Family photography is central to many wonderful memories of childhood. They are the most precious gifts for our children, a source for comfort, a blanket for the cold
They remind us of our safe place and unconditional love. It is in these photos how other family members will remember you, or even how you’ll remember yourself.
That is why its important to have a camera lying around the house to create these memories – one that is easy to bring around and easy for different family members to operate.
With family, alot of moments happen indoors, where light is low. A wide aperture is a must to capture moments in the darkness of the bedroom, in the fuzziness of falling asleep. The XT50 body balances well in weight and size with F2 prime lenses, such as the XF23mm F2, the XF16mm F2.8, XF35mm F2, XF50mm F2, and my all-time favourite 35mm F1.4 lens.
Inside the home, I often shoot at F2, a shutter speed of 1/30 to 1/125, combined with a high ISO. The X-T50 40MP sensor tolerates ISOs well into 12800. A small trick is to turn on the Grain effect button at high ISO, to mask, or overlap the noise.
When I first received the Fujifilm X-T50, I added customisations and assigned a shortcut (Function setting) to access the customizations.
These are your C1, C2, C3 etc.. buttons, where you can fix a wide range of customizations of operability from focus mode and eye detection, to colour preferences such as colour chrome, grain effect and so on.
As I want to create film recipes which I can easily get to, I decided to customise colour tones, and I renamed the buttons ‘Intense’, ‘Muted’, ‘Stark’, ‘Extreme’ and ‘Normal’.
With each button, I changed the Tone curve, Colour and Colour Chrome effect.
For example, in the ‘Extreme’ customisation, I have my Highlight set at +2, Shadow at +4.
For Muted customization, my Highlights are -2 and Shadow -2.
I then turn the film simulation dial on the top left, to pair it with the various tonalities I have set.
Nostalgic Negative film simulation pairs really well with my Muted customization, where highlights and shadow are both -2. I find that this brings out the look of nostalgia the best, and the soft look retains all the warmth in the colour produced by this simulation.
Acros film simulation pairs well with a Stark look, where highlights and shadows are +2 and +4, it creates more contrast to the image, especially on a sunny day.
In different situations and locations ranging from the bedroom to the beach, it’s fun to turn the film simulations dial for a quick preview of how your images might turn out, and eventually choose different looks to quickly change the mood of the photography.
The X-T50 allows for a change of lenses that would come in handy when taking the family out on holiday, a camping trip, or a day at the beach.
It’s like an X-T5, but mini. Small cameras are necessary as a push factor for them to be carried around, so you don’t ever miss a moment.
