Fujifilm X-H2S First Impressions for Photography

All right, welcome. This is going to be a pretty, hopefully quick video about my first impressions of the X H2s, and I'm going to be taking you through some photos here in Lightroom. I got this camera pretty recently, within the last month. Been very, very happy with it. And just for some disclosure, I also own the GFX 50s II and have invested quite a bit into lenses for that, but got the XH2s basically to take photos of my daughter GFX, obviously not that great at eye tracking, so very excited for that. Also wanted to get more into just different types of photography and I was kind of limited by the GFX. I do have an X T3, although I don't shoot with it very often. I just feel very clunky with it. I don't know, I, I, you know, bringing out a camera like that, I'm like, I feel like I'm, you know, in terms of focus, I could just take out the gfx. So that's kind of where I'm at in terms of cameras. I also have an X100V that I kind of take with me to the store and to places that I don't want to carry any gear or think about gear. So I'll take that. But that's kind of where I'm coming from when it comes to this camera. So I've taken it, shot some photos of people, some sports. I've done a little bit of wildlife, went to the zoo recently, actually today. And I'm going to show you some of that here in Lightroom. And one of the things you want to pay attention to is up here in the left corner is going to be the settings, obviously. So you're going to have my shutter speed, aperture, ISO. So you've got your triangle there. Obviously you can see the camera and then the lens. And then also here I've used a couple telephoto lenses, so you'll see actually where it was being used. So this is one of the first shots I took with the camera. First couple of days I got it, went and did some night photography and I'm shooting this video in 4K, so hopefully if you watch it on YouTube in 4K, you can kind of zoom in. But I want to show you some of the kind of pixel peeping here too. So we're actually at 200% is where we're going to be spending most of our time. So again, on one of the new lenses, the 18 1.4, which, I mean, I feel like every lens that Fuji puts Out. I'm always saying, oh, it's the, you know, the sharpest lens. This lens is very sharp. You know, this is an 8 second exposure at f11, so diffraction is kind of starting to creep in here. But really sharp lens, really happy with that result. And then obviously at, you know, regular one by one, it's a pretty incredible image. So really good for night photography. First couple days I got the camera as well. Here's my daughter and my wonderful fiance kind of took it out here. We're using the 33, so another new lens, high shutter speed, also a really closed down aperture, so a lot slower. I had eye detection on her, missed focus there. I don't know where focus is on this image, but I was using it at five frames a second on the mechanical shutter. So you can kind of see here again, I'm moving the camera quite a bit now. We kind of starting to come into focus here. But yeah, it definitely missed focus on all these images here. And I'm putting these in here because again, this is actually before the newest firmware. I will mention that I think 1.1 or I don't even know the version number. I should probably put that down below. But before the new firmware I had shot these images here. So I had upgraded the firmware since then. These are probably the worst images I had from the camera originally. Again, a lot of it's probably my own error. I'm also shooting at F8, so it's gonna be a little more difficult. But definitely missed focus. And I had eye detection on. That was probably the only day where I was like, ooh, this camera's definitely not living up to the hype. I took some shots of my co worker and her dog. These are actually JPEG only. I wasn't shooting in RAW for some reason, but it gives you a good idea of like straight out of the camera. I mean these images are incredible. And again, this is the 33, so a little bit of a burst here. It definitely kept focus the whole time. And we're wide open at 1.4 with 1:29 seconds. Crazy, awesome images. Really, really nice. Straight out of camera. So really happy with these. And you can see Photoshop's putting their little color on it, but super, super nice. This is again the 18 1.4, so 1/200th of a second. So a little bit faster. As you know with kids, you really got to shoot at like 250 up. But quick little burst here. Held onto her the whole time. I don't know the eye tracking the subject tracking is amazing. So was really happy with the camera at this point. Said, hey, you know what, I want to go do some sports. So a couple quick shots here. These are edited. I went to Venice beach skate park and just put on my telephoto. This is the 55 to 200. Love that lens. I know there's a lot of like, should I get the 50 to 140 or the 70 to 300? I don't know. I have the 55 to 200. I love it. I've never been more happy with the lens. This is at 55. You can see a couple shots here. I've taken out some of the burst, but the hit rate was 100%. But just to kind of give you an idea, I mean this lens just. Just hits. I mean I. Excuse me, the lens and the body, but it hits. Everything hits. I actually sent these pictures to this kid and he was blown away. He was like, what kind of camera do you have? You have a Sony or a Canon? I'm like, I have a Fujifilm. He's like, a what? I'm like, nevermind. But awesome, awesome images. Did some rollerbladers. The cool thing, I think you've seen a lot of people, if you've researched this camera, at least on YouTube or anywhere on the Internet, they'll talk about how the subject detection and face detection, or rather if you just have face detection on. I'm sorry, not subject detection. That is a whole different setting for animals and birds and stuff like that. But face detection will actually put a box around your subject, which is really cool. So even though you can't see his face, it will actually outline his whole body and it gets focused really well. So again, 55 to 200, I'm at the long end of the lens at 4.8 here at 200 millimeters. And I mean, it is nailed. Right. Obviously probably hit the boots a little bit more than the face there, but I'm totally happy with that image. But again, it's putting a box around the subject. So yeah, the face isn't going