Photography Thailand Forum

[Marty Johnston]

Hi, I just wondered if there are any other photographers on this forum who are using the Fuji X100? I'd be keen to compare notes and share experiences. I know there are other online fora dedicated to this camera and I belong to a couple but I am particularly interested to have contact with anyone using it in the environs of Thailand. I hope to hear from you if you're out there!

[hughden]

I made the mistake of entering a camera shop with a Fuji X100 in the window and my credit card in my pocket; rather hard to resist once you have touched one!

Can be annoying to use, manual focus for example is rubbish, especially compared to Panasonic M4/3; but all is forgiven when you see the images. Very useable up to ISO 3,200 and a great street camera. I'd like more function buttons and the rear controls can be fiddly. The silent mode is indeed silent and very useful, people just don't realise you are taking photos.  Glad I bought it.

[Marty Johnston]

Hello Hughden,

Well I got mine around March of this year. Since then, it's been a love/hate relationship. The image quality that it's capable of is stunning but the "user interface" (hate terms like that) is plain awkward. Fuji has a lot of work to do with the firmware of this camera and I'm seriously hoping that they will do it, but losing optimism. The manual focus is nothing short of a bad joke.

Right now we have a Balloon Festival in Chiang Mai. The launches take place at 06:00 and 17:00, both in semi darkness. I took the Fuji along, thinking that its low-light capabilities would make it a star for this kind of thing. Well... to be honest it was a bit of a disaster. I tried various focusing methods and the best I could achieve was a one-in-four chance of nailing the focus. Some really lovely memorable moments were spoilt and lost because the hardware simply did not perform!

My Nikon D300, although rather noisy when pushed into higher ISOs, never missed focus once and turned in some lovely sharp images which were also beautifully exposed.

I have managed to do some reasonably convincing "street photography" with the Fuji (you can see on my website) but, to be honest, I could have equally achieved this with a P&S camera with a far lesser price-tag.

I'm now having a serious talk to myself about whether to keep the (lovable/hateable)  Fuji, or let it go and use the proceeds to get a different tool with a proper cutting edge.

marty

[hughden]

Firmware 1.11 was introduced a couple of weeks ago and the auto focus feels a little snappier. It's never going to match a competent SLR, or even my GF1 in focusing speed department; but I can forgive it that for the quality of the images and the pleasure of using it (except when you have to dive into the menus).

I do sports/event photography with a 1D, and I find the Fuji is excellent for people shots away from the event itself; and with the camera set on manual and the optional flash installed, it takes excellent evening/party shots. The camera itself is less intimidating to people than a huge SLR and attracts plenty of interest.

I'm keeping mine.

[Marty Johnston]

Hello hughden,

You are of course right. The Fuji is wonderful for that kind of reportage photography and I have found it to be a great tool in the streets (with caveats). It could well be that, in taking the Fuji to the balloon festival, I was trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole. Fast action is something the Fuji just doesn't do terribly well. This is a pity because one of the important aspects of street photography is the "decisive moment" and the Fuji is rather poorly poised (in my opinion) to grab it.

I have brought the Fuji home from events a few times now, feeling rather angry with it for its clumsy interface and sluggish performance. Yet the one redeeming factor it has in no short measure is its image quality. When it does manage to hit the spot, the images are second-to-none, especially in low light. I just wish it had the speed and the surety of a camera I feel its price tag should guarantee. I find that too often I am thinking of "workarounds" to overcome the Fuji's idiosyncrasies, than just grabbing the moment.

I think my love/hate relationship with this camera may last a while longer....

[hughden]

One approach that may help. especially if you can up the F stop a bit, is zone focusing. F5.6 or F8, set focusing to manual, pick a focus spot and focus using the AFL button, and  then just snap away. with no focusing delays.

[Marty Johnston]

Yes that's how I like to work. I use the zone focus method a lot, even with my SLR when I have the light. I'm a long time fan of working this way. When working at the festival however, I was finding myself being pushed to full aperture a lot of the time (even at high ISO) so I had to make sure to be focused. Have you noticed that the Fuji very often stops all the way down and then re-opens the aperture to the chosen level when you press the release? When you are trying to be quick, this introduces a "shutter lag" which is still in play, even when focus is on manual and no longer a contributing factor. I'm not quite sure why it does this but there's obviously a good reason for it.