While giving my studio a good autumnal cleanup I looked through some old storage boxes. To my surprise I found a special lens among my photography gear that I had forgotten all about; a Lensbaby Velvet 85.
I bought it a couple of years ago but never got into the habit of using it. I was curious to see what it could do, so I immediately took it out to test it in the garden.
Luckily, there’s still a few flowers left even though the autumn weather has arrived and the night frost is getting closer.
So in case you haven’t heard of a Lensbaby before; it’s a series of special camera lenses designed for playful photography; encouraging photographers to see in a new way.
The lenses are designed to force you to think out of the box, let go of perfection, and break free of expectations. It can give effects playing with the mix of selective focus and bokeh/blurry effects.
A Lensbaby can take time to master and get to know. I personally find it challenging because a Lensbaby only offer manual focus and so it takes a bit of work to get the sharpness right.
I want to mention that I was shooting handheld because I was literally running in and out whenever there was a short break from the rain. This is not the most ideal way to shoot with a Lens that only has manual focus.
To get the images sharp in the area you want, it’s best to put the camera on a tripod, and then use the liveview screen to set the focus by using the zoom function. This will make sure that the image is perfectly sharp.
The lens I used for these flower photos is the Lensbaby Velvet 85 and it’s actually made for photographers wanting to create dreamy, artistic portrait photography, but I have yet to test it for that.
There’s an entire family of lensbaby lenses that all offers different creative styles. I also have the Lensbaby Composer Edge 80 which I will dust off and take for a playdate in the countryside next week.
What is fascinating with these lenses are their ability to create a delicious blurry/soft background, and also the photos have a film-like atmosphere. Of course, I have edited these pictures to convey that film-like style which add even further to that mood.
So do I love the Lensbaby Velvet 85?
It’s too early in our relationship to say😆 I will still have to test it for portraits and landscape/travel photography. But I’m very curious and excited to use this lens more and see what I can do with it as I get to know it better.
Would I recommend it?
Hmm… if you already own a 100mm macro I’d say save your money. A macro lens will create a similar look and a classic macro lens is easier to work with because it has autofocus.
So who should get a Lensbaby?
I’d say this type of special lens is perfect for photographers who desire a creative challenge. If you have been stuck in a rut for a while creatively I find that it is always great to get playful and perhaps use equipment that you are not so comfortable with. Personally, testing and playing with gear out of my comfort zone helps me stay mindful of my creativity😀
On my hunt for the perfect pocket-sized camera I decided to dust off my 10 year old retro-looking Fujifilm Camera; the Fujifilm X-M1. I can’t remember the last time I took pictures with this camera – that’s how long it’s been since I’ve used it. So I was eager to take it out for a test to see how it would perform on its ten year Anniversary. Is it still worth buying? Let’s investigate!
But first, can we just talk about how beautiful this camera is! WOW! If I should visually describe my dream camera this would be it. I’m not sure what the brown material is made of – perhaps some kind of plastic, but it feels like leather and it helps with a good grib. This camera also come in two other designs. See below.
The Fujifilm X-M1 is a mirrorless camera and comes with the option to change lenses. It’s the same size and weight as a tiny compact camera, but because of the lens attached it becomes bigger in size and more difficult to fit into a pocket like you can with some compact cameras.
I like to put mine in a small croosbody bag when I’m on the move. It weighs almost nothing; about 500gr with the lens attached, so I’ll often just carry it in my hand when I’m out for a photo walk. It has a very nice grib on the side.
The X-M1 is the first Fuji mirrorless camera to come with Wi-Fi for wireless connectivity with computers, tablets, and smartphones, but I’ve never managed to get it to work, so I just upload the photos to my computer. It also has has no built-in viewfinder but I don’t mind that because I almost always shoot using the LCD screen anyway. Often the viewfinder is removed on small cameras simply to make them as compact as possible.
