Astbury's Adventures in Photography

The Raw Image Extension adds native viewing support for images captured in raw file formats and allows you to see thumbnails in Explorer without needing to open them with additional software.   RAW Image Extension from Microsoft This is very easy to setup and free, from Windows desktop run the Microsoft Store , go to Apps and search for "Raw Image Extension". Under "System requirements" it should state if your device is suitable for installation and if so then just install (needs to be Windows 11 or one of the more recent versions of Windows 10). NB Although this installs like an App it does not run as an App, it will run in the background, just use the Windows File Explorer to see thumbnails and view metadata. It uses the LibRAW Image Decoder, a list of supported cameras can be found here: https://www.libraw.org/supported-cameras

I've been taking alternate major releases of Capture One Pro over the last few years and was waiting for a good upgrade offer to move from 21 to the current release 23. Can't say there is anything too exciting in it but the previous release 22 did have some functionality that I would like.  Then the following announcement drops into my mailbox:  " Over the past few years many of you have told us you want access to new tools and improvements sooner, rather than have them all in one ‘major’ version of Capture One Pro at the end of each year. That’s why we’ve been investing heavily in our technology to be able release features to you as soon as they are ready. Now we’re ready to fully embrace this approach. From 2023 we will no longer be tied to an annual cycle for major releases. As a result, there will not be a Capture One 24. Instead, we will continuously release new tools and features on a rolling basis throughout the year. Alongside this, we will also be making changes...

Seeing some recent hedgehog activity prompted me to setup an old trail cam that had not been used in sometime. The resulting footage from the old trail cam could have been better quality and so this prompted the purchase of a new trail cam, the Browning Recon Force Edge . Here I'll outline the issues with the old trail cam, the factors in the selection of the new one and how it has performed so far. Still from Browning video - Hedgehog Back in 2018 I reviewed my new Victure HC200 trail cam , a no-glow IR unit that I would describe as cheap and cheerful ( still available, the current variant is now about £60 ). It did the job in detecting what was moving about but it was awkward to setup, image quality was poor and USB file transfers were painfully slow. With these factors in mind I looked for a new trail cam that might deliver better image quality and generally be better all round. It didn't seem to make much sense to pay for a 4k camera when it would mostly be shooting in the ...

I last swapped monitors back in 2015 and at that time I placed my emphasis on colour accuracy, looking for a wide-gamut monitor that could be easily calibrated. My choice back then was an Eizo Coloredge CX271 which claimed to show up to 98% of AdobeRGB. It had a 27 inch screen with QHD at 2560 x 1440 resolution, running at 60Hz via a DisplayPort and in my case being driven by an Nvidia GTX 1080. Over the years this proved an excellent choice, I had been very happy with it (the only little problem in later years had been some occasional flickering of the screen on and off which looked to be due to a loose connector on the old display port cable). However, like many people, my PC is used for more than photo editing and one of these is game playing. With advances in graphic card (GPU) capabilities it seemed like it was finally time to jump up to 4k resolution and to look for higher refresh rates with supporting technologies such as G-Sync (where the monitor synchronises it's frame rat...

I've recently had a new Fujifilm X-T4 camera, acquired as the silver body-only option. Having previously had the X-T1 this post is to evaluate what I liked about the original X-T1, the reasons for buying again with the newer X-T4 and to outline some of the steps involved in making the transition. The X-T1 design is about 6 years old, I've had mine for about 5 years, quite a long time in the life of a digital camera. In this time it has been fault free, had several firmware updates and continues to deliver good photographs. The retro styling may not be to everyone's taste but I like it and more importantly it gives simple quick access to the main controls (ISO/shutter/aperture/exp comp) without resort to menus. The camera is relatively small and light, ideal when I don't want the size and weight of a full frame DSLR, for example when out walking. At 16mp the resolution has been enough to produce a large print if the image is not cropped too much. Jpegs are usually very g...

I've recently purchased the Fujinon XF70-300mm F4-5.6 R LM OIS WR zoom lens. For those unfamiliar with all the letters in the full lens designation, R indicates that it has a ring for controlling aperture (can also be set to auto), LM denotes a linear motor for autofocus, OIS denotes optical image stabilisation and WR denotes weather resistant (but not fully water proof). Fujinon 70-300mm lens on X-T1 In choosing this lens I was looking for something that I could use as a flexible telephoto lens for capturing images of wildlife such as birds. I have Canon's 70-200 L series lens but this does not give enough reach, if I pair it up with a X2 extender there is a distinct loss in image quality and going up to the Canon 100-400mm lens would mean lots of expense and lots of weight lugging it around. By choosing a Fuji X mount lens this means having an APS-C sensor, so effectively multiplying the full-frame focal length equivalence (70-300 gives 107-457mm in 35mm format equivalent), w...

I've recently upgraded my version of Capture One Pro from 12 to 21, this has been a relatively painless and straightforward upgrade.   Capture One 21 Pro splash screen Please note that this was only a jump of two major versions though it may seem more from the numbering. So after version 12 came version 20 (build 13) and then followed by version 21 (build 14).   Capture One 21 Pro About screen   My decision to upgrade was prompted by a planned move from X-T1 to X-T4 for my Fuji shooting, to handle the raw files from an X-T4 requires a newer version of COP than 12 so hence the upgrade. I had two basic upgrade options: Wait for the next new version. Probably out in the new year but feature list unknown, likely to be full price and possibly with a few bugs initially. Buy the current version when Phase One run there next promotion offer. This gives me a new version without undue delay, a tried and tested stable version and a lower cost. I chose the latter option and picked up...