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Xpro1 metering annoyance

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Hypoxic

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I'm really liking the Xpro1 and find most of the quirks to be simply a matter of getting to know the camera rather than real annoyances. But the exposure metering has me really baffled. Once the shutter is half-pressed and the aperture/shutter speed appear in the viewfinder, the metering is 'locked', meaning any changes to the aperture do not show the relative change in shutter speed (nor does the aperture change when rotated). One has to unpress the shutter button, adjust the aperture, then half-press again to see the exposure. This is terribly annoying! Is there some setting or method that I have not figured out to change this?

This is especially prominent when shooting bright outdoor scenes. If you choose a particular aperture on aperture priority, half-press to determine exposure, and then find that the shutter speed required is higher than the camera's ability, then one must unpress the shutter, change the aperture, half-press again, then see if your chosen aperture will result in a low enough shutter speed. This can take a few attempts. Time is certainly not of the essence with this camera.
 
Hypoxic said:
I'm really liking the Xpro1 and find most of the quirks to be simply a matter of getting to know the camera rather than real annoyances. But the exposure metering has me really baffled. Once the shutter is half-pressed and the aperture/shutter speed appear in the viewfinder, the metering is 'locked', meaning any changes to the aperture do not show the relative change in shutter speed (nor does the aperture change when rotated). One has to unpress the shutter button, adjust the aperture, then half-press again to see the exposure. This is terribly annoying! Is there some setting or method that I have not figured out to change this?

This is especially prominent when shooting bright outdoor scenes. If you choose a particular aperture on aperture priority, half-press to determine exposure, and then find that the shutter speed required is higher than the camera's ability, then one must unpress the shutter, change the aperture, half-press again, then see if your chosen aperture will result in a low enough shutter speed. This can take a few attempts. Time is certainly not of the essence with this camera.
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I noticed this as well and do wish there would be a solution. If there is, let us all know. If there isn't, whoever here is talking to Fuji please pass this message on to them. It is a minor annoyance but makes sense to have changed ASAP.

--
Cyclopedia Creative Media
"Ideas that speak volumes"
Chi "Cyclopedia" Brown
http://CyclopediaCreativeMedia.com
 
hellocrowley said:
Use the AE-Lock button?
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No, this doesn't fix the problem. Once the camera determines the exposure, changes to the aperture or shutter can't be made.
 
Thanks for the reply...I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks this is strange. I thought I might have something set wrong initially because I found it hard to believe a camera would function this way.
Cyclopedia Brown said:
I noticed this as well and do wish there would be a solution. If there is, let us all know. If there isn't, whoever here is talking to Fuji please pass this message on to them. It is a minor annoyance but makes sense to have changed ASAP.
Click to expand...
 
Also, when you use the AF-Lock it locks the aperture as well in Aperture priority mode. Odd. Liveable with, but odd.
Hypoxic said:
hellocrowley said:
Use the AE-Lock button?
Click to expand...
No, this doesn't fix the problem. Once the camera determines the exposure, changes to the aperture or shutter can't be made.
Click to expand...
--
James Ito
 
Not to be dense but when you half press the shutter the exposure is supposed to lock unless you use AE lock. What cameras allow you to keep the shutter half pressed change the aperture and have the camera re-meter the scene with the half press still in place?

I would have never thought to do this.
--
terry
http://www.terrybanet.com
 
Using aperture priority as an example, when the shutter button is pressed halfway, you're correct, the exposure is supposed to 'lock', but most cameras then still allow you to adjust the aperture and it will accordingly change the shutter speed to maintain the same relative exposure.

If for example you pressed the button and the exposure was 1/15 sec at f4.0, you might elect to open up the aperture 1-2 stops to ensure a faster shutter speed. Most cameras I've used allow you to make this adjustment without letting go of the half-pressed shutter button, and will display the aperture/shutter changes in the viewfinder.

On the XP1, you have to let go of the shutter button, change the aperture, then re-press it and hope that you've selected an aperture that will give you the wanted shutter speed.

