Fuji X-T10 firmware update wishlist

I’m new to a Fuji system. I’m switching from the Sony NEX-6 simply because couldn’t find any decent lenses in a Sony e-mount world. So after reading tons of great reviews about Fuji cameras and lenses I bought an X-T10 with 18-55mm F/2.8-4 lens and I’m blown away by the image quality. Love it!

However, some of the controls and the way this camera works feels to me very outdated and insufficient. Some of the shortfalls are the result of the specific design: for example centrally located EVF window not protruding back far enough which makes the nose press against the LCD screen making a weird and uncomfortable shooting experience. Others are the result of certain philosophy (like replacing a simple PASM dial with confusing system of on-body dials and lens switches to select a desired shooting mode). I understand that those are the things I have to live with and I’m willing to accept as long as the images look great.

What can be improved though is the firmware. Fuji is known as a company that pushes significant firmware updated to their cameras so would like to make my wish list and ask you guys to share yours and maybe if Fujifilm reads the feedback those things would find their way into the next firmware update.

1. Aperture control. While some people think the lens aperture control ring is a “cool” and “retro” kind of thing I find it annoying. It’s hard to find, it’s too close to an aperture control switch on a lens and too close to a zoom ring. But what really bothers me is that Fuji doesn’t allow aperture to be controlled by a dial on the camera body and forces you to use the ring. It makes it impossible to use the camera one handed or to adjust the aperture while zooming. I don’t understand why the Fuji chose to limit us to a ring only. After all it’s not a mechanical aperture ring. It’s just a gimmick!

2. Shutter control. The shutter dial has 17 clicks on it. However, only 1 of them (T) will allow you a full range of shutter speed adjustments using a front dial. Others will limit you to couple of stops up or down and that’s it. Again, my question is why? Why do I need to struggle to find that one magic T click to be able to gain full control of the shutter speed? It’s especially annoying when you want to capture a scene that changes quickly. So I would like to be able to control the shutter speed from a front dial regardless of the position of a top Shutter Dial.

3. Focus check. It’s a great feature but the Fuji’s implementation is awful. After the image is magnified to allow the focus check there is no way to return back to a normal view. You can’t recompose and shoot so you’re stuck. On my Sony NEX-6 the image will return to a normal full view after being magnified for a second or two of inactivity so you know exactly how your composition looks like with your focus locked in a desired position. Again, something that can be easily fixed with the firmware update. Also it would be nice if Fuji allows us to use it with more than one autofocus modes (currently available in Single Point mode only) and also use it in Auto mode.

4. Auto mode. Why are we limited to a JPEG only? Why can’t we shoot RAW in Auto mode? Sony does it, why not Fuji?

5. Bracketing. Most of today’s cameras allow you to bracket 2,3 or even 5 EV to create a high quality HDR image. The maximum allowed on X-T10 is 1 EV which is useless. I’m not sure if this can be fixed by a firmware update, but if it can it would make the camera much more HDR friendly.

So these are the major issues I have with this camera and I really hope Fuji will address it in the next firmware update.

I would like to hear your opinions regarding those issues and suggestions how to improve this camera. What would you like Fuji to bring with the next update?
 
Nutcracker, first and foremost, welcome.

It's interesting to read your list - many of the things that you find annoying about the X-T10 are exactly what brought me and others to Fuji in the first place. The placement and functioning of key controls such as the aperture ring are neither "cool" nor "retro", but to me and to many others are intuitive and easy to use and adjust. They appeal to "muscle memory" far more than buttons, function dials and touchscreens. I can glance down at a Fuji camera and see at least two of the most important settings without even turning it on. Only the cheapest Fujinon lenses dispense with an aperture ring and their handling is compromised as a result compared to the rest of the range.

Fuji cameras are designed in a particular way for a reason. They are photographic tools that feature a largely proven UI and familiar handling that means you can pick one up and feel at home with it very quickly.

I would never have a Sony camera for many of the reasons you like. I have nothing against Sony per se - I am typing this on a Sony "phablet" - but I detest the "PlayStation" approach to control that Sony pursues.

A couple of points - firstly the X-T10 is midrange in Fuji terms. The X-T1 may be more to your taste since it allows a greater range of control options.

