Why I sold my X100

[jsrockit]

Originally Posted by photomoof

The issues you complain about are just endemic in current Japanese camera design. If you are the kind of person who buys and Android phone you will like it, if you are an iPhone user it will madden you.

Well, I'm an iPhone user and I love the Fuji. The only time I go into the menu is to format the card. The rest of the functions can be done via knobs, rings, and a button or two. Sure, it's Japanese, but not anything like a Japanese DSLR in use.

[gavinlg]

Originally Posted by photomoof

Well you are doing what I do, not looking, but to me tiny knobs rings and buttons are just as nuts - I detest them.

If I am going to use a total AF camera, which basically the Fuji is (and as Seinfeld says, not that there is anything wrong with that ), I want it to sync to my computer or iPad via bluetooth, and set-up using a keyboard. And I want to back up my settings outside of the camera.

I am just so tired of these 1970 VCR interfaces. Now if the cameras were covered in 1970 Panasonic imitation wood grain and black plastic maybe.

EDIT: You realize this mostly a rant of disappointment that a perfect digital Nikon SP never appeared?

So what happens if you need to change the settings on the fly? Sounds like a horrible idea to me... I may change from a tripod timer setup, to a shooting setup with AF, to a 'street' zone focus setup all in one day. If you take the time to familiarize yourself with it, it's really not such a bad design. Yes the little control wheel on the back is fiddly (and thats about where my criticisms end) but cmon, it's a $1200 camera! The d300/d90/d3100 I use at work are far more complex and fiddly in the menus than the x100.

[gavinlg]

Originally Posted by photomoof

The issues you complain about are just endemic in current Japanese camera design. If you are the kind of person who buys and Android phone you will like it, if you are an iPhone user it will madden you.

I'm an iPhone user and I love the x100.

[paulfish4570]

yes, the the latest update did everything ...

[jsrockit]

Originally Posted by photomoof

Well you are doing what I do, not looking, but to me tiny knobs rings and buttons are just as nuts - I detest them.

That's just it...I only use the shutter speed dial and aperture ring. The only button I touch is for macro and I touch the lever to change between OVF and EVF once in awhile. That's it. For a japanese camera, it is the least annoying digital I have found... though maybe the RD1 would surpass it.

EDIT: You realize this mostly a rant of disappointment that a perfect digital Nikon SP never appeared?

That would be nice... unfortunately, Nikon has gone down a path to riches that doesn't gel with our sensibilities here on RFF.

[paulfish4570]

i like yer style, 'moof ...

[gavinlg]

Originally Posted by photomoof

You do it with your iPhone or Android, or you use the built-in menus. And yes I am aware that the d300 etc are far worse -- which is why long ago I switched to Olympus. Olympus was one company that allowed their SLR bodies to be connected to a computer (sadly with USB), which could then back up the settings, but then did not incorporate it into their 4/3rds cameras.

I would never need to change internal settings on the fly any more than I would want to change a lens. I tend to work with what I have, and not fiddle with cameras, but that is me. Whenever I have needed more than one lens I carry two cameras, I have never changed a lens in the field, it is just not the way my mind works.

I know many photographers work like they are playing golf -- and carry a bag of clubs -- I photograph like I am playing baseball, I like one bat, and one glove, and I like 'em simple and well worn.

Everyone keeps telling me to just buck up, that cameras are not supposed to be easy to operate or human-mind/body friendly -- that if I would just familiarize myself with the 100 page manual -- printed with magnifying glass-sized type, I would be OK.

But I took my best work with cameras which only had 5 choices, focus, f-stop, shutter speed, lens, and film. I narrowed that down for almost 20 years by always using Tri-x at 800, with a 50 1.4. When I shot color, I used Ektachrome.

I like obvious and simple. I figure if I have to read the manual I want no part of it, whatever the endeavor.

end of rant, but it is one which I bring to all my life choices.

I understand your point, but I mean - the x100 has a shutter speed dial, an aperture ring, and a button for ISO adjustment. What's wrong with just sticking it in manual mode, and choosing your ISO, and shooting like you would a film camera?

