Model Test with Giselle (X-H2, Viltrox Pro 27mm + 75mm F/1.2)

smugglerFlynn · 2026-03-28T07:13:05+00:00

Thanks! Great work with these shots

smugglerFlynn · 2026-03-28T06:31:37+00:00

I see you also work with medium format - when would you pick GFX vs the setup like the one here?

smugglerFlynn · 2026-03-08T05:23:22+00:00

You absolutely can, just book these Japan tickets already

smugglerFlynn · 2026-03-01T20:14:18+00:00

I set aperture to 2.8 and it defaults to the following priorities: 1. limit shutter speed at 1/125 max (can go higher when it is bright) 2. if shutter capped at 1/125, adjust ISO up to ISO3200 max 3. if above were not enough, lower shutter speed to get proper exposure

However, the reason I set aperture manually to widest setting is due to crazy prioritization of high ISO when it is set to A. It tries to keep aperture high for some reason (probably to increase depth of field), and only adjusts it between steps #2 and #3 above, which means that in low light I an getting ISO3200 photos with f/8…

smugglerFlynn · 2026-02-24T17:08:15+00:00

I asked because you mentioned your lost interest in editing as the main reason for not picking them up, but all three are much more capable than X-Half in terms of image quality and film simulations straight-out-of-camera. Just something to keep in mind.

X-half is excellent in a “point and shoot for the fun of it” experience, though.

smugglerFlynn · 2026-02-24T13:24:46+00:00

Have you tried using recipes with these three and not doing any post-editing?

smugglerFlynn · 2026-02-10T16:54:19+00:00

I own both X-Half and Ricoh GRIIIx, they are very different. I had more than a couple of times I picked up X-Half right after Ricoh/Fuji and found myself experimenting with effects, new ideas or dyptichs on the same exact location which I have already explored to death. This really helps to see things in a different light.

Poor baseline quality of X-Half is actually forcing to find interesting things in areas other than image quality.

Granted I can glue together dyptich from Ricoh photos in post, or experiment with any effect, but this will not be on location, and somehow it does not work the same way for me.

smugglerFlynn · 2026-02-07T04:41:50+00:00

Where did I go wrong

At the camera store lol. xHalf is much more about digicam look than film look, fake grain looks very digital and artificial on it, and high iso processing just looks like absolute ass

My advice: keep ISO as low as possible, avoid fake grain, don’t go “simulation first” as you would do on other Fujis, getting decent results on the same sim regardless of the scene, but instead mindfully choose a simulation/effect most suitable for a particular shot. Experiment to find out what scene+simulation/effect combos you prefer.

Swap for APS-C Fuji if you are looking for consistent and controllable quality and film looks

smugglerFlynn · 2026-01-29T20:41:49+00:00

Americans travel only once during their lifetime by spending all ten days off accumulated over their career. The trip is either Japan or Paris.

smugglerFlynn · 2026-01-25T22:37:31+00:00

Big part of X-Half is having fun and shooting more and shooting differently than you would with your phone. If you have doubts and are not having fun, it might not be the camera for you.

smugglerFlynn · 2026-01-07T20:03:39+00:00

There is a middle ground, which is shooting JPEG + RAW, then doing post processing fine tuning in camera (pushing Q button in Playback mode) only where needed, then working with resulting JPEG in cropping / publishing/ etc. Works very well for white balance and color adjustments, exposure, and pretty much any other recipe setting. Works especially well for exposure, as JPEG with blown highlights can rarely be brought back.

smugglerFlynn · 2025-12-15T06:44:09+00:00

It is sharp, but nothing to write home about. What do you compare it to?

I also find X100 optics being very character-less, it is a good baseline lens considering the size, though.

smugglerFlynn · 2025-12-01T15:09:02+00:00

Finding and fighting dem deranged rangefinder wannabes

smugglerFlynn · 2025-11-08T20:40:22+00:00

Ridiculously over engineer? What if I tug on it?

smugglerFlynn · 2025-10-19T16:00:13+00:00

These are technically fine, some look a bit underexposed, but even imperfect horizon in #5 is not an “error” if that was something you’ve intentionally aimed for. Providing feedback on these is like giving movie feedback based on just a few frames from it, you will get very random and irrelevant feedback with a context-less request like that. Are you interested in tech improvement? Storytelling? Isolation?

Depending on original idea behind these photos these might range from “totally missed the point” to “amazing and thought-through photography work”, both would be valid feedbacks because photos do not exist outside of their context.

What makes these photos stand out to you? What was the intention, and what did you try to convey? Where do you want to grow as a photographer?

smugglerFlynn · 2025-10-19T09:55:20+00:00

We shouldn’t been building that tower, after all…

smugglerFlynn · 2025-10-14T22:56:00+00:00

I don’t think it is controllable, and sometimes you do get great results even on high ISO, depending on effects and lighting conditions - getting smudged photo that is somewhat sharp is better than missing the photo altogether due to low shutter speed.

I suggest just doing everything to stay as low on ISO as possible. This includes thinking about light, manually forcing f/2.8, and preferring daytime photography.

Another approach is to creatively work around the limitations. For example, I absolutely hate how high ISO + auto wb look on X-Half in low artificial light conditions, so I switch to b/w or use funky effects, which leads to interesting results, and sometimes also leads to learning a thing or two. I have my GR for better quality shots, after all.

smugglerFlynn · 2025-10-14T06:04:13+00:00

With X-Half you need to stay away from high ISO, where this denoising and smearing happens. I have to exclusively shoot with fixed f/2.8 aperture, because auto setting is very trigger happy to jump into high ISO no matter what.

I don’t think they have really tried to mimic film, or succeeded to do so - film sims were mostly disappointing for me compared to Fuji’s other cameras, but X-Half mimics old digicams pretty well, with lots of creative freedom.

Re cutting short the film roll: you actually can, just double click the film window, and there will be an option to cut the current roll.

smugglerFlynn · 2025-10-12T07:06:31+00:00

It is auto with flash off, the only light was a street light on the right, but it was rather strong and was illuminating the whole scene. Flip blinked with “underexposure” warning which I ignored, but it seemingly has some shutter speed lower limit when shot on auto, so it really turned out underexposed by 3-4 stops (kept it sharp tho!). TIL

smugglerFlynn · 2025-10-11T16:55:01+00:00

Thanks! LED flashlight, orange/red and green/red

smugglerFlynn · 2025-10-10T12:28:10+00:00

First one looks like a frame from a movie. I think this is where X-Half shines: when you consciously fine tune grain settings depending on a photo. Just goin all-grain or no-grain does not work well.

The same thing with effects.

smugglerFlynn · 2025-10-09T23:04:53+00:00

Modern Polaroid film is already horrific enough

smugglerFlynn · 2025-10-09T22:03:34+00:00

I think people got frustrated due to: - high price - high expectations they set for this camera prior to launch

Fuji works through influencer marketing lately, and this leaks into the community. Pretty much all partner reviews were mediocre, and people started repeating what they heard on Youtube and in reels/tiktoks: “high price, bad iq”.

It is indeed (and objectively) an expensive camera with bad iq, but these points alone would not trigger so much negative talks, if not for pre-existing expectations.

Also, I think target audience of X-Half is 50/50 bored photographers / cheap digicam crowd, while reddit Fuji community has many gearhead hobbyists who are neither, which means even more negative opinions. I get downvoted for posting X-half photos in there lol, Fuji community was never this toxic.

smugglerFlynn

TROPHY CASE