Downsizing A Camera Kit

Carnaval, San Francisco, 2024. Fuji X-70 Camera with Q20ii Flash held high overhead, 1/1000 second, F 5.6, ISO 400

I have been carrying a camera on my morning walks since the start of the Pandemic, which is to say early 2020. I have several routes that I normally take, and consequently visit the same "photo venues" multiple times during the week. In short, I've pretty much run out of interesting plants, homes, and garden gnomes to photograph, and as a consequence, feel a little let down when I carry a (relatively heavy) mirrorless camera and have no images to reward my efforts.

Lately I've been examining my small camera options, and found two contenders in my collection. Both had APS sized sensors and an equivalent lens focal length of 28mm.

• The CoolPix A: The camera was  introduced in 2013 and had a MSRP $1,100.00. I believe this camera was introduced in the hopes Nikon could  get on the "premium compact" camera bandwagon created by the introduction of Fuji's X100. The Nikon's price was very close to that of the Fuji, but was way behind on features and never gained a significant following, even after dropping the MSRP to $699.00 in 2014, and even included an accessory optical viewfinder. Unfortunately, I had already purchased a used one from Fireside Camera. Oh well. To add insult to injury, my camera had a distinct dust spot on the sensor, which I paid Nikon to replace. They claim they did, but the d#&n spot was still there, so I just decided I'd live with it. It only shows up whenever the background is mostly blue sky, and since I know where it is, I can easily find it and clone over it in post production.

• Fujifilm X70: The camera was introduced in 2016 and had a MSRP $800.00. I wonder if the Nikon's 2014 price drop had anything to do with the X70's pending introduction. At any rate, the Fuji had everything my CoolPix A had, plus a folding LCD panel and the Fuji Film Simulation Modes. It too was purchased used from Fireside Camera. I liked it because it took the same batteries as my X100S. Unlike the Nikon, it has an external aperture ring and shutter speed dial.

Photo Source: Click Nikon CoolPix A or Fuji X-70

One Over The Other: Both cameras have some strong and weak points. The  Nikon has a telescoping lens, which means it is very compact when turned off. It also has protective blades that close to protect the lens, making it a little better for pocket or pouch carry.  Unfortunately,  the telescoping lens makes it difficult to attach filters or lens accessories. There is a special lens hood/filter adapter which allows the use of 49mm filters, but it adds considerable bulk to the camera. The Nikon also lacks a shutter speed dial and aperture ring, which means you must rely on counter-intuitive, external control wheels. Its interface reminds me of the one used by Canon on their point-and-shoot cameras, which is not a compliment. 

The Fuji, on the other hand, has an external shutter speed dial and a lens mounted aperture ring. The Fuji's lens does not telescope, which adds slightly to the thickness of the camera, but it can be easily modified to take standard 49mm filters, which I'll discuss in a minute. It can also accept a bulky wide angle lens adapter that converts the lens to a 21mm full-frame equivalent. And the accessory optical viewfinder is much less expensive than the Nikon's.

I bought mine here.

Part Of The Family: First the good news: Fuji has adopted a standard 49mm thread for attaching lens accessories. The bad news is that the lens mounting sports male threads. (You access them by removing the bezel ring on the lens mount.) This is compatible with Fuji specific accessories such as OEM and knockoff lens hoods, many of which can accept filters with the industry standard 49mm male threads. To reduce bulk, I would need an adapter with 49mm female threads at both ends. By simply Googling "49mm female female adapter", I found one on eBay. I was reminded by one vendor that these can be called "gender changers", as it does indeed change the male threads on Fuji to a female thread ready to accept standard photographic filters, in addition to inexpensive plastic center-pinch lens caps. This will ease my anxiety about losing those expensive OEM metal caps that rely on friction to prevent loss. 

There is one more advantage this simple conversion can provide. A while back I purchased a  Nisi Filter Kit specifically for the Fuji X100 series of cameras. I plan on trying it on my X-70 on the next sunny morning to be sure it works without vignetting, since the lens is wider than that on the X100 cameras. I wrote about this a while back, so you get some technical information by clicking here.

