We Get Fog

Nikon 1 V3 -- 18.5 mm,  ISO 160, 1/125 s,  f/1.8

After a recent rain, the sky began to clear about sunset. It was warm. The water soaked ground made a place where lots of pockets of ground fog were generated. And this made for an interesting display of textures across the fields.





I stopped on the way home to gaze across the scene above. Just for comparison, here it is in color as well...

I actually like both versions. Each brings a different feeling and perspective on the scene.

I actually had two motives for pulling off the road and taking a few pictures. One was clearly the beautiful surroundings. But the other was to make a head-to-head comparison of the N1 with the X100s to see what happens at low light. At Christmas, we will be in Stockholm and, as I'm sure you realize, it is only daylight from about 9:00 or 9:30 until about 4:30 each day. This leaves lots of time with little or no natural light and lots of time with artificial light. I am still trying to decide if I want to take both cameras (most probably --  always need a backup). One consideration is low light performance. Granted, this wasn't dark, but it was a wide dynamic range, low light situation and I wanted to see how the two cameras compared.

Here is a shot with the x100s.

Fuji x100s -- 23mm, ISO 200, 1/125s, f/2

As shot, the trees were in silhouette. When I pulled the exposure up to give them a bit of texture and color they just turned a bit muddy as you can see even in this small version.

Of course, I need more testing to make the comparison. The sky was still light enough to permit using the base ISO for each so noise really isn't an issue in either image.

I do find that the N1 captures the dynamic range in a more pleasing way SOOC. I can with either camera us the back button to lock exposure. The advantage of the N1 is that the back screen and the viewfinder both give what I feel is a better rendition of the scene than the EVF or back screen in the x100s. It is much easier to get the image you want with the N1.

You know the technique: tilt the camera up or down slightly until you get the exposure you want, press the AE-L button, frame, and shoot. With the x100s, this is difficult since the display/EVF have a narrow dynamic range. I really can't tell what I'm doing. With the N1, the electronic images are much more useful on the display/EVF and it is easier to get an image you like.

I'm sure I can easily take photos that make the larger APS-C sensor in the x100s shine and leaves the N1 in the shade. However, I must say that having a camera that is easier to use to a shot that makes you happy is pretty darned important.