Erwin Puts on the X100

[NickTrop]

How bad is the shutter lag on the X100? I can't imagine it would be terrible. The article by Putts is favorable of the camera and is essentially telling photographers to "stop blaming their equipment..." That said, I think telling photographers to "anticipate the decisive moment" is a bit of a stretch...

 

[Out to Lunch]

Mr. Puts is giving you his take on photography. Sure it has to do with the X100...as it does with any camera produced since 1850. Interesting? Not if you are interested in commentary on the X100.

 

[Adanac]

The X100 only has lag if one chooses to allow lag to creep in. For many, if not most, users of the camera, lag will be a non-issue due to the way they use the tool. After using the camera extensively for four weeks I was surprised to run across a discussion on lag as I'd not once experienced lag as an issue and some of the photography I do does involve in capturing just the right moment.

Perhaps not assuming the camera is a "toy" would be a good start for some. If one has used various sophisticated cameras before, and expect much of the same from the X100, you won't be disappointed to find out there are multiple approaches to obtaining focus lock, exposure lock, and readying the camera to reduce - virtually eliminate - lag. If one takes the stock camera out of the bag and simply stabs at the shutter release, then lag is going to be your companion.

I focus using manual focus actuated by the AFL button; recompose and/or first half-press shutter to lock exposure and then recompose; and wait for the moment. It's the same thumb and forefinger pattern I use on auto focus SLRs so naturally that's what I sought out from the X100 first and as it gave to me what I expected, I never looked back.

Once you grab exposure lock with the half-press, the camera is armed and there is virtually no lag when you activate the camera's leaf shutter. There is also almost no sound, which is a real bonus.

The bottom line for me - it's the first small digital camera I've wanted to carry around with me, the sort of camera I've been waiting for, because it offers the sort of creative control I found lacking on most compact digitals; adds excellent output; has a look I appreciate; enjoys silent operation; and does all this for a price I don't mind spending.

 

[250swb]

Perhaps not assuming the camera is a "toy" would be a good start for some. If one has used various sophisticated cameras before, and expect much of the same from the X100, you won't be disappointed to find out there are multiple approaches to obtaining focus lock, exposure lock, and readying the camera to reduce - virtually eliminate - lag.

The truth is that shutter lag wouldn't be a problem if the camera looked like a modern P&S instead of a poor mans Leica M. Expectations for it were driven far too high just by the way it looks, and hence the way people imagined it would work. As a P&S with a great electronic brain the supposition was the X100 would be a Leica beater, and surely no company would style a camera like that unless it could deliver? Yet it can't get beyond the first basic step, a fast shutter button.

As a black plastic P&S such expectations for the X100 would be on a par with other P&S camera's, like the Leica X1, which while keeping a styling clue to the M brand Leica wisely avoided making it look retro, it is was it is.

Steve

 

[Brian Mosley]

The truth is that shutter lag isn't a problem - if you're prepared to use the tool correctly.

I think you can be pretty rich, and still decide a Leica is too expensive. Anything with electronics (including the Leica M9) is a consumer device - the X100 strikes a pretty good balance imho.

Cheers

Brian

 

[jsrockit]

Anything with electronics (including the Leica M9) is a consumer device.

Any camera you can buy, including a film camera, is a consumer device.

 

[bwcolor]

The truth is that shutter lag wouldn't be a problem if the camera looked like a modern P&S instead of a poor mans Leica M. Expectations for it were driven far too high just by the way it looks, and hence the way people imagined it would work. As a P&S with a great electronic brain the supposition was the X100 would be a Leica beater, and surely no company would style a camera like that unless it could deliver? Yet it can't get beyond the first basic step, a fast shutter button.

As a black plastic P&S such expectations for the X100 would be on a par with other P&S camera's, like the Leica X1, which while keeping a styling clue to the M brand Leica wisely avoided making it look retro, it is was it is.

Steve

Don't understand your post. I've owned the X100 for a good while and my experience is much counter to your experience? Is this really your conclusion based on long term use of this camera? I just came back from Hawaii and left thirty other cameras and many tens of thousands of dollars of lenses at home. It worked out great.

 

[gavinlg]

I got to use an x100 this week. There is no shutter lag problem. The AF isn't as fast as a good dslr, but it's not slow - it's perfectly adequate.

But there's no discernable shutter lag - that I know. Some of you guys are talking rubbish!

