dfaye

Great shot. Congratulations!

Sadly, no. Rico Pfirstinger has useful comment, as follows. (He is writing about the X-Pro2, but the comment applies also to other X-series cameras): “Basically, you can use any modern flash unit from any vendor with your X-Pro2, as long as you are prepared to manually set its power. You can connect third party flash units directly to the camera’s hot shoe, or use a cable or a wireless triggering device.” But he then adds a warning: "Important: Attaching Canon-compatible TTL flash equipment to the hot-shoe of the X-Pro2 can result in the camera overheating and performing an emergency shutdown. While Fujifilm and Canon share the same physical hot-shoe contacts, the protocols are not compatible. In this case, either tape-off the TTL contacts of your device or use an adapter that only loops the signal from the camera to the flash.” (Rico Pfirstinger: The Fujifilm X-Pro2, 115 X-Pert Tips. Rocky Nook 2016) ​As to other recommended brands of flash, there's quite a bit of useful comment here in the Flash forum, with Nissin and Godox currently receiving a lot of attention.

Actually, it's good that you asked the question, Starkman, because Doug's answer is an excellent summary - and both question and answer will be useful for others who browse these forums. It's often easy to overlook - or fail to find - these bits of information in the Fuji manuals.

I don't think it will make any noticeable difference to battery life whether you keep it turned or off. I'd suggest leaving it turned on so that it's there when you need it (and when you're not in manual mode, the setting isn't in operation anyway).

Hi, just to add a couple of comments: Firstly, you will only see the effect of this setting if all your exposure parameters are on manual settings (for example ISO on 200, aperture on f8 and shutter on 125). Then your EVF and LCD will show you exactly what kind of exposure/white balance you will get with your chosen manual settings, and what the effect will be if you change a setting. With any or all of your exposure settings on Auto, the "Preview Exp/WB" setting doesn't operate. Secondly, you don't have to turn the setting off for flash work, but - as Tikcus explains - if you're using flash in dark conditions it helps to turn it off, otherwise you can't see anything much through the EVF/LCD. I too keep it switched on, except for using flash in darker conditions.

And speaking of the jpeg files, make sure the Lens Modulation Optimizer is turned ON (IQ Menu, second page). I guess you've already checked this, in which case, apologies - but this comment might help someone else reading this. Of course the Lens Modulation Optimizer only affects the jpegs, but with some lenses it does make a big difference in correcting any inherent faults.

I agree with drandyperry's comments. I do actually have both lenses. The f1.4 is a beautiful lens when you can work in a slow and considered way, but after numerous failed shots of my dogs running through fields on their daily walks I bought the f2, and I find it excellent for anything where fast focus is required. It is also weather resistant, which is a bonus. My f1.4, which I bought used, is now very battered and full of dust, but I can't quite bring myself to sell it (and wouldn't get much for it, anyway). Images taken with the f1.4 have a certain subtlety to them; the bokeh is a little more pleasing than with the f2 and there's perhaps slightly better micro contrast. But there's not much in it. For events work I'd definitely go with the f2.

Toothpaste is often recommended for cleaning scratches off mobile phone screens. (Just normal toothpaste, not one that's full of coarse abrasive grit.) You could try it first on another piece of glass to make sure it's safe.

It is a truly superb lens in terms of image quality and the way it renders images, but I suspect that many who bought it on the basis of glowing reviews are later put off by its size and weight and the lack of OIS. I use mine a lot, mostly for garden photography and with extension tubes for near-macro shots. However when the long-awaited 80mm macro becomes available I will have to decide whether to sell my 90mm and buy the new 80mm instead in order to get full macro.

Thanks, Ileo. There is a visible difference between the Off and On settings in these photos. Fascinating!

Hi. This sounds normal. My 35 f1.4 aperture ring is fairly stiff (and feels a little gritty), and my 55-200 aperture ring is much smoother and moves a little too easily for my preference. There's a lot of variation in Fuji's aperture rings, especially for the earlier lenses - just something to get used to. The more recent offerings, like the 90mm and the trio of f2s (the 23, 35 and 50 f2) have got a much better balance between smoothness and stiffness.

I'm interested in this discussion of the effects - or lack of effects - of the Shoot Without Lens setting on IQ. Can any others offer advice on this, please? Like milandro, I can't see any differences in my images whether I have the setting on or off, and I can't understand how this setting could affect IQ if it is simply left on. The setting is buried deep in the Set-up menu and there's no way of assigning it to My Menu or the Q menu, so it would be a real hassle to keep turning it on and off again every time I want to use a Samyang lens!

Unfortunately you can't. Switching to electronic shutter turns off the flash capability.

Have you accidentally moved the Drive wheel off S? The flash won't work on Bracket, CH or CL.

I had a similar problem with my first copy of this lens: mine was rather soft generally, but particularly at the 55 end. After some research online I discovered lots of comments about variation between copies. I exchanged mine for another, and the new one is beautifully sharp. I'd strongly recommend that you try exchanging yours. Good luck.

There seems to be quite a wide range of tolerance on Fuji hotshoes, and this can be a nuisance with on-camera flash. I've noticed over the years that flash units that fit well on one camera are a little loose on another. (Currently, for example, my X500 flash fits well on my X-T2 but is loose - to the point of sometimes losing contact - on my X-Pro2.) As to your hotshoe cover, you might find that a different one fits fine - you can usually find packets of 3rd-party covers cheap on Amazon. If you find the camera's hotshoe is giving you problems with flash units, it is a fairly simple fix if you can get the camera back to Fuji.

Hi Charlieg54, You need to switch slots (in playback mode, press either the menu button or the joystick and choose Switch Slots in the menu options). Then, in slot 2, choose the photos to delete. No quicker way, I'm afraid.

The same problem is happening with the X-Pro2, using the OVF - see the X-Pro2 forum, where there's quite a long thread on the matter. (Again, I'm lucky not to be affected, but it's clear that many X-Pro2 users are.) This should increase the sense of urgency for Fuji to find a fix.

No problem with mine either - using OVF and have tried various different permutations of settings. So it seems the fault isn't universal. (I updated the firmware as soon as I got the camera a few weeks ago, so not sure whether it had the fault with the original firmware.)

Does it do this even when you are in High Performance Mode? (I ask, because I find using Economy Mode does slow things down considerably, including the LCD refresh rate.)

That's a really helpful explanation, gordonrussell76. Thanks. Previously I couldn't see the point of this new view mode, but will now give it a proper try.

Just one other thought: Auto white balance can do strange things to colours under certain lighting conditions. It would be worth checking to see if you get the same effect using, say, Daylight WB. (For example, I'm now looking at a green cushion using Auto WB under bright artificial light (LED bulbs): the cushion looks green in the LCD but blue in the EVF. If I use another WB setting, the effect goes away.) Anyhow, I hope your problem is something simple like this!

Have you specifically tried the EVF and LCD *colour* settings? That is, Setup menu, then into Screen setup, then make sure that EVF Color and LCD Color are both set to the same value (I'd recommend setting both to 0 unless you find you've got good reason to do otherwise). Sorry if you've already done all this, but it's the only thing I can think of.

On the question of how dust gets into a weather-sealed lens, this article is well-worth reading - and it makes you glad it's only dust inside the lens! https://petapixel.com/2015/06/10/we-found-a-fly-inside-a-weather-sealed-lens/

In case it's helpful, jrhudgins1, I've tested thoroughly with all my Fuji lenses (including the 50mm f2 and the 35 f1.4) and I can report that I do NOT have this problem on either my X-Pro2 or my X-100F; so it's not a universal problem. Both cameras have the latest firmware.