X100 - a quick question re hyperfocusing

[daves]

Hi,
I really want to take the plunge and buy an X100 as a useful and enjoyable halfway house bewteen my ugly workhorse DSLR and the film rangefinders that make me happy.
Seems like the perfect solution. Thing is that I want to use if for work and leisure - in other words serious photojournalism and street shooting, both of which require a camera to be quick to focus.
With my Leica, my Oly OMs etc I often just hyperfocus at F16 and that does the job.
Can this be done with an X100 (manually inputting the hyperfocal range for a set aperture and leaving it at that), and if so does one use the values for a 23mm or 35mm lens?
I can't see how it can't be 23mm as that is the actual lens size, but I've read conflicting things.
If anyone has experience of this ie doing so effectively I'd be grateful of the info and would love to see some images produced this way.
Thanks a lot.

[GaryLH]

Originally Posted by daves

Hi,
I really want to take the plunge and buy an X100 as a useful and enjoyable halfway house bewteen my ugly workhorse DSLR and the film rangefinders that make me happy.
Seems like the perfect solution. Thing is that I want to use if for work and leisure - in other words serious photojournalism and street shooting, both of which require a camera to be quick to focus.
With my Leica, my Oly OMs etc I often just hyperfocus at F16 and that does the job.
Can this be done with an X100 (manually inputting the hyperfocal range for a set aperture and leaving it at that), and if so does one use the values for a 23mm or 35mm lens?
I can't see how it can't be 23mm as that is the actual lens size, but I've read conflicting things.
If anyone has experience of this ie doing so effectively I'd be grateful of the info and would love to see some images produced this way.
Thanks a lot.

U can have a focus scale at bottom of ovf. Off the top cannot remember default is active or not. For a given fstop it has a light color bar on each die of selected fstop which shows the deep of field for that fstop in relationship to distance. One can go to manual focus mode and manually set the desired distance or use the afl/ael button to one shot af focus to a object in the shot proximity you are interested in...

Hyperfocal f16 can also be set in this fashion as well

Hope that answers your question.
Gary

[GaryLH]

In this example, I set f16 on lens and manual focus mode and then started turning the focus ring until the right edge of the depth of field bar touched the infinity mark.

Gary

[Murchu]

Originally Posted by daves

Hi,
I really want to take the plunge and buy an X100 as a useful and enjoyable halfway house bewteen my ugly workhorse DSLR and the film rangefinders that make me happy.
Seems like the perfect solution. Thing is that I want to use if for work and leisure - in other words serious photojournalism and street shooting, both of which require a camera to be quick to focus.
With my Leica, my Oly OMs etc I often just hyperfocus at F16 and that does the job.
Can this be done with an X100 (manually inputting the hyperfocal range for a set aperture and leaving it at that), and if so does one use the values for a 23mm or 35mm lens?
I can't see how it can't be 23mm as that is the actual lens size, but I've read conflicting things.
If anyone has experience of this ie doing so effectively I'd be grateful of the info and would love to see some images produced this way.
Thanks a lot.

http://www.dofmaster.com/doftable.html

[daves]

Originally Posted by Murchu

http://www.dofmaster.com/doftable.html

Thanks but I'm fully aware of how to hyperfocus and that table answers precisely none of my questions.

[gavinlg]

The x100 is made for hyper focussing. You just use the scale on the lcd or in the finder (you can turn the scale on or off at your leisure). Just set to MF, turn the focussing ring or use the rear af-l button to pre-focus at a distance on the scale or a real-life distance, and the scale will show you approx DOF for your set aperture as someone showed above. It does read fairly conservative though, you can pretty much assume that it's showing about a stop or 2 smaller DOF than you'll get.

The x100 will have a similar DOF at f2 as a full frame/35mm camera has at f2.8. So basically if you're shooting f16 with a 35mm camera, you'll get away shooting f11 on the x100 and get the same DOF.

[rbelyell]

in my experience f8 is about as high as i would go to keep the cameras outstanding IQ. i often street-shoot hyperfocally at f8. the camera is optimized for f4, so f8 is really on the decline of IQ, but still good in my experience. higher isnt, imo. without checking i think you get hyperfocal distance of about 15 ft to infinity at f8.
tony

[douglasf13]

Originally Posted by daves

Hi,
I really want to take the plunge and buy an X100 as a useful and enjoyable halfway house bewteen my ugly workhorse DSLR and the film rangefinders that make me happy.
Seems like the perfect solution. Thing is that I want to use if for work and leisure - in other words serious photojournalism and street shooting, both of which require a camera to be quick to focus.
With my Leica, my Oly OMs etc I often just hyperfocus at F16 and that does the job.
Can this be done with an X100 (manually inputting the hyperfocal range for a set aperture and leaving it at that), and if so does one use the values for a 23mm or 35mm lens?
I can't see how it can't be 23mm as that is the actual lens size, but I've read conflicting things.
If anyone has experience of this ie doing so effectively I'd be grateful of the info and would love to see some images produced this way.
Thanks a lot.

