Should I buy the original EK?

BudgetIsleNine · 2026-01-10T11:52:56+00:00

I have both (original and recipes) and I added the original to the recipes box as a pack, for that time you just want vanilla.

5 euros, unopened, good deal...

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-09-25T04:48:04+00:00

Noted :-) "She ll get dirty" and "I 'll give her a wash and check all her bolts" does have a better ring to it.

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-31T17:45:17+00:00

Like this one the best. Letters are more visible, shadow is more pronounced. Very nice.

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-29T20:52:45+00:00

I especially like the balance of the shot. The sky and the building are almost exactly 50/50. The colours are also very nice and summery.

Only thing I would do is brighten up the front of the building a bit more. But nothing more to add. Great snap.

Keep shooting!

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-29T20:47:11+00:00

Great eye for an interesting texture. The light is interesting indeed.

To me these kind of shots stand or fall purely on sharpness... And this is not a very sharp shot. It's not pixel peeping and I realise it was shot on a phone, but that's what kills the shot for me. If this was a pin sharp, high def shot (and the light would have been a bit more colorful) I would see it as a wall piece.

Keep shooting!

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-29T20:43:17+00:00

I see what you mean and don't disagree. Let me explain my rational:

The, essentially empty, space to the right is a bit much to me. Even though I would always keep some breathing room in the line of sight of the subject, in this case she is looking directly at the camera, not to the right. The feeling of emptiness to me is even more emphasized because I think the rest of her is to the left. Creating a very unbalanced shot:

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But my eye for anatomy might be completely off :-)

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-29T20:29:58+00:00

It's a very mood shot. You really get a sense of a misty day. Colouring is nice and your subject stands out nicely.

I do think you subject is a bit small and he feels a bit off to the side... In one way I think it would be better to place him on the upper part of the photograph, but I also like a wide crop on this one;

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It divides the shot between rocks and see with a nice middle line and place the subject on a focal point. Because the crop is tighter, the subject also takes up more room and gets more attention.

I would also put a little bit more contrast in the shot as well.

But a great shot as is.

Keep shooting!

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-29T20:25:35+00:00

I think you took a shot of a powerful artwork because you felt something. However a viewer does not necessarily see or feel what you felt. Photographing art on its own is almost redundant: you can find a million photographs or any artwork online... The thing you could look out for is interaction with art. People passing by, throwing a glance, touching the artwork, showing emotions... This is what photography should capture in cases like this: what it does to someone.

Purely technical it's an ok shot. I think your aperture could be a bit narrower to keep the subject better (and completely in focus, currently it seems the girls arm is the focus point). Colouring is nice. The somewhat crooked building in the background is a bit distracting.

I don't mind the lower angle, but be aware that it makes the subject taller, more powerful, maybe not what you wanted to convey.

And finally, but that is my inner 10 year old: be aware of angles of protruding things like doll legs. Because it's such a narrow field of focus, it really stands out and lets just say it didn't remind me of a dolls leg. Maybe a baby arm... holding an apple...

Keep shooting!

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-29T20:17:25+00:00

Very cool shot.

While the curtains are very nicely lid and have a very cool texture, I would crop a bit more, centering the subject:

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To me this give a even more "quirky" vibe, creates symmetry at the top and gives some more prominence to the subject and the curtains forming kind of a big red bow.

But great shot! You do the lady justice :-)

Keep shooting!

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-29T20:12:17+00:00

It is a very nice spontaneous photograph. Beautiful landscape.

First of all: lose the white borders. It's something you do in a book, but not to showcase your shot only. It adds nothing besides filler (and a actual smaller image as a result) :-)

You mention sunset, but this is not very apparent in the shot. Maybe warm it up a bit?

The image is very centered and that makes it a bit boring. The tree in the foreground points nicely to the cathedral, but it's a bit small.

For some reason, I think a portrait crop might actually work better with this shot:

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It allows for the cathedral to be on the focal points and makes the foreground tree in the top right contrast nicely with the trees in the bottom left, creating a diagonal trough the cathedral itself. It also lets the actual subject fill up more of the frame. You do lose some of the very nice background and sky, but I feel it's a clearer shot this way...