to be as in focus as probably the outer plane here. Yeah, I mean it's going to be the boots there, but. Right. Really, really nice images. These are three that I shot of a skateboarder who also sent these photos to him. Was pretty happy with them shooting at f4 on the short end here, 55 millimeters at about 2000th of a second or more. So honestly, if I could do it again, I would probably, I don't know, pull it down to 3.5. Get a little bit more depth of field here. But again, subject detection was off. The face detection was on. And look at this. Like, just got him totally in focus. No problem. I was shooting these at not 40 frames a second. I was actually shooting 15 frames a second. Mechanical shutter. So actually these are three in order. So 1, 2, 3. And just, I mean, it's just awesome. Just awesome. Really, really hit the subject. Really nice here. I actually posted one of these on Flickr and it actually went to the Explore page and got quite a bit of engagement, which I was pretty happy with. Again, happy with these photos. These are also edited, by the way, with some colors that I like to do. But yeah, really, really happy. And again, lens. But it's really all about that camera and being able to get these shots. Could you get this on an X T3, X T4? Probably, but I don't think you're getting as many hits as you get with this camera. And again, just seeing it in the viewfinder. You've seen some of these videos, I'm sure, out there where it's just putting boxes over your subject all day and it feels really good. Here is the 5612. And I want to bring up these images because again, a little burst and kind of letting go. The older lenses do fine as long as you're paying attention. I was not paying attention. This day I'm shooting wide open at 1, 2, 3. 20th of a second here. 1250 ISO. And even the high ISO performance on this camera is really nice, by the way. I don't know if, you know, Fuji grain and stuff. It feels really good. But yeah, I mean, I'm not quite sure where focus is maybe in this plane here, but definitely not on her eyes. But had the eye detection on here. Again, wide open. Now we're a little bit faster. 3 20th of a second never really quite got her. So it really looks like the shirt is in focus here. Yeah. So you'll run into stuff like this on the older lenses if you're not really paying attention. Although it did grab focus on the sloth here. So you do have to pay a little bit of attention. But it does a really good job. But there are misses, of course. Just like any camera, I think a lot of people are like, oh, it's a perfect auto focus. No, it's not. However, if you're paying attention like I am here, you get a really sharp image. This is at 1.2. Some edited photos here too. You'll see shutter Speed, just not high enough here. This is really a shutter speed and a photographer issue more than a camera. I really have to increase it with my. With my daughter. She runs around quite a bit, but when it hits, it hits, and it is nice. You know, again, being a GFX owner, GFX is on a whole other level. But, man, I've been really happy with the results out of this camera for her because on my gfx, I just can't get shots of her at all without bumping the ISO up quite a bit. But, you know, this is out of focus here because she's moving closer to the camera and the lens is slow. That is a very slow lens if you have it, you know, but it produces incredible results. All right, we got like 100 images here, so I want to go through these quickly. Went to John Wayne Airport, took some photos. I don't do plane spotting, but I thought it'd be kind of fun to check it out. Man, it's crazy. I wish I had. I don't have a recorder, so I can't record the screen. But the coolest part about the plane detection, which you do require to enable subject detection, which turns off face detection, is it actually highlights the windows. And on this particular shot, I remember this middle window here had like a box over, as if, like, this was the eye of the subject. And then there's kind of like a rectangle around the rest of the object you're playing, for example. So you see some bursts here, and it just stays. I mean, like, this is kind of crazy to me, right? Because I have this, you know, camera looking right at me. And then it kept the plane in Focus. The X T3 or the X T4, more. More than likely would have lost it there, especially if you were bursting. But you can see all those two shots right there, I mean, back to back were completely in focus. And then continuing again without using the focus limiter, which I'll talk about in a little bit here. Through the barbed wire, through the fence, kept the plane in focus. So the subject detection with the plane is actually really good. So I've been really happy with that. Same with these images here. Even with, you know, again, me at 200 millimeters, not using my lens that I don't use enough, carefully. Keeps it in focus the whole time. Obviously, it's an easy test to be on a, you know, blue background. But again, here, when something else comes in the frame, usually Fujifilm cameras will get confused here, but pretty happy with that. Here's some night ones just to show you, I mean, I'm at f 4.8 here, so you can see kept that in focus, not in focus. That's the big test there. Obviously the van in the front there, the definition van is not in focus. So, yeah, the plane detection works really well. What doesn't work well is when you're a bad photographer like me and you use a really slow shutter speed at 1-80th of a second. So focus is there, but it's not going to be as sharp because of the shutter speed. And I'm probably moving the lens quite a bit. I think I had OIS turned off here too. But really good performance. There just need to be a better photographer. I took this photo here at the fair recently. This is on a 50F2. I love that lens. I just don't use it enough as well. Just to show you some of the clarity here, I've added a lot of grain here for taste. But just to show you, like, you know, you can get incredible results out of this sensor. Again, image quality is going to be very similar to X T4, but maybe placebo effect. But I do prefer the latitude of these files over my X T3 that I have used quite a bit. Here's some face detection stuff. In focus, in focus, in focus, you know, and I'm moving the lens. It just sticks on those individuals. Here's kind of a cool