Shooting a Leica with a 35mm lens at f16 would give about the same depth of field as shooting the X100 at around f10-f11. However, as mentioned above, keep in mind that going above around f8 is start softening the overall image, due to diffraction. Also, depth of field charts are to be taken with a grain of salt, especially with digital.

The X100 has a focus scale in the viewfinder or on the LCD, so you can easily manually focus to any distance you wish and leave it there.

[gavinlg]

I've personally found very very little diffraction in the x100 files (both raw and jpeg) for whatever reason. Less than any of my other digital SLRs. I'd be happy shooting f11 or even f16 without a problem, but that's just me!

If you find f16 a little soft all it takes to bring it back to optimum levels is a little extra boost in sharpening.

[steveniphoto]

i shot exclusively at f/11 and f/16 for street.







i dont see any problems.. the only editing done was boost in contrast and exposure. AF is pretty much unusable for anything moving so i agree that MF is the way to go for the x100.

[Godfrey]

My experience is that with an APS-C format camera, set f/5.6 and about 10' focus distance. That nets me about 5.5' to almost infinity focus, and keeps shutter speeds much higher (or ISO settings much lower) than using f/11-16.

Basic rule: always use th largest aperture you can get away with to achieve the desired focus zone.

I don't have an X100. Didnt like it at all when I looked at it. But it works the same as any other camera with similar focal length and format.

[Richard G]

I also use f5.6 or f8 most often for hyper focal or zone focussing. I imagine that wanting one setting for 'street' would require f16. I am more often zone focussing.

I leave it in AF-S and lock the focus with the AEL/AEF button after focussing on something at the appropriate distance. Sometimes that is a little tedious, but no slower than turning the manual focus ring which I would not bother with. I have it set in the set up menu to lock AF when the AFL/AEL button is pressed and to lock AF only and not AE. I don't bother looking up the scales for the X100 and don't display them. I hate any extra clutter in the VF. I already know the hyper focal distances and zone focus DOF well enough, and as mentioned, the scales for the X100 are a little conservative, i.e. pessimistic, regarding what will be satisfactorily focussed. With a manual focus 35 I am quite comfortable zone focussing with f4 and more precise scale focussing from the lens barrel markings. Knowing how to determine the distance of a particular object helps make things quicker with the X100 and the more manual cameras. If I trip the EVF I get the distance scale at the bottom to ensure that I have set the focus distance correctly if I have any doubt. I think I can hear if it's right.

[Murchu]

Originally Posted by daves

Thanks but I'm fully aware of how to hyperfocus and that table answers precisely none of my questions.

From the dropdowns, it has an entry for the Fuji X sensors, and lets you plug in the focal length, which in your case would be 23mm. Long story short, depth of field with your X100 is that of a 23mm lens, but is less than the depth of field of a 23mm on a regular 35mm camera/ full frame sensor due to the smaller circle of confusion due to using a sensor less than 35mm size. Whether 23mm on APS gives you the same depth of field as a 35mm lens on a full frame sensor/ film, I don't know, but checking both at the link above will give you your answer. At least that is my reading of it all.

[daves]

Thanks a lot for the info everyone. Very helpful

[gavinlg]

Originally Posted by steveniphoto

AF is pretty much unusable for anything moving so i agree that MF is the way to go for the x100.

Your street work is pretty damn cool. But I find this comment interesting. If you're using f11-f16 all the time, even if the AF fails you should be getting perfectly in-focus photos - when the AF fails and you get the red box in the OVF, it sets a pre-focussed distance of 2m or 6.5ft instead. So basically at f11 or f16 it should cover just about everything.

Not saying what you're doing is wrong - it obviously works - but I wouldn't call the AF unusable even for moving subjects.

[steveniphoto]

Originally Posted by gavinlg

Your street work is pretty damn cool. But I find this comment interesting. If you're using f11-f16 all the time, even if the AF fails you should be getting perfectly in-focus photos - when the AF fails and you get the red box in the OVF, it sets a pre-focussed distance of 2m or 6.5ft instead. So basically at f11 or f16 it should cover just about everything.

