s best to shake the sensor up a bit as often as possible. With the help of high-frequency vibrations, the dust particles loosen from the sensor preventing them from becoming permanently attached.

See, problem solved! Well, just kidding. Don’t put too much stock in the sensor cleaning function. If any dirt particles have set on the sensor, they’re likely to remain stubbornly attached even after running the cleaning mechanism.

Accordingly, the most important strategy for maintaining a clean sensor is the active and passive avoidance of dust:

• Don’t leave your camera unnecessarily open without protective housing covers.
• As much as possible, avoid changing your lenses in dusty or dirty environments.
• When changing your lens, hold your camera pointed downward, not upward.
• When attaching a lens, make sure that the rear lens opening and the optics are clean and free of dust to prevent transferring dust to the sensor inadvertently.
• Don’t touch the sensor!

Despite diligent preventative measures, it’s unavoidable that the sensor of your X-Pro1 or X-E1 will collect dirt or dust over time if you use it regularly. So don’t deceive yourself—the question is not if, but when!

Dig the dust!

You can run a test to check whether dust has already settled on your sensor. Take an exposure of a blue or white sky, a bright wall, or a white piece of paper with a fully dimmed lens (= the highest f-stop possible). It’s best to use the camera’s automatic exposure bracketing feature (DRIVE button > AE BKT) and to manually set the lens to be out of focus—for the sky, set the focus for a short-range shot, and for a piece of paper, set the focus to infinity. If you then transfer your images to your computer and maximize the contrast, any flecks on your sensor should be readily visible.

The illustration below shows how the sensor of my preproduction X-Pro1 looked after three weeks of use in Asia. This exposure of a piece of white paper reveals (with the help of stark contrast settings on my computer) over a dozen flecks on the image sensor. Something no amount of shaking and vibrating will remedy…

Perform a blow job!

Using a cleaning bellows is one safe method to remove dust particles from the lens and sensor. Many photographers are using Rocket-air Blowers from Giottos. These blowers feature an air valve which prevents dust from entering their bellows—the last thing you want to do is blow additional dust into the camera’s chamber! The goal is to loosen and remove the existing blemishes with a clean stream of air. For the best results with this tool, blow from below into the sensor chamber of your open camera.

This Super Rocket-air Blower from Giottos not only looks comical, it also effectively removes dust from cameras and lenses:

Don’t use compressed air from a gas duster! These products contain propellants, whose particles can end up sticking to the image sensor, causing exactly the opposite effect of your intended result. Additionally, the stream of compressed air can harm the sensor by turning these particles into tiny and harmful projectiles. Not good!

Have a snack!

What about when the flecks on the sensor simply won’t go away? My colleague Michael J. Hußmann, who’s a legend when it comes to photo technology, recommends a “fruit snack on a stick”. This is his nickname of the Pentax Sensor Cleaning Kit—and you’ll see why people call it that at first sight:

Pentax’s Sensor Cleaning Kit includes a specially coated cleaning head that collects dust from the sensor. After every time you dab dust off of the sensor, you’ll need to clean the head with a special piece of sticky paper that comes in the kit. To clean the entire area of the APS-C sensor, you’ll need to blot off the cleaning head approximately six times.

If Fujifilm can do it…

I also asked Torben Hondong, the service manager for Fujifilm in Germany, how he handles dust removal from the X-Pro1’s sensors.

Fuji depends (as do countless other camera manufacturers) on the products from the U.S. company Photographic Solutions. The basis of every damp cleaning is the so-called Sensor Swab (for the X-Pro1 or X-E1 you’ll need size 2) that is soaked in a cleaning solution called Eclipse and then wiped like a windshield wiper across the sensor—one side of the swab from left to right, and the other side from right to left. It’s important that these swabs (which aren’t cheap, to say the least) are used only one time and that each side of each swab is wiped across the sensor only once. Otherwise the dirt and dust collected on the first pass can scratch the sensor on the way back.

Specialist Torben Hondong doesn’t rely on just this standard solution (available for anyone to purchase in camera stores). More commonly, he replaces the original cloth on the swaps with special “Cleaning Wiper” cloths from Japan, which he finds work better because they smear less. In particularly difficult cases, he treats the affected area of the sensor with a drop of Zeiss Optical Cleaning Mixture. Hondong cautions, however, that this relatively aggressive solution is NOT recommended for home use.

…so can you!

