In the days when I was shooting film all camera lenses reversed the image. (Actually, upside down and backwards.) Think of what you saw on the ground glass when you looked through a view camera. That was the reason for a Pentaprism on a SLR. This reversal occurred within the lens and was referred to as the "nodal point." At the time on my Nikon F, long gone and barely remembered, this crossing of all the light rays within the lens occurred about 38 mm in front of the tripod socket. The lens I had on the camera that I was using for panoramas, was a so-called "normal" lens so I'm guessing somewhere between 50 and 58 mm. When I took a panorama and made prints, they simply would not fit together properly: tops out of alignment, bottoms, different angles of objects, etc. When I screwed my tripod into the back threaded hold of this metal piece, and then used a short 1/4" stove bolt to go through the front hole into the camera, this problem was eliminated. Since my camera, a Nikon F was not on the table and many of the other digital Nikons gave an offset of around 40 mm I can assume that I wasn't that far off. In short, I can only say that this solution to the problem worked. Sorry about the caps; I started out that way and was too lazy to change it. I hope this clarifies the situation.
LONG BEFORE DIGITAL, i HAD PROBLEMS WITH PANORAMAS. ULTIMATELY I FOUND OUT THAT TO GET GREAT PANORAMAS YOU HAD TO PIVOT THE CAMERA AROUND THE FIRST NODAL POINT OF THE LENS, RATHER THAN THE TRIPOD SOCKET. MANY CALLS TO NIKON FINALLY GOT ME SOMEONE WHO KNEW WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT AND TOLD ME THAT ON MY SPECIFIC CAMERA THAT WAS 38 MM IN FRONT OF THE TRIPOD SOCKET. I MADE A THREADED PIECE OF METAL THAT ALLOWED ME TO DO JUST THAT AND NEVER HAD ANY MORE PROBLEMS. I AM THINKING THAT THE SAME DIFFICULTY OCCURS WITH DIGITAL CAMERAS. HOPE THIS HELPS.
How about a Dejur Dekon? A single lens reflex that did not have interchangeable lenses and blacked out after you pressed the shutter release. I took this camera up to the top of the Brooklyn tower of the Verrazano Bridge back in 1963, when there were only two towers and four cables done. The pictures I got on E.J. Korvette's color slide film, (The only film I could afford at the time.) are still among the very best pictures that I have ever taken.
I too have a Fujifilm X100 and although I do not have one, I understand that they sell an enlarged shutter release button that should help. Also, you might explore the many other "bags" not specifically for cameras that work for your purpose. I am a victim of arthritis also and find it limits my photography; I found the light little X100 excellent.
Try shooting with transmitted light. A black velvet background, with holes cut into it of the appropriate size, and light coming up from the bottom, through the gemstones. Experiment with many kinds of light, direction, etc. My experience was that point light sources worked best. I would think that some of today's LED flashlights, with adjustable beam with might work. I used microscope lamps. The same technique worked well for me photographing glass sculptures, and fine glassware.
I have another suggestion: I live in southeast Florida in a community that has two or three excellent bird photographers who are more than happy to share their skills. They will even take you on field trips with them to show you exactly how and what they do. (And also explain why!) I would refrain from purchasing any equipment until you go on one of these ride-alongs, so you actually get a taste of the kind of bird photography that you want to do, and then buy appropriate equipment. I have found books extremely helpful, but as someone once said to me: "You can read all the books on swimming you want to, but it don't mean a damn thing until you fall into the water!"
Great idea; great pictures!
I waited over a month, even after contacting Amazon as to my never receiving a response. This company clearly leaves something to be desired in terms of customer service!
Why do 90% of the photographs in your Gallery section look like they were taken for Peterson's Guide to the Birds or Flowers?
There's a story attributed to Picasso. He met with a young art student in his studio in Spain. The student asked, "Mr. Picasso, why do you paint the way you do, when you earlier paintings were so realistic?" Picasso declined to answer. Instead, he asked: "You are a rather handsome young man. Do you have a girlfriend?" The young man replied yes and Picasso asked if he had a picture of her. The young man took a picture out of his wallet and showed it to Picasso. Picasso took the picture and stared at it. "She's lovely." he said, "It's a pity she's so small."
Yes, I'm sure many of the "old school" photographers felt that way. Until they got in the darkroom, where they burned in, held back, tilted the easil. changed the contrast with different papers, and manipulated the Hell out of the image. Painters did it, hundreds of years ago; sculptors altered the perspective based on the angle that the piece was viewed at, and cave men probably put more animals on their walls than they actually saw! Every new wave of technology left the traditionalists decrying that this was the end of art as they knew it.
It is nice to see a viewpoint published with some empirical data to back it up. I always use UV filters and felt that they had no effect on the quality of my images. Thanks!
I have one also. It can be used completely automatically, or in any one of many highly controllable modes. I find it the ideal carry camera. One proviso: the manual leaves a great deal to be desired; if you want to get the most out of this exceptional piece of equipment, purchase one of the better books of instruction. I use The Complete Guide to Fujifilm's X100F Expert Insights for Experienced Photographers by Tony Phillips.
Some one once said to me,"A week after the wedding the bride and groom and their parents will remember the wedding. Two or three weeks after that even they won't have clear memories. The only memories that anyone will have after that are the photographs that I took and they will have that memory forever: what is that worth to you?"
When taking pictures like this, there is a tendency to pivot the camera around the tripod socket. This actually doesn't work. If you can contact someone really knowledgeable at the camera manufacturer, they may be able to tell you where the "first nodal point" of your lens is. That is usually somewhere under the middle (approximately; it differs from lens to lens) of your lens. I made a simple bracket that had a threaded hole for my tripod screw, and another for a 1/4" stove bolt that went into the camera. This allowed me to pivot the camera around this nodal point and not around the tripod socket. It resulted in images that fit together perfectly. Good luck!