Fuji X100

I can't believe people actually expected the MF to be like a M8 ... come on... that's just lame.
 
Matus said:
Slightly off-topic, but I would not discard the X100 because of the MF. I would rather see it as digital version of Hexar AF - that camera has no indication of the focus distance in the viewfinder at all and there are many happy users.
...
Click to expand...

Funny you should say that. That is one of the primary reasons why I sold my Hexar AF. I loved the lens. The controls sucked, and the AF drove me bananas. I would frequently get images, especially when shooting wide open, where the camera hadn't focused where I had intended and it wasn't that straightforward to discover the failure until it was too late. BTW, from what I recall the Hexar has a distance indicator in the VF.

Here in an example of such an AF fail.


jan13_img598 by mjnewhook, on Flickr
 
Interesting review/comments from John Goldsmith in the link above:

"While firmware updates will likely improve most of the complaints mentioned here, such as the slow manual focus, the warm up time, and the reliability of it turning on, the lack of a precise method to quickly focusing is unforgivable, in my opinion. Thus, the Fuji X100 is not a professional grade camera and I would never use it for a professional job.
 
dfoo said:
Funny you should say that. That is one of the primary reasons why I sold my Hexar AF. I loved the lens. The controls sucked, and the AF drove me bananas. I would frequently get images, especially when shooting wide open, where the camera hadn't focused where I had intended and it wasn't that straightforward to discover the failure until it was too late. BTW, from what I recall the Hexar has a distance indicator in the VF.

Here in an example of such an AF fail.


jan13_img598 by mjnewhook, on Flickr
Click to expand...

+1

This is exactly the reason why I sold my Hexar AF years ago. The inaccurate AF was driving me nuts even though I loved the IQ of the lens.

I now realize that the X100 is very similar to a digital Hexar AF, and my GAS for it has cooled off considerably after reading user reports about the focusing functionality of it.

--Warren
 
monochromejrnl said:
Interesting review/comments from John Goldsmith in the link above:

"While firmware updates will likely improve most of the complaints mentioned here, such as the slow manual focus, the warm up time, and the reliability of it turning on, the lack of a precise method to quickly focusing is unforgivable, in my opinion. Thus, the Fuji X100 is not a professional grade camera and I would never use it for a professional job.
Click to expand...

Is there a precise way to quickly focus a rangefinder? I can shoot fast moving items with my 1DMKIII, but can not do so with my rangefinder cameras, sort of shooting stopped down to increase depth of field. He states that he has Leica rangefinders. I assume that he believes them to be professional. I would think that most situations requiring fast focus would be (with the X100) handled by increasing the ISO and shooting stopped down. Perhaps this would not work in low light and the background might show more clarity than what is desired, but how does he handle this situation with his M9?
 
Last edited:
Another great feature of the X100

Another great feature of the X100

I just discovered another great feature of this wonderful little camera. When I first got the camera, I didn't think I'd have any use for the Electronic View Finder option. The optical viewfinder is so nice, I didn't see the need for the EVF. But today I thought I'd try out the camera's b&w capability. I set it to make "monochrome" images, and then I thought: Does the EVF now show the world in b&w? YES! Now that is cool! If you've ever wondered whether a scene would be better in color or b&w and couldn't make up your mind, this feature is for you.

Other complaints I've read here are insiginificant once you actually use the camera. Its got more really useful features than any other camera in its class, and for that matter any of the Leicas as well.

So far, things I'm super happy with:
• Optical viewfinder - LOTS of room around the frameline.
• Shutter sound - Set it to be quiet, super quiet, or completely noiseless!
• Sensor - better dynamic range than many DSLRs or the Leica DMs.
• Esthetics - classic beauty (I've hated the look of just about every digital camera made, except the Leica DMs).
• Image capacity - With a 4GB card and two batteries, I can make nearly 800 highest quality jpegs.. that's over 20 rolls of film!!
• High ISO quality - I see zero problems at 1600, and nothing to worry about at 3200.
• ISO on the fly - For streets, I set the camera up in aperture priority, "auto ISO" mode, and a minimum shutter speed of 1/100. Camera automatically adjusts ISO as I adjust aperture/shutter speed with just a click of the aperture ring.

Things I don't care about, and don't worry about:
• Menus, menus - To set the camera up the way you like it, you need to spend a little time digging through the menus. But once set up, that's it. It becomes just like the camera you're using now, just better.
• Manual focusing - use it to zone focus and you'll be happy. If you want the rangefinder experience, you're stuck with a Leica DM (for many $1000s more!)
• Shutter lag - The X100 is fast enough for the streets. WAY faster to focus and take the picture than typical times with a film rangefinder camera, given how much time you need to focus it vs. X100 auto focus speed. And if you zone focus, X100 and film RF times are the same.

Things I don't know enough about yet:
• Lens quality - I haven't made any big prints from the X100 files yet. I'm waiting until Apple's Aperture software is updated to support the X100 RAW files. Until then, I can only judge by what I see here on my screen (they look great, but I never trust a computer screen or web images to accurately judge lens quality).
• RAW capability (read times, file quality)

:):):)
 
jsrockit said:
I can't believe people actually expected the MF to be like a M8 ... come on... that's just lame.
Click to expand...

hehe, well I'm fairly lame in general.

A retro camera that looks like a rangefinder and costs a pretty penny---why would anyone think it had good manual focus?
:bang:

with all the tech in that viewfinder you'd think they could pull something off in that respect.
 
Last edited:
uhoh7 said:
hehe, well I'm fairly lame in general.

A retro camera that looks like a rangefinder and costs a pretty penny---why would anyone think it had good manual focus?
:bang:

with all the tech in that viewfinder you'd think they could pull something off in that respect.
Click to expand...

It's obvious that its focus in on AF... :eek:
 
More likely, your shutter release switch was trashed and the camera refocused when it was supposed to lock.

Dante

Warren T. said:
+1

This is exactly the reason why I sold my Hexar AF years ago. The inaccurate AF was driving me nuts even though I loved the IQ of the lens.

I now realize that the X100 is very similar to a digital Hexar AF, and my GAS for it has cooled off considerably after reading user reports about the focusing functionality of it.

--Warren
Click to expand...
 
I don't have my Hexar AF any more, but don't recall any AF problems. The x100 is practically a digital Hexar, but yes it does have AF focussing issues you need to be aware of. But the OVF, quiteness, high speed leaf shutter and generally good IQ make it a worthy modern day attempt. Although I don't normally use it on cameras, the ability to do fill flash anywhere due to the high sync speed is great!
 
Ah, finally mine came from Aamzon today. :)

5684515665_aa370db168_z.jpg
 
photo_fred said:
Hey Coelcanth,where have you been.You used to be a frequent poster but pretty well fell from the face of the earth???
Click to expand...

Hehe thanks for asking. I'm still shooting (though a little less due to work), but was having a bit of vacation time from forums...

I really missed RFF. :)

How are things around here lately?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom