MK1 Photography Blog

I suggested in my last post that I intended to have a digital detox with a Lightphone 2  Sadly on my network (Vodafone) it kept dropping calls and as it was a very basic phone I had to have phone calls! The network blamed the manufacturer and they blamed the network. Basically caught in a loop I couldn't get out of So off to eBay it went and I sold it within a week, I had purchased from Amazon renewed (an excellent service) in the previous year a Google pixel 5 another great phone but totally not supported with updates. This began to overheat! So that went back to Amazon as the renewed process guarantees a year on all there devices. So I began a search with " what is the most secure phone with limited support" and people suggested the Samsung Note 20 Ultra. On Amazon renewed they had one new totally unused for £300 and absolute bargain, when I received it and opened it it was remarkable still with all the Samsung stickers on it. The phone is a beast with 12gb RAM and 256

 I was becoming increasingly concerned about the amount of control our so called "Smartphones" have over us. There were instances when a subject I was talking about or emailing became part of my chosen search engine feed. It came to a head when I honestly got so sick of my phone I switched it off and went without, It prompted me to search for the Lightphone 2 and it's funny how the search engine gods don't proffer me with details of this device in my feed - I wonder why? I decided to order one from the American company run by two people who became fed up with their big tech overlords So it was delivered and a very easy set up all through an account and I have been using it as my only device ever since for 5 days and I am more peaceful and more " in the moment"  Photos below and a link if you want to know more The light phone 2  

We did our annual (as it seems now) visit to our local church in our village of Haddenham in Buckinghamshire  Its a lovely celebration of local charities and businesses decorating their own Christmas trees within the church. A beautiful and peaceful event very enjoyable, the X100S came with me as it's the perfect documentary image making device and much better than any phone!

 Although I do actually love my Finepix X100 I have just paid for another camera - the   X100 S I am so sorry to my little Finepix X100 it has now been left on the shelf for the time being. I think the rendering and refining they carried out on the S ironed out most of the "faults" with the original they improved the IQ quite a bit with the 16 MP sensor the same used in the T variant. I have found the 'S' to be slightly sharper in detail and much faster to operate. So all of today's images were taken with my new to me X100 S the first few are of our local church here where we live, some of the other pond scenes are a little walk out into the countryside near our home. The final photo is of a real character in our village Henry the Red Setter. I think this image shows the sharpness of the S files

So today was our grandson Freddie care day or as it's known to us "Freddie Friday" I chose the X100 original for all these shots and used a cord to trigger the large V850 Godox flash to fire. I also used a demflip modifier which is basically like a bounce card of old days use. It gives quite soft light as you can see from these shots. If anyone is interested in the actual set up I would be happy to explain my technique and the equipment used. What it does prove is the little original Fujifilm from 2010 still gives wonderful colour and lovely photography.

The X100 got very bored so it came out for two photos in the rain It still does some very nice shots .....

So today's post is really a slight chance to air my views on this beautiful little camera the X100 from 2011 The Fujifilm X100 camera series, including the original model, was special for several reasons: 1. **Retro Design:** The X100 had a distinct, retro-inspired design that harked back to classic film cameras. This design not only appealed to enthusiasts but also set it apart from other digital cameras on the market. 2. **Hybrid Viewfinder:** One of the most unique features was its hybrid viewfinder, which could switch between optical and electronic modes. The optical viewfinder offered a real-time, through-the-lens view, while the electronic viewfinder provided additional information and framing assistance. 3. **Large Sensor:** Equipped with an APS-C-sized sensor, the X100 delivered high image quality with good low-light performance and dynamic range. This was a notable feature considering the camera's compact size. 4. **Fast Prime Lens:** The fixed 23mm f/2 lens (35mm equi