22 with the X-Pro2

Let me first tell you that I have a backlog of photos to process and post that makes me fear opening Lightroom. Partially do to laziness and partially due to the fact that I seem to have fallen into a rut. Not the first time this happens.

The reason of this post is that photography has been rekindled for me in the same way as it often does - new kit! I was lucky enough to be given a Pre Production X-Pro2 from Fujifilm Middle East as a member of their X-Photographer programme.

I will say that this is not a review, because it isn't. What this is is 22 photos with my first proper outing with the X-Pro 2. All of these shot were taken in JPEG and have had very minor adjustments in Lightroom.

Surprisingly (to me, mostly) all these photos were taken in colour using the Classic Chrome profile. Having had my X-Pro1 and X100S set to BW/JPEG for almost 2 years, I expected to revel in the new Acros simulation, and whilst I absolutely loved the Acros+R, my first proper go at the CC left me in awe. Maybe the next post? Hopefully sooner than a year and a half from now?

Hope you like the images and don't hesitate to drop me a line or comment below!

Istanbul in Black and White

Ever since the release of the Leica Monochrom, I have been thinking about the effect that a fully monochrome camera could have on my photography, the comfort level I would have to overcome and the change it would bring to my prespective of the scene I'm photographing.

Before you wonder; no, I have not bought a Leica Monochrom as I am still not made of money.

The other realisation I came to recently was that the JPEGs coming out of my X-Pro1 were by far cleaner, sharper and had better noise performance than anything I could ever achieve out of the X-Pro1 RAW files and Lightroom. So the conclusion? I've decided to shoot my X-Pro1 one in JPEG only, BW film emulation only and do some very light retouching in Lightroom (yes, the Dynamic Range in these JPEGs is that good).

Below is my first full trip following this ethos. Istanbul, beautiful Istanbul.