itchy shutter finger

I have two X-E3 camera bodies, one I bought in 2019 and one in 2020. In the first days of the Camera Remote App (Android), it was awesome to be able to operate the camera from the phone. It created possibilities I never experienced before. It was inconsistent though, and in short order it didn't work at all. As years passed it became painfully obvious I should have no expectations of a solution to the remote app failure, since it appeared Fujifilm all but abandoned this generation of models in favor of newer ones. Imagine my surprise on hearing this week of firmware upgrades for these older models to better work on the Camera Remote App. With some skepticism, I upgraded both of my cameras, and I am pleased to say that after the upgrades, I can quickly, easily, flawlessly, and reliably pair both cameras to phone, and operate them from the phone without fail. I'm shocked this happened at all, and even more shocked it works so well. I'm not pleased this took five years, but I give Fujifilm heavy credit for staying the course and ending with a good product.

Which command dial? When I set my top dial to any manual speed (which are indeed a stop apart), the rear dial will override that speed in + or - 1/3 stop increments. If you do not have shutter speed on your rear command dial, dive into the menu; it is selectible.

I had this problem shooting two different X-E3's (hardware similar to X-T2). When set to fixed aperture, fixed shutter speed, and fixed ISO, the shutter speed would very often be something other than its manual setting. Exposure was frequently way off, and the speed to make the shot was noticeably slower, which was very unfortunate since these were action jobs. Rather than spend too much time under the hood trying to out-think firmware code, I tried using auto ISO, and it's all good now. The ISO varies to no detriment, response is improved, and I get the aperture and shutter speed I selected.

I'll venture a guess here that the other flash units you tried have their own battery power. Fujifilm cameras compatible with the EF-X8 have an extra pin to supply power to the flash, as the EF-X8 does not carry its own power onboard. It sounds to me that something is wrong in the power supply circuit of either the body or the flash. If I remember correctly, EF-X8 compatible bodies have a pin to the top left of the hot shoe through which the body and flash communicate. I would also need to review the settings manual, because I don't know if it is possible through settings to de-energize that pin. Did B&H explore these avenues? I would be surprised if they didn't. I would expect that if anyone could run down the problem, it would be B&H. To summarize, my off-the-cuff guesses range from a dirty communication pin to a circuit failure to that pin, or a menu setting de-activating that pin. I will review my info and post an update if I find anything. For five years now, I use an EF-X8 for daytime close range TTL, but mainly as a commander to manage arrays of off-camera flash units, and so far the EF-X8 is 100% bulletproof.

I own two Fujifilm bodies and six Fujifilm branded lenses. I love them all. Fantastic technology and quality. However, I also like Fujifilm because of their commitment to customers through Kaizen - the continuous improvement of their products through firmware updates - Oh wait...never mind... Not really snark. I'm just showing Fujifilm the same they are showing me, except I never bait-and-switched them with now-false promises.

The only camera body failure I had was deterioration of the light seals - after about 30 years of use. I rebuilt that camera about 10 years ago, and it is as good today as the day I bought it. A Nikon FE. Digital has it perks, but I really miss film. Getting into this century though, I had a dumpster load of failure with electronic cameras both film and digital. But this is the key point - every single one of those failures was user error. All my own fault. I think today's cameras are beyond amazing, probably to a fault. But for quality and reliability, I like the Fujifilms, given today's shutter loads and electronic complexity. What would I like my next large purchase to be? A bunch of film for my Nikon.

I observed the same when shooting indoor action without flash (flash not allowed) in aperture priority with auto ISO and auto DR. The resulting photos were disappointing. Shutter speeds were all over the place, and I could not see what the shutter speed would be before taking the shot. I set the aperture and shutter to fixed values, and let auto ISO resolve the remainder of the exposure triangle. Results were very good. I think Greybeard's explanation is spot on. By forcing the camera to resolve two variables, it must iterate its decisions multiple times, delaying the eventual shutter speed selection.

