This new (well, not so new now) FZ38 really is proving to be a bit of a fun camera to use, notwithstanding all its limitations.
Set permanently to black and white JPEG, and aperture priority, I’m finding I’m thinking of shooting things with this that simply hadn’t previously occurred to me.
Is that simply an effect of its being a relatively new toy, and the novelty hasn’t quite worn off yet?
Or an effect of messing around with b&w… and the novelty hasn’t quite worn off yet?
Or a combination of the both? Or what?
Now I’d be the first to admit that the quality of the shots in terms of detail resolution, noise-handling, and other techie aspects, is simply not in the same league as the shots off my bigger cams.
Consequently, they’re not really of much use apart from the reduced size web-optimised versions. No question of reproducing them in other media for example.
That said, I really am liking some of the stuff that’s coming off it. Here’s a typical example of the sort of thing I mean (and this is something I probably wouldn’t even have considered taking a piccy of had it not been for this present fun camera/b&w combination)…
Its all just experimental at the mo’ (aka messing around) but where, I ask myself, is it all leading?
I see what you mean about being on the same wavelength regarding equipment of late.
Is it possible that the smaller and therefore potentially noisier sensor lends itself to b&w photography of this more contrasty nature? I mean, that it lends a film-like quality to them if you were using something like ISO 800 or higher film.
Or maybe you’re looking for a niche for this acquisition so that you don’t feel like it was money poorly spent? After all, you already have at least two other cameras, both of which are competent dSLRs. Maybe this is your way of making the purchase appear to be a good idea (other than for the purpose it was specifically bought).
Nope. Never been too fussed about whether money’s well-spent or not. Once its spent its spent and no point fretting over it. I’ve lost track of the stuff I’ve bought and hardly ever used cos it turned out to be crap. Most of which is now gathering dust in various cubby-holes and boxes. No probs. Just save up for the next new toy. Heh heh.
More to the point, I actually had a couple of specific uses in mind when I bought the camera. One was “candid” street photography, and the other was to mess around with black and white (as I sort of hinted at in this post)… recognising the distinct possibility that the two would probably merge.
Well, I s’pose it could be said that I’ve achieved half of that.
Thing is though, I really didn’t anticipate that b&w would be so addictive. Or that this camera would prove to be such fun to use. Certainly I didn’t derive anywhere near as much pleasure from the Konica-Minolta, nor felt inclined to use it anywhere near as much, even though it actually cost more money.
Interesting what you say about the noisier sensor. That hadn’t occurred to me.
But I wouldn’t know ISO800+ film if it got up and bit me in the leg. Never really bothered with all that techie type stuff.
Why bother with techie stuff when you’re busy being the artist, eh?
Have you considered acquiring (and this assumes you haven’t already) any special software (maybe a plug in or stand-alone) for working more precisely with b&w? If you’re enjoying it so, maybe some software dedicated to such would be of interest?
Special software for working with b&w? Wow! Is there any?
And more to the point… is it free?!!!
Or do you mean something like dedicated b&w Lightroom presets? In which case, I have loads of ‘em!
Ah, then you are all set-up aren’t you. Do you recommend any particular presets in LR for b&w. I’m interested since I’m not afraid of the Artist moniker.
No, not really. Thing is, there’s so many different ones, and they often seem to affect RAW files and JPEG files differently. Also, the effects you can achieve differ with any given preset depending upon the content of the pic.
So for example its not simply a case of having one standard preset (or even a small set) that can be used across the board.
Depends what you want to achieve, and whether the content of the pic in question lends itself to what you want to achieve, or whether it’ll just end up looking totally naff.
Best thing to do is try a few and see what works for you.
Works for me.
The other thing with LR presets is, even if you find one that seems to get closest to what you’re after, very often you’ll likely still need to do a bit of tweaking afterwards. To… er… “fine tune” sorta thing.
I s’pose really the best way to regard them is as a sort of “starting point”.