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Welcome to The Visual Experience

mFT: worth a (serious) look – The Olympus EM1 mk II experience

November 28, 2017

I’ve a subtle attraction for small cameras with great image quality: for me the best camera is the one I have with me most of the time. Having used a great deal of gear over the years, starting from Canon SLR, up to my beloved medium format rig, today, for most of my photographs all I needed was this magic trio (in equivalent focal length): 28mm: Ricoh GR (one of the best camera ever made, great usability, good IQ, APSC) 35mm: Sony RX1R II (compact, fantastic IQ, good AF and a […]

Night Photography Masterclass – The Magic of Night in Catania

May 1, 2016

Here’s a specialized workshop for those who love night-life and want to explore the mysteries that the night can offer. Not only will you learn all the techniques needed to deal with long-exposures and artificial street lighting as well as moon lighting, but you will also be introduced to the magic of shooting at night, with Master Instructor Massimo Cristaldi. You will start in the evening with a technical preparation and you will spend the whole night in a wonderful and mysterious procession of understanding and exploration. The second day […]

Sony RX1R II: the small wonder

May 1, 2016

The Sony RX1R II represents the “normal” evolution for a photographer with an addiction for small cameras with great image quality. Over the course of the “digital” years, starting from 2008, I’ve followed my path towards the “small cameras” world. From the “venerable” Panasonic LX3, passing in 2011 to the Fuji X100 and , in 2013 to the X100s, coming to the Ricoh GR, and now the RX1R mark II. Before listing the great things about this camera let me state, straight away, things I don’t like and the ways […]

Ocoloy: the show

November 11, 2015

OCOLOY: the genesis and the results… So here is what we did: I brought into Sikanie the idea of a One Camera, One Lens, One Year project back in January this year. Not too much original, indeed, it’s a typical personal project to get your mind active and committed towards photography. My direct inspiration was Mike Johnston proposal. Our declination was: use one single camera, one single lens, shoot 2 rolls of “film” or digital exposures per week (circa 300 shots in a month) and print just 8. BUT then, and […]

Is this art? Or is this self-indulgence?

February 13, 2015

Strictly linked to my previous article, and to complete my response to Colberg “On Trends”, I’d like to add some further considerations. First, the philosophical notion of being an “artist” in our post-modern world. This notion is laden with heavy romantic over-tones about struggle, being true to oneself, overcoming the psychological and economic difficulties of surviving in a world which seems to ignore the beauty of truth and those who search for it. Frankly speaking, and I don’t want to offend anyone, but there’s a lot of bullshit in those […]

On Trends

February 12, 2015

In his article On Trends, Jörg Colberg addresses, I believe, a common misunderstanding of what a trend is, that is, why trends exist and how we should use them. In his critique of “following trends”, which he rightly criticizes on a general premise that “following” a trend may bring instant recognition but, not necessarily, deeper meaning, he overlooks a more profound meaning for the phenomena that we call “trends”. What, just exactly, is a trend? It seems that in Colberg’s understanding, it is a sort of flash-in-the-pan, a quick idea […]

Leica T+35mmf2 and Leica MP+35mm Summilux vs Sony A7R+35mmf2.8 Zeiss

September 18, 2014

I had the possibility to play a bit with the new Leica T and 35mmf2 (23mm, 35 equivalent). A very nice looking pair, well finished, solid but also quite bulky, especially with the external electronic viewfinder. The experience was somehow frustrating. The camera is… slow. It deserves for sure a faster processor. You click, the shot has some small lag but then you wait for the image appearing on the screen and for the camera to complete the writing process on the card. 1-2 seconds before the image is displayed and […]

Sony A7R, 35FE and Sigma DP3 Merrill

April 5, 2014

Originally published here. UPDATE: this is not a “comparison”, focal lengths used are different: I wanted just to see if the two camera can be used fruitfully together without major issues in terms of image quality. Despite of all the voices “against” the Sony A7R (shutter slam, light leaking, confusing menu) the small Sony is a great camera, with a very good sensor. Paired with the Sony Zeiss 35 it gives you a lot in a small package: great output quality, small size, acceptable autofocus and reasonable FPS in continuous […]

Sony A7R, Canon 17 TS-E and Iridient Developer

February 26, 2014

Whoever follows me on this site or on my blog knows what has always been interested on small cameras with great image quality. From the early Panasonic attempts with the “venerable” LX3, to the Fuji X100 and X100S , I have always been attracted by small traveling companions to take always with me. Of course, as I have written several times, I have always used for my “important” works heavy and bulky tools. At the end of the day picture quality is definitely the most important thing for me: quality means […]

Using a MF lens on a DSLR: Rollei Planar 80mm on Canon

December 16, 2013

Is the camera or the lens the responsible of final image quality? An old, never ending debate amongst photographers especially the ones somehow connected to “the Leica look”, the “zeiss tridimensionality” or the “nikon colors”. In our digital age with new “monster” sensors in relative small bodies (as the one of the Sony A7R), the old good glass continues to play surely its role in defining Image Quality (see here for a good attempt from Ctein to define image quality). But today we have ADAPTERS. Right in these days, filled up […]

The Alternative Workflow: from Lightroom to Photo Mechanic and Iridient Developer

