It is now roughly 5 weeks since the spread of the novel coronavirus forced us to shut down the vast majority of our commerce and personal interaction. It’s been a long period with a very unnatural but necessary restriction of our freedoms. At this point, enough time has passed that we are starting to see the trajectory of this pandemic.

In most places, even in New York, the number of new diagnoses, as well as deaths, have either plateaued or are on the downslope. This is not to say that the numbers are small. As I write this, it appears that another 20 people died in my county in the last 24 hours (50 deaths of 1800 total cases).

By all accounts, outside of New York City, hospital systems have not been overwhelmed. Our facility continues to see sporadic cases, none of them particularly severe. Many of these people come from nursing facilities. An emerging problem is the understandable reluctance of those facilities to receive these residents back once they no longer require hospitalization.

I want to discuss several topics related to COVID 19. The first is the topic of ventilators. When the pandemic started there was enough hype to suggest that these devices were going to be essential for the survival of the species. We all watched the great efforts that were made to procure large numbers in anticipation of a respiratory disaster.

There was also talk in the popular press that severely compromised patients should be kept on a ventilator for at least 14 days prior to “weaning” them. I looked around the pulmonary literature but could find no support for this. Still, I kept seeing this in medical chat rooms and the like. My partner, who is also very experienced in critical care, was equally befuddled.

Roughly a week ago I began to hear a different theme. Suddenly, there arose the theory that ventilators are actually the problem, and that mechanical ventilation is causing damage to the patient’s lungs. Therefore, only oxygen should be given.

Given my career in critical care, none of this has any bearing on reality. Ventilators are used in situations where either the patient’s oxygenation cannot be maintained by the lesser means, and/or when the patient’s own respiratory system can no longer maintain ventilation without fatigue and ultimately respiratory arrest. Beyond this, there is no therapeutic benefit. Actual harm to the lungs can result if ventilator settings are inappropriate. We do think we have learned over the years how to minimize this problem.

We also have intermediate modalities, including oxygen supplementation, “high flow oxygen” and “noninvasive ventilation as “that are delivered by mask, and generally offered long before intubation is considered.

The problem is, these less invasive respiratory modalities have a bad tendency to create aerosols of the patient’s secretions, which, in a small ICU room, puts the staff at risk.  

Also, the actual act of intubation (placing the breathing tube in the trachea) exposes the operator to a high risk of infection. This is even more true when done emergently. Thus, I think there has been a general sense that when the patient is deteriorating, that “securing the airway” in a deliberate fashion, before the crisis, is safer for all concerned than intubating a “crashing” patient.

In ventilated patients, once there is no other factor to prevent it, patients are tested daily to see whether they can breathe on their own once again. If so they are extubated. This is important as endotracheal tubes provide a significant risk of secondary infection, and the enforced inactivity in ventilated patients creates other complications.

The sooner you can get them extubated, out of bed and ambulatory, the better they do. So far as I can tell, other than some interesting nuances about the patient’s lung physiology, there is nothing really truly different about ventilating these patients versus those with other similar critical illnesses.

On other fronts, as antibody testing proceeds, we are started to get a sense that many more in the population have been infected then we ever expected. In some ways, this is good news as it suggests there may be many more recovered people about, and we are closer to herd immunity. it also drops the case fatality rate, perhaps significantly.

Unfortunately, this is a little comfort to the roughly 47,000 people have died. Even if the death rate approaches that of the flu, the denominator for the flu is always based on symptomatic patients, who are the only people we test. There is little sense in the literature that influenza, unlike coronavirus, can be asymptomatic.

There is evidence that in the first quarter of 2020 the overall death rate in the United States is not particularly high. This is curious. Some of this may be due to the “cause of death substitution”. It may also be due to decreased opportunities for auto accidents and other trauma, given the social isolation.

I don’t think however it diminishes the extraordinary number of deaths in unique situations like New York City where reliance on public transportation and population density seems to have affected them exponentially. I have no desire to downplay the severity of this pandemic.

Nonetheless, I continue to believe if we are to prevent a severe economic recession if not depression, we need to adapt to current reality, and reopen commerce in a thoughtful way. I look at vast states like Wyoming and Montana where there are less than a quarter of the cases than in my little county. Is it fair to ask them to remain “locked down”?

 There is probably no way to do this without some risk, and we have to know that some degree of increased spread will occur. We need to steel ourselves for this and not panic when it happens.

This can only occur if the political factions in this country stop attacking each other for political gain, every time there is bad news. That must stop. This is too serious now.

I hope you and your loved ones, are safe and well.

Let’s see what this next week brings

I’m writing this article on 21 March 2020. I am ensconced in my mountain enclave, in a state of semi-isolation because of the coronavirus situation. I say “semi-isolation” because although I mainly write about photography issues on this little website, my living is made as a pulmonary physician for the Veteran’s Administration and I have to go to work. I think it is likely that I am going to have an “interesting” next several weeks.

