Fuji x100 silent fw update

For future reference:

Take a picture before updating. Take out the card and set it aside. Use another card to complete the firmware update. When done, put the original card with picture in the camera. The counting will carry on from the last pic.

If you didn't do this, go into your photos and find the last pic taken. Copy it to the appropriate directory on the card. The camera will start counting from that number.
 
Many thanks for the heads up on the firmware update Ver.1.12 / 1.13, allesandro - and, kevenv - for the reminder about how to keep the frame numbers going, as well.(y)
 
There were indications on DPR that the Fuji guys were urging patience on these other issues, suggesting if not quite assuring that a more comprehensive update is in the works. Maybe its next on the agenda after the X-Pro release is out of the way? I don't find much I'd change on the X100, but I'd love to be able to use the raw button as a second fn button and I'd REALLY like that frickin' auto-ISO thing fixed. That auto-ISO thing is one of the few things designed into any camera that I'm just personally offended by as a reasonably sentient human being. Its not just some sort of over-sight - it had to be designed that way intentionally and I cannot for the very life of me figure out WHAT they could have been thinking with that. I can find some rationale behind most design decisions that I don't like - so even if I don't like it I can see how it makes sense on SOME level and for some people. This auto-ISO design, I just can't find any possible rationale. And so it torques me off just on principle, even if it doesn't affect my shooting THAT much.

-Ray
 
Ray, I hate to seem like n00b, but what problems do you have with the Auto ISO? It's always worked fine for me, but you're a much more advanced shooter than I am, so maybe my ignorance is bliss.
 
Maybe I'm being a bit of a noodle head, but don't you just use the Fn button to choose whatever ISO you want - including Auto ISO? I'm sure my brain is probably failing me...so apologies in advance.

I usually chose my ISO unless I'm in an ever changing situation - then I do choose an Auto ISO that seems right to me, via the Fn button.
 
I feel Ray's pain! Even if he doesn't feel mine about metering in the OMD! ;)

The auto ISO is in a separate menu from the ISO control. In nearly all cameras, they are in the same menu. With the X100, assuming that ISO control was assigned to the Fn button, changing into and out of auto ISO always requires menu diving.

Another weirdness that I hope Fuji changes is the use of the scroll wheel vs the control stick (or whatever that upper control thing is called) to actually change ISO values. In the OVF, you can use the upper control thing. When using the EVF, the user has to use the scroll wheel. Can we make it consistent please?
 
On the X10, the auto ISO and manual ISO settings are all on the same menu. Which can be accessed by the fn button (or now also from the raw button). On the X100, there's an ISO menu with settings from 100 - 12,800. The ability to turn AUTO iso on or off is controlled from a completely separate menu that's not even in the same root menu - the ISO is in the shooting menu and the Auto ISO is in the other (utilities or settings or something?) menu. If you turn auto ISO on, you can also choose the maximum ISO and the minimum shutter speed you'd like met at the expense of higher ISOs in that same menu. To set the minimum ISO, however, you have to go back to the manual ISO menu and whatever ISO you've set there is the minimum that AUTO ISO will use. This system is fine if you almost never want to change from auto to manual ISO. If you just set it up for auto, which I usually end up doing, you set it up once and forget about it. If you want to set it for manual, you set it once and forget about it and just use the fn button to access and change ISO quickly and easily. But if you're shooting in manual ISO for a while and then want to switch to auto, you have to first remember to leave the manual ISO setting at the level you want to serve as the minimum ISO once you switch to auto. And then you have to go menu diving to go find the auto ISO on/off switch. This is OK for changing back and forth once in a while, but I often find myself in situations where I'm happy to be shooting in auto-ISO and then want to take manual control for a handful of shots, for whatever reason. So I have to go back to the bottom menu, find AUTO ISO and turn it off and then take manual control. Minor hassle. Then when I want to go back to auto iso, I have to go back into the menus to turn auto ISO back on and then go back to the manual ISO menu to make sure I didn't have that set at something like 1600 or 3200 because if I did, that's the LOWEST it will go in auto iso. With the second firmware update, they did make this a bit easier by allowing you to change what's handled by the fn button by holding that button down for a couple of seconds - it takes you to that menu which happens to be located near the Auto ISO menu item on the same menu, so if you remember, its a bit of a shortcut to that menu item.

But its silly to have to go through all of those hoops just to do something as simple as changing between auto and manual iso. EVERY other camera I've used has ONE ISO menu that covers everything. The X10 is a perfect example with a list from 100-12,800 followed by another list of auto-400 through auto-3200 (sometimes the available range is reduced depending on other settings). One menu - one slightly longer list. A very simple matter to change between auto and manual. The Ricohs are the same - one list that contains both auto and manual ISO settings and a separate menu to set the minimum shutter speed you want to prioritize at the expense of higher auto ISO settings. I've never seen it done like its done on the X100 and I can't begin to imagine who'd have thought of that and WHY, on God's green earth they'd conclude it was a better idea???

This is not among the great problems that confront mankind, mind you. I've lived very happily with the X100 since last April and I plan for keeping it for a good long time even if they never address this. But I'm offended by it. Its a pet peeve. Its not a deal-breaker, but its just plain stupid. STUPID STUPID STUPID! See, I get worked up by this! :D We all have little things that won't determine the fate of the earth but that piss us off anyway and this is mine in the camera world. I would think and hope its a relatively easy FW fix, but even if its a king-hell difficult one, I'd really like to see them take it on.

-Ray
 
Why not just use the Fn button to access and change ISO, rather than setting it in the deeper menu?

Because you can only change the manual ISO settings from the fn button. To change between auto and manual, you HAVE to go menu diving. You MUST. Its REQUIRED! And there are associated settings that need to be taken into account as well, and are easily forgotten leading to much pain and suffering. Err, at least minor inconvenience and perhaps several lost shots before you realize WHY auto-ISO is choosing 3200 for you even in broad daylight. See my longer explanation above, if you feel like wading through it....

-Ray
 
A reminder from me too. The annoying auto-iso control, not in the iso setup, can be accessed by keeping the fn button pressed till the iso menu comes up, then "left-down-right" with the pad. [assuming you have the fn button assigned to iso control]
Yep, posted at the same time of the longish explanation by Ray...
 
Armando - I do UNDERSTAND your pain regarding the metering on the OMD. And if I ever changed metering mode, I'd no doubt share it. But I literally don't recall the last time I used anything other than center-weighted average. I learn how the camera deals with that and then sometime compose, half press, and recompose to deal with odd lighting or sometimes just use exposure compensation. Actually changing metering modes just confuses me - too many variables for my feeble brain to cope with at once. This is partially a vestige of learning to shoot without light meters and then with hand-held light meters and then with the simplest and most rudimentary meters that came in the budget SLRs I was using. I remember when the OM-1 showed up with its various spot-metering options. But I never had one... But I fully understand your frustration over WHY, if you can put everything ELSE (up to and including kitchen sink) on the various customizable buttons, you can't also put THAT on one.

-Ray
 
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