Secondly, you may need to think twice about whether Fuji is for you. Some of your wishlist items are fundamental design points that I cannot see Fuji changing in a month of Sundays. It's a bit like buying a Mercedes saloon and saying "I wish it had iDrive - oh and I wish it was a convertible"

Camera choice is a personal thing. We are fortunate to have such choice in today's market - but every camera does not appeal to everybody - vive lá difference - as our French friends say.

I genuinely hope that this helps you in your thinking.
 
Lightmancer, thank you for reply, but I think you've missed my point. I am not talking about significant design changes. You cannot turn a family sedan into a convertible sport car, but you can add some small things to make it more usable. The things I've mentioned don't require big design changes-they are already there. For example the focus check is implemented in a wrong way and I don't see how anyone can argue that. Same with other things. They can easily be added with the firmware update. They won't take away the "special" Fuji experience from people like you but it will add some modern day enhancements for people like me. It just gives us more options, that's it.
 
My thoughts, as a long-time X-T1 and X100 user...

1. Aperture control. No way, Jose. As Bill said, it's on purpose / has actually been cited by MANY Fuji adoptees as a central reason they like the system. You have the kit zoom, which isn't the same as using their many (excellent) primes, which have marked aperture rings. I'm with you as far as the 18-55 goes -- I don't love hitting a tiny switch and then turning an unmarked ring to adjust aperture, but when I use the primes, I wouldn't trade the parked ring for a stupid 5-way DSLR Drive dial for all the tea in China. Blech. Sorry. I never got along with those dials, because when I picked up the camera, I couldn't tell where anything was set without turning it on and reading menus. Fuji (with Primes) makes that so easy. I get your point - they could just make the front dial able to scroll through ALL of the possible apertures (or shutter speeds), but now imagine that setup with a prime... you'd have to put the prime's ap ring in A anyway, defeating the smoothness of it. A quick story...

We saw a guy we sorta knew biking down the path in Boston a few months ago, and stopped to chat. He had a new loaner Sony A7-somethingerother, and asked if he could take our picture. The lens on it as a 35m prime, I think. And he kept struggling to figure out how to adjust aperture. Eventually I smiled and said "I think this is your aperture," and tapped the parked ap ring on the lens barrel. "OH! Whoa. I've never seen one like this."

2. Shutter control. See above. All I wish is that they'd remove the locking function, or making it an option. Gimme a dedicated, printed, metal dial any day. It's why I'm with Fuji. Pick up the camera (XT1 in my case - you don't have an ISO dial), glance down, and in 3 spots I know exactly how the camera is set, not counting WB.

3. Focus check. It's the same button you used to turn it on. Tap it - magnified. Tap it again - not magnified. I don't know about the X-T10's EVF and MF options, but on the T1, if I'm really concerned about nailing focus, I can toss the front dial in MF. That gives me manual focus (of course) on the lens, but more importantly it enables whatever focus aid I told it to use, which in my case is a big screen to the left with the full shot, and a small screen at right with an permanent 100% center crop. With THAT enabled, I can always frame AND make sure focus is right. Focus speed and focus peaking aren't Fuji's strongest points, but they're generally good enough for most users.

4. Auto mode. No idea - that's not an XT1 thing. Sounds dumb, I'm with you here.

5. Bracketing. Agree. I also wish I could dictate how many color profiles it makes in that version of bracketing... sometimes I really just want two, not 3.
 
Oh, and...

but it will add some modern day enhancements for people like me.

I'm not on board with calling a non-labeled body wheel "modern" or certainly not an enhancement, if we're voting on it. There is nothing better, for me, about using a tiny black wheel to adjust my shutter and/or aperture instead of labeled metal rings / dials up top, as with the fuji primes. I've used both. I hate menu diving.
 
I think there's a terminology point here. Calling one UI "outdated" and the other "modern" isn't helpful. They are different, and they appeal to different people for different reasons. I am kinesthetic and, like Kyle, prefer knobs and rings over dials and buttons anyway. Twenty years ago, Canon and Minolta led the charge to multi function dials and more buttons than an ambassador's Tiger Tim while Nikon stayed largely and resolutely wedded to dedicated knobs and the aperture ring. Minolta is now subsumed into Sony, that well-known purveyor of PlayStation, while Canon and Nikon are still doing their thing and still going strong. Of course there is a need for menus and screen interactions to set things up but once the deed is done if I have to dive into a menu or indeed look at the rear screen at all during a shoot I regard it as a defeat for usability and commonsense.

