Multnomah Falls is an iconic scenic stop along the historic Columbia River Highway in Oregon. Found within the Columbia River Gorge, it is the tallest year-round waterfall in Oregon, and the most visited natural site in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The famous footbridge was constructed in 1915, while the gift-shop at the bottom—originally a lodge—was built in 1925, and both are on the National Register of Historic Places. It is an incredible location to experience, with beauty that rivals what one might find within National Parks.
I recently visited Multnomah Falls, and used my Fujifilm X100V and iPhone 11 to photograph this amazing spot. Unsurprisingly, I had several of my Film Simulation Recipes programmed into my X100V, and I used my RitchieCam camera app on my iPhone. Because there is a lot of mist from the falls, and it was a rainy day (as is common there), having weather-sealed cameras was important—both the X100V (as long as a filter is on the front) and the iPhone can handle getting wet, and both did get wet. Really wet.
While it might seem unnecessary to carry both an X100V and an iPhone, that turned out not to be the case for two reasons: focal-length, and ease of sharing. The X100V has a very useful 34.5mm (equivalent) focal-length lens, while the iPhone 11 has a 26mm (equivalent) camera and 13mm (equivalent) camera (if I had the “Pro” version, it would also include a 52mm camera, but alas I don’t have that model). The X100V was wide-angle enough to capture some good photographs of the falls, but the wider-angle lenses on the iPhone 11 were often better options, and I used it more than the Fujifilm camera at this location. To the second point, I was able to text pictures of the falls to some family and friends immediately—before even getting back to the car—and share with you via social media pictures of the falls within minutes. The X100V pictures were pretty quick and easy to share, too—thanks to the wonderful JPEG output of the camera—but not quite as immediate as the iPhone images.
What’s better, X100V or iPhone? For pure image quality, the Fujifilm camera is hands down better, but that only really matters if you are viewing the pictures large. Looking at them on this website or on social media, the quality difference is hard to spot, and even if you can see it, the quality difference is pretty insignificant. If you were viewing 11″ x 14″ prints of the pictures, the quality difference would still be fairly small, although if you compared them side-by-side you could tell without much trouble that the X100V is superior. But if you are viewing 16″ x 20″ prints or larger, the iPhone images just don’t hold up nearly as well as the Fujifilm. So the X100V is definitely the better tool if you might print the pictures large, but the iPhone is a capable tool if you don’t think you’ll be printing large—let’s face it, most pictures don’t get printed large, or even printed at all.
There’s no reason why both the X100V and the iPhone (or other cellphone camera) can’t both live together in peace and harmony. They’re different photographic tools that have different advantages and disadvantages, and they can both serve purposes within your photography. Film Simulation Recipes make the Fujifilm workflow more streamlined and the process more enjoyable. RitchieCam does the same thing for your iPhone photography. One tool might be better in a certain circumstance, and the other might be better in another circumstance, and perhaps both might be useful in a circumstance like Multnomah Falls.
Do you like the Fujifilm X100V pictures better, the iPhone pictures better, some of each, or none at all? Which Film Simulation Recipe that I used do you prefer? Which RitchieCam filter did the best? Let me know what you think in the comments!
Download the Fuji X Weekly App here:
Download the RitchieCam App here:
I’m beginning to think that any camera that exists is better than the Fujifilm x100v. That is because the x100v has been on back order for over a year in the United States, and Fujifilm is not saying anything about that.
My X100V is in the shop … in Singapore. While I’m an American and bought my X100V in the use (May of 2020), I spend 11 months of the year in Cambodia. Recently my camera developed a problem w/ the viewfinder. The local Fujifilm co, based in Singapore, had to send it there for repairs. Then they told me it was going to cost $730 USD to repair it! Apparently the viewfinder + lens is all one unit, and an expensive one at that. I sent it off mid-January, didn’t hear back for 6+ weeks, and the local shop has no idea when it might be fixed and shipped back back to Phnom Penh. I’m not saying that’s worse that not being able to find the X100V in stock, but it’s not any better.
Yikes! That’s both expensive and a long time to wait. Hope it is fixed for you soon.
I don’t think it’s because Fujifilm wants it to be on back order, but due to global shortages of parts. I think it has affected most, if not all, electronic companies, to some extend or another. I hope that it returns to be in-stock very soon.
In the small size presented the iPhone photos draw my attention more. Probably its tiny sensor gets all in focus; the automatic HDR (although not sure if it applies for third app cams as yours) extracts a nice range in shadows and highlights; and the wider angle lenses allows grab more of the awesome vastness. All three are characteristics very useful for landscape; or probably it was the faster to use?. Said that the Fujifilm X100V photo of the waterfall with the Kodachrome recipe 1 looks both fantastic and real, makes me think in some Lord of the Rings movie scenes.
Years ago I read an article, I think by Tim Parkin, he made a test photo with his iPhone (4 or 5?) of a very nice scarlet tree with strangely twisted branches in middle of a muted forest. He returned with his large format film camera, carefully made the same framing with the same light, except the depth of focus was narrowed to the tree; the iPhone photograph still looked perfect and in a way the other camera couldn’t replicate. It happened to me too. With this, already very long, comment I mean that what you tried to accomplish is a quite tough task, usually the mind will took one shot instinctively taking in account the traits of the tool we use more or faster, and the other tool, as excellent as it is too, will feel like out of place when trying to replicate instead of compliment each other.
Very interesting! Sometimes one tool might work perfect, and another less so, even though you might think it is the “better” option. Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment!
There’s not one recipe used here that doesn’t degrade the image and mask any attempt to get a sense of what either camera can do. Such recipes are for amateurs and Instagram.
There are many well-known, successful, professional photographers who use these recipes on the regular for their paid work. I hear about it often since these people message me about it. I understand that you may not be aware of it yourself, so I will excuse your ignorance. But the “it’s for amateurs and Instagram” argument is very tired and needs to be put out to pasture. There’s a whole other world, but close-mindedness makes it difficult to see.
That’s pretty harsh. I view these recipes as 1) a way to get a certain “look” straight out of the camera, 2) attempts to create the look of a certain film stock, and/or 3) a way to avoid spending much time in post-processing. I use several of them, but often process the RAW version because that best meets my needs.