XP1 with 18-55 OVF Performance Questions

[Gid]

I picked up an 18-55 zoom from ebay (respected seller). I'm trying to use it with the OVF and I'm fine with the moving framelines - I can use magnify to see more in the VF at the long end if i need to. However, I have adjusted framelines (parallax correction) on and it seems to operate oddly, particularly at the wide end. For example, at 18mm the focus frame (green square) is set somewhere between the two frames regardless of the distance from the subject and at the long end it only matches the normal focal frame at greater than 60 feet. Additionally the focus distance indicator works OK at 18mm up to 7 feet, but for longer distances, just sticks at 7 feet. It seems to work OK at 55mm. Is this normal behaviour or do I have a duff lens? Images seem to be fine. Ive just checked my 18 F2 and it seems to behave as expected in terms of distance indicator, but the parallax correction is still operating at 15 feet. So, normal behaviour, duff lens or duff camera.

 

[Gid]

I found this thread over at the fuji x forums - go to the fuji x forum and then add - index.php/topic/22702-ovf-distance-scale-vs-evf/ to link to the thread. RFF doesn't seem to like the link to the fuji x forum for some reason.

It describes exactly what I am experiencing. I'm surprised that this feature isn't more widely discussed. Is nobody else seeing this?

 

[wintoid]

Link shortened to make this easier...

http://goo.gl/ojSfpF

Perhaps people don't generally use the OVF with zooms?

 

[Gid]

Thanks Simon. The distance feature is also available 😉 using the EVF. I'm just surprised nobody has ever mentioned it.

 

[willie_901]

I had no idea the parallax correction was defective for the 18-55 kit zoom lens.

Just now I mounted the 10-24/4 XF lens on my X-Pro 1 for the first time. The parallax focus box behaved as expected at both 24 and 10 mm. At 10 mm the frame lines seem slightly larger than the OVF screen, but the focus box behaves as expected for objects close to the lens.

Is it possible your new lens does not have the most recent firmware installed? A less likely concern would be one of the lens contacts needs to be cleaned or straightened.

I have six Fujinon primes and except for the 56/1.2 XF lens the parallax focus box positioning gets the job done. The 56/1.2 frame lines are so small in the X-Pro 1 OVF, it's hard to judge how well focus-box parallax correction works.

I think wintold's assumption is correct. Zoom lens users aren't typically OVF users so the issue is not discussed much. Most people who start using the X-Pro 1/X100(S,T) previously used DSLRs or m4/3 cameras. They have no experience with parallax. For instance, every so often I read complaints the OVF is useless since the frame lines are inaccurate. Most of these comments are from people who don't realize the frame lines can only be estimates and Fujifilm decided to make them generous to minimize disappointment.

 

[Gid]

I imagine most people don't realise, hence the lack of information. FW is up to date on camera and lens. Just one of those interesting features. The lens is going back to the seller and I now have to decide wether or not to keep the camera and get a 35 1.4 (a combination I've used before) or just cut my losses, sell the camera and stick with my X100.

 

[Dante_Stella]

It's not easy to use the OVF focusing reticle with the zoom because you can't memorize every permutation of focal length and subject distance like you might with a prime. That said, the 18-55 is a very impressive lens and is one of the fastest-focusing ones in the line.

Dante