Fuji in the X-Series offers the ideal balance between menu-fettling and rapid, sure-footed real world control and I for one am very glad that they do. There is very little that I would change at all.
 
Pretty much.

Fuji, after Leica, was in 2011 the ONE manufacturer to even try to get the main exposure parameters out of menus and blank wheels and put them all back onto dedicated, prominent controls. And you could afford a Fuji without a second mortgage. If wheels and menus are your thing, I feel like you've got a wealth of options.
 
My thoughts, as a long-time X-T1 and X100 user...

1. Aperture control. No way, Jose. As Bill said, it's on purpose / has actually been cited by MANY Fuji adoptees as a central reason they like the system. You have the kit zoom, which isn't the same as using their many (excellent) primes, which have marked aperture rings. I'm with you as far as the 18-55 goes -- I don't love hitting a tiny switch and then turning an unmarked ring to adjust aperture, but when I use the primes, I wouldn't trade the parked ring for a stupid 5-way DSLR Drive dial for all the tea in China. Blech. Sorry. I never got along with those dials, because when I picked up the camera, I couldn't tell where anything was set without turning it on and reading menus. Fuji (with Primes) makes that so easy. I get your point - they could just make the front dial able to scroll through ALL of the possible apertures (or shutter speeds), but now imagine that setup with a prime... you'd have to put the prime's ap ring in A anyway, defeating the smoothness of it. A quick story...

We saw a guy we sorta knew biking down the path in Boston a few months ago, and stopped to chat. He had a new loaner Sony A7-somethingerother, and asked if he could take our picture. The lens on it as a 35m prime, I think. And he kept struggling to figure out how to adjust aperture. Eventually I smiled and said "I think this is your aperture," and tapped the parked ap ring on the lens barrel. "OH! Whoa. I've never seen one like this."

2. Shutter control. See above. All I wish is that they'd remove the locking function, or making it an option. Gimme a dedicated, printed, metal dial any day. It's why I'm with Fuji. Pick up the camera (XT1 in my case - you don't have an ISO dial), glance down, and in 3 spots I know exactly how the camera is set, not counting WB.

3. Focus check. It's the same button you used to turn it on. Tap it - magnified. Tap it again - not magnified. I don't know about the X-T10's EVF and MF options, but on the T1, if I'm really concerned about nailing focus, I can toss the front dial in MF. That gives me manual focus (of course) on the lens, but more importantly it enables whatever focus aid I told it to use, which in my case is a big screen to the left with the full shot, and a small screen at right with an permanent 100% center crop. With THAT enabled, I can always frame AND make sure focus is right. Focus speed and focus peaking aren't Fuji's strongest points, but they're generally good enough for most users.

4. Auto mode. No idea - that's not an XT1 thing. Sounds dumb, I'm with you here.

5. Bracketing. Agree. I also wish I could dictate how many color profiles it makes in that version of bracketing... sometimes I really just want two, not 3.

1. It's not a MECHANICAL ring, it’s a DIGITAL one. To add an insult to injury it’s UNMARKED so if you want to know your setting you MUST look at the screen or EVF. So if it’s a digital ring why not to allow it to be controlled digitally right from the body? It’s just a gimmick to make it look like retro!

BTW, the Sony guy just hadn’t had a chance to learn his camera yet. The minute you learn the controls you know how to set an aperture, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

2. I’m not saying they should REMOVE those big knobs. Obviously there are people like you that like it this way. I’m talking about ADDING an alternative option. All you need to do is right a code that will remove the restrictions. Can be done in couple of days of programming.

3. From the “The Fujifilm X-T10: 115 X-Pert Tips” by Rico Pfirstinger:

“ After you have made manual focus adjustments using the automatic Focus Check magnification, you can get rid of the magnification and return to a full view of the scene by switching the camera to manual focus (MF) while still keeping the shutter button half-depressed. Then fully depress the shutter button when the moment is right. A future firmware update could take care of this issue by allowing you to manually switch the magnifier on or off in AF + MF mode”.