Things are already somewhat tense in our facility. We have made great efforts to reschedule nonessential physician visits, handling things over the phone. We have shut down routine testing. I undergo a brief medical history and have my temperature taken on arriving for work in the morning. All of this seems very prudent to me. The hospital is actually very quiet right now, with a very much reduced risk for exposure. This, however, may change.

More ominously I have been conducting seminars to update my colleagues on the management of mechanical ventilators for the types of problems seen in a SARS-type infection. We have begun to convert our short procedure unit into an adjunct ICU/negative pressure room. All of this is a little scary for a hospital not typically engaged in the care for very high acuity patients. Hopefully, this will all be overkill, but it’s clearly necessary to plan for the worst.

It’s very likely that my pleasant part-time pulmonary/sleep medicine career is about to revert to my former life as a critical care physician.

In terms of the disease, I am somewhat hopeful about several recent developments. Number one would be the possibility that several medications (hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, and remdesivir) already available or nearly available, may have activity against the virus. Number two: hopefully the infectivity and/or virulence of this bug will fade over time much as do many of the seasonal viruses. It would be hoped that if there is a summertime pause, a vaccine can be developed to be available for the next season.

Like many people, I watched yesterday’s press conference where Dr. Fauci seemed to downplay the president’s enthusiasm for the proposed medications. This is inevitable for a man deeply involved in research, a culture where a treatment is only endorsed after multiple double-blind studies prove its efficacy. Unfortunately, we don’t have time for such perfection. He is right when he says that if we are to try these medications, then we need to keep the data so we can draw appropriate conclusions regarding their efficacy.

Meanwhile, I have two children in Seattle Washington. Both are healthy, and working from home, and report to me that all is well. Hopefully, that will continue.

On the other hand, I have a 93-year-old physician father sequestered at his home. I do visit but stay at least 6 feet away from him. From his point of view, as he doesn’t drive, things aren’t that much different than normal. These visits may have to stop at some point, which is sad.

I pray for my friends whose jobs and thus their income has been interrupted by this mess. Hopefully, we can find ways to help.

My advice to all would be to lay low, wash your hands frequently. Perhaps a shower after a trip to the grocery store, or other public spaces would be prudent. Disinfect work surfaces obsessively. By all means, get outdoors for exercise if you can.

I would ask your physician about hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin. The doses are readily available on the web and at least around here, they are still available in the pharmacies.

It would be really smart to stop smoking at this point.

And for God’s sake, don’t be a martyr. If you’re sick don’t go to public places, and don’t go to work. Even if you are a healthcare worker, stay home. You’ll do more harm than good.

I fervently hope, and cautiously believe that in a month or so, if all of the efforts in place are effective, the curves will flatten, and things will begin to normalize.

Then I can go back to writing about cameras.

As I have written before, I like snow. This makes me somewhat of an outlier among my friends in northeastern Pennsylvania. Sadly, at least for me, this winter is panning out to be a bust in that regard. Even in the highlands where I reside, we have been experiencing tepid little 1 to 2-inch snowfalls, which will melt before becoming part of a snowpack potentially useful for recreation.

The lack of winter scenery makes photography rather unrewarding. I need to find snow.

In Pennsylvania, that means traveling north and west where the climate is colder, and the high terrain, closer to the Great Lakes can capture the lake effect precipitation. On a whim, I packed my car with gear and set my nav system with the destination of Wellsboro Pennsylvania in Tioga County.

Now I used to spend a lot of time in Wellsboro as it is located in the middle of an absolutely glorious wilderness area where I have mountain biked, skied, and backpacked. My children will remember camping there, to visit Pennsylvania’s “Grand Canyon”, also known as the Pine Creek Gorge.

Now I have always felt the former moniker was a bit pretentious, as there are equally dramatic features, in other parts of the state. I think of the Loyalsock Gorge at World’s End State Park, not to mention our own Lehigh River Gorge. Nonetheless, someone in Tioga County had the marketing chutzpah to grab the name and so it stands.

In the last 10 years, I’ve unconsciously I think avoided traveling the back roads of northern Pennsylvania. During much of that time, the fracking boom caused enormous traffic congestion as legions of tanker trucks bringing water to the fracking sites made travel unpleasant. As much of the fracking is over, I felt comfortable that a trip might be pleasant.

A trip from my home to Wellsboro, is about more than the destination, as the intervening scenery is also rather beautiful. It becomes important to resist the navigation system’s first impulse which is to keep you on route 80 W. It is better to use one of the more scenic state routes. In this case, I drove north to Route 118 which goes almost to Williamsport, and a short stint on Interstate 180, then to route 15 for most of the way to Wellsboro. The inefficiency of this route caused my navigation system to complain for a surprising amount of the trip before it finally caught on.

