RAW Capture

I tended to capture my shots in jpeg. This was true especially on my Fuji X series camera. The jpg coming out from the camera were often spot on and tweaking the RAW files were just time consuming to be quite honest.

On the other hand, my Leica M and Q could only produce reliable photos when the scene were captures in RAW. Their jpg were either too soft, or too harsh. They could not be relied upon. Their RAW conversions however - I used the native Aperture software - were amazing. They were consistently sharper and render nicer tones.

The Sony however, were a bit of a hit and miss.

RAWJpeg - in this pair, the jpeg had a significantly cooler tone to the jpeg. Contrast also a bit higher.RAWJpeg. The difference in dynamic range is pretty obvious resulting in higher contrast in the jpeg. The tone is also slightly warmer.RAWJpeg. Sorry about the crop but I prefer the jpeg on this one. The shadow appeared to be more defined but I think this is from the post-processing.In the last few weeks, I had been trying out snaps exclusively using RAW. The Sony files coming out from the Alpha 7R mark II were a pain since the captures were 42 MP, producing RAW files of 53MB each! It could slow down my post-production. The Fuji - 24 MP - were bearable. The question was, was the extra effort worth it?

I must say that there were subtle differences between the RAW and the captured jpg. The tones were more consistent and the colour tended to be richer. I wasn't sure about the sharpness though. The jpg at 42 MP were certainly sharp enough ....

RAWJpeg. I prefer the more life-like tone of the RAW on this one.RAWJpeg. I prefer the jpeg on this one. It seems that jpeg from the Fuji is more pleasing compared to the Sony.From now on, I plan to stick to RAW. This would be especially the case as I plan to move to medium format at some stage. Better get into the habit ....

A New Tune

I had been contemplating going up onto medium format for quite some time. There were plenty of contenders, and the couple main ones at the moment were the Pentax 645Z and the Hasselblad X1D. They were not cheap certainly. But the one I was anticipating would be the Fuji GFX 50S. All 3 uses almost similar sensors, about 1.7 times bigger than my current full-frame gears.

But they were going to be big and heavy. And I mainly like street work. And I have fast glasses to cover 28, 35, 50 and 85mm, not to mention standard and wide-angle zooms.

In the last few months, I had been mainly doing wide-angle walks. I decided to use a 85mm 1.4 rig yesterday. The overcast weather made the decision easy. And I was able to snap both indoors and evening outdoors without much hassle.

After looking at the results, it made me think about whether it would be worth the effort, cost and hassle of upgrading and abandoning the system I built over the years to accommodate this new endeavour. Bearing in mind, I was not planning of getting any monetary return from all this.

So, as it stood at the moment I might venture into medium format in the future. The question was not if, but onto which system. Apart from the Hasselblad, I don’t think the other medium format setup had the upper hand to my current kit. When I do go medium format, I would expect the results to blow me away, similar to when I was first able to use a Leica properly and appreciate what a sharp lens really meant.

I remember the advise from one of my mentor, that when you go into the field I am in - a Haemato-Oncologist, you would need an escape. For me it had always been photography since my student years. Guess, I would need to up my game now ….