Pet Cemetery, flash and firmware
My plan was to take some photographs of the pet (dog) graves in the gardens at Hopetoun House. I wanted to shoot the small headstones from a low position so chose a Fuji X-T1 for the job as this is the only camera I have with a flip out rear screen which makes shooting at odd angles and positions easier. Light levels were likely to be low in the location beneath a canopy of trees and so I was thinking of using a flash to illuminate the subject and also to help with contrast, giving a light drop off for the background. I'd be shooting from close up so the little Fuji EF-X8 shoe mount flash seemed ideal (guide number of 8, metres, ISO 100).
However when I came to start I could not get the flash to fire. I ran through a number of menu options and the obvious turn the camera on and off etc but it wouldn't play ball. So I was forced to rethink the shot, ambient light, higher ISO and a wide aperture (luckily I was using a prime lens, the Fuji XF 27mm f2.8). At f3.6 I was getting enough depth of field for the headstones but also some nice bokeh on the highlights in the background. The RAW files was post processed in Silver Efex Pro and this allowed me to slightly darken the mid distance, selectively behind and to the sides of the stones.
Here's what I ended up with:
This shot was taken as a follow on to Awaiting the Rapture as part of ongoing work for a second series of potential portfolio images. The things that interested me here were the fact the headstones were scaled down in size and the fact that they have no carving of any religious symbols when compared with human graves of a similar period, not even a cross.
When I returned home I checked the firmware on the camera. This is easy to do on Fuji x-series cameras, with the camera turned off just hold down the Disp/Back button while turning the camera on. Note the versions (body & lens) and then power off.
I've updated the firmware from time to time in the past but not recently. Checking showed the camera was on version 5.0 and a quick check online showed the latest available was 5.4. I decided to update to the latest.
Here's the firmware history:
http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/software/firmware/x/xt1/history.html
Looks like v5.01 contained some fixes and mentions flash functionality.
A firmware update is very easy on these cameras and only takes a few minutes. In outline you do any backups you need and then format the card, pop the SD card into a card reader and download the latest firmware straight onto it (a DAT file about 40Mb), make sure the camera battery is charged, pop the card back into the camera and then power on as per the firmware check (above), confirm the update and then don't touch anything for about a minute while the update completes. Re-format the card again ready for shooting.
After the update the flash seemed to be working fine but it's hard to be sure if the firmware update was the thing that solved the issue. For the flash to fire on an XT-1 it seems the main criteria are to have it in single shot mode, have it set to mechanical shutter only and have 'silent mode' off (NB on newer firmware versions this option was renamed to "Sound and Flash Off" and needs to be set to "OFF"). Also make sure the flash is seated snugly on the hot shoe, pins engaged and for the EF-X8 that it is flipped into the up position.
However when I came to start I could not get the flash to fire. I ran through a number of menu options and the obvious turn the camera on and off etc but it wouldn't play ball. So I was forced to rethink the shot, ambient light, higher ISO and a wide aperture (luckily I was using a prime lens, the Fuji XF 27mm f2.8). At f3.6 I was getting enough depth of field for the headstones but also some nice bokeh on the highlights in the background. The RAW files was post processed in Silver Efex Pro and this allowed me to slightly darken the mid distance, selectively behind and to the sides of the stones.
Here's what I ended up with:
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| Died in India! |
This shot was taken as a follow on to Awaiting the Rapture as part of ongoing work for a second series of potential portfolio images. The things that interested me here were the fact the headstones were scaled down in size and the fact that they have no carving of any religious symbols when compared with human graves of a similar period, not even a cross.
When I returned home I checked the firmware on the camera. This is easy to do on Fuji x-series cameras, with the camera turned off just hold down the Disp/Back button while turning the camera on. Note the versions (body & lens) and then power off.
I've updated the firmware from time to time in the past but not recently. Checking showed the camera was on version 5.0 and a quick check online showed the latest available was 5.4. I decided to update to the latest.
Here's the firmware history:
http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/software/firmware/x/xt1/history.html
Looks like v5.01 contained some fixes and mentions flash functionality.
A firmware update is very easy on these cameras and only takes a few minutes. In outline you do any backups you need and then format the card, pop the SD card into a card reader and download the latest firmware straight onto it (a DAT file about 40Mb), make sure the camera battery is charged, pop the card back into the camera and then power on as per the firmware check (above), confirm the update and then don't touch anything for about a minute while the update completes. Re-format the card again ready for shooting.
After the update the flash seemed to be working fine but it's hard to be sure if the firmware update was the thing that solved the issue. For the flash to fire on an XT-1 it seems the main criteria are to have it in single shot mode, have it set to mechanical shutter only and have 'silent mode' off (NB on newer firmware versions this option was renamed to "Sound and Flash Off" and needs to be set to "OFF"). Also make sure the flash is seated snugly on the hot shoe, pins engaged and for the EF-X8 that it is flipped into the up position.
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