Rudolf
Forum Enthusiast
Only complain I have is my zooms not working 
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A few comments on the X100
- Thread starter owenleve
- Start date
owenleve
Veteran Member
A few clarifications, since people like to jump in and say this/that/the other after obviously not reading the entire thread.
I love using the camera. The feel, etc.. I have issues with it, as stated.
Second, I thought I was pretty clear I was not comparing this to my my nikon gear nor expecting this camera to be at the same level. I do expect it to be a professional camera at this price point. I'm still in debate about this point. Honestly, if I could rely more on the af being consistent I'd be inclined to feel it's a solid piece of gear. And no, I don't mean D3 AF speeds. I simply mean rational and consistent.....
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http://www.courtlevephoto.com
http://www.courtlevephotography.com
I love using the camera. The feel, etc.. I have issues with it, as stated.
Second, I thought I was pretty clear I was not comparing this to my my nikon gear nor expecting this camera to be at the same level. I do expect it to be a professional camera at this price point. I'm still in debate about this point. Honestly, if I could rely more on the af being consistent I'd be inclined to feel it's a solid piece of gear. And no, I don't mean D3 AF speeds. I simply mean rational and consistent.....
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http://www.courtlevephoto.com
http://www.courtlevephotography.com
John Bean (UK)
Forum Pro
I read your OP carefully and I'm afraid it came over as a bit of a rant, even if that wasn't what you intended. I don't own a X100 (yet!) so I'm always interested in real-world user experience rather than fanboy gushings or sterile formal reviews, and having read a vast array of opinion on balance I believe the core content of your post was a reasonable summary.
I'm reminded of a pro blog about the failings of the then new M9 I read some time ago whose tone was much harsher than yours, more frustration than anything else I suspect. His punch line was also similar, along the lines of "if it was a $1000 camera I would live with the quirks, but..."
It is a bit disappointing that Fuji got so many operational details (like manual focus) wrong on the X100, things that are hardly bleeding edge and already done much better in far cheaper cameras. But prices are falling here in the UK and the X100 raw files I've played with are lovely, so...
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John Bean [GMT]
Jeff Charles
Veteran Member
Some of the OPs negative observations were valid, others not. The OK button is terrible, for sure, but his question about 1/4000 and f/2 revealed a misunderstanding. His main criticism was about focusing. He was right about the MF. To be kind, it is not well implemented. But he was wrong about the AF. It works well. I rarely get OOF shots, and others who know how to use the camera have posted the same thing.
I posted a link to AF techniques earlier in this thread, and there is also good info available in other threads, and at x100forum.com.
Before I owned my X100, I kept a spreadsheet of reported problems. It got so long, that I gave up and just bought the camera. My reasoning was that people were praising it despite its faults, so the good parts must be really good
. In my experience, that turned out to be true. Most of the many, and there are many, problems fade into the background when you are actually using the camera to take photographs. It is a camera to which you need to adapt, rather than expecting it to adapt to you.It is also a camera that is not going to please everybody. Given its quirks, that's very understandable. The only way to know if it will work for you is to get one and use it for a while.
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Jeff
My cat, who likes to sprawl on my keyboard, gets the credit for anything I write that makes sense.
John Bean (UK)
Forum Pro
Is there any other kind? The reason we have such choice is that there's no such thing as a perfect camera, and there certainly isn't one designed specifically for me .
But in a camera like the X100 that is more than a nod to the handling and ethos of rangefinder cameras I did at least expect manual focus to work well; to discover it doesn't is a big (but not show stopping) disappointment. There are other less important things that I know in advance will annoy me to some extent, but just how much is something I won't know until I actually use it.
For example there are settings I use fairly often that I can access without menu-diving on my button-challenged NEX-5 that will require menu access on the button-laden X100, since all but one of the nice buttons on the X100 appear to be fixed in function. Shame; any menu diving while shooting will annoy me.
