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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Fuji X10 goes to Paris, too - and does cool panos

When deciding what gear to take to Paris this year my prime mission was to go light without sacrificing the image quality that I am used to from my DSLR cameras. My second companion camera to the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 was the compact Fujifilm X10!

A compact? Why? After owning the X100 for 6 month I eagerly awaited the X10 to hit the stores towards the end of last year. Just like I did with the X100, I ordered the X10 without ever phisically holding it in my hand. Buying without trying is a very untypical thing for me to do, but I was pretty certain that the X10 would be the compact camera that I would feel least limited with - compared to a bigger camera.

My main reasons for choosing the X10 were the fast high quality lens with f/2-2.8 at 28-112mm (35mm equivalent field of view), relatively large sensor, Fuji color JPG engine, in camera pano mode and an optical view finder for extreme bright situations.
The great lens comes with the draw back that it sticks out quite a bit compared to other compact cameras. But photography and image quality are about compromises and the size of the lens was the compromise I was willing to take.

I took the X10 along to Paris as a safety net for those situations where I wanted more zoom than the X-Pro 1 XF lens lineup currently offers. But the primary reason was the in camera panorama stiching program.

To me, this is one of the most overlooked quality features of this camera! At first it seemed like a consumer gimmick to me. But after using it for many month it gives me capabilities of a Hasselblad X-Pan panorama camera, just digital, smaller, cheaper and more versatile (BTW, the Hasselblad X-Pan was a rebranded Fuji TX-1 build by Fuji)

The X10 is capable of 120°, 180°, 360° sweep panoramas that are stiched in camera and saved as jpg. You will need some practice to max this feature out, but this is what it is capable of:


Not your typical l'Arc de Triomphe postcard photo - Fuji X10 vertical pano
Since I found out that vertical panos also work, this has been my main style I use this feature for. Not your typical Arc de Triomphe postcard photo, eh? ;)

The lone photographer above Paris - Fuji X10 panorama
And this is a traditional 120° horizontal pano sweep from to of the Arc de Triomphe

Not your typical Eiffel Tower postcard photo - Fuji X10 vertical pano
Still, the vertical panos are so much more fun and give a new perspective of the Eiffel Tower :)

Spaceship launch pad Paris - Fuji X10 panorama
I would have needed a wide fishe eye lens to get this 180° field of view without the pano mode

Rue Chappe stairs - Paris panorama - Fuji X10
The 180° vertical pano worked pretty well on the famous "Rue Chappe stairs", too

Bibliothèque nationale de France - Fuji X10 Pano
Without the pano mode I could not have captured the impression I got when standing in front of the huge Bibliothèque nationale de France


If you already own a Fuji X10 / X100 / X-Pro 1 take this post as an inspiration to play around with the pano functions, too. Don't get frustrated if your results aren't perfect on the first few tries. It'll take some trial and error to understand what works and what doesn't.
Post a comment below or tweet me @hamburgcam if you want me to write more on my experiences with the pano mode of the three Fuji X-Cameras that I use...
 
And if you liked my post I am always happy if you spread the word and retweet, like or google +1 it :-)

8 comments:

  1. Great work. I havent even tried the pano mode on my X10 and I've had it for seven months. Looks as though i've been missing out.

    Kuvvy

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    1. Thank you for your reply! Yes, do give the pano function a try. It makes the camera much more versatile than it already is.

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  2. I do like these shots, especially the underside of the Eiffel Tower - reminds me of a tripod from War of the Worlds. The Pano mode looks like it will give yet another creative opportunity for those seeking a 'different' shot. Thanks for posting!

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  3. WOW beautiful black and white!
    My phone (Samsung Nexus S) has pano mode too and when I found out I could use it vertically I thought the same thing as you: this is soooo much more interesting than regular pano!
    whats the pixel size of these files?
    (my phone does 650 pixels on the shortest side :D)

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    Replies
    1. The pixel size for the three different pano modes are:

      120° = 1624 x 3840
      180° = 1624 x 5760
      360° = 1624 x 11520

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  4. Spectacular! Are these the maximum resolutions for the respective pano modes? For larger prints would you rather have to stitch several single exposures with maximum resolution each?

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  5. Man! I discovered this by fluke. I went to Paris with my X-10 too and I made hundreds of pics. I was so happy with the result that I'm a new owner of the X-Pro 1. I'm now even happier 😀

    I'm going to follow this. Specially the X-10/X-Pro 1 posts. BTW, thanks to a post you did talking about improving AF speed on X-Pro 1 now I can make concert/photojournalism even better (it's my field). Thanks a lot!

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