I don’t know about you but I don’t want to jump through all those hoops for a simple focus adjustment. I’ll take Sony’s approach any day of the week. And by the way I wanted to use the manual focus I would have bought a $30 manual prime lens on Ebay and get an outstanding quality without spending hundreds of dollars on a modern Fuji glass. I would also sell my car and buy a horse and buggy.
 
I think there's a terminology point here. Calling one UI "outdated" and the other "modern" isn't helpful. They are different, and they appeal to different people for different reasons. I am kinesthetic and, like Kyle, prefer knobs and rings over dials and buttons anyway. Twenty years ago, Canon and Minolta led the charge to multi function dials and more buttons than an ambassador's Tiger Tim while Nikon stayed largely and resolutely wedded to dedicated knobs and the aperture ring. Minolta is now subsumed into Sony, that well-known purveyor of PlayStation, while Canon and Nikon are still doing their thing and still going strong. Of course there is a need for menus and screen interactions to set things up but once the deed is done if I have to dive into a menu or indeed look at the rear screen at all during a shoot I regard it as a defeat for usability and commonsense.

Fuji in the X-Series offers the ideal balance between menu-fettling and rapid, sure-footed real world control and I for one am very glad that they do. There is very little that I would change at all.


The reason they used those knobs 60 or so years ago was that the cameras were all MANUAL. There was no other way to design them. Nowadays it’s all digital so why not allow an option to digitally control the settings? Look, I’m not saying those knows should be TAKEN AWAY, use it if you like them, all I’m saying is why can’t Fuji allow the people who prefer other ways to control their cameras do it their ways. Again, all it takes is a firmware update. I’m all for ADDING things. I’m PRO-CHOICE!

And by the way it is outdated. How do I know? NOBODY uses those controls anymore. Fuji cameras were designed this way purposely to give it a “cool retro” look to attract a different kind of crowd. Nothing’s wrong with that. The word “outdated” in this context is actually a compliment.
 
These are not the 'droids you are looking for...

Every modern digital camera is a “droid” whether you like it or not. The technology under the hood of these cameras are amazing. Just because you camera dressed up like a 60 years old doesn’t make it a less “droid”. It’s just a camouflage. If you really wanted a “non-droid” camera you would still be shouting film and using all manual cameras from the 1960’s
 
FWIW I regularly use an all-manual camera from the 1920s, but that's not important right now.

I don't think you are understanding what we are saying and what Fuji is doing. Knobs and dials work, and work very well indeed. Just being "retro" would not be enough, unless all you wanted to do was look at it all day. Fuji does it one way, Sony does it another. A Fuji camera is not a Sony camera. If it was, I and many others would not be using it. Adding unwanted "features" and duplicate control methods to the UI is not the answer. Bloatware bad, added complexity bad.

I think this is straightforward. You did not pick up on the point I was actually trying to make in my 'droids post. You are getting the same responses here as you are on DPR where you have posted the same question. The clearest answer to you there is given by "andyb949" who writes: "For better or worse, Fuji cameras are designed to be controlled in the same way analogue cameras were. Based on your points 1 and 2 it sounds like Sony's more modern digital style is better for you. I went the other way - I had a NEX-7 and switched to Fuji because I preferred the more tactile approach. We all have to find whatever works for us."

I've bought cameras in the past that didn't work for me. The best thing to do is to find one that does, and treat it as a learning experience. I get the sense that you will never be entirely happy with Fuji and that's fine, but they are what they are and are not going to change overnight when they have occupied, quite successfully, a specific niche and offer a user experience that appeals so well to so many people.
 
FWIW I regularly use an all-manual camera from the 1920s, but that's not important right now.

I don't think you are understanding what we are saying and what Fuji is doing. Knobs and dials work, and work very well indeed. Just being "retro" would not be enough, unless all you wanted to do was look at it all day. Fuji does it one way, Sony does it another. A Fuji camera is not a Sony camera. If it was, I and many others would not be using it. Adding unwanted "features" and duplicate control methods to the UI is not the answer. Bloatware bad, added complexity bad.