Incidentally, I made no references to its AF - nothing I have read here or elsewhere indicates anything but user-driven rather than inherent failings. Most complaints appear to be from users used to the AF performance of modern high-end SLRs, and the only camera I currently use in AF is a Sony R1 so I know all about how to mitigate the affects of less than instantaneous AF on cameras like this
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John Bean [GMT]
Totally agree with the OP. This camera is flawed to the point that it limits the photographer as to how it can be used, and, and in my experience, has resulted in many missed shots that I know a cheapo point-and-shoot would have gotten. If it were a car it would have been recalled long ago. After 6 months of use, it continues to be a big disappointment, and I'm comparing it it to my Olympus E-P1, not to a megabucks Nikon or Canon. To the fanboys; stop flaming the users who complain and saying that it's a user problem. We know how to use the camera and how to work around the limitations. If you want to accept a mediocre product, then I have an X-100, in excellent condition, for sale.
Jeff Charles
Veteran Member
The X100 probably requires more adaptation that many other cameras.
Well, it's not a rangefinder, and there is not much to do about that. The MF is maybe usable for fine tuning after using the AFL AEL button to AF, or for macros on a tripod.
I find that I rarely have to menu dive while shooting. Changing flash intensity for fill is one unfortunate example. It helps to use auto ISO. However, you can assign ISO to the Fn button (at the cost of giving up quick access to the ND filter).
My comment was referring to the OP.
I could fill a couple of posts with complaints about the X100. Heads should roll at Fuji. However, when I am shooting with it, it does not get in my way.
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Jeff
My cat, who likes to sprawl on my keyboard, gets the credit for anything I write that makes sense.
Jeff Charles
Veteran Member
If you are referring to my comment about the AF, I stand by it. The AF works well for me and others have posted that it works well for them. If someone is not getting in-focus photos with their X100, I believe it's their technique, not the camera. Telling someone that is not "flaming."
The X100 is so peculiar a beast that only by using it for a while can you tell if it will work for you. It is a very limited camera with many shortcomings. It is understandable that some people are happy with it and others are not.
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Jeff
My cat, who likes to sprawl on my keyboard, gets the credit for anything I write that makes sense.
How about to add a lens that costs a fraction as much? I bought a used Tokina 28-80 constant f2.8 zoom and a Tamron 28-200 zoom, the pair for $120.
I know the X100 is a great camera for some, and the IQ is great, but buying a camera a that price which has a single fixed focal length - forever - would not work for me, however neat the camera is in other respects. It's not as though the results can't be suitably matched for far less money with a lot more versatility.
But that's just me. Certainly some folks are quite satisfied with the X100 and I say good for them.
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Art is far superior to "artsy".
I know the X100 is a great camera for some, and the IQ is great, but buying a camera a that price which has a single fixed focal length - forever - would not work for me, however neat the camera is in other respects. It's not as though the results can't be suitably matched for far less money with a lot more versatility.
But that's just me. Certainly some folks are quite satisfied with the X100 and I say good for them.
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Art is far superior to "artsy".
Next you'll try to say that it's been stuck in that one position since new!Only complain I have is my zooms not working
Not one person in this thread flamed the OP.
Flaming straw men however is more fun, and as you have managed to erect so many in such a short post, it's worth obliging you.
No-one has ever said that this is an easy camera to use. From the very start we have pretty much said the opposite; that it can be difficult to use, but if it suits your style of photography then it is without peer or competition.
However, since the earliest days we have been saying thatit's a niche product and is not suitable for most people.
What we object to is some idiot coming along and extrapolating from their personal inability to use the camera to make good images that the camera is rubbish, defective, needs to be recalled and was designed by some evil Japanese corporation to put one over on the public in general and them in particular. The op did not fall into this category, because with only a little added perspective his experience is useful to help people decide whether it would we a good camera for them.
Why should we care about the haters? Well simply because some of us love this camera to bits. And we don't want aforementioned muppets to put off potential buyers who would like the camera too.
And because we want Fuji to keep on making cameras like this, the best digital camera (for some of us and our purposes) that has ever been made.
It's also particularly annoying for economic illiterates to bleat on about this (or any) camera being overpriced. All they have to do is read the first few pages of a high shool economics text book about a demand curve to cure their ignorance, but they apoarently cannot or will not.
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Fuji X100 Fanboy #1
X100 blog -> http://peri.org.uk/wp/?tag=blog
Flaming straw men however is more fun, and as you have managed to erect so many in such a short post, it's worth obliging you.
No-one has ever said that this is an easy camera to use. From the very start we have pretty much said the opposite; that it can be difficult to use, but if it suits your style of photography then it is without peer or competition.
However, since the earliest days we have been saying thatit's a niche product and is not suitable for most people.