My camera gear for the trip was all Fujifilm, in this case, the X100F for street style shooting, and my XE3 with multiple lenses for landscape work. Both cameras recharge from USB and are light and compact.

The drive on Route 118 takes you through first forest areas, as it tracks south of North Mountain, arguably the southern front of the high Allegheny plateau. As you approach Williamsport, the altitude drops and the land flattens out to the vast farmland, so prevalent in the center of the state.

A short trip on route I-180 takes you to route 15 N, where you begin a pretty dramatic climb into the “endless mountain” region of the state.

Feeling hungry, I stopped at the town of Morris Pennsylvania, nestled in a creek valley among the overlooking ridges. I love small-town bar/restaurants and the Crossroads Inn is a wonderful example. Rustic but clean, it featured a robust menu that reportedly draws people from as far south as Williamsport, particularly for the roast beef. I share a lot of interests with the locals there, and the conversation turned to deer hunting, timbering and trout stocking.

I arrived in Wellsboro, as I planned about 2 PM to a hazy sky and the temperature in the mid-30s. Not wishing to waste time, I drove west out of town to Leonard Harrison State Park, which is the eastern overlook to the Gorge. My hope was to grab a tripod and photograph the multiple small waterfalls on the “Turkey Trail”, a path that leads from the rim to the floor of the canyon, but there were ice and snow present and thus the trail was closed for fear of injuries. As I was alone I elected not to poach. As the afternoon light improved, I shot images from the observation areas (I had no snow scenes of the canyon from the past).

As pretty as the canyon is, there’s also beauty to be found along the way. To the west of Wellsboro is an area of high rolling farmland that extends almost to the rim of the canyon itself. I remember many years ago hiking in the remote wilderness of the “West Rim Trail” along the gorge while watching a farmer cutting hay on the opposite side.

There are lovely old farmsteads on this network of back roads along with a smattering of churches of similar vintage.

At sunset, I returned to town, to claim my room at the Penn Wells Lodge, a very nice modern facility. My outside entrance room cost all of $87 and included a free breakfast.

Dinner was at a highly recommended restaurant called the Wellsboro House. I had a great meal and a lot of fun with a lovely crew of servers and wait staff.

The next morning once fortified, I took a walk around town to see what changed in the years since I’ve last visited.

Wellsboro itself is a wonderful self-sufficient town, the kind that often develops when there is no bigger city nearby. Though a tourist destination because of the canyon, it is obviously a full-service place of residence, with clothing stores, a furniture store, and a department store that all appear locally owned.

Heading out of town west, there is a neighborhood of beautiful old homes, some of which serve as bed-and-breakfasts.

Even in the dead of winter, the town is neat and clean, the historic storefronts, for the most part, occupied and decorated. There are a number of bars and restaurants, which from my experience in the past serve solid food in generous portions. There is a sense of civic pride, and apparently an interest in the arts, as there appeared to be multiple facilities dedicated to the pursuit.

I’m still not sure why there is a statue in the town park dedicated to the poem “Wynkin, Blinkin, and Nod”, rather than to some town founder or local military hero. Maybe I just lack a sense of whimsy.

I was looking forward to the trip home. To complete the scenic loop, I had decided to use State route 6 for the eastward leg of the trip home. This drive is one of the most beautiful in the state, as you travel past areas of rolling farmland, and scenic overlooks.

Unfortunately, fracking is still occurring and I got stuck behind two tanker trucks who drove annoyingly slowly, and far enough apart that it was unsafe to pass.

Driving along Route 6 there is a phenomenon I’ve noticed in the past. As you drive it seems that every other small town appears extremely rundown and impoverished, while the others are charming and well-maintained. It does remind one how fragile the economy can be in rural Pennsylvania.

My travels finally brought me to the town of Dushore, where I could finally part company with my buddies in the trucks. Here I turned south on to route 487 over Red Rock Mountain back to Route 118. Somewhat ironically it turned out that at the top of the mountain, at Ricketts Glen State Park, there was ample snow for recreation at a location roughly 40 minutes from my home.

Writing travelogues is not my usual deal. But in point of fact, the “Endless Mountain” region of Pennsylvania, stretching across most of the north is a spectacular destination easily reached by a large portion of the population of the Northeast. It’s not all beautiful, but for the most part, the scenery is gorgeous, rivaling places like Vermont and Maine. It’s well worth the trip.

Just watch out for tanker trucks.

Autumn has come to an end on the Pocono Plateau.  Not so much the calendar season, as that ends with the winter solstice.  But photographically, the season was over after a late October nor’ easter which stripped most of the trees of their remaining leaves. Soon nature followed with early season snow.  For now, winter seems to have begun.