My next post will be a re-introduction to the Q20ii Flash, and working with a wide angle lens camera with a built-in leaf shutter.

The Photo I Wanted To Make

The Photo I Wanted To Make: The event was the 2024 5K Run/Walk that promoted Mental Health Awareness Month. It was held at Ryder Park in San Mateo, a venue where I've photographed past events. The distinctive foot bridge made an interesting backdrop, so I did my best to include it in my composition. This photo is the photo I had in mind, although there are some technical issues that need to be addressed.

The construction of the bridge is interesting. A large arch spans the length of the bridge. It is anchored in concrete at each end. Cables connect the arch to the bridge itself, providing the necessary support. For these shots, I sat at the base of one of the concrete supports while pointing my camera towards the other. In this way, the runners would be coming toward me. It isn't necessarily bad, but it would render poorly on newsprint.

This sketch photo (right) clearly shows how essential the flash was for this particular series of photos. Without it, there is absolutely no detail in the shadows, and my subjects are reduced to silhouettes.

After I started taking some sketch photos, I realized that since the bridge was a two-way street, all of the oncoming foot traffic would be on the left. I altered my composition somewhat, since the right half of the frame would essentially be empty. I also adjusted my flash to favor the left side of the frame, and tilted the head up slightly to keep from overexposing the bridge where they stood. In this photo the runner had to be very close before I could make he exposure, due in part to the limited output of the flash and the 10mm setting on my APS 10-24mm zoom lens.

This photo is probably the one with the best exposure, a lucky accident of being in exactly the right place at the right time. Keep in mind that all of these shots were made with the flash on-camera, so they are somewhat flat in appearance.

This runner was wearing a heart costume, and I thought this would be the money shot. When I took a closer look, the subject was just too small in the frame, and I had caught him at an oblique angle which hid his facial features. I did have other runner photos, so I got up from my shooting position and prepared to leave. 

Subject To Frame Ratio: I was never really happy with any of the original concept photos. The problem was what I call the Subject-To-Frame Ratio. I prefer to have the main subject occupy more than 25% of the full frame area. This is important to remember because I have no control over the published size of the image, and if it is reproduced in a typical column width (approximately 3" wide), the faces of my subjects would be too small to recognize. 

The Photo I Got: As I prepared to leave the footbridge I saw these two ladies from Star Vista, one of the event sponsors, with a homemade "frame" for people who wanted their photos taken in this makeshift photo booth. I got their attention long enough to make this photo, thinking that I already had a suitable photo. This photo also illustrates my preferred subject-to-frame ratio. The frame, containing my two subjects, occupies about one-third of the full frame. 

It occurred to me that I could improve on the shot, so I went back to look for them. I found them photographing a pair of runners and their dog, so I introduced myself, explained what I wanted. I had them turn to face the sun, and after making two exposures, I had what I needed.

©Joe McNally. Photo source here.

Something For Next Time: While speedlights (small, battery-powered electronic flashes) are convenient, they are not as powerful as one would like. There are several work-arounds: You can position two of them together and trigger them simultaneously, or you can move the speedlight/s closer to the subject. During a video presentation, photographer Joe McNally said he often places his main subject near the edge of the frame, as he did in this image. If one could magically see past the left edge of the frame, they would see a large soft box high and to the left of the model.  The trick is to include some visual content in the right half of the frame, which Mr. McNally has clearly done.

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda: Next time I'll secure a speedlight the rail using a combination of gaffer tape and a ball bungee or two. In this rather clumsy mockup, you can see that positioning the speedlight on the rail decreases the light-to-subject distance. And while the beam spread might not be wide enough to provide full-height illumination, it could be just enough to illuminate the most important parts of the subject. Then too, the rail-mounted speedlight could become the key light, and the camera mounted speedlight could become the fill. Of course I didn't pack either a ball bungee or a roll of gaffer tape, but that situation will be remedied immediately.