Fuji X-T1 ISO best settings

llevine

New Member
Location
El Paso, Texas
Name
Lance Levine
I had heard that the best ISO settings for the Fuji Sensor are in multiples of 160. Since the X-T1 is native at 200, the suggestion was to set the ISO at 320 or 640 or 1280, etc. Or the closest equivalent.

The reason given was that the noise in the shadows would be reduced at these settings (compared to 200, 400, 800, 1600, etc)

Your input would be appreciated.
 
Well, first of all, welcome! I've not heard that - can you share where you did, or any further detail? It's an intriguing theory but I can't fathom why it would be the case?
 
I recently participated in a workshop with a very knowledgeable professional. He has switched to Fujifilm cameras after having been a long time Nikon user. I am also a long time Nikon user who is now moving over to the Fuji X-T1 and enjoying the transition. My main motivation is to reduce the weight and bulk of my kit without giving up on quality.

This professional advocated that ISO stops of 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, etc will give reduced noise in the dark areas. Since the X-T1 is native at 200, he advocates setting the iso to a base of 320. He also said that this applies to Fujifilm, Nikon, Sony and Canon. He said it did not apply to Olympus (I don't know why). He played a test video showing the results. Since that workshop, I have been trying to get additional information and, I have to say, that it is confusing. I was hoping that a Fujifilm expert could help in this matter.

Please Google "iso 160, 320, 640, 1280" and you will see numerous articles discussing this subject. I have a feeling it is beyond my pay grade but perhaps someone in the forum can help with the explanation and recommendation.

Also, I would think that someone at Fujifilm should be able to verify or debunk this. Just getting to that person is very difficult. I look forward to the input of this forum.
 
So the idea here is that there is the least amount of noise at full 1-stop intervals in the ISO, or with the -1/3 stop that is pulled from the directly higher "native" ISO. "In-between" ISO settings are either pushed or pulled from the full 1-stop intervals. This appears to be true on Canon, certainly enough material out there to confirm that. There is disagreement on where Nikon falls, and it's likely different on different cameras.

The question then, is Fujifilm doing the same with it's cameras, and is it consistent, at least across all the XTrans sensor cameras?

Second question, is there enough difference that we should actually care about it?

This sounds like someone with an appropriate setup and a bit of time should do some testing. If the base ISO of the XT-1 is 200, then the best results would be at 200, 400, 800, etc, or in the -1/3 stops directly proceeding those, depending on Fuji's signal processing.

A final question.. IF this is the case with Fuji, and IF there's enough difference to make it an issue, is there a way to turn off the 1/3 stop ISO jumps on the various Fuji bodies?
 
There is no ISO 160 in APS-C sized X cameras. However, it may well be that the Sony sensor inside the APS-C cameras works with a hardware ISO of 160. However, the current base ISO calibration is 200. Using multiples doesn't really improve things, after all, it's an ISOless sensor, anyway.
 
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