Sometimes it can be a real challenge framing through the LCD screen during daytime conditions when it is very bright, but I didn’t have any problems with this camera. I also like that it has a flip screen this makes it easier in some situation to get a good shot.
I went out and tested the camera in various locations and I must say I was presently surprised! The photo above from our local Marina was the first photo I took one evening just as the sun was disappearing and it instantly reminded me of how good Fuji process colors in JPEG – straight out of the camera. I only needed to do very little in post processing to make it pop even more. Fujifilm simply do colors better than any other brand out there on the market – even on their older camera models.
Above you can see a JPEG image of the yellow flowers as it looked straight out of the camera. All I did in the editing was to warm it up using saturation + color balance adjustments, and then add some brightness and darkness in the right areas. The image is a bit grainy but it adds to the filmlike look that I like.
I only have one lens for this camera and that’s the Fujinon XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS zoom lens. This lens is a joy to work with and I was especially impressed with the close-up flower photos. The lens is also great for working in small spaces.
Fujifilm X-M1 Most Important Specs
Sensor: 16.3 MP
Sensor Size: 23.6 x 15.6mm
Resolution: 4896 x 3264
ISO Sensitivity: 200-6,400
Lens mount: FUJIFILM X mount
Weather Sealing/Protection: No
Body Build: Plastic
Built-in Flash: Yes
Autofocus: Yes
LCD Screen: 3 inch tilt type
Movie Modes: Full 1080p HD 24 fps
Weight: 280g
Price: about $300 (body only) and with the Fujinon XC 16-50mm lens kit about $400.
I also wanted to test how the Fujifilm X-M1 would perform under pressure. In the photo above to the left you can clearly see a very underexposed and too dark image. Normally, I wouldn’t edit a photo like this, but I wanted to see if it would be possible to get a decent result. In Photoshop I worked with the Levels tool and also raised exposure + brightness and saturation. I was able to recover the details and the photo still looks good.
Operating the camera and navigating the menu system feels super intuitive and easy. It’s a fun and playful camera and I can see myself use it a lot more in the future for when I want to achieve that film-like look with high contrast, beautiful colors and a bit of grain.
The camera has an excellent Q-menu for quickly changing key settings and gives you a lot of creatives options; most importantly it includes Fujifilm’s ‘Film Simulation’ modes, which is the most attractive JPEG colors of any camera brand.
So do I have anything negative to say about the Fujifilm X-M1?
Hmm, well, the most obvious negative is that it “only” has 16 megapixels which is not much compared to some newer cameras. But if you’re going for the film like look this can actually be a wonderful thing.
I wish this camera came with today’s wifi and bluetooth features that worked easily and instantly with my iPhone. That would be great, so I could transfer and edit the photos on my phone and avoid the computer workflow.
I’ve also noticed that the shadows and the contrast are intense and a bit darker than I prefer. That might be possible to get around inside the settings, but I haven’t found the solution yet. Luckily, these dark shadows recovers well in post production.
The Conclusion?
I’m a huge fan! This camera is just lovely! I wouldn’t use it or recommend it for professional photography work, but for those personal creative projects or as a fun travel camera, I think it’s perfect.
Also, it’s just a joy to walk around with this camera because it’s so light weight, and that’s something that personally matters to me because I bike and walk a lot.
For the price that this camera cost, you get a lot for your money. It’s not only the most beautiful camera out there, it’s also a creative joy to work with. So if you like the analogue film style but don’t want to shoot real film, the Fujifilm X-M1 could be a good choice. It delivers perfect imperfect pictures.
I have another old camera that I would like to test soon; the Fujifilm EX-1, that I almost forgot I had because my daughter have borrowed it for the past 6 years.
I called her up and asked if she still has it and I was surprised to hear that she still use it and she confirmed it’s a very good camera – just like I remember. So when I manage to get it back in near future I will give it a test drive and share it with you. Below you can see two portraits that I took in 2014 with the Fujifilm EX-1 .