In what way does the 18-55 fail your needs? Focal length? Image quality? Focus speed? Weight? Weather seal? For your journalism work, are you more inclined to try zooms or primes? For portrait work, the Viltrox 56mm f1.2 seems to me to be a credible choice. Among Fujifilm zoom lenses, I am a big fan of of the XF18-135. It's a little large and heavy, but I really admire the image quality. Two clues in your post suggest to me you may looking for a longer focal length. Is this the case? I am not a professional, much less a photojournalist, but after coming to Fujifilm after 40 years of Nikon, weight suddenly became very noticeable for me. I use 4 XC lenses, and not for the lower cost, but for the much lower weight. I have focal lengths from 15mm to 230mm, and a prime. My XF18-55 now lives in a storage box. I'd like to try out the 56mm Viltrox myself, but I get satisfactory portraits from the XC50-230. Again, not a pro.

I just came across something I forgot about. All of the X-Trans III cameras had firmware upgrades to fix the problem this thread describes. The upgrades were released in September 2020. No poster in this thread specifies what camera body they are having issue with, but right now my money is on X-E3, X-T20, X-T2, or X-Pro2.

Would your exif data be similar to the OP as shown in the original post? Which camera body are you using? Can you give some of the shooting settings, such as metering mode, etc.; and the flash settings? Without knowing any details of your system, and thinking on nothing more than TTL flash and a black photo, the first two things that pop into my mind are commander mode or the flash syncing on the wrong curtain for the chosen shutter speed. Unless there is an electronic problem with the EF-X500, there are sooooo many.... opportunities for an errant setting, and the EF-X500 is the flash with the most features, and settings for those features. I do not own an EF-X500 (but I would like to), but I use the little EF-X8 as a commander for large widespread flash arrays, and I am always amazed at the possibilities with this system...and it has the ability to take a black photo. If the flash is not defective, it's always going to be in the settings... Another fleeting thought, if your camera body is X-Trans2 or older, it may not support all that the EF-X500 can do.

Is your shutter set to Mechanical Only? Flash will not fire if Electronic Shutter is engaged, and this can occur if the shutter is set to Mechanical+Electronic.

Whoa! I didn't mean to ask such a difficult question (dynamic range setting), but thanks for digging so deep into it.

What was your dynamic range setting on that shot?

The comprehensive essence of photography in one collection. Wow! Just Wow! Very well done, and thanks for sharing this work with us.

Yes, it's my go-to lens for unscripted shooting. It is quirky, but I love the image quality. The XC35 prime has better image quality and speed, but I find the XC15-45 very versatile.

The XC35 f2 prime lens does use Lens Modulation Optimizer, but all other XC lenses (all zooms) do not. I own all of them,

I am a big fan of the XC 15-45, and while I do not own the 23 mm prime, I do have a 35 mm prime. I shot both lenses ad nauseum to see which was better, and as much as I like the XC 15-45, the prime offers the faster aperture and sharper detail, which doesn't really become a factor unless you print the photo or pixel peep it. The XC zoom, however, takes a mighty fine photo, and the utility of a zoom comes in handy when shooting while you are on the move. Not mention the XC's miniscule weight, also important when you are on the move. The way I decide which to shoot relies mainly on my plans for the session. If I'm shooting creative compositions in a fixed location, I choose the prime every time. If I'm out and about, the XC 15-45 is my tool of choice. I am a proponent of having both, once you get used to the unconventional operation of the XC 15-45.

Just a hunch here, as maybe an extension to Greybeard's thoughts. Fujifilm does a good job integrating their product line. They tend to keep compatibility current between older-to-newer products through firmware updates, but they don't always do so very explicitly. Which leads me to wonder... what firmware version do you have in your camera and lens? Are they both up to date? I read through the X-Pro1 firmware update history, but saw no mention of adding the aperture adjustment to accommodate ringless lenses, but I can't imagine this as an oversight. Surely someone tried to use an XCxx lens on an X-Pro1 before now.