What we object to is some idiot coming along and extrapolating from their personal inability to use the camera to make good images that the camera is rubbish, defective, needs to be recalled and was designed by some evil Japanese corporation to put one over on the public in general and them in particular. The op did not fall into this category, because with only a little added perspective his experience is useful to help people decide whether it would we a good camera for them.
Why should we care about the haters? Well simply because some of us love this camera to bits. And we don't want aforementioned muppets to put off potential buyers who would like the camera too.
And because we want Fuji to keep on making cameras like this, the best digital camera (for some of us and our purposes) that has ever been made.
It's also particularly annoying for economic illiterates to bleat on about this (or any) camera being overpriced. All they have to do is read the first few pages of a high shool economics text book about a demand curve to cure their ignorance, but they apoarently cannot or will not.
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Fuji X100 Fanboy #1
X100 blog -> http://peri.org.uk/wp/?tag=blog
dmartin92
Veteran Member
Oh, then I misunderstood. I thought when you wrote:
For a professional photographer not to understand this is... surprising, but not in the context of your overall reaction.
I thought there was something a bit unfriendly there, about the OP, a professional photographer. Maybe not flames, but something.
Eh. Whatever.
John Bean (UK)
Forum Pro
Good example. The lack of a dedicated ISO button is extraordinary, and using the Fn button instead rather defeats its purpose.
My comments about MF I stand by, and having used rangefinders for decades I don't need to be told the X100 isn't one. My point was that there are many compact cameras with perfectly usable MF yet the X100 has one of the worst implementations imaginable - despite its price and RF-like handling.
Indeed. I am hopeful that some improvements will be made in firmware, but if I do decide to buy it will be on the assumption that I may be stuck with what I see now, and on balance I see more nice things than bad things for my purposes.
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John Bean [GMT]
Jeff Charles
Veteran Member
Only if you need the Fn button for something else. Also, the X100's auto ISO works well. It's one shortcoming is that when both aperture and shutter speed are selected manually, EV comp is disabled.
One frequently requested firmware change is to allow the raw button to be a second Fn button.
My comment was not directed at you. I was trying to make the point that although the X100 may look and handle somewhat like a rangefinder, it is basically an AF camera.
The Konica Hexar AF, which I owned and which is often compared to the X100, had no better MF. It too was an AF camera that looked and handled like a rangefinder. Granted, the Hexar is an older camera.
If the AF works well, and there's a way to lock focus, I'm not sure I see the advantage of MF. A focus ring with distance markings would be nice, however.
I think you need to give it a try. It is better in use than on paper. Another firmware update is expected in January. Maybe that will fix everything
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Jeff
My cat, who likes to sprawl on my keyboard, gets the credit for anything I write that makes sense.
John Bean (UK)
Forum Pro
You may be right; even in cameras I use (or have used) that MF "focus by wire" works quite well (Sony NEX-5 and R1, previously Panasonic G1, Olympus E-1) I rarely use it. I use only manual lenses on the NEX anyway and generally use the "focus" button on the R1 in MF mode, much as the X100 can be used. MF with any focus-by-wire camera doesn't come close to using a real MF lens, but at least the X100 provides useful DoF information.
Now I'm sure you're right ;-)
Keep a lookout for those flying pigs... they make such a mess as they pass overheadAnother firmware update is expected in January. Maybe that will fix everything
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John Bean [GMT]
Had mine since April no pimples showing up on my A$$ yet. But perhaps they are subtle and hardly noticeble. I'll pick up an A$$ mirror from the camera store tomorrow (Leica sells a good one for only $300) and start checking regularly.
allwet
Member
I had contemplated selling my X100, but after spending a great deal of time experimenting I have come to love it. IMHO, the X100 excels only if you shoot in manual with zone focusing. If you plan on relying on the autofocus to capture the "decisive moment" then you are going to be incredibly disappointed.
Otherwise, if you plan on just using the camera for still life and stationary objects/portraits then the autofocus is more than capable.
Otherwise, if you plan on just using the camera for still life and stationary objects/portraits then the autofocus is more than capable.
Jeff Charles
Veteran Member
It is very conservative. Checked against DOFMaster, it's a closer match to the 35mm "equivalent" focal length than to the actual 23mm focal length.
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Jeff
My cat, who likes to sprawl on my keyboard, gets the credit for anything I write that makes sense.
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