That being said, it is usually possible to take care of the normal dirt and dust buildup on the X-Trans sensor by yourself with products for DSLR cameras that are readily available in retail stores. The Canadian company Visible Dust offers a similar (and in fact more sophisticated) line of products, such as swabs and cleaning solutions, at prices that aren’t any higher than those of Photographic Solutions.

As a last resort for particularly stubborn sensor dirt that won’t come out, you can always send your camera in to be serviced. In Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, this option currently runs at a cost of 72 Euros plus value-added tax and shipping.

There’s good news too, though: Fuji will perform the first sensor cleaning of an X-Pro1 and X-E1 for customers in these countries at no cost. This may be one of the best-kept secrets surrounding current X-Mount cameras. I wonder why? ;)

For your convenience, here’s a TOC with links to my previous X-PERT CORNER articles:

• Using the XF14mmF2.8 R
• Decoding XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS
• Comparing RAW converters: JPEG vs. Lightroom, Capture One, Silkypix & RPP
• XF14mmF2.8 R appears to be almost distortion free
• How to Expand Dynamic Range
• How to Use Extended ISO
• EXR, anyone?
• Capture One – When the Going Gets Tough…
• Using Shooting Profiles and the Quick Menu

Rico Pfirstinger studied communications and has been working as journalist, publicist, and photographer since the mid-80s. He has written a number of books on topics as diverse as Adobe PageMaker and sled dogs, and produced a beautiful book of photographs titled Huskies in Action (German version). He has spent time working as the head of a department with the German Burda-Publishing Company and served as chief editor for a winter sports website. After eight years as a freelance film critic and entertainment writer in Los Angeles, Rico now lives in Germany and devotes his time to digital photography and compact camera systems. His book “Mastering the FUJIFILM X-Pro1” (Kindle Edition) (Apple iBook Store) (German version) is available on Amazon and offers a plethora of tips, secrets and background information on successfully using Fuji’s X-Pro1 and X-E1 system cameras, lenses and key accessories.

by Rico Pfirstinger

Today’s scheduled Fujifilm X-Mount camera and lens firmware update would have been a great opportunity for an X-PERT CORNER article with some practical tips for updating your gear. Alas, the update has been postponed in order to address another glitch. Hopefully, we’ll see the update soon and can cover it in next week’s edition of this column.

Before we take-off with today’s little “ersatz topic”, let me point you to my recent article comparing several RAW converters that are suitable for X-Trans sensor cameras like the X-Pro1 and X-E1 (and soon X100S and X20). Since that article was first published on January 15, I have added a few more samples and another RAW converter to the equation: Russian-made RPP. So if you haven’t already done so, feel free to check-out the updated (pun intended) version by clicking here. You might also want to scroll down to the article’s comment section, as it contains several interesting user additions and a little Q&A.

In case you didn’t get the memo: Delivery of Fuji’s new XF14mmF2.8 R wide-angle prime lens appears to be imminent. Those who are interested in this lens can have a look at over 20 sample shots I have taken with a pre-production model of this lens. And click here for a brief article illustrating how well-corrected this lens appears to be by optical (aka non-digital) means. Fuji may have another winner here.

Speaking of imminent delivery, “Mastering the FUJIFILM X-Pro1” is finally shipping physically and electronically. Yay! It was about time. In case you were wondering, the book is just as valuable for users of the X-E1. Since I am writing and publishing all my articles on FUJIRUMORS (and other sites) for free, my only form of compensation is actually you guys buying (and hopefully liking) the book. Just sayin’.

Enough with the advertising! Apart from the new 14mm prime, one of the most pleasant surprises I experienced last fall was Fuji’s “kit zoom” lens, also known as the FUJINON XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS. Wow, what a name! And what a lens! Certainly not your typical “kit zoom”, even though it’s often bundled with the X-E1. Let’s have a look at what each portion of the long name actually means.

XF

This is a no-brainer and simply means that the lens is suitable for X-Mount cameras from Fujifilm. X-Mount is a new bayonet with very little flange-back: only 17.7mm. Flange-back is the distance between the lens mount (where it sits on the camera body) and the camera sensor or film. This is why you can pretty much adapt almost every existing 35mm (aka “full-frame”) lens to your X-Mount camera: All those other lenses feature longer flange-back distances, hence leaving some space for an adapter ring.

X-Mount has no mechanical transmission/communication between the camera and the lens, so everything is performed electronically. Setting aperture and focus is performed through “fly-by-wire”, too, even though all current XF lenses have dedicated aperture and focus rings. Zooming with the zoom ring is fully mechanic, though.

