New X100 need some settings help

[ChrisP]

Tried to read the manual to figure this out but I can't seem to get it.


1) Can I change the ISO so I only have to worry about whole stop steps? I just want to see 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, and 6400. The rest are useless to me. Can I set it up this way?


2) I want to use the afl/ael button to focus for me and nothing else but I also want to see the parallax corrected focus marker. So can I a) set the focus marker to show up in MF mode? Or b) set it so that it doesn't focus on half press in af-s mode? and just focuses when I hit the AFL button on AF-S?

3) Can I get the histogram to display in the playback immediately following the image being taken (like when it displays in the viewfinder for 1.5 seconds).


Sorry I'm probably being stupid here and not interpreting the manual right but I can't figure out any of this...
Thanks in advance

 

[back alley]

you're not dumb...that manual requires a degree in something or other to be completely undersood...and after reading it several times...i don't have an answer for you!

 

[ChrisP]

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks for the encouragement.

I wonder how much the guy who wrote the thing got paid? I'm 99% sure I could do a better job for half the price!

you're not dumb...that manual requires a degree in something or other to be completely undersood...and after reading it several times...i don't have an answer for you!

P.s. The manual may suck but they almost make up for it by giving you that little plastic thing for install the strap clips. Little plastic opener things like that should come with all Gordy straps

 

[JonR]

I have not even opened the manual - much better to test it and to ask for questions in forums like this. Your people today never bother about manuals so I guess manufacturers spend less and less focus on those things.

Sorry - cannot help you with your questions but I am sure someone here knows!

Jon

 

[denbraven]

I'm not certain, but I think the answer is "no" to all your questions. I'm 50% certain on your first question and 70% on the rest of them - so don't take my answer for granted and hopefully someone will come and tell me that I'm wrong, but what you're asking is not something I have encountered in my X100 yet.

 

[ChrisP]

I asked over at dpreview as well and got a definitive "NO". Its a very nice camera and from what I can gather has very good image quality (especially high ISO which I love) but it makes you bend to its demands rather than being customizable and doing what you ask it to.

 

[denbraven]

Indeed, it's not very customizable. But at least it has one feature that not even my D7000 has: One-click 100% zoom on focus point in playback mode... Nikon seems to reserve this highly advanced feature for their higher end cameras, so I'm just glad I finally have that on X100 🙂

 

[Richard G]

I'm 100% certain it's no to your first question. You seem to be making heavy weather over this. The manual is not that bad. Look up KM 25's posts on his settings and the other posts in those threads. There are many highly satisfactory options.

 

[Arjay]

I have been using the X100 for two months, so I can answer from practice, not from just reading the manual:

1.: ISO can only be set in the steps you mentioned. However, the camera can select odd ISO values if you configure it for auto ISO mode.

2 a.: The parallax marker is available only in the optical viewfinder, and only in AF-S mode.

2 b.: This is a yes, sort of. Focus lock on the X100 works in a different way. Focusing in AF-S mode is always initiated by half-pressing the shutter button. When measuring focus, the camera is storing its last measurement to internal memory. If you subsequently press the AFL/AEL button, the camera will lock focus on the last measured value and then will not acquire focus on half-pressing the shutter until you either press AFL/AEL again or switch off the camera. Alternatively, you can configure the AFL/AEL button function to only force-fix the last measured focus value as long as you keep pressing the AFL/AEL button. So, the X100 does NOT emulate what some of us know e.g. from Nikon DSLRs, where you can configure the camera acquire focus by pressing a button other than the shutter release.

3.: No, the histogram cannot be displayed in immediate image playback mode 🙁 . You can, however configure the X100 to display an image w/ histogram for playback mode, so that you don't have to cycle through various modes every time you view another picture. It may also be worth noting that the histogram reflects the luminance distribution of a JPG file, so you'll have a lot more leeway if you are shooting RAW files, i.e. this has never really been a serious problem for my style of shooting.

But the camera is offering something that's even better: It is displaying a continuously updated live histogram before you half-press the shutter button. That is, as long as you do not use the camera in fully manual exposure, you will always see a very close approximation of the histogram of your future picture ahead of time. You can even watch the histogram change if you turn the EV correction wheel...