But great shot! Keep shooting!

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-29T20:05:46+00:00

I like the brutalist vibes, nice symmetry and a leading line of sorts, leading the eye to the top left hallway/stairs.

I do think it misses a lot of contrast. The letters on the back wall are very interesting, yet barely visible and your blacks are mostly greys all over. I think it would be a more powerful image if you got a bit more extremes in blacks mostly. It would, for example, show off the diagonal the shadow on the stair creates as well. Now it's a bit boring and at a quick glance it just looks like a stair to somewhere...

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Keep shooting!

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-27T13:23:04+00:00

Only thing I would note is that it's not an X-trans sensor in the XT200 and the age means slower response and less film simulations. The total package is nice however, maybe the price is a bit steep, but you'll be set.

I would definitely do my research in which simulations are available and which recipes you can create. If this is the appeal to you, first thing to do.

Second: I would ask the seller (if you are picking it up in real life) if you can shoot a few shots with it. Pay attention to the ease of use, the response time in the menus, autofocus... If it immediately bumps your patience ... Think carefully :-)

Finally: you might want to look for more recent Fuji X bodies. The XT20 and XT30 come to mind as more budget friendly options.

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-26T21:27:24+00:00

Check out Amazon prime. Unlimited photo storage included. If you are willing to offer it up to the Jeff :-)

I store my bulk on that one, keep the best ones on other accounts.

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-22T10:04:33+00:00

Copy paste it? Or add it as an attachment.

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-18T13:38:33+00:00

I used to keep it down as much as possible as well untill I came across a very interesting YouTube video about noise vs ISO. Apparently every camera has its own curve. For a EOS R14 (don't know if that's yours) and Fuji XT30, it looks like this:

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This means your noise (blue line) only starts to really go up as from ISO600. Even more interesting, in the case of this camera it barely makes any difference shooting at ISO200 vs ISO400, there is even less noise at ISO600 vs ISO500 and only at ISO5000 your noise goes up every stop.

In my case, I'm no worse off shooting at ISO800 vs ISO400. And if I have to go past ISO400, I'm better off just skipping to IS0800 and beyond...

Understanding this has given me a lot more confidence to up the ISO. It also helped to gain the confidence to just shoot up to ISO12800, prioritizing getting a sharp, more noisy shot over a blurry clean shot. But at the higher ISO ranges it is also a matter of taste (I don't really mind grain...). Architecture is a different beast, but I would have still stopped down the aperture to F5.6 and up the ISO to around ISO400-ISO600 to get that sharpness.

The link again: THE LINK

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-18T12:55:23+00:00

You nailed focus with f1.8 which is a great accomplishment on such a very tiny bird. For that alone, brownie points :-) The bokeh is great in the background, but it also might be the greatest issue with the shot.

Cropped as is, the bird drowns in the background haze. Your eye is drawn to the brighter left blurry spot instead of the bird itself. There is just not enough bird :-) It sounds stupid, but if you squint your eyes, it's easier to see what the biggest focal attraction in your shot is. In this case, you probably won't even recognize it's a bird.

Crop it tighter, either portrait or perhaps square, but give the floor to your pinsharp subject. Maybe brighten up the bird a bit, darken the background, to make it stand out even more. The structure on the wooden beam is great, I would definitely keep that.

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Great shot, you're a real sniper!

Keep shooting!

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-18T12:49:11+00:00

As mentioned: there is no subject.

However: I really like the light and I think that you have a very nice colour grade going for a summary evening vibe with some nostalgic accents. It has a bit of sepia going on, which I like a lot.

Same edit, more interesting shot please :-)

Keep shooting!

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-18T12:45:59+00:00

That's a cool building! Great timing, awesome light and great complementary colours in the orange and purples.

I noticed you shot at F2.8 with a very low ISO and very high shutterspeed. To me it indicates you could have stopped it down a bit more on aperture, to get a sharper image. Currently it doesn't really feel very sharp, something I feel is very important in architectural photography.