Lastly, if you’re thinking about getting a Fujifilm camera but don’t want an old model but rather prefer a new version with all the new tech and specs like AI features, super fast focus, face and animal recognition, wifi and bluetooth transfer and so on. Then I have three suggestions for you…
New and investment-worthy Fujifilm Camera’sIn 2023
Fujifilm X100V – highly popular & super small camera
Fujifilm X-S20 – for vlogging & content creation
Fujifilm X-T5 – pro camera
These are all three on my personal wish list for my camera collection.
I love this tiny compact camera! The Canon G7x is ultra user friendly, shoot great photos in automode, produce excellent video content AND it weighs only 300gr, which makes it a fantastic travel companion!
But why look for the perfect pocket-size camera when today’s smartphone camera is so good?
Here’s the deal; for the most part you can easily do with just your iPhone camera to capture those lovely travel moments. Smartphones have in many situations replaced the need to get a real camera. Not for professional photography work but for those vacation snapshots that we all enjoy to capture.
And even though I use my iPhone camera a lot, I still want to the option to bring an excellent camera with me when I travel, bike around the city or hike in the countryside. And because I don’t want to bring my big, heavy DSLR with me I’m on a mission to find the perfect pocket-sized travel camera.
Let’s do a quick comparison; iPhone 13, which is the one I use currently, has 12 megapixels, compared to Canon g7x that comes with 20 megapixels.
And the new iPhone 15 launching later this year will feature a 48-megapixel camera. So as you can see, the competition is on in how well these cameras capture the details.
Even though the iPhone camera is great, a compact camera will always have a much larger sensor than the smartphone. And this means overall better image quality, better low-light performance, and artistic shallow-depth of field performance.
While the sensors on compact cameras might be smaller when compared to professional full frame DSLRs, they are massive compared to the sensor on your phone.
The Canon G7x Mark ii was released in 2016, so I’ve had it for some years. It was designed mainly for content creators and is one of the best easy-to-use vlogging cameras on the market.
In 2019 came the new version; the Canon G7x Mark iii. The two cameras are almost similar, so I have never felt the need to upgrade.
The only difference is that the mark iii shoots 4K video and cost a bit more. Mark ii cost about $730 USD and the Mark iii just around $900 USD.
A few years ago I bought the The Canon G7x Mark ii to use for video content, and loved it so much I ended up buying two of them! I only just recently started taking photos with it and I must say I really like it.
Is it perfect? That depends on your needs! If you compare the image quality with the pro DSLR images, there’s a big difference. So if you want to shoot high-end, magazine worthy images, sell high resolution prints and work professionally, you need a DSLR or a Premium Mirrorless camera.
But if your goal is to capture beautiful photos for social media and the family album, in the most simplistic way, this camera is a real joy to work with. I have tested it for travel photos, landscape, flowers, food, dogs, family and self-portraits at I must say I’m impressed.
I love that it is so small that I can fit it into my pocket or handbag along with my iPhone. It doesn’t have a viewfinder, so you have to use the LCD screen. That fits me well, because that’s how I shoot most of the time anyway.
It has a super fast focus and as I set the focus with my finger on the touch screen it also takes the photo. That means I can slide the camera up and quickly take a shot without making too much fuss about it.
It also has a really good zoom lens, which makes it fantastic as a landscape and travel camera. I can stand in one spot and get many different compositions, and I also don’t have to get too close on my subjects which is a big plus! The only downside is that the zoom is a bit slow.
I recently, tested the The Canon G7x Mark ii as a selfie camera and it was such an easy workflow. I put the camera on a tripod, activated the selftimer 10 sec interval and used my iPhone as a remote. The great things is that the camera has a flip screen so you can see yourself as you take the photos, and easily place yourself correctly in the frame.
If you use the Canon Connect app on the iPhone to control the camera, and the self-timer + you can see the images right away and instantly download the good ones to your phone – ready to post on social media. So if you dream of making the selfie process fast and easy, this camera can help you.
That’s all for now. I wish you a wonderful day!
Love, Christina
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