At the TP meet mentioned in the previous post, we had time to kill after sunset and before the Pub was ready for us. So we headed to Llanthony Priory.
Two of us were late getting there as we'd been back up the mountain to photograph the Lunar Eclipse. When we arrived, a group of them were sorting camera kit out in the car par.
They were having a go at Light Painting.
"Oooo - I'm up for that!" I said, to which they responded "What? With the Fuji?".
My standard response in these situation is now getting to be "Don't Dis Da Fuji Man!"....
But realistically I knew it was a big ask for a pocket camera....
Especially once I noticed for the first time that the X10 doesn't have a B mode
Only available light was a distant security light (orange glow on furthest pillars); apart from that it was pitch black!
There were two sources of painted light, my head torch plus a burst of flash on the right from Stan The Man.
ISO 100, 7.1mm, f2, 30s - manual exposure, self timer release, manual focus.
Yup, those are stars in the sky!
I discovered one weird feature about Manual Mode - if the ISO is above ISO 100, then the maximum exposure time is limited to 4s.
Also - a few thoughts about Manual Focussing.
Initially I struggled to use manual focussing on the X10; reading the forums I am not alone!
But I've now got a working arrangement that's pretty straightforward.
First - when you turn on the X10 set to MF, the focussing is completely wrong and takes forever to change to a usable distance. Simple trick is to quickly flick the focussing switch to AF-S and back to MF (no need to touch the shutter button). Focus will now be most of the way to infinity and easy to nudge up to infinity.
Secondly, when the zoom changes, the focus changes slightly too and needs re-focussing. This is just like using manual focus on a DSLR. Focus may actually end up beyond infinity and will need bringing back. I nudge the focus ring anti-clockwise until I see the focus position indicator move, then put it back on infinity.
Thirdly, the infinity mark seems bang-on. I no longer bother checking with a 'real' subject. Simply set the focus indicator on infinity and take the shot.