 

[Jeff Charles]

The X100 only has lag if one chooses to allow lag to creep in. For many, if not most, users of the camera, lag will be a non-issue due to the way they use the tool...

If one takes the stock camera out of the bag and simply stabs at the shutter release, then lag is going to be your companion...

I focus using manual focus actuated by the AFL button; recompose and/or first half-press shutter to lock exposure and then recompose; and wait for the moment.

Half pressing and waiting for the moment is the ideal method to eliminate lag with the X100. It's how I use my X100. Occasionally, though, things align without warning, or for some reason I am not ready, and a quick stab of the shutter release is the only way to get the shot. It's an exception, but it does happen.

In very low light, if I have not prefocused, there will be some AF delay. Keep in mind that the X100 does not have a focus-priority mode, so it will fire even if it has not gotten focus lock. To be sure that focus is locked, you need to wait for audible or visible confirmation. That adds some human lag. Fortunately, as light levels increase, the X100 will usually achieve focus with a quick stab, even if you do not wait for confirmation.

In a broad range of scene brightness levels, not too dark, not too bright, the X100 will AF and take the shot with very little lag, even without half pressing. It is a fact, however, that in bright light, aperture blade movement adds lag. Half pressing in anticipation is the only way to eliminate it. And in very low light, the AF slows down (although it is still very reliable.)

One situation that needs care is a series of casual portraits as the person changes expression or position. It is critical to half press immediately after each shot to be ready for the next "moment."

Jeff

 

[Adanac]

Indeed Jeff, sometimes there's no other choice but to make a stab from a cold start and in those cases the X100 time to exposure will be at its worst.

One of the reasons I've grown to like the manual focus mode / AFL button press to focus the lens is that focus remains there; chances are somewhat decent that if I need to raise the camera to my eye quickly for the next shot, it might still be focused on something useful from the last. Of course life doesn't always work out that way.

For my own use of the camera, if I had to prioritize and choose the top two improvements that could be made all in firmware (I'm not at all certain "lag" is one of those items), I can't honestly say that reducing the noted pre-exposure aperture blade movement lag would be one of the top two for me.

I think.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[250swb]

Don't understand your post. I've owned the X100 for a good while and my experience is much counter to your experience? Is this really your conclusion based on long term use of this camera? I just came back from Hawaii and left thirty other cameras and many tens of thousands of dollars of lenses at home. It worked out great.

You will note that I didn't say the X100 didn't work. Not sure which words you jumbled up and put together to conclude that.

I was talking about expectations of the camera, and that those expectations are driven to higher levels by the retro street shooter Leica beating hype that preceeded it, caused largely by the way it looks, not functions. Yes it has a pretty much instant shutter if you pre-focus, but since it has AF the expectation would rightly be that it is as ground breaking as the rest of the camera, not that it simply works pretty much like any other AF for a camera of its class. This is what reviewers and many users are baffled by, the package doesn't meet the expectation, hence its the main thing they complain about. Clearly the rest of the package makes for a fine camera. If it looked like the opposition it would be compared to the opposition and shutter lag as it is perceived wouldn't be a problem.


Steve

 

[bwcolor]

You will note that I didn't say the X100 didn't work. Not sure which words you jumbled up and put together to conclude that.

I was talking about expectations of the camera, and that those expectations are driven to higher levels by the retro street shooter Leica beating hype that preceeded it, caused largely by the way it looks, not functions. Yes it has a pretty much instant shutter if you pre-focus, but since it has AF the expectation would rightly be that it is as ground breaking as the rest of the camera, not that it simply works pretty much like any other AF for a camera of its class. This is what reviewers and many users are baffled by, the package doesn't meet the expectation, hence its the main thing they complain about. Clearly the rest of the package makes for a fine camera. If it looked like the opposition it would be compared to the opposition and shutter lag as it is perceived wouldn't be a problem.


Steve

Sorry, but I mostly saw expectations of a great viewfinder, wonderful lens in a small package. Folks that liked the retro look found that a plus, but most of us could care less about the look, but do like to have the controls where we can get at them quickly. I've a pre-order in on the NEX-7 and I have concerns regarding the EVG and not that fact that it isn't retro.

I'm guessing that you either haven't used the camera, or the features that it brings to the table are not of interest to you. You might notice that the two most talked about features were the unique viewfinder and the image quality. Everyone knew going in that it was a contrast sensitivity autofocus, so I doubt that many were expecting to shoot fast moving objects. It also has superb high ISO performance in a small package. The whole package is really groundbreaking. I own a lot of Leica gear and could care less that it is made by Leica and like most people that purchased the X100, I looked for a small camera with great optics and great files. I got what I was looking for, so we must disagree.