It was a lovely fall this year.  There was a lot of mild dry weather that delayed the foliage peak by about a week. There were rich colors contrasting the sodden flat season we experienced last year.

Here in northeastern Pennsylvania, the first signs of autumn occur in late August while it is still rather warm.  Here and there the uniform green will be touched here and there by yellows and reds.  The small maples, who tend to leaf out in the early spring to grab at sunshine before the canopy closes over, are also the first to turn in the fall.  It is the sight of their bright red-orange leaves, scattered over the foliage and the ground that heralds the more colorful times to come.

The larger maples are often the next to go.  Soon the poplars, beeches, and hickories, will change.  Underneath them, the forest floor is transformed by the bright orange of the Cinnamon ferns, and the pale yellows of the hay-scented variety, accented by the deep red of the low-bush blueberry and other heaths that carpet our woodlands.

The holdouts tend to be the oak trees, the prevalent species on most of our local ridge tops.  They stubbornly stay green until the rest of the trees have passed their peak, finally displaying a variety of orange and crimson colors to the fading forest.

I for one truly enjoy the fall, particularly the midseason with temperatures in the high fifties and low sixties.  This affords me the option of wearing sweaters once again, the better to cover my lumpy sixty+ year old body.  I enjoy finally being able to shoot deliberately, often with a tripod without being assaulted by legions of biting insects. I love the cool crisp mornings with frost coating the landscape.

Now in mid-November, as I write this, the ground is covered with a light coating of snow. It has been rather cold for several days with daytime highs in the high 20’s  The deer are acting strangely, moving about in larger groups a way one seldom sees in the summer.  Unfortunately, one particular little buck wandered in front of my pickup truck in the last week, causing considerable damage, and ending his short life.

I have not seen a bear in several weeks. I hope they are “denning up” so that my garbage can go out in the evening rather than in the early morning shortly before the truck arrives.

In this season, I occupy my time by gathering and splitting firewood to fill my woodshed. Once the leaves on my lawn are dealt with, it becomes time to change my equipment over to the tools of snow removal.

So now we have an early taste of winter.  Unlike most people I know, I actually hope that this is a sign of what’s to come, as, without snow, winter to me is just a bleak brown season devoid of recreational and photographic opportunity.

Now,  as it is dark shortly after work, I must content myself with a book and a warm fire.

Hopefully soon, the real winter will begin.

As I write this, I am sitting on my back porch in the Adirondacks. I am wonderfully relaxed: after a morning of hiking and shooting, the smell of balsam, and the soothing sound of a nearby cascade tempts me into taking a mid-afternoon nap.

Back in the day, I would have arrived here with several large camera bags with all sorts of gear including multiple DSLRs with multiple lenses, several heavy tripods, and flashes. I would have spent considerable time on the choice of lenses to bring. I would, days before leaving, begin the process of charging the multiple battery types I would need.

This was not necessarily frivolous. 15 years ago, if I wanted images that would print big, I would need to bring my best equipment, which meant big DSLRs and lenses. Nowadays. with mirrorless Fujifilm gear with lots of megapixels, my gear choice is much less critical, and my camera bags are far less cumbersome.

For this trip, as for other recent trips, my choice was straightforward. In one small bag I have my X100f with two teleconverters, and a polarizing filter for the main lens.

In truth, this set up alone would probably satisfy 70-80% of my needs at this point. The 28-50mm FOV offered by this gear, along with the soft leaf shutter, make it a very capable landscape camera. With the built-in neutral density filter, it is a clear choice for moving water.

One might imagine that my other camera bag might contain my Xpro2. You would be wrong. Though I enjoy that camera and value its stout construction and weather sealing, it doesn’t usually make the cut for personal travel. My interchangeable lens travel camera is generally its little brother, the XE3.

There are several reasons for this. First of all, is the smaller size, and lower weight of the XE3. This is despite the fact that it has the exact same imager and thus picture quality, as the XPro2. The lack of weather sealing is a slight issue, but as most of my lenses are not similarly robust, and I’m reasonably careful, I’m not sure it matters much.

Finally, for some reason, USB charging, a feature of both the XE3 and later X100 series cameras, was omitted in the X Pro 2. This makes no sense to me given the latter camera’s larger size. This charging function eliminates the need for a separate battery charger. As both the X100f and the XE3 use the same batteries, everything works out nicely.

As for lenses, my choices vary, but on this trip, for the sake of simplicity, I grabbed both “kit” zooms the 18-55mm f2.8 t0 4.5, and the 55-200mm f3.5-4.8 both of which are image stabilized and wonderfully sharp. I also packed the Laowa 9mm f2.8 and the Fujifilm 60mm f2.4 just to have a few primes lenses along.