Not saying what you're doing is wrong - it obviously works - but I wouldn't call the AF unusable even for moving subjects.

i didnt know it set it to 2m haha i just assumed it focused to infinity if it couldnt lock focus.. idk why. maybe its because i shoot a lot of film and forget that the aps-c sensor is a little more forgiving when zone focusing but i always try to keep my aperture as low as possible to compensate for the screw ups i make. plus the ISO is clean at 3200-6400 so i never had issues with keeping it set at f/16.

the other thing that bothered me was the shutter lag. i always thought keeping it in MF just made everything that much faster but maybe im wrong lol.

[willie_901]

The only disadvantage you have using the X100 in hyperfocus mode is the camera has to be turned on to see or change the focus distance in the focus scale. This can be previewed viewed on the LCD panel as well as well as in the finder heads-up display. In some modes the lens focus does not change when the camera is started from stand by mode or even after being turned off. I don't remember the details though... sorry. The prefocus method suggested earlier using the AF manually works well too.

You should also be aware of some other issues important to street photography. You need to to do a shutter half press in order to use the minimum shutter delay (10 ms). This presets the lens aperture. Otherwise the delay is longer. This holds even for manual exposure mode. I do a half press as I bring the camera to my eye. Also, you should be sure to get a fast SDHC card. This helps when you take a burst of shots and shortens the wake-up time. I would also recommend carrying at least one spare battery. I would have no problem using f 11 for street work. It's true the lens sharpness is better at f 8, but for your work I believe content trumps the slight loss of sharpness due to diffraction at f 11.

[rbelyell]

given the camera's extreme DOF i am not sure what one gains at all going from f8 to f16. on the other hand, what one looses in terms of being able to stop the action with a faster SS, and loss of IQ, is pretty real.

[gavinlg]

Originally Posted by steveniphoto

i didnt know it set it to 2m haha i just assumed it focused to infinity if it couldnt lock focus.. idk why.

Yeah not many people know about this little nifty thing it does, but it's pretty ingenious IMO.

[SausalitoDog]

F8 and wait... For the shot... Use auto iso and whatever shutter speed you feel is appropriate for the shot and you will be able to do a quick focus by pressing the command dial for a rough focus - no lag, lot of great shots.

Tom

[Audii-Dudii]

Originally Posted by gavinlg

The x100 is made for hyper focussing. You just use the scale on the lcd or in the finder (you can turn the scale on or off at your leisure).

Speaking of which, is it possible turn off the distance scale in the EVF/LCD with the camera in the manual-focus mode? I can do this with my X-Pro1, but if there's a way to do with it with the X100 as well, then I have somehow managed to miss it...

And while I'm at it, is there a way to make the focus box as small in the manual-focus as it can be in the auto-focus mode? It seems strange that Fuji would implement such a great hybrid auto/manual-focus mode, but then hobble it by making the focus box so large. Surely this can't be due to any technical issues, because the smaller box works in the autofocus mode...

(I apologize if this has been discussed before, but I'm fairly new to the X100 and the answers to the above questions haven't turned up in any of the searches I've run.)

Thanks!

[willie_901]

Yes, you can turn the focusing scale off in any mode.

You can not change the size of the focus region in M mode. But A quick zoom will show where the focus region is and if it is in fact in focus. I suspect you can not make the region smaller because of parallax effects.

[Audii-Dudii]

Originally Posted by willie_901

Yes, you can turn the focusing scale off in any mode.

Alas, p. 72 of the manual says otherwise hence my query. FYI, equally annoying to me are the "M," silent-mode, and slow shutter speed warnings that are always visible on the LCD and cannot be turned off, despite the latter two not being visible in the EVF ... what possible reason can Fuji have for this maintaining this inconsistency?!

[rbelyell]

are you still very upset about whats on the lcd when you view your results?

[gavinlg]

Originally Posted by Audii-Dudii

Alas, p. 72 of the manual says otherwise hence my query. FYI, equally annoying to me are the "M," silent-mode, and slow shutter speed warnings that are always visible on the LCD and cannot be turned off, despite the latter two not being visible in the EVF ... what possible reason can Fuji have for this maintaining this inconsistency?!

It's not really that inconsistent - the LCD is different to the evf/ovf and therefore should have slightly different parameters. If you don't want to see that stuff just hit disp button and use the standard 'clean' view.

Seems like a pretty small thing to get in a tiff about.