 

[rxmd]

Folks that liked the retro look found that a plus, but most of us could care less about the look

I'm not quite clear on whom you mean by "us" here, and frankly I don't think you were either at the time of writing. Maybe you could care less, but that should be "I" then in your sentence, not "most of us". Because if by any chance by "us" you mean "photographers at RFF", please remember that you write this on a forum where the most-watched thread is probably "Let's see your Leica M" by a wide margin (6000 posts, more than a million views).

Like it or not, this crowd does seem to care about looks; in fact it cares quite a lot. Making the X100 look like it looks is a major point of attraction for many and sets the context for where people will place it and what they will expect from it.

 

[bwcolor]

Perhaps you are correct, but I'm suspecting that most of us like the look, but shoot rangefinder because we prefer the functionality that a rangefinder brings. I like the look of the X100 and dressed it in a nice red case, but the look wasn't at the top of the list. The viewfinder was the main topic and the breakthrough even and that was a functional issue.

 

[Jeff Charles]

Indeed Jeff, sometimes there's no other choice but to make a stab from a cold start and in those cases the X100 time to exposure will be at its worst.

One of the reasons I've grown to like the manual focus mode / AFL button press to focus the lens is that focus remains there; chances are somewhat decent that if I need to raise the camera to my eye quickly for the next shot, it might still be focused on something useful from the last. Of course life doesn't always work out that way.

For my own use of the camera, if I had to prioritize and choose the top two improvements that could be made all in firmware (I'm not at all certain "lag" is one of those items), I can't honestly say that reducing the noted pre-exposure aperture blade movement lag would be one of the top two for me.

I think.

Cheers,
Mike

The bright-light lag is disconcerting for me, because it is not "normal." A third of my X100 photos were taken at ISO 1600 and above, but the slower AF at those light levels has not bothered me. I just expect the camera to be more responsive in bright light. It's psychological.

Regarding locking AF, I prefer AF-S, followed by pressing the AFL AEL button to hold focus. AF-S has several advantages over MF. The OVF can show a parallax correction frame; the OVF AF frame is smaller; and the EVF can be set for a very small focus frame.

Jeff

 

[Jeff Charles]

Like it or not, this crowd does seem to care about looks;

I've owned a lot of film and digital cameras, but I've never seen as much interest in how the camera looks as I've seen with the X100. People are buying expensive, admittedly good looking, leather cases for the X100. As I recall from SLR film days, never-ready cases usually ended up in a drawer to gather dust.

I guess the cases do protect and maybe improve the grip, but I find that the X100 handles very well "bare" with a Camdapter CamStrap attached. Also, a leather case almost has to restrict button access to some degree.

Would I have bought an X100 if it was ugly? Probably not, to be honest.

It's an interesting phenomenon.

Jeff

 

[35mmdelux]

Thank you, Erwin.. looking forward to your review. Danke!

 

[semilog]

My total personal contact time with the X100 is maybe 5 minutes in a camera store. I was very impressed, though I plan to keep shooting with my existing cameras, especially my film rangefinder.

But here's the thing. I look at a lot of street photography on flickr (I'm a moderator at Seattle Street), and I'll be darned if I can't usually spot the submissions taken on the X100 – they look fantastic, especially in black and white. Much better than what I typically see with greyscale conversion from other cameras. And the color results are distinctive and terrific, as well. The average quality (composition, subject, moment decisif) of the street work that I'm seeing done with the X100 is up to par with or better than the work I'm seeing from any other system. Probably better. That comparison includes Leica systems, both film and digital.

For example: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49175447@N02/6049536245/lightbox/

Ultimately we care about results, I think, and from what I'm seeing, this camera is delivering in a big way. Most of the whining seems to come from two kinds of photographers: those who haven't used the camera, and those who have used it and expected it to behave just like a Leica (or just like a D3). I have little patience for either group.

 

[David_Manning]

I found this on Flickr this morning...very interesting. David Alan Harvey is a big Leica shooter, both film and then digital...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kainproductions/6179725989/in/pool-867613@N20/lightbox/

 

[semilog]

Anything with electronics (including the Leica M9) is a consumer device.

So you're saying that an iPod nano, an F-22 Raptor, and an FEI Titan are all consumer devices. Thanks for clearing that up.