The resultant kit is unobtrusive, very light and fun to shoot. It is also convenient that the two camera bodies have nearly identical control layouts. With this gear using a light tripod, I can easily capture images that will make beautiful fine art prints, to 17×22 inches and beyond.

It’s fun that light and easy to use photography gear has become so capable.

I hope I still am.

The forests in my neighborhood are dying.  Well not maybe the whole ecosystem, but sometimes it seems that in that at this time in history, there is an unprecedented onslaught against the eastern forest.

But it’s not true.  Such events have happened before. 

The American chestnut was arguably the most important tree species in the eastern forests of the 19^th century.  It was a large tree, at full maturity as tall as 120 ft., with the base of some tree 5 to 6 feet in diameter.  Its wood was light, yet strong and rot proof; useful in many functions including railroad ties, and house framing.  Its yearly crop of mast or nuts were an important food source for multiple species, including our own.   

In the early years of the 20^th century, a fungal pathogen known as the chestnut blight, arrived in the city of New York riding along on A shipment of Asian chestnut trees.  This blight quickly spread, and in 30 years, wiped out millions of chestnut trees throughout the east.  This extraordinary organism, many times serving as a node tree in what we know to be our interconnected forests, became virtually extinct.

If you walk along the trails around our community, you will periodically observe a cluster os sapling sized trunks interspersed with dead or dying snags. These will bear the distinctive serrated leaves of the American chestnut. There may be long strands of catkins in the spring, and a few nuts in the fall. These are the withered descendants of their once magnificent species. Each sapling will live a few years until they are girdled by the fungus, The roots, which are unaffected, will desperately send up more shoots. Thus they have existed for perhaps a century.

  A few mature trees still survive, either under the protection of humans in horticultural collections, or isolated in the backcountry.

  I have stood beside one such tree that exists deep in a draw on the west rim of Pennsylvania’s Grand Canyon.  There it has escaped, for now, the blight that has wiped out its relatives.  As I stood there alone, under its broad canopy, I was transfixed.

 There are currently efforts To revive the species using several techniques, including backcrossing the vulnerable Americans species with its resistant Asian cousins. Still, the loss of this magnificent species leaves me wistful in that I never was able to witness the beauty of the so-called chestnut-oak forest that was so much a part of our region.

Then there was Dutch elm disease, This was another Asian fungus that arrived by way of the Netherlands in the 1920s, and devastated our majestic American Elms. Some Elms still survive.

There certainly been other threats to forest members over the years. Our oak trees are constantly under attack by another Asian immigrant, the gypsy moth, which can cause multiple defoliations over time, killing even robustly healthy oak trees. We lost two magnificent roughly 150-year-old specimens several years ago due to an outbreak.

Our magnificent hemlocks, Pennsylvania’s state tree, is at risk due to the Hemlock Wooly Algedid, another imported pest.

Yet in both cases, the species are persevering.

Now over 100 years after the blight was introduced, we are once again faced with a similar situation.   

The ash tree is in a way, an unheralded species of tree common in Pennsylvania’s forests.  Its wood is light but strong, rather famously used to create the baseball bats used by major league baseball over the years.  Yet it’s an unassuming tree, without any flashy blooms, or plentiful fruits or nuts to remind us of its presence.

I fact I looked for images of ash trees in my archives. I found images of oak, maples and even spindly chestnuts. But none sadly, of the, now threatened tree.

Unfortunately, At least as a member of our forest community, It’s about to follow the chestnut tree into oblivion.

Again it is an Asian immigrant, this time an insect, The Emerald Ash Borer.  First found in the upper Midwest In the early two thousand, It is spread quickly Throughout the Eastern United States.  First noted in Pennsylvania and 2007. It spread quickly on the wing. It is virtually a 100% lethal, once it infests even healthy ash trees. 

We began to notice the signs last summer. Along the dirt road that leads to my home, there are at least 50 Green ash trees many of them quite mature. Last September their bark began to deteriorate as though someone had taken a giant sander to them.  This is called “blonding”, and is caused by peeling off the bark.   Soon we could see the characteristic “D “shaped holes in the bark caused by the insects.

 This spring, none of them have foliage. In fact, I have yet to find  an ash tree that has any sign of life

It is possible to save individual trees. I have none on my property, but if I did, they could be injected every couple of years with a pesticide that will protect them from the parasite. It is expensive, and as I understand it would need to go on for the foreseeable future. Sadly, it is the only way and is obviously not practical for the trees of our woodlands.

Science tells us, that our forests are complex communities, with fungi interconnecting the trees of many species. Trees it turns out can use these networks to communicate chemically.  They can warn each other of danger such as an influx of parasites., They will even share carbon and other nutrients when necessary.  Thus the forest behaves as a family of organisms, working together.

