X-pro1 "M60" edition

I LOVE this idea. I really, really hate the screen on digital cameras.

Have often dreamed of having enough money to get Leica to build me an M4 digital. No motor, still thumb wind to cock the shutter, batteries for the sensor and electronics would hide in the spaces where film would go, there would be a USB connection under the baseplate that could be connected to my iPhone or a PC to configure anything I felt like changing. Oh yeah - two SD card slots. Black paint finish. I'd call it the M4-D. From the outside not would really look no different than a normal M4. Since there would be no motor and no chimp-screen, the battery life would be fantastic. It also would be easy to have either a color or monochrome version.

Anyway - what you did with your Fuji is great, just great !
 
willie_901 said:
Shooting raw with a ISO psuedo-invariant camera means there is no significant IQ loss performing all global brightening in post-production rendering. Typically one would just leave ISO at 200 and set the shutter time an aperture as required.

On the X-Pro 1 I found in low light situations (where in-camera JPEGs would require ISO 1600) ISO 400 produced a modestly higher signal-to-noise ratio in shadow regions..
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True.. I've found the same thing. In general most modern cameras can do about 2 1/3 stops from base ISO w/o problem. The xtran seems to do a bit better than most though In terms of shadow recovery.. So I tend to protect highlights and let the shadows fall where they may most of the time.

Gary
 
shawn said:
... Could maybe get almost all the way there with a couple of custom settings but with only the function button you probably can't change custom settings and ISO. ...
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Thinking about this a bit more... without knowing what the inside was like I wonder if you could rewire/remap the View Mode and AE-L buttons for one to be Right and the other to be Down. Leave the Q button alone. Doing that would let one get into the Q menu and navigate it (slowly) while using the dial to change settings. That would let you get into preset Custom settings and change almost all shooting settings while still leaving the leather covered section of back panel button less.

Shawn
 
shawn said:
" Could maybe get almost all the way there with a couple of custom settings but with only the function button you probably can't change custom settings and ISO. "

Thinking about this a bit more... without knowing what the inside was like I wonder if you could rewire/remap the View Mode and AE-L buttons for one to be Right and the other to be Down. Leave the Q button alone. Doing that would let one get into the Q menu and navigate it (slowly) while using the dial to change settings. That would let you get into preset Custom settings and change almost all shooting settings while still leaving the leather covered section of back panel button less.

Shawn
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Until the last moment I wasn't sure whether to remove the buttons or not. You can easily leave them there cause rewiring the buttons is not easy since the buttons are on the control board.
 
jbrianfoto said:
I LOVE this idea. I really, really hate the screen on digital cameras.

Have often dreamed of having enough money to get Leica to build me an M4 digital. No motor, still thumb wind to cock the shutter, batteries for the sensor and electronics would hide in the spaces where film would go, there would be a USB connection under the baseplate that could be connected to my iPhone or a PC to configure anything I felt like changing. Oh yeah - two SD card slots. Black paint finish. I'd call it the M4-D. From the outside not would really look no different than a normal M4. Since there would be no motor and no chimp-screen, the battery life would be fantastic. It also would be easy to have either a color or monochrome version.

Anyway - what you did with your Fuji is great, just great !
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Thanks. Yep i feel the camera you are describing is a dream for many (for me too if i had the money for a leica). Many people still wish for an r-d2...
 
Sweet!

I'm going to list an Xpro body soon, at a good price if anyone wants to tackle a project like this!

Thanks for sharing! This has to be the coolest Xtrans camera on the web!
 
olakiril said:
... You can easily leave them there cause rewiring the buttons is not easy since the buttons are on the control board.
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That usually is easier than it first appears. You cut the trace on the board or desolder a SMT resistor that is typically in the switch trace somewhere. Then just kind of crosswire to those traces at will.

Shawn
 
shawn said:
olakiril said:
... You can easily leave them there cause rewiring the buttons is not easy since the buttons are on the control board.
Click to expand...
That usually is easier than it first appears. You cut the trace on the board or desolder a SMT resistor that is typically in the switch trace somewhere. Then just kind of crosswire to those traces at will.

Shawn
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I can take a picture of the board if you are interested
 
olakiril said:
...
3. Fuji probably does some preprocessing of the x-trans files even with raw which could make the photos look funky...
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Statistical analysis of un-rendered data has not revealed any preprocessing with Xtrans raw files. This was mentioned in a post in another forum I'm not supposed to mention. But there was no data shown.

The standard test for this is a double, spatial Fourier transform of the raw data. An example fo this sort of analysis can be found here (please scroll down to figs. 22, 23 and 25).

However I would be concerned about some other, unintended consequence of scraping the CFA off the sensor.
 
