Fuji X100: What we know

[Richard G]

The shutter is a 4 blade shutter according to Chapter 1 of the 'story' link dealing with the Fujinon lens.

 

[Spyro]

The shutter is a 4 blade shutter according to Chapter 1 of the 'story' link dealing with the Fujinon lens.

Does that mean its a leaf shutter? (excuse my ignorance, I honestly dont know much about shutters other than that leaf means quiet and flash sync at all speeds)

 

[Richard G]

The X100 site speaks of a 'lens shutter system' but the illustration of the shutter is like the focal plane shutter in most modern cameras, not a leaf shutter.

 

[Matus]

Well, in any case the shutter is placed between lens elements and is very small - this seems to give us hope for a quiet camera ...

 

[ChrisN]

The shutter appears to be a novel form of leaf shutter, very compact and thin, placed between lens elements and adjacent to the aperture iris and the switchable 3-stop ND filter.

Details on this page http://www.finepix-x100.com/story/

And some of the images published on that page:

And yes, I think Matus is right - it should be very quiet. 🙂

 

[btgc]

What I know? X100 is most discussed camera here over couple of last years.

EDIT: left picture of shutter reminds me what I see under front element of Mju 35/2.8 (Stylus Epic).

 

[Richard G]

Pickett, I think this camera may well deliver and in the meantime I'm loving it. I got within a few inches of a new M9 a week ago and anything that stops me buying that is good.

 

[Dante_Stella]

If they are following the NEX model, the shutter only serves as a blind for the sensor and will operate at a relatively fixed speed (which will not be 1/4000 second or anything near it). The actual exposure control is electronic.

Dante

Who says it's going to have a leaf shutter? The shutter speed dial goes up to 1/4000th, and while it may be possible to create a leaf shutter that fast, I doubt we'll see one in the X100.

 

[Dante_Stella]

I'm watching the X100 as a replacement for my battered Hexar but have the same suspicion. I set aside enough to buy an X100, but I am not holding my breath.

The NEX is a very responsive, sure-footed camera in terms of AF and frame rate, its low-light performance is up to APS-C SLR levels, is reasonably good at focusing legacy lenses, and does 1080p video. It's also 30-35% cheaper. Jtec already has a screw-in cold-shoe, and if you check out the flash, there are more than enough contacts to support an EVF. It is, however, very loud - but if your taste is shooting strangers outdoors, no one will hear it.

The other thing that might happen this spring is that the Micro 4/3 consortium might stop floundering and release something with a quantum leap in performance or a galilean optical viewfinder.

Dante

I think when this thing finally appears, it's going to make the sales of the NEX sky rocket!

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

The other thing that might happen this spring is that the Micro 4/3 consortium might stop floundering and release something with a quantum leap in performance or a galilean optical viewfinder.

Dante

I wouldn't say floundering, but I would certainly say languishing. The GH2 is a promising development.

If the apparently forthcoming Oly "Pro" m4/3 body doesn't deliver, I will give the X100 a try.

 

[tapesonthefloor]

The Fuji Guys are apparently trying to get to the bottom of something we don't yet know: the manner of focus control.

First related tweet says, quite confidently:

http://twitter.com/fujiguys/status/15414996162838530

But they follow up with a less certain:

http://twitter.com/fujiguys/status/16577188736278528

Fingers are crossed that this thing has a fixed, mechanical focusing mechanism. It makes focusing on-the-fly (usually for quick street shots) so much easier.

As an aside, who are "The Fuji Guys"?

Edit: The Fuji Guys seem to be members of the FUJIFILM Canada team. I'd say they're an automatic follow if you're on Twitter and are excited about the X100 in any way.

We've got our answer, not that there was much doubt: focusing is fly-by-wire.

http://twitter.com/fujiguys/status/22145798162612224

 

[tapesonthefloor]

As well:

there will be focus distance for both OVF and EVF with option for manual focus check (zoom in centre)

http://twitter.com/fujiguys/status/22147744630050816

 

[GSNfan]

^ Both of those links don't work.

but here are some of the tidbits that caught my attention, from http://twitter.com/fujiguys :

-X100 manual focus is fly-by-wire. Focus ring can be adjusted to rotate clock-wise or counter clockwise.

thats neat.

-X100 base iso will be iso200. Low setting can be set for 100iso and up to 12800

Why ISO200 as default?

-X100 function button options, iso (default), preview depth of field...

thats a great feature!

 

[ampguy]

probably because of the sensor

probably because of the sensor

I wonder if the 100 "pull" setting invokes the built in ND function.

Reading the tweets, the whole thing sounds like a NEX, only with a fixed lens.

This is a good thing. Will be shown at CES so more should be known soon.

^ Both of those links don't work.

but here are some of the tidbits that caught my attention, from http://twitter.com/fujiguys :

-X100 manual focus is fly-by-wire. Focus ring can be adjusted to rotate clock-wise or counter clockwise.

thats neat.

-X100 base iso will be iso200. Low setting can be set for 100iso and up to 12800

Why ISO200 as default?

-X100 function button options, iso (default), preview depth of field...

thats a great feature!

 

[GSNfan]

I wonder if the 100 "pull" setting invokes the built in ND function.

Reading the tweets, the whole thing sounds like a NEX, only with a fixed lens.

This is a good thing. Will be shown at CES so more should be known soon.

Probably the sensor tweak to push it up to ISO 12800 was a response to NEX series, but other than that some of the features mentioned in the above tweets make X100 on par with prosumer level DSLRs when it comes to features.

I'm not sure about why ISO100 is not the default ISO setting, but you could be right about invoking the ND filter to pull one stop.

 

[Arjay]

I'm not sure about why ISO100 is not the default ISO setting, but you could be right about invoking the ND filter to pull one stop.

Many current APS-C DSLRs have 200 ISO as base sensitivity. Most of them also offer ISO 100 as a pull setting. They achieve this sentitivity purely with electronic means, generally at the cost of some contrast rendition range.

Let's hope that the X100 works similarly, so that using the ND filter also remains an option at this sensitivity.

 

[GSNfan]

Many current APS-C DSLRs have 200 ISO as base sensitivity. Most of them also offer ISO 100 as a pull setting. They achieve this sentitivity purely with electronic means, generally at the cost of some contrast rendition range.

Let's hope that the X100 works similarly, so that using the ND filter also remains an option at this sensitivity.

Its mostly entry level DSLRs that have a base ISO of 200 so I hope Fuji sensor is not in the same ballpark as those entry level DSLRs.

 

[tapesonthefloor]

^ Both of those links don't work.

I think they work if one's logged in to Twitter, but I blame T's terrible UI for giving me inoperable URLs. Anyway, I've amended them (removed the SEO-serving shebangs), so let me know if they work now.

 

[Arjay]

Its mostly entry level DSLRs that have a base ISO of 200 so I hope Fuji sensor is not in the same ballpark as those entry level DSLRs.

I'm not sure if that's right. If it were, then all Nikon APS-C DSLRs were entry-level cameras. In fact, they're not.

 

[tapesonthefloor]

Reading the tweets, the whole thing sounds like a NEX, only with a fixed lens.

Except one is a camera, and the other is a sensor with a lens mount.

🙂 Sorry, but I'm not a fan of Sony's recent cameras, and I'm under no obligation to keep that a secret.