If you know that you precisely want to open up by two stops, well then you know what you're going to get. But as I stated before, when you're in a bright environment, and the camera is metering > 4000 as the shutter speed, you don't necessarily know how many stops you might need to close down in order to find a shutter speed of 4000 or less that the camera can achieve, so it takes multiple attempts.
TEBnewyork said:
Not to be dense but when you half press the shutter the exposure is supposed to lock unless you use AE lock. What cameras allow you to keep the shutter half pressed change the aperture and have the camera re-meter the scene with the half press still in place?

I would have never thought to do this.
--
Click to expand...
 
Hypoxic said:
Most cameras I've used allow you to make this adjustment without letting go of the half-pressed shutter button, and will display the aperture/shutter changes in the viewfinder.
Click to expand...
You are aware that you can do that in Program AE (see page 24 of the manual, "program shift")? The only disadvantage, admittedly, is that you cannot select the starting aperture. You have start with what the camera has chosen for you and then change it until it matches what you want.
 
Perfectly understand what you mean. There are two distinct schools of thought when it comes to exposure metering with the camera. The first locks the light readout, the second locks the actual shutter speed/aperture/exposure compensation settings. The lock can be either by half-pressing the shutter or with the AEL button.

Light readout lock: This is how most cameras behave and is also used by the external exposure meters (anybody remembers those?). Once the light reading has been locked one can still change the settings and keep the overall exposure level (a change of aperture in the AE mode will lead to the corresponding change of the shutter speed etc).

Camera settings lock: This is the way of Fuji (X100 and X1pro) and some others (Sony?). Once locked all the controls are simply ignored. This is probably easier to implement because after the exposure is locked the camera only has to wait for the full press of the shutter, but is somewhat limiting because as you pointed out, it requires a full new cycle of release/half-press to apply any changes.

I find it hard to understand why Fuji would have chosen the second method. It does not go well with the use of the hard-wired dedicated and properly labelled controls for the aperture, shutter speed and the exposure compensation. It feels almost like two conflicting trends in their design circles. Same as the contrast in execution between the front or the top and the back of X100. Metal rotary controls vs. flimsy plastic buttons and dials...

Whatever it is, it is mildly annoying. All the more so because it can easily be fixed in FW, yet Fuji is showing no intention to even recognize this as an issue.
 
Yes, it's certainly not a 'deal-breaker', I'm quite happy with the camera overall. It just adds to the very 'deliberate' style of this camera. I learned photography on film cameras and in an era when one could not fully trust the camera's metering (which is obviously still true but to a lesser degree, depending on the situation), so I am always tweaking the exposure slightly but do rely on the camera's meter.

Oh well. Perhaps a firmware fix in the future but I didn't buy the camera for what it might become, I bought it as it is now, and I am really enjoying it.

It does do a very good job metering! I took some extremely backlit photos of people on the beach the other day and the camera exposed the people's faces properly and was not fooled by the huge glare from the sand. I didn't have time to switch to spot metering and lock in the exposure, but the camera performed perfectly. Very nice. Focusing has been great as well. Curious to see more about M mount lenses and manual focus abilities.

The only future 'must have' is Adobe Camera Raw support. Please, Adobe. Soon.
ken224 said:
Perfectly understand what you mean. There are two distinct schools of thought when it comes to exposure metering with the camera. The first locks the light readout, the second locks the actual shutter speed/aperture/exposure compensation settings. The lock can be either by half-pressing the shutter or with the AEL button.

Light readout lock: This is how most cameras behave and is also used by the external exposure meters (anybody remembers those?). Once the light reading has been locked one can still change the settings and keep the overall exposure level (a change of aperture in the AE mode will lead to the corresponding change of the shutter speed etc).

Camera settings lock: This is the way of Fuji (X100 and X1pro) and some others (Sony?). Once locked all the controls are simply ignored. This is probably easier to implement because after the exposure is locked the camera only has to wait for the full press of the shutter, but is somewhat limiting because as you pointed out, it requires a full new cycle of release/half-press to apply any changes.

I find it hard to understand why Fuji would have chosen the second method. It does not go well with the use of the hard-wired dedicated and properly labelled controls for the aperture, shutter speed and the exposure compensation. It feels almost like two conflicting trends in their design circles. Same as the contrast in execution between the front or the top and the back of X100. Metal rotary controls vs. flimsy plastic buttons and dials...

Whatever it is, it is mildly annoying. All the more so because it can easily be fixed in FW, yet Fuji is showing no intention to even recognize this as an issue.
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