XA1 in very low light at Hi ISO (1)

(1) first series of shots testing XA1 at 12800 and 25600 ISO with various lenses. mostly taken at an annual Buddhist Festival in Northeast Thailand, at a sacred pagoda supposedly storing the Buddha's breast bone. All shots hand held, ie, no tripod, tho some help to steady my shaky old hands with posts, trees or whatever structures were available.

(2) different ISOs from 1600 to 6400 and different lenses- XC16-50, XC 50-230, XF35, XF60.

Interested in comments as to merits of photos and whether the hi ISOs detract too much. Not interested in too much negativity from pixel peepers, as I know many DPR photogs will find these awful. But IMHO they look pretty good on my 27" iMac screen but haven't as yet printed any of these.

a spire with the full moon peeking thru

devotees making merit to Buddha with incense, candles and flowers

view across the lake with jogging track at Khon Kaen University

a runner resting after her jogging exploits in very early morning while still cool. Fill flash used.

water in a drainage ditch with light reflections

large candle with Buddha statue in background

large Brass gong with nice play of light

a small brass frog on sale in the festival market beside the temple

a devotee looking up at the Pagoda

old woman and grandson putting coins into containers as offerings to the temple monks

devotees walking clockwise around pagoda three times

pagoda That Panom

top of Pagoda with XC50-230

Pagoda with moon

entrance to Pagoda

I love the image quality from the X-A1, but I call it quits at ISO6400.

Nice shots, Gav.

I tend to agree with what Gavin has said re iso. I think the X-A1 is a fantastic little camera and pleased to see you are enjoying it. I'm pleased that Fuji have upgraded it and I hope they continue to do so. Thanks for the thread.

with lots of gear but no idea wrote:

I tend to agree with what Gavin has said re iso. I think the X-A1 is a fantastic little camera and pleased to see you are enjoying it. I'm pleased that Fuji have upgraded it and I hope they continue to do so. Thanks for the thread.

Thanks for your opinions, guys. Yes, think I should stick to 6400. In nearly all cases where I used the higher ISOs, I could have used 6400, with better results. But fun trying out to see what the XA1 is capable of. One thing I did notice with all the lenses used, particularly the 60, in the very low light where there wasn't enough of a contrast between light and dark, the XA1 really struggled to get the AF focus, even in spot mode, and often just couldn't get the focus at all. I tried MF and probably will try that again in a similar situation. What do you think? By the way, I generally shoot JPGs, as I don't have PS and my Lightroom version doesn't support the RAF from Fuji.

My first Fuji was the X10, which I dearly love, but no way it could have even attempted those higher ISOs, even 6400 was beyond it's capabilities- 3200 max. It seems to me that the XA1 @ 6400 is same, or better, than the X10 @ 1600. Yes or no?  Anyway, glad I have the XA1, and will enjoy for a long time, I'm sure. Don't think I need to upgrade to the XA2, but maybe/hopefully in the future Fuji will bring out a XA3 or 4.

Now saving up to add another prime lens or two, to go with my 35 and 60- would like either a wide angle like the 14 or a longer macro like the 90, maybe both if Fuji has a sale. I feel happy with the XC zooms which cover the ranges I need, and quality good enough for my non pro purposes, tho only in reasonably good light.

I find the low light AF on the X-A1 a real bummer. What I've found helps is setting it to multi point AF, or making the flexible single point AF box bigger. The smaller the AF box the harder a time it has, so spot focus must be even worse (I've never used spot focus).