Fuji Thoughts and pics from my new x100!

Gubrz

O.* Gonzo's & Bentley's Dad
Location
Austin, TX
Name
Eliot
so, i almost bought an x100 the other day, and talked myself out of it... then pouted once the camera store was closed since i couldnt cave in and go buy one
well, i get home and amin has posted that the day after the x100 will be on uber sale at adorama with free overnight shipping, and other goodies!
so i wake up bright n early, order one... forget to use the special link, so donate cause i feel horribly guilty...w

get my camera this morning, and cant use it till the evening!
was going to go out to downtown austin, but was lazy and lame, so just went to downtown round rock instead :)

heres a couple pics, and then some thoughts on how diff it is than my em5

7660026470_ebce23d343_b.jpg

!DSCF0041 by Gubrz, on Flickr

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!DSCF0054 by Gubrz, on Flickr

-the af seems faster than i thought it would be, and seems faster than it was in store when i test it like a month ago

-the ovf frame lines are dim when you have the lens cap on and are watching tv thru it... lol

-accidentally turning on macro mode left me confused as to why i couldnt get the ovf to work for at least 45 minutes, then i realized macro was on.

-i need to figure out what default jpg settings i should use... like the sharpness and contrast, highlight levels, etc... i just lowered everything to lowest and am testing that currently... is there a universal "omg u need to use these settings!" ?

-the lens cap is AMAZING... ill be sad when its loosened up and ill be forced to buy another... i love it!

-i always thought i had pretty small hands, but that OK button really IS tiny...

-the focus distance seems... wonky... i know setting it to HFD with the edge at infinity is off(conservative), but just aiming at a wall that had to be 8 feet away, had it reading approx 3' once...

-that shutter sound is crazy quiet, i love it... tho i do also miss my em5 shutter sound... its sexy in its unquietness

-crazy flare is uber easy to get with street lights in frame at night and f2 :)

-there is no silly hotshoe cover to lose... or... did i already lose it...?

-definitely wish there were a bit more grip... but not that huge chunko grip from rrs(i think it was)

-im used to oly menus... this fuji one seems confusing and complicated and yet tiny

-i love the aperature on the lens

-the exposure compensation knob isnt nearly as easy to accidently turn as i thought itd be

-a half press of the shutter feels more like a 3/4 press

-the colors are different than my em5, theyre both nice, just different. the fuji definitely has its own LOOK

-i desperately need a luigi case in natural aged brown with the extra grip, and sexy leatherness... if only to caress it and brush it gently across my cheek... dont judge me! lol

i think thats it
or all i can think of so far

cant wait to get out n do some more shooting with my pretty ovf
i tried going back to my ep3 with the vf1, but that shutter is terribad sounding compared to the sexy em5, or the silent x100!

ok im going to pretend im going to sleep, but really reopen 50 photography tabs

gni!


-oh yeah, tryin to get back INTO afs from M or afc, is SO frustrating!
 
It takes time to get to know any new camera and then if you put it aside, sometimes it takes a few minutes to remember where things are, as well.

My suggestion is to read through this thread: https://www.photographerslounge.org/f86/x100-user-setup-preferences-2207/, if you haven't already. The complete technical forum has a lot of good threads... Some people's confusion or annoyances are like water off a duck's back to others...but in time most people fall in love with the X100's simplicity and image quality.

Continue to enjoy her!:drinks:
 
you'll learn all the quirks quickly enough, but the one thing that changed the camera the most for me was the tip that keeping it in Manual focus mode and just pressing the AFL button to grab focus meant I never needed to switch the camera between macro and regular focusing distances anymore. In Manual focus mode, the lens will rack through the entire focus range.

I was so mad when I first started using the camera and I had to switch modes to focus on something close and something far..... it just seemed stupid. Now I press the AFL button to grab focus and the shutter release to release the shutter. It's pretty cool having the focus decoupled from the shutter release.

Enjoy your sexy silent assassin.
 
I was so mad when I first started using the camera and I had to switch modes to focus on something close and something far..... it just seemed stupid. Now I press the AFL button to grab focus and the shutter release to release the shutter. It's pretty cool having the focus decoupled from the shutter release.