With this newest onslaught that will likely wipe out a species, I wonder:

Do the Oaks mourn?  

The”late adopter” strikes again.

I had been interested in the Fujifilm XE3 since it was introduced in September of 2017. I already had 2 bodies with the same sensor and processor ( the X100F and the X Pro 2) and couldn’t justify the introductory price. So I bided my time.

Several months back, a deal was offered on the XE3 in this case bundled with the XF23mm f2.0 lens and I finally gave in.  The new camera was meant to replace my previous small bodied interchangeable lens camera, the X-T10 for one with the same image quality and controls which I have grown accustomed to on my other bodies.  I’ve been shooting enough now that I have some thoughts on where this camera and lens fit in, at least in my workflow.

This is not meant as a technical review , for this equipment has been out a long time, and there are many in- depth evaluations available elsewhere.  This piece, merely fulfills my self-imposed obligation to have something to say about the Fujifilm gear that I acquire.

The XE# is really small.  It is certainly smaller than its predecessor, the XE2, thanks in part to the loss of the directional pad, and some of the external buttons functions are taken up by a touch screen.

With the 23mm lens mounted, the combination is quite compact though not as much so is my X100F.  But like that camera, it is discreet and non-threatening, and I think another good choice for street shooting.  Though not quite as sturdy in feel as the fully weatherproofed X Pro 2, it definitely feels substantial, and “part of the family”.

It has a very adequate electronic viewfinder with the usual features.  There is a new icon on the screen however signaling the functioning of the touchscreen, which can be turned off, turn on fully, or to avoid being activated by one’s nose, activated on one side only.  So far I’ve tended to keep it off as it’s reasonably easy to unintentionally trigger a camera function.  But the screen is fully customizable as are the other buttons and dials on the camera. I may yet turn it back on.

In keeping with its status as a more amateur/enthusiast product, it carries a switch on its top plate, offering to move the camera into an “auto” mode.  This switch can be inadvertently triggered, likely changing the settings and format you have chosen (it has happened to me).  I should probably use some gaffers tape to keep it from moving.

The camera is quick and responsive, it seems to have autofocus performance certainly similar to my X Pro 2.  In fact with a joystick, it shoots pretty much like a miniature version of the camera.  And with the same sensor and processor, it has the same image quality.

A new feature of this camera is Bluetooth.  This allows you to connect for control from your cell phone in a matter that is less battery intensive than the Wi-Fi connection used in previous cameras.  I’ve played with this a bit and it seems to work well.  Using my phone’s display helps to make up for the fixed rear screen of the camera. 

The XF 23 mm f2.0 WP is a small compact lens, fairly well built with a small sun shield, which hugs the front element.  The small lens cap either fits on the filter threads of the lens or the orifice of the sun shield.  The focus ring moves smoothly, and the overall impression of quality is high.  Though I have done no formal testing on the lens, I had been shooting some casual landscapes with it, and so far it seems to be very sharp.  I know from MTF testing published elsewhere, that the lens outperforms the lens in the X100 series, and stands up well to the significantly larger 23 mm f1.4 version that has become one of my favorite optics in the XF series.

In fact, this camera and lens combination really begs the question as to why I need an X100 series camera.  Though this combination is larger than the fixed lens X100, I’m not sure the size difference is significant.  The other main difference would be the X100’s optical/electronic viewfinder but I’ve rarely if ever use the optical feature so this is somewhat lost on me. 

Now some of you are probably thinking: why should I buy the XE3 when there is a new generation of Fujifilm products, with a new sensor and processor being introduced. Well maybe, because the new hardware brings only slightly improved resolution and dynamic range over those products I currently own. 

As I’ve written elsewhere I’m starting to think that cameras in general and Fujifilm products, in particular, are reaching a point where further improvement to the basic technology is slowing.  If I am right, it probably makes sense, at least in terms of cost/benefit ratio, to buy equipment one series behind, so to pick up bargains.

We’ll see how long I stick to that idea.

So it seems I was wrong (hardly an unusual situation).

Shortly after I wrote the last article, I noted on the Fuji Rumors site that the Silkipix-based imaging software, which has been the traditional free offering for Fujifilm, not only still exists, but has had an upgrade to handle the X-T30.

This confuses me.  I’m not sure why two companies, particularly Phase One, the developers of Capture One, who competes with Fujifilm in medium format, would offer free software to Fujifilm users.  Nonetheless, both are available.

It’s possible that Phase One feels that if Fuji users are exposed to its raw conversion benefits, they will opt for the full package, rather than continue with Adobe.