October 11, 2013

Adobe Lightroom is great. Gives you a lot of possibilities, manages your library, develops your RAWs. It’s a great piece of software. Now, up to December 31st, you can have it with Photoshop for 10 USD a month if you, like me, have a licensed version of a Photoshop >CS3. So it’s a no brainer kind of buy. BUT. But if you’re looking for the best image quality out of your RAW then, well, there is something more. Previous tests on Iridient Developer (version 2.3 just released) actually confirm that, especially […]

Camera Image Quality: why DPReview may be sometimes wrong

July 1, 2013

Just between us: all photographers are crazy for cameras and lenses performances. Every time a new camera hit the market flocks of people flow on the Internet looking for files, pixel-peeping at 200% etc, producing tons of bytes on specialized forums. Even those who normally say they don’t care about gear at the end use some piece of equipment and had, maybe even only once in their lives, an interest for image producing tools and for the maximum quality they can reach using them. DPReview paved the way for “scientific” […]

Processing X100S RAW with IRIDIENT DEVELOPER – Part 2

May 30, 2013

Update: RAF file available and Silkypix quick comparison. This second part of IRIDIENT developer RAW processor starts from the conclusion of the first part: IRIDIENT develper looked promising to my eyes, expecially in extracting details from shadows. The open question was: is it worth in a Lightroom based workflow, to add this other piece of software or not? So I decided to test it in real conditions,processing a file shoot in the best conditions for the X100S (f11, the upper aperture value before adding diffraction) at ISO 200 and in […]

Processing X100S RAW with IRIDIENT DEVELOPER – Part 1

May 14, 2013

Iridient Developer 2.1 is a neat RAW processor. It’s not written by a big company but from quite a small one which makes it even more interesting to me (I love craftsmanship in a world of big industries). It is partly based on DCRAW (altought the developer claims to have an “original” demosaicing algorithm) and supports 400+ models of camera. The latest announced version, 2.1, published some days ago, promises a good support for the XTRANS sensors onboard the latest Fujifilm cameras, making use of Apple algorithm for the XTRANS […]

Edward Rozzo interview with PuntoDiSvista

May 13, 2013

In an interview with www.puntodisvista.net Edward Rozzo speaks frankly about the self-centered and individualistic nature of Italian culture. A snippet from the interview: I find that Italian students instinctively have a rigid habit. The system in which they are trapped since birth has too many filters. They are very good to discuss classical themes, but when you move on today and you ask them what they think, they remain mute. On the other hand I wonder: how do you train people if in the newspapers we see a uniform and […]

Fujifilm X100 vs X100s

April 9, 2013

UPDATES July 1st: Testing X100S RAW with IRIDIENT DEVELOPER and ACR Part 1 Testing X100S RAW with IRIDIENT DEVELOPER and ACR Part 2 Some more thoughts on the conclusions based on readers feedbacks Further considerations on ACR and DPReview tests Great time for photographers. Lot of possibilities, new (really capable cameras), 35mm chasing Medium Format, small cameras chasing 35 mm. As many of you may remember, I had always a particular interest in small cameras. Maybe because I first learnt how to use a camera with an old (and small) FED 4, […]

1 Second or 1/125 of Life?

February 11, 2013

In this interesting video, recordered @ TED, a 31 years old guy, named Cesar Kuriyama, speaks about is project “One second every day”. He decided to record, form a personal perspective (read: what he actually sees), 1 second of his life every day, including not just fancy and nice things he did but also bad moments. The result, that is embedded in the TED speach, is somehow confusing but also interesting. A timeline of somebody else, put together in a sequence, including audio, is something “useful” for the author himself […]

Gente di Fotografia

January 25, 2013

Today I got on my physical mailbox two nice gifs. The annual collection of the magazine “Gente di Fotografia” and the book Medic, by Jennifer B Hudson, edited by Photolucida. Now you may probably ask yourself the relationship, beside the fact that they arrived together, between some magazines and a book. There is, infact, a relationship. Not only because they’re both publications (phyisical paperworks) on photography. But simply because Gente di Fotografia is NOT a magazine: it’s a photography book published every three months. The selection of authors and content […]

Visual Foundation Workshop in Sicily: 22-25Aug 2013

December 19, 2012

Other date for this workshop: June 2013 With the simplification of photographic equipment, becoming a photographer has become more complex. Finding artistic or professional expression through photography has become a confusing adventure. Cameras and processes have become homogenized. Everyone is taking the same photograph. In focus, well exposed and well framed images are within the reach of anyone with a camera. It is more and more difficult to emerge, to have a vision, to have an identity. With over twenty years of teaching experience, we have created a new foundation […]

Visual Foundation Workshop in Sicily: 27- 30 June 2013

December 19, 2012

Other date for this workshop: August 2013 With the simplification of photographic equipment, becoming a photographer has become more complex. Finding artistic or professional expression through photography has become a confusing adventure. Cameras and processes have become homogenized. Everyone is taking the same photograph. In focus, well exposed and well framed images are within the reach of anyone with a camera. It is more and more difficult to emerge, to have a vision, to have an identity. With over twenty years of teaching experience, we have created a new foundation […]

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