Interesting idea and what looks to be a very good execution. I, personally, would have left the Q button so I could access functions (macro, flash, timer, etc), but gotta give you huge props for taking on such a project and succeeding!
 
Fair dues for doing this - I'll always applaud inventiveness and risk taking. That said, personally, I'm not sure it improves the camera's aesthetics. It certainly does nothing for its ergonomics. Buy X Pros are so cheap now it facilitates such experimentation. I just picked up a mint second body this weekend for 300 euro.
 
willie_901 said:
Statistical analysis of un-rendered data has not revealed any preprocessing with Xtrans raw files. This was mentioned in a post in another forum I'm not supposed to mention. But there was no data shown.

The standard test for this is a double, spatial Fourier transform of the raw data. An example fo this sort of analysis can be found here (please scroll down to figs. 22, 23 and 25).

However I would be concerned about some other, unintended consequence of scraping the CFA off the sensor.
Click to expand...

I saw the analysis "non-mentioned" thread. When looking at RAW files at high ISOs from x-trans I always thought that there is some kind of noise reduction. Maybe I was not using the correct program. I might try the fourier analysis when I find time.

splitimageview said:
If it were me, I'd have just disabled the LCD, leave the buttons, and use the EVF for all the settings/menus.
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Baby of Macon said:
Fair dues for doing this - I'll always applaud inventiveness and risk taking. That said, personally, I'm not sure it improves the camera's aesthetics. It certainly does nothing for its ergonomics. Buy X Pros are so cheap now it facilitates such experimentation. I just picked up a mint second body this weekend for 300 euro.
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I understand that aesthetics is a personal thing and for many loosing the LCD/buttons is a no-no. That's why I decided to stop waiting for camera companies to make the camera that I want (at a reasonable price) and just do it myself... And having a camera for $300 made that possible 🙂.

To put things in perspective though, this is not my primary camera where the LCD and all the buttons are used all the time. It is the camera that the shooting part is more important that the result (if that makes any sense).

mdwsta4 said:
Interesting idea and what looks to be a very good execution. I, personally, would have left the Q button so I could access functions (macro, flash, timer, etc), but gotta give you huge props for taking on such a project and succeeding!
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Yeah that would be great but to navigate through the Q menu I needed the d-pad...
 
Hsg said:
The LCD makes the camera a fragile device, its like a chink in the armor and a big one at that.

So I can identify with the OP; however, taking away parts from a camera is never a good idea.

One can stick a LCD protector on a LCD and then put tape on it.
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More info here please. I fail to recall any posts on RFF over the years that have indicated that the LCD is a particularly fragile part of any digital camera.

Smartphones yes because they are so thin and flexible these days.
 
Thats awesome actually. I've always been interested in the M60 but really dislike the futuristic look. I'd add this one to the collection for fun!
 
At high ISO (above 1600) the XTrans cameras abandon electronic amplification to achieve global brightening. Instead above ISO 1600 they switch to digital multiplication to achieve the brightness estimated by the light meter. So the raw data will be different (only base ISO read noise above 1600) and that difference is the slight deviation from true ISO invariance.

See this plot. We know noise filtering can not increase datas' analog dynamic range when the shutter is open.

This link shows a different aspect to Fujifilms approach. Shadow-region noise improvement vs ISO is an indicator of the trade-off between photon noise and read noise contributions to the shadow regions' signal-to-noise ratio. Fujifilm's approach keeps read noise is constant above ISO 1600 so the shadow noise improves because the read noise can not increase.

This is one of the reasons the maximum raw ISO (6400 for the X-T1) is higher than the JPEG maximum ISO.Noise filtering is used before in-camera JPEG rendering.

So the difference you subjectively perceive could be the due to a slight increase in read noise.

I would be very interested to see any DFT data you care to share.
 
Interesting mod, I certainly appreciate the work that has gone into this! 😱 I did something functionally similar (albeit not as irreversible) with my A7R by having a leather case made for it that would cover the screen and all but the most essential buttons. It's great because I don't have to worry about getting nose oil on the LCD, I don't have to worry about it getting damaged by inclement weather, and it helps keep the camera warm when it's -30 out.
 
I say Angelo Pelle and it's reversible.

AP on my MM
L1002271_zpslmwzo039.jpg


L1002269_zpsnm1xaujl.jpg
 
A case is nice, especially the AP case shown above! (although ide never use one personally)

But its really not at all the same as what the OP has done.

Why hide something you can remove! Ive viewed this thread atleast a dozen times, I love this mod!

I would love to hack the LCD off my M8, set it up at ISO 320, DNG only, no lens correction. Seems like a solid idea.... but my confidence in such a thing... not very solid.
 
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