Fujifilm Raw Converter EX 3.0, like its previous versions, converts X-Trans files very nicely, on a par with the better offerings from other companies.  It’s just always seemed inconvenient, mainly because the workflow for most of us who use either Adobe or other more popular products, up has always seemed somewhat counterintuitive.  If I were a new Fujifilm owner, who wishes to shoot raw, but has not yet invested in one of the expensive software solutions, Capture One Express, and/or the Fujifilm Raw File Converter both work very well, once you become accustomed to them.

For many people, particularly the people that aren’t yet working in layers/masks, they could be all the software that you need.

Thanks to the quirkiness of the Trans-X sensor, the topic of the raw conversion remains fertile ground for those who blog on the Fujifilm line of cameras.

For those of you not familiar with this issue, the color pattern of the Fujifilm Trans-X sensor, is more complex than that of a more conventional Bayer sensor used in pretty much every other digital camera.  For many years, we have sought the best method for the conversion of raw files from this unique sensor.  I’ve written on this multiple times in the past.  Now in 2019, we are faced with some new choices and options,several of them free. I though I would do an informal comparison.

There has been, and always will be, Adobe’s raw conversion software either in Lightroom or Photoshop versions.  This converter has been accused of less-than-stellar performance with the Trans-X sensor.  But lo and behold, Adobe has included a new feature, in their latest Photoshop version called “Enhance Details”.  This is said to be aimed in part, at the Fuji sensor problem.

Phase One, whose “Capture One” software, has always performed somewhat better with Fuji raw files, has been updated to version 12.  More interestingly, they have released a free Fujifilm only version, which presumably replaces the former Silkipix software that was bundled with the Fuji cameras.  The latter software performed very well, but because it was in no one’s workflow, it always felt kludgy and uncomfortable to use.

Another free software workaround for Fujifilm raw files comes from Irident Digital.  Though the company offers a fairly reasonably priced raw development package, many of us frugal types, have taken advantage of their free “Irident Transformer”.  This is a simple application that transforms Fujifilm raw files into another raw file, in this case, the ubiquitous .dng files championed by Adobe.  It does this in a clever way so that they may be processed more easily, particularly by Adobe Products.  This has proven to be an excellent way to avoid the muddled details, and “wormy artifacts”, often seen in straight Adobe Camera Raw conversions.

I thought it would be interesting, to compare files, converted in as close a manner as possible, for different methods, in this case straight Adobe camera raw conversion, then a conversion using the “enhance details” feature.  These can then be compared to conversions done by Irident/Adobe, and by the free Fuji version of Capture One 12.

I decided to use 24-megapixel X-Trans 3 files from both my new Fujifilm XE3, as well as the 16-megapixel files of the previous X-Trans 2 sensor from its predecessor, my now departed X-T10.

Now right up front, this is an inexact comparison.  I did play around to try to obtain the best image possible from the different conversion software, but I don’t think things like sharpening and clarity for instance, can be directly correlated between Capture One, and Photoshop.

A word about the workflow.  Perhaps because of familiarity, there’s no doubt that for me that Adobe Bridge, Camera Raw, and then Photoshop make for an extremely comfortable process.  I’ve used Capture One for many years, but even now I’m a little vague on some of its features.  This may be my fault in that I have probably not been as diligent as possible watching their tutorials.

Adding Irident Transformer conversion to the Adobe workflow ads exactly one step, and works pretty well.  Conversion is quick, and I have set up a file called “Irident conversions” on my computer to receive them.  One then the open is a converted, you can open file in your raw conversion software of choice.  My only gripe, would be that there does not seem to be a way to have the image open automatically in Photoshop after it is converted to a .dng file which would be handy.

Oddly enough, the Adobe “enhance details” feature is less conveniant inthat it seems to take forever to process a file.  It can take up to 2 to 3 minutes to run on my fairly high-end Intel I7 desktop.

So how do they perform?  Here first is a representative file from the XE3 at 200%:

I think it’s fairly obvious that the straight Photoshop version, even given the limitations involved in these jpegs, is inferior to the image processed using either of the other methods. I was hard-pressed, even looking at the original files, to decide on a winner among these though I settled on the Capture One conversion as slightly more detailed than the others. I was initially unhappy with my original Irident conversions which looked “harsh”. I came to realize however that there is some sharpening occurring in that during the .raw to .dng conversion. Once I backed off on the sharpening in Camera Raw, things improved markedly.

Also, I didn’t attempt to convert the Irident file using Capture One , Though it is certainly possible, given that the .dng file format was created by Adobe , I assume their software will convert it as well or better than anyone else .

Now let’s have a look at the X-T10 files, again at 200%

In posting these, I fear that, the JPEG compression of the files, plus the compression inherent in WordPress, has somewhat minimized the differences between these files.  Yet I can tell you that on my monitor, there is a clear difference between the straight Camera Raw conversions and the other methods.  I would say that between the Enhanced Detail, Adobe conversion, Irident plus Camera Raw, or Capture One 12, there is no clear winner.