one on this little water ride. You know, you can see here. I had subject detection on. Focus is there. Not super sharp because we have a ton of water in the way, but just stays the whole time. Never loses it never goes back to a back focus or a front focus. It really stays on the whole time. I also shot these at 5 frames a second, which is the CL setting. I don't like to shoot super, super fast, but we're really, really happy with these images. Just a random people on the ride. Again, just a cool image from the fair. But just to show you, like the latitude of these files. It's not GFX level detail, but at 200%, it was pretty impressive. Again, does really well with kids. So if you're trying to get this camera, you're like, I don't know what I want to do. Kids are awesome with this camera because you just don't have to think. And that's, I think, the biggest thing with my X T3. Like, I would burst and I would maybe take one or two photos of my daughter and, you know, most of the time it would get her. I'd say probably 70% but like, there are moments where this is actually one out of like a. I think a. I think 40 or 50 images that I took in a burst where she's holding in a certain way and you can see the motion in the hand there and she's kind of laughing and holding this dog that her grandma got her and just cracking up. But that particular moment in a burst may have lost focus because I have objects in the background here that the X T3, X T4 would have grabbed. I don't know, I just feel a lot more confident with this camera and I can confidently say, you know, objectively I get more hits and more what's called kind of keepers than other folks that are using an X T3 or X T4. All right, wildlife. It's going to be the last kind of set of images here. So not sure what bird this is, but you can see the focus is more back focused here. Now, hard to say, did I see a box around the eye? No. The reason is because it wasn't on bird detection. So that's something that you got to keep in mind. I have it on, you know, sort of face detection most of the time and it'll kind of grab people. But it kind of struggled here and I had sort of. I always have my center box in the middle, but you can tell it kind of back focused here, but still happy with that shot. Once you turn on bird detection, you'll actually get a box around the eye. You can even turn on just like, I think it's pet, like dog or cat detection. And you'll still get bird at least a rectangle. But the birds will actually get a box around the eye. And you can see all the foreground and background here. Did a really good job. Same thing here, you know, razor sharp there, the birds even kind of straight looking at us, you know, foreground leaf here. I mean, just. Just really well done. 2 50th. And again, I'm at 55 to 200 on the long end. Same thing here, you know, razor sharp. It's getting the image. And again, it's a crazy feeling. I've been a fujifilm shooter for 10 years. I'm just so happy with this camera. I really am. Same thing here. And actually I had to use the focus limiter here. So if you're familiar with the camera, there's a focus limiter where basically it will only focus. I had it set to like 16ft to infinity. And you can see here in these black lines right on his fur here. There's actually a Fence. Right. So even at 6, 4, it kind of melts away. And you can see little spider monkey here. But I did animal detection, dog or cat and it got his eyes perfectly fine and got the focus. Same thing on the lemur here. You can really see the fence in the foreground here. But with the focus limiter, it was able to grab that without the focus limiter on, on this lens it was always grabbing the fence. It wasn't able to subject detect without that focus limiter. But as soon as I set that preset and then hit the shutter, it was fine. Same thing on this. I actually had to switch from, and this is something interesting to know. You had to switch from like animal detection to bird detection to get the eye. Otherwise it just kind of puts a rectangle around the bird. But you want to get the focus on the eye. Obviously this is just a regular shot, but I just want to show you a little bit of the. The clarity of this lens 55 to 200. And obviously the body is doing a great job there too. Subject detection, really good on the eyes. Again, you know, I've taken so many photos of my daughter with my GFX and I just, I don't get sharp results due to her movement. Again, this was interesting because we have three sets of eyes, one, two, three, actually four, including the giraffe. But having on face detection, it will grab the human before it grabs the panda on the merry go round here. And then same thing here, we actually have a photo of her and it was able to grab her just fine. And the last one, here's a little bonus macaw for you. Was able to grab his eye through the fence. So awesome, awesome stuff. So, yeah, that's my kind of first impressions on the camera. I've been really, really happy with it. You know, going through bursts like this, you know, it's just something that you can do on any camera. Yes, but I just, I feel more confident on this camera. And then again, I think the big difference between X T4, X T3, X Pro 3, like the X Trans 4 sensor generation of cameras and the XH2S IS. And I'm not a stacked sensor aficionado, I don't know, but I don't really think the stack sensor is really benefiting the autofocus. Obviously that's the algorithm, but what's important here is just being able to fly through the burst and being confident. So again, confidence is key when it comes to photography. There's going to be times when you miss shots and it's going to suck, but bursting is something I never really did before this camera, but now that I'm doing it, I'm getting some cool results and just been super happy with it. If you have questions, put them down. I'll be more than happy to answer them. I'm probably going to put together a full review just because again, being a GFX shooter and X T3 shooter, I've got a lot of thoughts on the camera. It's not perfect. I think the price is kind of crazy and I just bought the grip, so I'm going to talk a little bit about the grip versus the XT3 grip and let you know what I think. Also done some videos with this. I'll put some clips in another future video. So thank you guys so much for watching and really appreciate it. See you later.