X100 : how slow can you go?

[Shashinka]

One thing I love about my current Digilux 2 is that (assuming I haven't been drinking coffee), I can shoot at 1/8 or even 1/4 without getting any significant blur. Makes for some great effects.

How slow can you go with the X100? Given that it's not that heavy, I imagine you could go pretty slow with it handheld, but I'd like to hear from people who've used it. I'm slowly ticking off all the reasons to sell the Digilux 2 and go for the X100 (as I said in an earlier thread). Obviously, the hybrid finder is a major plus, and the better burst rate and significantly better ISO are also attractions (plus, while the digilux is a nice looking camera, the X100 is just downright sexy). It's also at least as quiet if not quieter in operation. I don't care so much about slow write speeds (if you shoot RAW on the Digilux you can make a cup of coffee while it's writing to the card). I went shooting with the Digilux today and shot everything at 35mm to get used to that length as well. But I definitely want to know how it fares at slow speeds handheld.

Thanks🙂

 

[jsrockit]

Well, I'm a guy with very shaky hands... so much so that I don't even use 1/125th of a second on my M9 much (so, 1/160th or higher for me). However, with the Fuji (and prior to that the X1), I am able to go down much lower. Leaf shutters are great for this.

 

[Ronald M]

read up on target shooting and use the camera the same way. Pay attention to how to use the rifle sling adapt.

Light is not better. Heavy is up to a point. A hammer is steadier than a
tiny screwdriver.

Tuck your elbows in and use your forehead as a third point. It is all technique and I tired of writing it all out.

 

[DavidX]

I think I'm pretty steady up to about a second...

 

[M4cr0s]

I'm not really sure weight plays a part unless it weighs several kilos...and too little weight is not good either. The lack of a mirror and other really fast-moving and fairly large parts do help the X100 though. The shutter is incredibly smooth and silent and the X100 is possible to handhold at fairly low shutter speeds. My rule-of-thumb is still 1:1 at equivalent "FF" focal length. I.e. 1/100th for a 100mm lens on a 35mm film camera or 1/100th for a ~65mm lens on an APS-C sensor. A digital sensor is less forgiving and a relatively high-resolution and pixel-pitch one such as the 12.3mp APS-C X100 more so. You might get one sharp shot at 1/20th out of seven tries, but more than that and you're cooler than Clint Eastwood 😉

I think most people can do 1/30th with relative success with careful technique but 1/40th is really as low as you want to go to get consistent results. It's not really down to the camera itself but physics. That said, the X100 can take lower shutter speeds than most if not all DSLRs with a similar sensor size and focal length. Then again, what is sharpness? I think peoples preferences differ a bit.

Mac

 

[mrjam]

Pretty slow. I was taking some test shots the other night -- very dark street, ISO 6400, handheld. This pic was 1/4s.

Jeff

 

[Shashinka]

Pretty slow. I was taking some test shots the other night -- very dark street, ISO 6400, handheld. This pic was 1/4s.

Jeff

That's what I was looking for. That kind of performance at 1/4. Nice. If I can do 1/4 on the Digilux, then I should be able to do so on the X100. Now and then you just want to get a whole lot of motion in a shot.

Thanks!

 

[Pickett Wilson]

The X100 has IS. 1/4 second shouldn't be a problem with the 35mm equiv. lens.

 

[Richard G]

I don't think it has image stabilization. Doesn't really need it with the high ISO performance. I would be better at 1/4s with the M5. I have had a few shots at 1/4s that were OK with the X100 though.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Really? No IS. That's strange.

 

[Keith]

The camera is irrelevant in this equation IMO because the X100 has virtually zero shutter reaction with a very smooth release ... how slow you can go depends entirely on how still you can hold it.

 

[Keith]

Really? No IS. That's strange.

This is a bare bones shooter Pickett ... no fancy IS. 😀