Ah, the internet... where myths become fact. 
ferider
Mentor
emraphoto
Mentor
i am sad to hear that as i am entering my piece in NPAC's (Canada's version of NPPA) picture of the year competition. some of it was shot on one of those non-focusing x100s.
well, i suppose we are back to the drawing board Andy.
gavinlg
Mentor
I love it how us actual users who continue to pop up in threads like these stating the AF works well and is not bad or faulty are just ignored as people just continue on with the whole 'crummy AF' thing...
celluloidprop
Well-known
My X100 works great. Unfortunately, I still suck.
I don't think my X100 could keep up with my parents' one-year old corgi running around... but then again, I didn't have much luck with my D700 either. If only they'd gotten a bigger dog...
I don't think my X100 could keep up with my parents' one-year old corgi running around... but then again, I didn't have much luck with my D700 either. If only they'd gotten a bigger dog...
Adanac
Well-known
The two are completely different cameras. The Fuji is an autofocus first and foremost camera.
The RD-1 is a host for rangefinder lenses.
The Fuji won't help you focus your manual focus lenses when using the optical finder.
The RD-1 will.
Might as well compare a NEX to a RD-1, although that's not fair as it does have two focus aides.
Turtle
Mentor
You are absolutely right. I used the pricing from about a year or two ago when I was seriously considering the DRF route. I would guess a good clean M8.2 would be in the region of $3K, so over double the X-pro1 body only price.
The only advantage I can see of the M8/8.2 is that it allows manual focus in its traditional form. In every other regard it would appear to be an awfully long way behind and without warranty etc. I raise this not to bash the M8 - the camera is still as strong an image making tool as before - but to illustrate that even with its flaws the X-Pro1 is still a game changer... and the next incarnation - the X-Pro 2 perhaps - would appear likely to bring phase AF. This means that a person can put in half the cost of even a M8 (never mind 8.2) and enjoy a full warranty while experimenting with the DRF experience for the first time AND buy the next model for the same money or less than the used Leica.... and all under warranty. Its just a perspective.
As for the X100 AF, it works OK for me, even under poor light. Not stellar, but often good enough. The MF is poor, but you can shoot hyperfocally just as you would with anything else. At F8, everything is nice and sharp when focused at 3.5m or so. For street work, an 18mm (27 equiv) on the X-Pro focused at 3m would appear to be a great solution for 28mm lovers. This would be a 'hyperfocal dream' and the AF is there is you find you need it....
... and another thought: because the ISO is so dramatically better than the M8 (or M9 for that matter), it means that you can still shoot using hyperfocal focus in the evening and night time at middling apertures to get DOF. You will not be forced to shoot everything at F1.4 and try frantically to gain focus on that moving person...
The only advantage I can see of the M8/8.2 is that it allows manual focus in its traditional form. In every other regard it would appear to be an awfully long way behind and without warranty etc. I raise this not to bash the M8 - the camera is still as strong an image making tool as before - but to illustrate that even with its flaws the X-Pro1 is still a game changer... and the next incarnation - the X-Pro 2 perhaps - would appear likely to bring phase AF. This means that a person can put in half the cost of even a M8 (never mind 8.2) and enjoy a full warranty while experimenting with the DRF experience for the first time AND buy the next model for the same money or less than the used Leica.... and all under warranty. Its just a perspective.
As for the X100 AF, it works OK for me, even under poor light. Not stellar, but often good enough. The MF is poor, but you can shoot hyperfocally just as you would with anything else. At F8, everything is nice and sharp when focused at 3.5m or so. For street work, an 18mm (27 equiv) on the X-Pro focused at 3m would appear to be a great solution for 28mm lovers. This would be a 'hyperfocal dream' and the AF is there is you find you need it....
... and another thought: because the ISO is so dramatically better than the M8 (or M9 for that matter), it means that you can still shoot using hyperfocal focus in the evening and night time at middling apertures to get DOF. You will not be forced to shoot everything at F1.4 and try frantically to gain focus on that moving person...
Vobluda
Well-known
I tested the AF of two different X100 (latest fw) against the GF1+20mm f1,7 (1,5 y. older camera then X00, first fw) and GF1 AF was a bit faster.
Yes, I have had X100 two times within 5 months as the first one was early one. I experienced power supply failure with the first one, it was completely replaced under the warranty. I sold the first one and couple months later when I had opportunity to get another one for great price I give it a once more try. I thought that maybe there was something wrong with the first one, but no, AF was again slower than GF1.
And no, I dont buy those stories that you have to know hot focus with X100. Camera costs 1000 EUR. For the money it should just focus when you press the shutter button. That is how it is written in the manual.
Too expensive for landscape camera or for arranged pictures of the people (statistics of the content of the photos at "pictures taken with X100" here at rff would be very interesting..).
Yes, I have had X100 two times within 5 months as the first one was early one. I experienced power supply failure with the first one, it was completely replaced under the warranty. I sold the first one and couple months later when I had opportunity to get another one for great price I give it a once more try. I thought that maybe there was something wrong with the first one, but no, AF was again slower than GF1.
And no, I dont buy those stories that you have to know hot focus with X100. Camera costs 1000 EUR. For the money it should just focus when you press the shutter button. That is how it is written in the manual.
