Sunday, December 22, 2013

Blurred water effect with the Fuji X-E2

The day was overcast this morning with a fairly dark sky, perfect conditions to try out some blur water effects I had been wanting to do with the Fuji X-E2. The way the X-E2 shutter exposure system works makes this a fairly easy process.

For the rivers around Manhattan I find that an exposure of 15 and 30 seconds provides the amount of blur I want. I mounted a 10-stop neutral density filter on the 18-55mm Fuji zoom lens to enable me to decrease the exposure time. The 10-stop ND filter I was using gave me between f/11 and f/16 at around 30 seconds for the two images below.

The X-E2 has both a "B" and "T" position on its shutter speed dial. According to the Owner's Manual the "B" position should the shutter open for up to 60 minutes while the shutter button is depressed and the lens is not set to "A" for auto aperture. This would not work on either my X-E2 or X-Pro1, even after trying several lenses. I traced the problem to something that is not documented in the manual. If your camera is set to motor drive, the "B" will default to 30 seconds. You must have the camera set to single exposure for the full range of "B" shutter speeds to be available.

The "T" works a little differently than the traditional "T" we used to have on film cameras. Once "T" is selected on the X-E2 its shutter speed value between 30 seconds and 1/2 second can be set by pressing the right or left selector buttons

Statue of Liberty from the Battery in lower Manhattan.

The Brooklyn Bridge and East River from under the FDR drive in Manhattan.

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