Latin BBQ 2024: shooting photos & video at Penn’s hottest darty on my new Fuji X-H2
Blazing autofocus, crazy cropping power, seamless video shooting: the Fuji X-H2 is a hybrid event workhorse. Gallery below.
Fujifilm X-H2 + 16-55mm f2.8, 1/320 sec at f/2.8, ISO 640
I had a blast shooting this year’s Spring Fling, the hottest Spring Fling darty at my alma mater UPenn. Each year, it’s held at the One Art Community Center in Philadelphia on the Saturday of Spring Fling, and each year, the event sells out entirely. Live DJ’s drop Latin-house bangers while a taco truck and ice cream truck help balance out the delicious chilled drinks. Tickets start at $60 and resell for up to double, and the proceeds go towards Latin American charities.
Hybrid photo & video coverage was a joy on my new Fuji X-H2. This was actually my first time shooting and editing a video! I had to learn DaVinci Resolve from scratch. What do you think of the result?
In the gallery down below, I’ve attempted to pick my favorite 100 shots from the 500+ I delivered. (It’s more like 120). The rest can be found at this Google Photos album at higher quality. And in case you missed it, here’s last year’s Latin BBQ Google Photos album.
I used the Viltrox 13mm f1.4 and Crop Modes to frame my images, but these crops didn’t apply to my RAW files. A little annoying, but I found myself preferring the wide-angle versions in most cases. They make it easier for partygoers to fit all their friends in a 4x5 Instagram post!
This was my first time shooting an event on my new 40-megapixel Fujifilm X-H2. I intend to write more about the experience, but for now, let me just say that compared to my old X-T3, the X-H2 was a DREAM. The phenomenal cropping power meant that for the first time, I felt confident shooting an event with my ultra-wide Viltrox 13mm f1.4 mounted on my camera the majority of the time (70% of the shots). And that unlocked so many cool angles and lovely bokeh compared to my Fuji 16-55mm f2.8 zoom lens, which has been my event photography bread-and-butter until now. My 13mm lens on my Fuji’s APS-C crop sensor yields a 20mm field-of-view in full frame terms. With a click of a custom button, I could seamlessly crop from 20mm field-of-view to 28mm at 20mp, and even to 40mm at 10mp — a 2.0x magnification, still yielding enough resolution to comfortably print at 16”x24”!
The Fujifilm X-H2 is a true workhorse camera. Sturdy, fast, functional. Image credit: Jonas Rask.
So, how much exactly can you crop in with the X-H2’s 40.2mp files? The answer: A LOT. You know the 3x3 grid that pops up as a guide when you’re cropping in Lightroom? Even one of those little rectangles which is 1/9th of the image area still offers 4.4mp (2576 x 1717 pixels), which is too high of a resolution for Instagram or the web. (2400 x 1600 px for web; 1350 x 1080 px for a 4x5 Insta post; 1080 x 1920 px for an Insta story or reel).
This was also my first event shooting videos alongside photos. Thanks to its rich features and custom mode dial, the X-H2 absolutely shined as a hybrid photo + video camera. Switching between photo and video was quick and easy. Out of the 7 custom mode settings on the dial, I set up C3 and C4 for stills (one for manual exposure, one for program) and C5-C7 for F-Log video at 120fps, 60fps, and 24fps. I’m still working on the footage (and simultaneously learning how to use DaVinci Resolve) but I’m excited for the outcome. ***UPDATE: Video is completed and posted above!***
The only hiccup was dealing with my variable ND filter when shooting stills. Sometimes when switching from video to photo to quickly get the shot, my ISO crept up too high to quickly compensate for my ND filter darkening the scene, climbing to ISO 1600 and even 3200 for some shadier shots. And sometimes my shutter speed slipped too low, down to around 1/200, when I would’ve liked to keep it north of 1/320. (I wish you could set your camera to flash your shutter speed in yellow or red as a warning when you set it too slow to freeze motion). And while I was mostly happy with my K&F Concept ND filter, I did get some vignetting in the corners on my wide Viltrox 13mm f1.4, most noticeably in the sky. Fortunately, this was an easy fix using Lightroom’s Heal tool to paint in the top corners of the frame. For next time, I’ll definitely want to invest in a magnetic ND filter solution, so I can quickly and easily take it off and on when switching between photo and video. Unscrewing the filter each time just takes too long.
X-H2 + Viltrox 13mm f1.4, 1/640 sec at f/1.4, ISO 250
In addition to the great resolution and cropping, I also enjoyed a noticeable improvement in dynamic range and colors when editing my files. While underexposed images called for a little work correcting for noise and colors when substantially lifting shadows — or running the files through DxO PureRAW processor — I felt the performance was particularly strong for recovering highlights in overexposed shots. For some overexposed shots, I simply applied my preset, dropped my exposure by between 1 to 1.5 stops, and all the colors and tones fell perfectly into place.
The $120 software solution to noisy & murky X-H2 files in Lightroom
Speaking of noise: the high resolution, coupled with Lightroom’s notoriously terrible handling of Fujifilm X-Trans files, meant there was a lot of it. You could easily see noise when zoomed in at 100%, starting down at ISO 640. (On my old X-T3, I didn’t notice noise like that until ISO 1000). One of my first (and best) purchases since acquiring my X-H2 has been the DxO PureRAW 4 app and Lightroom plugin for processing RAW files for sharpness and noise. It’s brilliantly effective. It truly brings the X-H2’s 40mp capabilities to life.
If you shoot with the X-Trans V 40mp sensor on the X-T5, X-H2, or X100VI, this software is truly a must-have. I mean, just look at the difference between the clean, detailed DNG file processed by DxO PureRAW on the left, and the soft, noisy unedited Fuji RAW file on the right (zoomed in at 100%). The software set me back $119, the converted DNG’s are a hefty 115mb, and processing 300 files took over 8 hours on my 2019 Intel-chip Macbook Pro. But the improvements are night-and-day.
The DNG on the left is processed by DxO PureRAW 4, compared with the original RAF on the right at 100% zoom. Even at ISO 1000, the X-H2’s noise and grain is noticeable. Notice how well DxO resolves the noise in the skin and the sharpness of her hair and eyelashes.
Oh and of course, the autofocus is a HUGE step up from the X-T3. I could really rely on it to focus quickly and accurately. I felt like the only shots that were out-of-focus happened when the camera did focus correctly, but picked the wrong face. I attribute this to user error; I was using a huge zone-focus box with auto face and eye detect, and could’ve used a smaller zone box to specify my subject.
But enough about the technicalities! Enjoy these bright sunny images! I shot and edited them using Fuji’s Astia film simulation and a Lightroom preset I developed for the occasion. I’m calling it “Carnival,” and I’m loving the clean vibrant tones.