Too expensive for landscape camera or for arranged pictures of the people (statistics of the content of the photos at "pictures taken with X100" here at rff would be very interesting..).
Focal Plane Circus
Member
Odmit
Member
Spyro
Well-known
The Fuji X series are cheap cameras. In the mirrorless with-OVF segment they are a about 1/4 the price of the competition.
Dont want OVF? These cameras are irrelevant to you, dont bother.
If you have moving subjects just zone focus and leave it there, its a 24mm lens with tons of dof. It is also a camera with good high iso, so crank it up a bit so you can stop down and gain even more dof.
If you are an AF bokeh-junkie, again this camera is irrelevant to you. Better solutions elsewhere.
Dont want OVF? These cameras are irrelevant to you, dont bother.
If you have moving subjects just zone focus and leave it there, its a 24mm lens with tons of dof. It is also a camera with good high iso, so crank it up a bit so you can stop down and gain even more dof.
If you are an AF bokeh-junkie, again this camera is irrelevant to you. Better solutions elsewhere.
Turtle
Mentor
Exactly. It gets tiring when people keep telling you that your appreciation for a camera is misguided because it does not meet their requirements!
emraphoto
Mentor
well, first let me assure you i don't shoot much in the way of landscapes nor do i arrange folks much.
i am not here to convince you if the camera is for you or not. frankly i don't much care. what does confuse me is how i, and MANY working photographers can produce exactly what we need, when we need it with such a dysfunctional camera?
there is disconnect that i plum don't understand.
emraphoto
Mentor
thank you for explaining what i missed.
f16sunshine
Moderator
+1
It's like telling a model she should become taller or shorter.
Some things are what they are. If a person can find peace with the x100, it's an effin rockstar of a camera.
The af system was admittedly a short learning curve to get to know. That's history now and it works like a gem.
Love it or leave it but if you leave it... leave it be!
Adanac
Well-known
We can turn that around of course.
It gets tiring when people keep telling you that your opinion of a camera you owned and used extensively somehow doesn't matter because it happens to meet *their* needs.
There are plenty of things wrong with the X100 that may not matter at all to some photographers and the same is true of most every camera ever made. The XPro 1 being the latest incarnation of the X line, it is only natural that there is interest in learning if Fujifilm has advanced the line meaningfully and it is no surprise that both the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of the XPro 1's ancestors are being discussed.
willie_901
Mentor
Photos From My Non-Focusing X100
Photos From My Non-Focusing X100
I have no idea what Andy is talking about.
I had three pieces accepted at a regional juried art show in early January (there were 142 photos submitted in total and 74 accepted by the juror). One of mine won an honorable mention. All three are from my X100. All three were focused by operating the AF manually. I pressed the AF button to lock focus and then pressed the shutter. The photo that won the ribbon was focused using the OVF.
My Flickr stream now starts with a large number of shots taken in low light at a horse racing track. These were focused the same way with the aperture typically set at 2.8 .
Obviously the X100 AF works. I use different methods for different situations. Action photography is not practical because of the AF speed and lens' relatively wide angle of view.
The X100 is an AF camera. The AF system will lock focus quickly if there is a reasonable amount of contrast available. If there isn't, one can focus and recompose if the contrast. The small focus box in EVF mode insures the focus lock is where you want it.
My LUMIX G1 focused a bit better than the X100. My D200s, 300 and 700s all focused quicker. But even these bodies required practice and different methods depeending on the situation.
Photos From My Non-Focusing X100
I have no idea what Andy is talking about.
I had three pieces accepted at a regional juried art show in early January (there were 142 photos submitted in total and 74 accepted by the juror). One of mine won an honorable mention. All three are from my X100. All three were focused by operating the AF manually. I pressed the AF button to lock focus and then pressed the shutter. The photo that won the ribbon was focused using the OVF.
My Flickr stream now starts with a large number of shots taken in low light at a horse racing track. These were focused the same way with the aperture typically set at 2.8 .
Obviously the X100 AF works. I use different methods for different situations. Action photography is not practical because of the AF speed and lens' relatively wide angle of view.
The X100 is an AF camera. The AF system will lock focus quickly if there is a reasonable amount of contrast available. If there isn't, one can focus and recompose if the contrast. The small focus box in EVF mode insures the focus lock is where you want it.
My LUMIX G1 focused a bit better than the X100. My D200s, 300 and 700s all focused quicker. But even these bodies required practice and different methods depeending on the situation.
f16sunshine
Moderator
Wait, You know I was joking from the start right?
I love the X100 and use one in MF with the AFL/AEL button on the back.
The Xpro1/60mm lens combo will pair up with my X100 once I'm able to buy the former.
If this is the future of Fuji APS AF Mirrorless.. I'm absolutely stoked with it.
dct
perpetual amateur
This discussion remembers me of many threads around the "unreliable" focussing of Hexar AF (fixed lens) or Contax G (IC lens), both very special AF cameras. Very different AF technology for Fuji's X series, but still the same complaints vs how great it works. Maybe we should accept that dedicated AF cameras will find their masters as well as their haters. We are all very different people.
Maybe we should turn back to the X-Pro1 related discussion, leaving the darkest recesses of generic AF/MF discussions...
Maybe we should turn back to the X-Pro1 related discussion, leaving the darkest recesses of generic AF/MF discussions...