[Mlehrman]

Paul, speaking of updating the X100 software...I haven't done it yet, and to tell you the truth, I've been reluctant to start for fear that any glitch will "paperweight" the camera. How simple did you find update procedure, and how improved is performance? Mostly concerned here with low-light focusing, though I don't think that is specifically addressed?

thanks,

Mike

[jsrockit]

Originally Posted by photomoof

My reaction to the camera was that like the GF1 I own, I am sure I could work with it, but I would never be crazy about it. I am still waiting I suppose?

So it comes down to AF vs. MF for you? I can understand that... it's the reason why I still use a Leica RF... sometimes I just want to focus manually.

[Keith]

Strange thread this!

There's been so much discussed about the X100 and it's always been accepted that the manual focus function and feel is awful ... which it is! Auto focus works fine until you get down to an EV level where it can no longer pick up sufficient contrast to be effective or reliable ... we accept this also!

What's left to discuss ... the camera has no other serious issues that handicap it that I can see? I also think that Fuji are unlikely to change anything in a susequent model if there is one because the camera is selling very well as is!

[paulfish4570]

Mike, i found the logic of the update instructions a tad off-putting, and asked my bride (who is far more right-brained than me) to help. she did it in about 10 minutes, no issues at all. you must understand that i have difficulty even finding the desktop function on my laptop ...

[bwcolor]

Love mine. Setup how I want, so not much use for menu and when I do use the menu it is via the "Fn" button.

The add-ons that have helped, or that I like:

Firmware Upgrades: I swear..faster and closer focus w/o macro and in and out of menus easily.

Luxecase with strap: Dynamite red.. short strap but...

Clone Thumbs-Up for X100: Short strap and Thumbs-Up.. great combo

EF-20 Flash: Use fill flash a lot these days. So, it is Flash, or Thumbs-up

I've learned to work with the auto and manual focusing. I believe that the firmware has also been useful in this regard.

One complaint.. Occasional freezing of all functions and need to remove battery. Don't know what this is about.

[Mlehrman]

Paul, thanks for the quick response. My bride will be of no help here, though she can run rings around me, logic-wise. I suppose slow and deliberate is the way to go for me. But, what are the major differences that you have found, if any?

[gavinlg]

Originally Posted by photomoof

Oddly I thought about this as I was riding my bike today today (50 or 60 miles can give one time to think) -- in the context of having just finished reading "Steve Jobs." In a nutshell, a jerk that demanded perfection, even when it was impossible.

In product design either the engineers can be in charge or the designers. Fuji is a engineering product, not a designer/function product.

If the engineers had shown Steve their solution for manual-focus he would have said "this is total sh1t!" Then the engineers would have said, "this is the only way it can be done and still have auto focus." Steve would have demanded that the problem be solved, and someone would have solved it. My experience is that people say no, but when forced to rise to perform at their best level, they solve the problem that they thought impossible. This was the famous reality distortion field -- it is impossible for a mouse to move diagonally, it is impossible to overlap windows, it is impossible to have round corners on the windows, it is impossible to do a tablet without a stylus...

The fuji is a brilliant idea gone bad through compromise -- it works, but it could be so much better, and should have been, but no one wanted it to be great, no one cared enough to reinvent manual focus.

I can understand that some people just want to use manual focus, and some people work in light levels so low that AF won't work no matter what camera (Keith), but which camp do you fall in? I know manual focus is romantic and all that, but the AF is actually really good for 98% of situations you can get yourself in. The little x100 focusses faster than I can manually focus an RF most of the time...

You just have to accept that modern cameras aren't designed with manual focussing in mind anymore.. It's a bonus feature - an add-on, not a central part of the camera.

[5:00 PM]

Over the past three days, I've done two of the most typical shooting projects that average amateurs find themselves doing: a tour around San Francisco with visiting guests and a party in a private home. On the tour, the X100 (with the latest firmware 1.11) felt and largely performed like the PERFECT camera for the task. But at the party, with lots of close subjects that move around, it was a lot of work. Under about four feet the AF is dodgy at best; my experience with AF cameras goes back to the original Minolta Maxxum 7000 and I don't think I've ever had more focus misses than I had at that party. I've done much better work in the same home under the same conditions with a dSLR; the X100 just seems too slow for use at close range. Compared with a dSLR, it's very hard to keep up with little kids...but if you can get them to hold still for one second...

