X100f Manual Focus

davearthurs wrote:

In manual focus mode - if you turn off the camera and move the focus ring to a set position and turn it back on again does it remember this new position? (doesn't work with X100F etc., but I believe does work with XPro 2) - be a handy improvement as I mainly just use manual focus with a plastic focus tab thing on the X100T. Not ideal but and improvement over the iffy auto focus I find. Fixed lens positions on or off would be very handy.

Not sure TBH as I don't have an x100F, but your question makes me curious: what is this 'plastic focus tab thing' you use on the X100T and what are the benefits?

Cheers!

You can find it here  on shapeways - very cheap. In the heat it will expand slightly.

I find it very handy when using manual focus for street- it makes the X100t leica-ish. But as I mentioned the lens doesn't have fixed positions so you could move the tab without looking at the screen info, but if it is set at 6 o'clock say at 3 metres it works well to just move it to 3 o'clock if something happens quickly at 1m.

Thanks! Had no idea about that. Very interesting - will consider it. cheers.

I apologize for the thread resurrection here, but it would be nice if the camera would at least remember where you had manually focused it to.  (If there's a setting for that somewhere that I missed please point it out!) I often zone focus and as soon as the camera sleeps or I shut it off, the focus point resets to about the two meter mark. I assume it's the same on the X-Pro2. A great firmware update would be to enable the camera to remember it's position, and/or to at least reset to hyperfocal distance (as they calculate it) for the given aperture.

There was a thread about this a couple of weeks ago that I replied on. I don't remember its conclusion but if you use the search feature you might be able to dig it up. There might be some info that helps you although I think I remember the OP saying how the F doesn't keep the same setting whereas the previous versions do.

Must have been the thread I started (https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4124223). For me this is really a dealbreaker. My X100F has been sitting in the closet since I discovered the problem of it defaulting to a distance of 7ft. every time I switched it off. I sure hope a firmware update will fix this.

End of the day MF will always be faster than AF- these announcements with every new iteration of the camera of "better AF" seem to be be missing the point entirely. At this stage they must know that a lot of users of the X100 series know about hyperfocal focusing - it's the backbone of any understanding of rangefinders and street. It could be a perfect street camera if they at least allowed manual users the 'option' of better manual focusing. One simple Firmware update I'd love the see them implement is to show the actual focus distance in numbers in the corner - so you could get on the hyperfocal numbers of 3.3m for F8 or 2.6 F10 etc., a lot easier than using the vague distance graphic. The Ricoh GR system for snap distance is so fast because they know that the number is all that matters - not distance represented as a graphic.

A manual focus 'lock' function would be handy as well as the lens is easy to knock out of position if you have it set on 2m for example.  It's high time they focused on the manual functionality next time around. (focus tab etc.,)

Les,

all the previous Fuji cameras I had (X100, X100S, X70, X-Pro 1 and X-Pro 2) do remember the setting. Having to reset the distance after each on/off cycle is simply a pain.

How would/could firmware remember a manual position? Just reset the lens.

It works properly on the Xpro with the 35mm F1.4. The camera lens itself has fixed positions, which means you don't need to view an LCD to check your distance and it remembers these positions when on/off. It doesn't have marking on the barrel, but you could put them on yourself.

I think even the Fuji X70 remembers lens position as well.

The X100F system and older X100T etc., are both bad in a way as it still means there is no set lens positions physically on the lens barrel. If it resets to 2m it means 2m anywhere around the barrel, and likewise remembering position when on/off still means it could be anywhere around the barrel- i.e. if you have it set on 2m, turn the camera off and move the lens and then turn it back on, the lens will be on 2m - so no fixed positions, and you still always have to use the LCD display.

cabo wrote:

Must have been the thread I started (https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4124223). For me this is really a dealbreaker. My X100F has been sitting in the closet since I discovered the problem of it defaulting to a distance of 7ft. every time I switched it off. I sure hope a firmware update will fix this.

Yeah, I think I found your thread after I zombie posted this one. A firmware fix would be great and would solve the biggest issues for sure.

I can't help thinking though that the real issue is they kept the same lens, with it's fly-by-wire focusing. I had the original, the S, and now the F. This iteration is soooo good now with the ability to program whatever settings you prefer and then turn the screen off and only use manual controls. The buttons are all minimized and optimized and I really can't fault much on it except to say that it would be perfect if they put a mechanically focused lens on it. I would gladly sacrifice the slim lens profile since once you put a filter on it, it's double the size anyway. With a hood, all bets are off. All the manual control greatest is seriously undermined by the fact that to adjust focus you have to turn the camera on (or wake it), put it to your eye, and then fiddle with the focus to get it setup right.

I'm sure that sounds like a fussy little complaint but (and I'm sure I'm not alone in this) the magic of a camera like this is that it gets out of the way and you don't have to spend a lot of time fiddling with it whenever you want to change some parameter. The lens and it's focusing is the last thing left on this camera to take it from really great to just about perfect.

scott2click wrote:

...it would be perfect if they put a mechanically focused lens on it.

...the magic of a camera like this is that it gets out of the way...

Truer words were never spoken.

The lens and it's focusing is the last thing left on this camera to take it from really great to just about perfect.

I agree with you here. Having the S, I found the T to be an incrementally tweaked version and while the F has a new sensor and processor (love it on my x-pro), I don't know if it breaks enough new ground to warrant an upgrade.

As you mentioned, the only thing left would be the lens. I love it's tiny size and how it renders but if they could find a way to implement proper manual focus with dof markings a la 23/1.4 or 14/2.8, and not stick out any more than a few millimetres, I'd go so far as pay full list price and my ridiculous sales tax and pre-order one. (And I would still hang on to my S for nostalgic reasons!)