Also it is intriguing to me how similar the detail is when comparing between the 16-megapixel, X-Trans 2 files, and the 24-megapixel X-Trans 3 files.

I must say, given the effort required to optimize X-Trans files, and that diminishing value of the technology as time marches on, I can certainly be convinced, that at some point, perhaps this sensor type should be abandoned.

On the other hand, those of us who have been Fujifilm shooters for a long time know that a portion of the brand’s appeal has always been unique sensor technology (remember the SuperCCD of the S3pro?).

In summary, I would say that Adobe has finally given us the ability to process with Fujifilm files at a level that matches the best rival conversions.

I just wish it wasn’t so slow both in coming, as well as in use.

I haven’t posted in a while. This is mainly because WordPress decided that they would completely change the functioning of the blog editor, and it took my rapidly aging brain some time to figure it out. Well, in the immortal words of Jack Torrance: “I’m Baaaaaaaaaack…”

I don’t know whether it’s the crappy photography conditions we’ve had, or my general satisfaction with the capabilities of my current equipment. It is even remotely possible, that finally, maturity and fiscal responsibility has settled on me perhaps 30 years late. For whatever reason I no longer yearn for the newest and best.

I no longer scour the pages of Dpreview for the latest equipment reviews.  I’ve stopped visiting the various Fujifilm forums. I dropped my subscriptions to Reid Reviews and the Luminous Landscape (though in the case of the latter site, it’s not really the same since Michael Reichmann died).

Nonetheless, new Fujifilm gear is likely in the pipeline, and probably not far from introduction. I’m not talking about The XT or XH lines, which have obviously been updated more recently. I’m talking about the cameras that I prefer to shoot, namely the X100 and X Pro lines. Both I think will be due soon for an update. What really bothers me, is that I’m not sure that I care.

What is happening???????

I currently shoot an X100F and an X Pro 2. In the case of the X100 series, I have owned all of the various versions starting with the original X100. It seemed to me that each time a new model came out, there was a fairly compelling reason to update the camera. This was also true of the X Pro 1 to X Pro 2 evolution. I am truly satisfied with my current equipment which has benefited from the constant evolution and improvement not only in the new models, but with subsequent firmware upgrades.

So what new features/ capabilities would an X100 “G” or an X Pro 3 need to offer in order to move up once again. I think part of the problem, is that I’m not a particularly demanding shooter. I’m not generally shooting sports, or wildlife. Most of the landscape I do is fairly deliberate. so what new features/ capabilities would cause me to upgrade? I suspect the next camera up will be the X100 series, so this will be where I focus in this article.

So, what might Fujifilm do to entice X100F owners to upgrade?

Well, there is the new sensor introduced in the XT3. At 28 megapixels there is slightly more resolution than the X100F’s 24 megapixels. High ISO performance is said to be the same or slightly worse than the previous sensor, with perhaps a gain in dynamic range, partly from the new lower base ISO. The latter feature would be useful, to slow shutter speeds for moving water, but overall, to me,the new sensor is not a huge draw.

How about weatherproofing? In a fixed lens camera, one would think this is easier to accomplish than in an interchangeable lens body. My sense is that it wouldn’t add much in the way of weight or bulk, and would be a nice addition to a camera used extensively for street photography. On the other hand, I use my cameras all the time in wet weather. Exercising some caution, I’ve never really had a problem with the X100 series.

A new lens might be interesting. The current 23mm f2.0 lens has been unchanged since the X100 introduction in 2011. It is a lovely optic, but it is known to be soft wide-open particularly close up. I would be interested, and an upgrade with a new lens, perhaps F1.8.  A deal breaker however, would a lack of compatability with the two lens converters Fuji currently offers ( for which  I spent good money on and use all the time).

They could improve the video performance, but I suspect, most X100 series users wouldn’t really care. Unless there have been big strides in technology, I don’t think there is adequate heat dissipation capacity in the small X100 frame for 4K (It’s borderline in the larger X Pro 2). You can always buy an XT3 if you want to shoot “Movin’ pitchures”.

Lens stabilization is always a welcome feature in a camera body. Given the size constraints with this line, I suspect it’s not possible to add it without increasing bulk. Ditto dual Card slots, or a separate memory card door like the X Pro 2

Better autofocus which is always claimed for upgraded cameras would also be useful, but I am relatively happy with the current performance of the “F”.

In short, because we’ve already had a look at the new sensor, the prospects for the upgraded X100/X Pro series aren’t very compelling from my limited viewpoint. The improvements that were so lauded in the XT3
(video and tracking autofocus) are not really that germane to these two camera series (at least in my hands).

I guess time will tell.