I'm quite sure Fuji is already working on updates. They have proven with the x100 that development does not stop when the product ships.
Well, that's good news. Because even in bright light, my GF1 does not focus reliably and consistently anything like as quickly as the Hexar AF, so I guess you reckon the XPro1 is significantly faster than the GF1?
It's not good to be better than the worst. The 5D is a very old camera. The X-Pro AF behavior in low light is puzzling (this morning, at around EV 6 in daylight, it was pausing for 1/4 second before doing anything... which took a good second). In the same light, my D700 locked and focused in about 1/10 of a second - with a much slower, 15-year-old, 35-105 AF-D lens.
I think the point is right that the semiotics of this camera are that it is designed to be used successfully in low-light situations (I don't count concerts, for example, in this category because the lighting contrast makes it easy for anything to focus). Why do we otherwise care about noiseless performance at 3200 ISO or an f/1.4 lens - unless this is simply pitching to people who like to take night time landscapes or daylight bokeh pr0n (both of which functions are done better by things like the D800 anyway).
The point has been made by dreilly - correctly - that you can't apologize for the way something works by elimination, "oh, it's not a Leica," "oh, it's not a DSLR," "oh, it's not this," "oh, it's not that." It's in fact patronizing to suggest that people don't "get" what a camera is designed to do. Is it my lack of experience with rangefinders that's holding me back? Lack of experience with SLRs? Lack of experience with high-end compact AF cameras? After shooting with a variety of things for 27 years, what are people like me not "getting"? A lot of us don't have a place for a utility outfielder in a camera bag. And I hope that this camera is not such a beast.
Feting the X-Pro1 based on image quality in very controlled conditions is like feting a gifted child for having a high raw IQ - in neither case do you end up with something super-successful. You end up excusing quirks that ultimately undermine the program. There is certainly no reason to hold back on holding Fuji's feet to the fire on the focusing - which of all the challenges here should be the most straightforward to fix, possibly even with firmware upgrades. You can learn to work around a lot of things, but the "brain lock" I (it) was experiencing this morning was pretty troubling.
Dante
Send it back already Dante - it's not for you 🙂
Cheers,
Dave
I'm also familiar with every type of viewfinder (and combined viewfinder/rangefinder), and it's actually pretty uncommon to have a high-end camera where the framelines move but the range-finding target does not. The Contax G/G2, Fuji GA series, and Hexar AF are the only ones I can think of. The Hexar used only active AF that focused on the closest object it could see; the Fuji GA used active/passive hybrid AF; and the G/G2 used external passive AF (and had their own focusing challenges).
And I don't recall where this was ever attempted (by any maker) with an f/1.4 lens - where you have other issues to deal with anyway.
+1 Agreed.. It just boggles my mind on how some people voice negative opinion..... It's simple, you either use it & work around all the"quirks" or return it.
They may not be high end, but the RF patches on the R-D1 & the CV Bessas (& the current Zeiss Ikons) don't move, either. I believe the same goes for the Nikon SP, which certainly was high end for its era, & a few other RFs that I can't remember &/or check right now.
That's surprising to hear re the CV but even more so re the Zeiss cameras. Pretty much everything else in the last 10-15 years has had moving spots. I didn't realize my Hexar RF had one until I looked at it last night (it's been a while...)
Dante
I think the point is right that the semiotics of this camera are that it is designed to be used successfully in low-light situations (I don't count concerts, for example, in this category because the lighting contrast makes it easy for anything to focus).
This is the first time I have ever even thought about sending something back
Wow, great customer you are. 😀
Back to topic: The two main flaws of the X-Pro are price / performance (its a run-of-the-mill APS-camera after all) and the implentation of manual focus "by wire".
If you dont like it, why bother with it? Fuji missed a great opportunity to be the first to market a mirrorless full frame camera to mount virtually every lens on the planet. Instead, what they came up with is one overpriced NEX with a questionable "hybrid" viewfinder thing.
I know I dont want one.
This is correct, but surely you knew low light AF would not be the fastest on this camera. I mean it's CDAF isnt it? I know that other CDAF cameras like m4:3 etc have faster AF, but are they really faster in low light? What these cameras really need for low light is active IR either exclusively or as a secondary system. But nobody is going to do it because it means single point AF.
3. The power consumption suggestion led me to check the power save mode and quick start modes. Turning both off removed the "hesitation" thing when focusing. Apparently power-save causes the focusing system to go into sleep mode. Sheesh. Maybe useful if you are pounding through the desert. The question in my mind is how the power save mode got switched on, unless it came that way by default. I did notice some aperture sound I hadn't heard before (which meant it must have shipped "on").
This is like rule no.1 of the fuji X ownership club - turn quick start ON and turn power save OFF. If anyone is using their x100 or x-pro with power save on, you're losing at life. AF is much quicker with it disabled. It says this in the manual too.
Nice of them to ship the camera that way (probably to bolster claims about battery life).
I just got back from a week in Peru with my X100, and with that mode off, particularly if it's warm out, you'd be very suprised at how fast even an OEM battery will lose it - something like 1.5 cards @2Gb (so like 135 exposures). Usually, I am near reliable electricity - on that trip, it was pretty much a nail-biting 3-battery rotation due to the power consumption.
If you've just finished hiking to the top of Huayna Picchu, there are no re-does!
Dante