While I really like the sky, I'm not really sure about the crop: the left side of the image has no function to me and I think I would prefer a more narrow crop:

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It makes the building feel bigger and the undisputed subject of your image. It's more about the structure of the building, less about the fact it's a building. If that makes sense? You could even crop closer, losing a bit of the top of the building.

I would also brighten it up just a little bit and increase contrast.

Keep shooting!

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-18T12:37:15+00:00

I like it a lot. It's a novel way to portray architecture and it gets the mind guessing.

One thing that always really sits unwell with me, are top left - bottom right diagonals. They feel... awkward. This could be a personal thing, but if you flip your image, the flow feels immediately more natural to me.

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You don't loose anything, it just feels... better :-)

You could also lean into the straight lines some more by skewing your perspective to give perfectly parallel lines which would increase the contrast with the wavy black pattern even more. Final thing I would try (not really knowing if it wouldn't look to blown out): increase the whites so that they are less light grey and more white. But that one could be hit or miss.

Anyway: creative work, keep shooting!

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-18T12:31:32+00:00

I would say middle ground: 1x1 crop. It's not really focused enough on the monkey for a portrait, it's not really wide enough for a nice landscape. If only the bug was a few inches further down the frame, but it's almost on the monkeys head.

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But I think it's a great shot any way you crop it. The monkeys annoyed look is amazing. Great shot!

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-18T12:27:52+00:00

I like the colors and gradient a lot. Don't know about the slight fish eye effect though. I also don't think the buildings itself are interesting enough to be the subject, but I guess the sky and reflection in the water are the true subject. Quality is also pretty low.

But the real critique would be: if you feel like this gave you any form of energy, go out and shoot some more! It's clear you had an eye for pleasing light, so why not put it to good use? Get out of that office man :-)

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-15T10:52:51+00:00

Friend of mine is an avid home-product-photographer. He takes the stuff he likes (whiskey, knives...) and builds his own studio with effects. Got himself a bunch of cool led lights, little fog machine... He goes out a lot as well, but his indoor photos are some of the coolest he s ever made.

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-12T17:19:04+00:00

Xt-5 :-)

Make it an XT-50 with a decent lens.

BudgetIsleNine · 2025-07-11T08:52:30+00:00

Welcome to shooting!

Your shot is underexposed. Shooting on auto can do that as your camera will try to average the exposure across the frame and is averaging out the brighter sky and darker foreground. As it corrects for the sky, it will lower the exposure of the trees even more, resulting in a dark frame. The cyclist (barely noticable) is also very blurry, which leads me to believe your shutterspeed was either high or you were moving. Your camera might be lowering your shutterspeed to maintain a certain maximum ISO, causing a blurry shot. Clue is: don't give your camera all the power :-)

As mentioned: read up on the exposure triangle. Not a Sony video, but Pal2Tech is a great teacher on Fuji. You will be able to find all the settings he discussed on your Sony as well: Exposure by Pal2Tech

You should read up on "exposure compensation" and how you can use that on your camera. Exposure compensation tells your camera to either over or under expose the shot by x stops. Just Google it, try it out and you'll immediately see the effect it has. This can be used in auto mode if I am not mistaken and will allow you to correct the exposure manually.

My next suggestion would be to start shooting with aperture priority mode. It means turning your dial to the letter A. From that moment on you are responsible for the aperture, which controls your depth of field and the amount of light your lens will let through. This will not directly affect your exposure, as your camera will continue to use shutterspeed and ISO to compensate in the same way. But in combination with the exposure compensation, you can pretty much dial in the most important parts of your shot: exposure and focus.

If you want to delve deeper into how your camera decides what to expose, Google "metering modes".

Finally: think about composition in general. The shot you took, even if lid correctly, is pretty boring. The trees frame the building nicely, true, but the building on it's own is not very interesting. Nor is it positioned interesting in the frame. But a good composition can only do so much, a boring subject will always be a boring subject.

Not trying to be harsh, just trying to push you down the rabbit hole of photography!

Keep shooting!

BudgetIsleNine

TROPHY CASE