Long Exposure Landscapes with the X-Pro2

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Now that the X-Pro2 has been launched and there have been a raft of blogs, reviews, tests and opinions since the press conference in Tokyo on Friday 15 January.  I have been posting my opinions on the new camera since the press conference based on my experiences using the X-Pro2 in a variety of different photographic situations since receiving the prototype at the end of November.


One of the areas where the X-Pro2 is used the most is for landscape photography.  I have taken thousands of images over the past few months and as a landscape photographer this new X-Pro2 is fantastic.  Yesterday evening I walked down onto the rocks below the ruins of Dunbar Castle to shoot some long exposure images of the choppy seas that have been whipped up thanks to the high winds of storm 'Henry' that has swept across Scotland over the past few days.

 Walking down to the shoreline I set the X-Pro2 onto the Manfrotto 190 tripod, keeping the legs retracted to keep things as stable as possible in the gusty wind sweeping across the beach.


Fitting the camera with the Fujinon XF10-24mm f4R OIS lens fitted with a Lee 0.9 (3 stop) ND Soft Grad I used the joystick on the back of the camera to set the focus point on the large rock in the foreground before flicking the selector to manual focus on the front of the camera.

 With the ISO set to 200 and the aperture at f20, the low shutter speed of 0.3s enabled me to capture some movement in the waves as they swirled around the rocks in the foreground.  As you can see in the images of the X-Pro2 I use an electronic shutter release to reduce the chance of any movement while the shutter is open. At least I don't have to worry about retracting mirrors causing vibrations, which can be a problem when shooting long exposures DSLRs.


 After taking several images to get the movement in the picture I wanted (image above), I fitted a Lee 10x Grad filter, or Big Stopper as it is also known, to slow the shutter speed down to several minutes.

With one eye on the light levels as the sun began to set behind me, I took the shot at the top of this page with an exposure of 230 seconds at f11 ISO200.  The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 240s @ f11 but I needed to push the ISO to 400 to keep the shutter speed the same.  

 I could've changed the aperture to f8 to keep the ISO at 200 but I was concerned about front to back sharpness in the image so decided to increase the ISO instead as Fujifilm cameras tending to handle the increase very well, with the X-Pro2 doing especially well in this area.


In conclusion I am extremely pleased with the performance of the X-Pro2 for landscape photography.  The 24mp X-Trans III sensor is excellent, is more flexible if I need to crop and handles noise extremely well.  The only negative comment is I am finding the lack of an articulated screen still annoying when working at low level like I was during this shoot.    All in all the X-Pro2 is producing the goods and, as a professional photographer, that is all I can ask for in my cameras.
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Comments

  1. Unknown3 February 2016 at 17:34

    I like your photographs.
    Which Lee system are you using? Seven5 or bigger?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Macsport3 February 2016 at 18:06

      Thank you. I use the 100mm Lee system the Seven5 doesn't work with the 10-24mm

      Delete
  2. Anonymous3 February 2016 at 17:37

    I like your photographs a lot. Is that Seven5 Lee system or bigger?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Macsport7 March 2016 at 08:26

      Thank you. The Seven5 system is 75mm and the larger system is the 100mm size filters.

      Delete
  3. DelbertM3 February 2016 at 19:08

    Great images as usual Jeff. Are these jpgs or do you have something to process raw files from the X-Pro2?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Macsport3 February 2016 at 20:15

      Thank you. While I shoot RAW + JPEG with all my X-Series cameras these shots are from the RAW files which are processed in Lightroom CC.

      Delete
  4. Unknown4 February 2016 at 02:51

    Doe's the magnified live view have noisy display (like XT1), in turn, making manual focus difficult in low light? Do you find the magnification zooms in enough to properly see your focus point? Beautiful image on top. Paul

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Macsport5 February 2016 at 06:29

      In low light the EVF is noisy but not as much as expected. TBH I have never had a problem with the X-T1 and the X-Pro2 is very good in low light. The X-Pro2 has one advantage and that is you can switch to OVF if you want to. The focus assist on the X-Pro2 is brilliant and is a two step zoom function by pressing the rear thumb dial. Thanks for the comments and the compliment Paul

      Delete
  5. Nate5 February 2016 at 14:58

    What electronic shutter release are you using?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Macsport5 February 2016 at 15:02

      Nate - I use this remote release. It is cheaper than the Fuji RR90 release - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FVVQYZS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

      Delete
  6. Unknown7 February 2016 at 18:01

    Great capture and nice review, is it possible to have raw 100 iso files with the Xpro2?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Macsport7 February 2016 at 18:05

      Thank you

      Yes, unlike the previous X Series cameras it is now possible to capture RAW files on the 'L' and 'H' settings on the ISO dial.

      The native range of ISO for the X-Pro2 is 200-12800. The L setting is 100 ISO and the H is user selectable to either 25,600 or 51,200. I tend toe have the H setting on 51,200 but have only used it for tests.

      Delete
  7. Rick Bowden6 March 2016 at 22:37

    Have you processed any files with Lightroom? Does the X-Pro2 still suffer from the same false detail and smudging as the X-T1?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Macsport6 March 2016 at 23:18

    Rick - yes, all my files are processed with LR and no I haven't seen any false detail or smudging with either the X-T1 or X-Pro2 files.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Unknown28 June 2016 at 11:31

    don't you have vignetting with 10-24 and big stopper??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Macsport28 June 2016 at 12:02

      No Sebastian, it is the reason I use the 100mm Lee system rather than the Seven5 filters.

      Delete
  10. Unknown24 September 2016 at 17:23

    I've just started with my X-Pro2 with a Lee Bog Stopper. Doing long exposures of 200/300 seconds and over and my whole image is filled with what I would describe as tiny white fibres - sensor noise. This does not appear to be sensor hot pixels however, which are also present and much easier to remove, the white 'fibres' is very difficult to remove. Any ideas? Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Macsport25 September 2016 at 07:12

      Ray, I am sorry but I have never come across the thing you have described. My only thought is LENR. Do you have the Long Exposure Noise Reduction switched on or off? I always switch it off.

      Delete
  11. Unknown7 October 2016 at 23:38

    Lovely and great images Jef. I have a main issue with X-T2 in long exposure shots. hop spot pixels while shooting over 30 sec's at ISO 200 and f/13.
    Did you faced such probelm and how should I do to resolve it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Macsport8 October 2016 at 03:36

      Hi, thanks for taking the time to read the blog. I haven't had a major problem with hot spots on long exposures with either my X-Pro2 or X-T2. I do check the images in photoshop and then clone out any spots or hot pixels that do occur but these are very few if any. My latest blog was on long exposures on the X-T2 (4-6 minutes) and there were no hot spots on any of these images - http://macleancomms.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/tyne-estuary-long-exposures.html

      On the 1st October I posted a 10 minute long exposure shot. This had some hot pixels but no more than 15. http://macleancomms.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/10-minute-long-exposure-at-barns-ness.html

      I always keep the Long Exposure Noise Reduction set to OFF on all my cameras.

      I hope this helps?

      Delete

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