Love how the Fuji X-E2 is for Theater

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/5, 1/125

NEWS UPDATE!!!

This morning I went to Fujifilm.com and discovered there was a firmware update on the Fuji X-E2. Go here if you need to upgrade to the latest firmware 4.00.

Due to the upgrade and having opportunity tonight to shoot the same play again I will write a new followup post on Monday about the firmware upgrade and how it helped improve my experience. Well that is what I anticipate.

One huge update is an electronic shutter release that you can make totally silent. The camera on default actually plays a recorded sound that you can change to different noises, just like ring tones, or turn it off completely. In essence a silent camera. So this I can tell you already will be better than last night.

Observations from last night's photo shoot

When shooting a theater performance you quickly can hear how quite the auditorium will get so everyone can appreciate the dialogue. Now in a high school play like the one I shot last night the ability of the actors to all project like professionals is just not the same.

Some of the actors required the audience to work hard to hear them and this is when you quickly realize how loud a camera can be in this type of an environment.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.5, 1/280

The Fuji X-E2 is pretty quite camera. One of the main reasons it is quite as compared to other DSLR cameras is the lack of a mirror.

If you get rid of the mirror do you get the same quality? Well in this case it does help. Because you have no mirror you are also eliminating one of the things that often affects the sharpness of DSLR cameras–the mirror. In a DSLR a mirror lets you see through the lens and when you press the shutter release the mirror goes up, the shutter opens and then the mirror goes back down. This introduces some vibration in the camera which often can add just enough vibration in the camera to make your images not quite as sharp.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.4, 1/110

Now the second thing that really helped with the photo quality was the Fujinon XF 55-200mm ƒ/3.5–4.8 lens. It has built into the lens optical image stabilization for effective 4.5 stops improvement. So if you breath a little in the photo the camera will in essence take care of the vibration you introduce into the camera.

The 55-200mm lens is quite sharp for zooms. Fuji makes some of the world's best lenses.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.4, 1/150

One of the best attributes of shooting mirrorless is the ability to see what you are shooting before you shoot. You are seeing the processed image in terms of exposure and white balance in the viewfinder or on the LCD before you shoot. You can see if the color or exposure is off and correct it even before you shoot.

With the DSLR you can REVIEW, but you cannot PREVIEW. This ability to PREVIEW an image really helps you know if you will be getting the image correct before you push the shutter.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/8, 1/80

While shooting this scene where the one actress on the floor is quite a distance from the other actors I knew that I wanted both of them in focus. So I cranked the aperture to ƒ/8. Now I could see everyone is in focus.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.8, 1/45

Now holding the 55-200mm and zooming all the way in to 200mm is the same as shooting with my DSLR full frame camera with a 300mm lens. The rule would be to have the shutter speed at 1/300 to avoid motion blur, but the camera and lens did a great job here at almost 3-stops lower than a recommended shutter speed for this lens.

Side Note

Since downloading the new firmware this morning I am falling in love once again with the Fuji X-E2. You see Fuji is doing what Nikon nor Canon is doing with their cameras. When the ability to write a better software comes along other manufacturers save this for the new cameras. Therefore forcing you to buy a new camera.

Tune in Monday for my review of my NEW CAMERA due to Fuji upgrading the Fuji X-E2 with new Firmware.