[greyelm]

Originally Posted by photomoof

I have no doubt that is true. But there are many of us who want to use cameras for something besides what these designers think we do, I for one want to pre-focus, MANUALLY, and I want to turn my camera on with the lens in that position.

Try this

.. Set X100 to AP, MF and ensure the distance scale shows in the VF
.. Chose a subject at the average desired distance, centre it and press th AFL button, the focus should jump to there.
.. Slowly turn the focus ring until the white DoF range covers your preference, you can use an external DoF scale if the Fuji one is too narrow (see other posts regarding fuji's calculation error)
.. When you turn the camera off the settings should not be lost.

note. The focus ring works better if you take it easy, more haste less speed.

[greyelm]

As they say in the computer world, the manual focussing on the X100 isn't a fault, it's a feature

[gavinlg]

Originally Posted by photomoof

Oh my -- you sound like one of those guys with the microphone at computer shows demonstrating an imaging product product.

Q: How do you resize an image in your product?
A: Well we have actually removed the resize option.
Q: What if I need to resize it?
A: Easy there is a simple work-a-round - just 5 simple steps.
Q: Why did you remove the resize button?
A: We don't think many people will want to resize their photos now that they use Flickr which automatically resizes much faster than you can do it yourself.
Q: But I don't use Flicker!
A: There is a seminar in 20 minutes on "How to take advantage of Flickr and get rich with Getty Images," would you like a ticket?
Q: No, do you know if Kodak still has a stand at the show?

It's not really that complex, seriously. You stab the AF button to get it to your desired distance, and adjust with the focus ring. Focus distance is indicated in the VF. It also shows approx depth of field in that display.

Have you actually used the camera for any period of time?

[greyelm]

I get the impression that you can't have a mechanical focus ring at the same time as stepper motor driven autofocus (i will accept expert opinion on this). Even the GF1 m4/3 lenses have fly by wire manual focus, allbeit better implemented. The AFL button on the X100 is a very simple solution. I compare any new piece of kit to a new car, eventually you just turn it on and drive without thinking.

[jsrockit]

Originally Posted by photomoof

... ever hoping that they will improve -- they just can't stay this awful forever.

I have a feeling they are just going to get worse and worse.

[Turtle]

For street, F8 and be there.

If this wont work, one flick back to AF and you are away.

Seems to cover most bases for me. After all this is how I work with my Leica. I focus when I have time, otherwise have it set up so that I generally dont have to.

[tom.w.bn]

Originally Posted by photomoof

As others note, I am sure it can be done, I just can't do it.

To me it is like eating raw chicken, I have seen it done by friends, right in front of me, but still I just can't. Maybe someday.

Perhaps we are not talking about the same camera? Don't know.

When I set my X100 to MF I can adjust the distance with the focus ring. When I switch the camera off and on again, the same distance is still set. That's a straightforward design, isn't it? The only thing that is not so great is slow focus motor.

[tom.w.bn]

Originally Posted by photomoof

And lots of users keep giving them a pass... by saying "It's not really that complex." As I said there is no mean/rude Steve Jobs in Japan.

BTW. Steve Jobs would have kicked out the MF feature if the X100 was an Apple product because they only put in mass market features.

[paulfish4570]

my, this thread has legs.
i've had my x100 for about three weeks. i keep things simple. the cam is simple for me because of my simple needs. i seldom shoot "street," and when i do, i take time to focus. the x100 focuses just as fast as my f2a, my r2m and my iiif. but then, i am deliberate about it. i just ain't no snap shooter. so, in my very limited view so far, it does an excellent job, as fast as i want it done. it is what it is, no more, no less, just like my other cams ...

[zauhar]

I tried the X100 and intensely disliked the "focus by wire" feature. You turn and turn, and not much happens, you still need to rely on the AF to get close to where you need to be.

Regarding the "impossibility" of having an AF stepping motor disengage to allow true manual focus, there is this mechanism called a "clutch" that the engineers might want to rediscover. I think the Romans were using them. ;-)

Randy