I think this is straightforward. You did not pick up on the point I was actually trying to make in my 'droids post. You are getting the same responses here as you are on DPR where you have posted the same question. The clearest answer to you there is given by "andyb949" who writes: "For better or worse, Fuji cameras are designed to be controlled in the same way analogue cameras were. Based on your points 1 and 2 it sounds like Sony's more modern digital style is better for you. I went the other way - I had a NEX-7 and switched to Fuji because I preferred the more tactile approach. We all have to find whatever works for us."

I've bought cameras in the past that didn't work for me. The best thing to do is to find one that does, and treat it as a learning experience. I get the sense that you will never be entirely happy with Fuji and that's fine, but they are what they are and are not going to change overnight when they have occupied, quite successfully, a specific niche and offer a user experience that appeals so well to so many people.

You're absolutely right, I'm not happy with the Fuji shooting experience but I love the quality of the images so this is why I stay with the Fuji cameras. When I was learning photography it was in a film era and my first camera had absolutely no automatic settings. What it did have is lots of knobs and buttons and in order to get a correctly exposed image you had to do a lot of guessing. I so don't miss those times!
Properly implemented controls don't take away from the shooting experience but enhances it.
 
Having read through this thread, it sounds like the Sony a6000 would be more to your liking. It is also capable of fantastic image quality, but with a control system you would prefer.
 
Having read through this thread, it sounds like the Sony a6000 would be more to your liking. It is also capable of fantastic image quality, but with a control system you would prefer.


Having read through this thread, it sounds like the Sony a6000 would be more to your liking. It is also capable of fantastic image quality, but with a control system you would prefer.

The problem is not the camera body it's the lack of the high quality glass. NEX-6 is an amazing camera. I paired it with a manual Minolta 50mm f1.7 I bought on Ebay for $20 and got and amazing quality pictures. However I want a full AF lenses with image stabilization technology and Sony APS-C e-mount lenses are just not there yet in terms of quality
 
Sony has a decent e mount lens lineup. But no, it's not on par with the Fuji lens lineup. Of course there is also the A7 series which does have a good set of lenses available.
 
Sony has a decent e mount lens lineup. But no, it's not on par with the Fuji lens lineup. Of course there is also the A7 series which does have a good set of lenses available.

It's somewhat decent but Fuji lenses are better and there are more of them out there. And that's the only reason reason for me to stay with the Fuji system. A7 is a full frame camera which means the size and the weight of their lenses will be to big for me. I don't want to go back to those days when I had to lag around all that heavy equipment. I want my camera to be compact and light. M4/3 has a sensor that is too small for my needs so APS-C is the way to go. Unfortunately, when it comes to a mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras there are only two significant APS-C players: Sony and Fuji. So until Sony improves their lens lineup I'll stay with Fuji.
 
Specific to this bit:

"2. I’m not saying they should REMOVE those big knobs. Obviously there are people like you that like it this way. I’m talking about ADDING an alternative option. All you need to do is right[sic] a code that will remove the restrictions. Can be done in couple of days of programming."

...I think there's something you're missing, and I think you're missing it because you're only using the 18-55. When you pop on one of the primes (remember those lenses that you cite as the only reason you're sticking with Fuji?), you've now got a marked aperture ring. That means at one end, there's an A, and then of course all the major stops down to fully open. So to add your envisioned alternative option, the user would have to first Move The Aperture Ring To A, and then be able to adjust the aperture via a tiny unmarked wheel on the body. Sure, if the lens were always in A, then it would be a 1-step process, but if not, then the wheel would do nothing until you first rotated the ap ring... and at that point, why did they put a marked aperture ring on it? Same goes for shutter speed. You've got to move a dial to A, and then ... rotate a wheel?

So it goes back to Fuji's whole design ethos. You're not really on board with that design ethos, which is totally ok, but the more you fight and question the ethos, the less happy you're going to be. You want Fuji jpgs and Fuji glass choices on a Sony a6000. That doesn't exist today. Nobody here cares what you like, they're all just happy to converse and view pictures. It's not personal. But they do know a mismatch when they hear it.
 
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