Niggles

[noimmunity]

After a few days of using the camera, I have a few minor niggles to report that I have not seen reported elsewhere. Sorry, people, none of them are show-stoppers.

1) When the "power save" feature is engaged, the user will notice that there is a phenomenon that I would describe as a slight "misting" of the OVF in the moment before focus is obtained. The "mist" is distracting. Disengaging power save solves the problem. In some situations, however, power save may be desirable: besides its obvious function of saving power, it also silences the light "chatter" of the aperture blades that is a normal part of operation on many AF lenses.

2) When the AF mode is in "area", it may be impossible to lock on to targets at infinity; "multi" mode is suitable.

3) There is no way to preview framelines.

So far, so good. For all intents and purposes it is as responsive as any rangefinder camera.

 

[celluloidprop]

The X100 mists as well - I turned on power save yesterday to see, and it goes away with continuous shooting (no reason to power down). Seems to just be an unavoidable (as of yet) function of the electronic display in the OVF - you can see a rectangle that projects almost to the edge of the viewfinder and clear glass beyond it. This is what 'mists.'

I found it to be very annoying in low-light and less so in the sun. I'll probably deal with the chatter and leave power save off.

 

[jsrockit]

Nothing too horrible... I'll survive. 😉 How are you liking it overall? Did you get a keeper out of it yet?

 

[rbelyell]

maybe i just havent looked hard enough, but i have not read anything about how this camera operates with legacy manual focus lenses. might you have some insight into that, as well as any accompanying focus 'aids' the camera has?
tony

 

[noimmunity]

Nothing too horrible... I'll survive. 😉 How are you liking it overall? Did you get a keeper out of it yet?

The more I use it, the more I appreciate what a well-thought out tool it really is. Everything is so easy to adjust and control, the ergonomics (size and weight) are a dream, the OVF just blows me away, the focus is fine in all conditions, and the image quality is way ahead of my M8.

I'm really excited about taking this with me to Taiwan for a couple weeks of shooting events there in April.

 

[noimmunity]

maybe i just havent looked hard enough, but i have not read anything about how this camera operates with legacy manual focus lenses. might you have some insight into that, as well as any accompanying focus 'aids' the camera has?
tony

It's still just a little too early to tell, but what I am seeing so far are that wide angles like the CV 12 and 15 don't have a serious problem with color shift, yet they may be prone to slight softness in the corner, particularly the 15.

The magnified view on the EVF that would be used with manual lenses appears to be functionally effective. I am holding off and waiting for a Hawk adapter with close focus capabilities.

 

[RealXenuis]

It's still just a little too early to tell, but what I am seeing so far are that wide angles like the CV 12 and 15 don't have a serious problem with color shift, yet they may be prone to slight softness in the corner, particularly the 15.

The magnified view on the EVF that would be used with manual lenses appears to be functionally effective. I am holding off and waiting for a Hawk adapter with close focus capabilities.

I've been using mine with the Kipon and my CV 15mm II and am getting pretty good results. No color shift at any distance. Good to go.

 

[noimmunity]

I've been using mine with the Kipon and my CV 15mm II and am getting pretty good results. No color shift at any distance. Good to go.

awesome!

do you see some softness in the corners? and, if so, how much does it mean to you?

Holding off on the Kipon adapter waiting for the Hawk adapter, here...

 

[stormhalvorsen]

My new worst enemy is the Quick Settings button. I seem unable to lift the camera to my face without pressing down this button. It's very easily pressed and located just where my thumb needs to be when gripping the camera.

Other than that I think most annoyances I can think of have been covered in reviews, such as very inaccurate framelines in the optical viewfinder.

Waiting impatiently for Lightroom support.

 

[noimmunity]

My new worst enemy is the Quick Settings button. I seem unable to lift the camera to my face without pressing down this button. It's very easily pressed and located just where my thumb needs to be when gripping the camera.

Other than that I think most annoyances I can think of have been covered in reviews, such as very inaccurate framelines in the optical viewfinder.

Waiting impatiently for Lightroom support.

I was having the same problem at first, but within a day had trained myself to avoid that.

The placement is unfortunate, but in good pavlovian fashion can be overcome.

It's funny what bothers one and not the other. Nick Devlin reported on LL being terribly annoyed by the placement of the AE and AF buttons, but again, it's not been a problem for me.

 

[rbelyell]

It's still just a little too early to tell, but what I am seeing so far are that wide angles like the CV 12 and 15 don't have a serious problem with color shift, yet they may be prone to slight softness in the corner, particularly the 15.

The magnified view on the EVF that would be used with manual lenses appears to be functionally effective. I am holding off and waiting for a Hawk adapter with close focus capabilities.

thank you jon. is 'focus magnification' the only manual focus tool the camera has? if so, what is the factor of magnification? my ep2 has a choice of x7 or x10.

continued enjoyment!
tony

 

[noimmunity]

thank you jon. is 'focus magnification' the only manual focus tool the camera has? if so, what is the factor of magnification? my ep2 has a choice of x7 or x10.

continued enjoyment!
tony

so far, magnification is the only tool, and it is just in one factor, occupying the whole screen. I guess it won't be that difficult to use with RF lenses, the main problem being rather the limits of the EVF itself.

With wides used in zone focusing mode, the camera can be used in OVF mode with dial-in framelines that ought to make the XP1 an awesome street machine. Needless to say, Fuji's own XF lenses can also be used in zone focusing mode. It is quite easy to set up, as Petteri Sulonen has explained on DPreview.

 

[RealXenuis]

awesome!

do you see some softness in the corners? and, if so, how much does it mean to you?

Holding off on the Kipon adapter waiting for the Hawk adapter, here...

I havent noticed it particularly soft in the corners, but I haven't scrutinized it with a test yet. I'm going to sell this lens and get the Fuji 18

 

[noimmunity]

I havent noticed it particularly soft in the corners, but I haven't scrutinized it with a test yet. I'm going to sell this lens and get the Fuji 18

I think that is a good move. The 18 is a very attractive combination of size, weight, and image quality at a nice price point, and reminds in that sense of the CV 35/1.4, which in spite of its detractors. is really unique.

I don't really need a 27 efov, so I'm going to get the 60 next, and follow that next year with the 23 and 14. The 35, 60 and 23 are stupendous lenses on the XP1 body by any standards. I pray to the assembled wise ones and holders of the lineage that the 14 will be, too.

I won't hesitate to have fun with M lenses when the right adapter comes out (I'm waiting for the Hawk one); but I will use them only in situations where I'm not looking for even sharpness across the frame.

People complain about the price of the XP1 body, but when you look at how good the principal lenses are and their relative inexpensive cost, I think it works out to be a very good deal.

 

[Shade]

Im liking mine very well and have posted a few pics in my blog. I have not encountered any of the problems you mentioned. The niggle I hate is their raw format for not being dng..