I had that problem at first but I addressed it through anger management because I really like the adjusted AF boxes to show me the OVF parallax and the focus confirmation I get with AF mode. I don't mind switching between macro and normal modes. Except those couple of times early on when I turned the camera off in macro mode and was sure I'd killed it when I'd turn it back on and couldn't get the OVF to come up.

-Ray
 
I may try that Ray. In the meantime I've gotten accustomed to "knowing" roughly where the parallax will put my focus...I kinda just guestimate using the lower right hand corner of the box based on the distance of the subject. That camera really has helped me learn how cameras work.
 
There's no hotshoe cover to lose. I have a lensmate OK button 'extender' (works well and cheap) although some users have said just pressing the entire things works fine, as does a half press. I've had no issue with grip but I tend to cradle it in my left hand and operate with my right. I tried one of those thumb grips but my hand doesn't fall in the right place for it. I don't think it's a 'single hand' camera anyway. jpeg settings I think are up to each user to discover for themselves. I like to change them all the time just for the hell of it. :) I also set it to RAW regularly, just 'cause I can. No rules, and all that.
 
ray, haha, yeah i was doing that "omg the ovf is broke already?!"

luke, thanks, i was wondering how id get used to the switching to macro at seemingly not yet macro distances... lol
 
I may try that Ray. In the meantime I've gotten accustomed to "knowing" roughly where the parallax will put my focus...I kinda just guestimate using the lower right hand corner of the box based on the distance of the subject. That camera really has helped me learn how cameras work.

I'd worked that out for myself also before Fuji got around to adding the adjusted AF focus boxes in firmware (it took 'em a few months and sooooo many people were ditching the camera because they just couldn't seem to work out the parallax) and I don't feel I NEED it. But I just like seeing the illustration come up and confirm my intuitive calculation. Which is usually dead on, but occasionally if the box is way in the wrong place I know its focussing on something in the foreground or background and its a good reality check before I look at the shot after the fact before realizing its way OOF. I'm not doing any of this on the X100 anymore, but the same basic issues apply equally to the X-Pro.

-Ray
 
you'll learn all the quirks quickly enough, but the one thing that changed the camera the most for me was the tip that keeping it in Manual focus mode and just pressing the AFL button to grab focus meant I never needed to switch the camera between macro and regular focusing distances anymore. In Manual focus mode, the lens will rack through the entire focus range.
.

Luke, I'm only 2-3 wks into the X100. I think the latest firmware has solved or improved most of the original firmware complaints. Although so far I've only used macro mode on a test basis & don't envisage using macro too much, I'll certainly give the macro tip a try.

For newcomers: My initial tip (based on my experiences as a newcomer to this particular camera) is: At least read about focusing before you start using it. Then, starting with aperture & shutter on Automatic (A), take a variety of shots. Any problems, look them up on the forums, if in doubt ask. Above all, persevere, don't give up on one of the best cameras, to appear in the last few years.
 
Ok
So realized I was a lowly peasant using 1.13 firmware last night. So upgraded myself... And now I cant seem to get image review to not show in the vf... It also is slow to write. I actually see it saying "saving to sd card" or something like that, with the spinning orange "I'm working" box.
I am using a nice n fresh reformatted in camera card, I redid all my settings after the firmware upgrade. So I'm confused. Any thoughts???
 
Also, I remember someone else having an issue with writing speed to the card after using an iPad (or something like that) where the other device was putting some info on the card and possibly disrupting the file structure and slowing it down that way. Also could be the update file still on your card doing the same thing. Have you reformatted the card in camera since the firmware update?
 
yeah ive got it turned off
ive checked a few times, taken battery out, swapped batteries, formatted several times, put card in computer to see if anything was on it(nope), its been in my mac card reader slot... nothing else tho

sigh! silly firmware!
 
aha! i fixed it

stumbled onto a thread on rff about mac users having issues(not just ipad or iphone) where the mac crams top secret hush hush mums the word type stuff on your card...(they said to slide the LOCK switch before using in mac type products)
so i put it back in the computer, and went to disc utility and reformatted the card there
checked for invisible files 2 different ways, thanks google... and then stuck card back in... TADA!
 
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