18-55mm

This part of the name tells us the focal length range of the zoom. The lens offers anything between 18mm and 55mm, which corresponds to about 27-84mm in “full-frame” terms, or an angle of view between 79.1° at the 18 and 28.4° at the 55mm setting.

F2.8-4

This is the largest aperture opening (aka maximum aperture) the lens is offering. The range of 2.8-4 means that the maximum opening is not the same throughout all available focal lengths. It’s varying between f/2.8 at 18mm and f/4.0 at 55m. At 23mm, the maximum aperture of this lens is f/3.2, and f/3.6 at 35mm.

Since the maximum aperture opening of this zoom lens is variable, the aperture ring is not displaying any f-stop markers. By the way, variable aperture is not necessarily an attribute of “cheap design” or “non-professional”. For example, Leica’s standard zoom for their professional S system is a 30-90mm/F3.5-5.6 lens and sells for about 9,000 Euros. So much for “cheap design”.

R

R stands for ring, meaning the lens features a dedicated aperture ring. Since all current XF lenses have aperture rings, this feature has often been overlooked or confused with the rounded aperture blades of many current Fuji lenses. And yes, our “kit zoom” has those rounded blades, as well, in order to achieve fully circular bokeh rings in out-of-focus areas. The R also means that future (probably cheaper) XF lenses may come with no aperture ring. The aperture of such lenses can of course still be manually set by turning the camera’s thumb wheel (aka command dial). Thinking about that, cheaper entry-level XF lenses may also require cheaper, entry-level X-Mount cameras, so the R may just as well stand for rumor.

LM

LM describes the linear motor of the the AF drive. It suggests that the auto focus of this lens is operating particularly fast. You can read some marketing blah about all this on Fujifilm’s official XF lens website. Practically, the LM means the lens adjusts its AF pretty fast, while operating very silently.

OIS

OIS means optical image stabilizer. If you have clicked on the link mentioned above, you already know that the OIS is “checking camera shake 8000 times every second”. That’s nice to know, but what’s the real deal? Fuji claims that the OIS is good for compensating up to four f-stops of camera shake. This means that if you can hold a crisp and steady shot at 55mm without using the OIS at 1/80s, the same shot should (or at least could) be almost as crisp at 1/5s with the OIS turned on. Four stops maybe sounds a bit too optimistic, but on the other hand, one of my first sample shots using an early pre-production sample of the kit zoom was this one, taken in a fast moving commuter train at 1/10s:

Pretty impressive, huh? Now, there are two different OIS modes, mode 1 and mode 2. You can select a mode in the shooting menu of your X-Pro1 or X-E1. Mode 1 is steadying the lens all the time (like when you are looking through the EVF), mode 2 is only doing this while you actually take the shot. So there’s reason to believe that mode 1 burns a little bit more energy than mode 2. However, that effect is probably marginal, as the OIS system is always operational, even when you turn it off using the OIS ON/OFF switch located on the lens barrel. This is not uncommon, by the way. Think of it like a hovercraft, whose engine has to be up and running to keep it afloat, even when it is not going anywhere.

There were reports about annoying high-pitched noise emissions coming from the lens in OIS mode 2 while focusing with the AF, especially at very low temperatures. This has been fixed with a recent firmware update, so if you are still experiencing this effect, you may want to check whether you are using the most recent lens firmware.

In theory, both OIS modes should be equally effective, though earlier tests with older Fuji cameras with a built-in OIS have shown that statistically speaking, mode 2 returned a higher percentage of “keepers”. Feel free to spend part of an afternoon checking this out by yourself. And don’t forget to turn the OIS off once you operate the camera on a tripod.

Till next week, then hopefully covering the postponed minor X-Mount camera and lens firmware update.

Rico Pfirstinger studied communications and has been working as journalist, publicist, and photographer since the mid-80s. He has written a number of books on topics as diverse as Adobe PageMaker and sled dogs, and produced a beautiful book of photographs titled Huskies in Action (German version). He has spent time working as the head of a department with the German Burda-Publishing Company and served as chief editor for a winter sports website. After eight years as a freelance film critic and entertainment writer in Los Angeles, Rico now lives in Germany and devotes his time to digital photography and compact camera systems. His book “Mastering the FUJIFILM X-Pro1” (Kindle Edition) (Apple iBook Store) (German version) is available on Amazon and offers a plethora of tips, secrets and background information on successfully using Fuji’s X-Pro1 and X-E1 system cameras, lenses and key accessories.