This is a good question, but I think it leads down a bit of a rabbit hole. Lens resolutions are expressed as digital quantities of an analog distribution of light. As Herco pointed out, lenses may not exhibit uniform sharpness across its entire area, and I think most, if not all, don't. Therefore, that digital expression of lens resolution may not be accurate when rendered by a sensor of greater resolution, meaning one's perception of the resultant photo might not match the expectation the lens resolution measurement would suggest. What I'm trying to say is be careful what you wish for, because I suspect a 40MP sensor will be happy to expose the weaknesses of any lens one puts in front of it, new or old. And on what medium will one view all this resolution? I'm sure Fujifilm is likely to optimize the new lenses to the new sensor, whether it be by optical or firmware means. I have always suspected Fujifilm enhances the performance of its native branded lenses with a little in-camera processing help, and if that's the case, I think it does a great job. Does anyone here think the existing X-Trans sensors don't render good photos? I know 40MP is going to produce more pixels to peep, but will that equate to better photos? I don't know if one will see it unless large prints are made from the files. Computer monitors are what, 96 dots per inch? Consumer level photo printers are 600, or maybe 1200 dots per inch?

David - I went through a lens evaluation exercise like this a few months ago. I decided to evaluate photos on hi-res internet photo sharing sites, and I studied several thousand photos. One of the main takeaways for me is to not let youtube reviewers pick my lenses for me because my detailed observations aligned with exactly *none* of them. I recommend you develop a list of criteria by which you will select your new lenses, and do a similar exercise studying photos, and note which of them have image quality that you like. I could tell you which lenses impressed me the most, but you are not buying lenses to please me; you need to find the lenses that please you, and fit your other criteria. If you study a large sampling of these photos, you may be surprised at some of these lenses, and you will be absolutely star-struck at some.

I use the EF-X8 flash as a commander since I came to Fujifilm X-system nearly two years ago. I use it with an array of legacy flash units, sometimes as many as five at a time. Most of my photography is flash, even in daylight. I am pleasantly surprised at how well this arrangement works, even in bright sunlight. You will not be able find a straightforward and complete description of operation because the Fuji manual stops with the commander mode of the Fuji flash. They simply cannot provide instructions for the multitude of third party flashes. From there, however, it is very simple. You must use an off camera flash capable of, and set to optical slave mode. That's it! It will fire now. Beyond that, the features of your flash are mostly available, except TTL and perhaps high speed sync. Check your flash manual, and any features it says are available in slave mode will be available to you. Keep in mind the other modes of the EF-X8 will also fire a remote flash, but will interfere with the exposure. There is no interference with exposure in commander mode.

Oh Yeah! One of Fuji's best.

Death, any X body will fill your photographic needs, but in my opinion, the X-Pro 3 is pro-tough and likely your best choice to live a 10 year tough environment pro life. While I never compared, publications say the Fujifilm JPEG's SOOC are a cut above other brands because of Fujifilm's history of film chemistry and color science. I now believe this, as I recently went exploring film simulations and image quality adjustments. The control over a finished image using these features is surprisingly comprehensive and really impressive. If I did pro work, I would shoot JPEG+RAW, but as an amateur, I may never shoot RAW again. I just did a deep dive on lenses, and was really impressed with the 27 mm pancake lens. It was great for literally any purpose. Its versatility is noteworthy. The 35 mm f/1.4 was an awesome lens, but the 35 mm f/2 really wasn't far behind. It's much smaller, lighter, and less expensive than the 1.4. If I didn't already have a 35 mm f/2, I'd buy the 27 mm in a heartbeat. As far as a zoom goes, the choices are many. If you are considering a general purpose zoom for just the occasional shot, I was shocked at how good the lowly (and tiny) XC15-45 is for this purpose. If you are looking for more zoom quality, the XF10-24, XF16-55, and XF16-80 are all great. No compromises in image quality with them. Bigger, heavier, and more expensive, though. I know little of the Laowa except it gets good reviews. I don't think any of these are natively macro, but I use extension tubes with my 35 mm f/2, and the results are more than satisfactory for me - I mean *really* sharp.

Great shots. The colors look exceptional on screen. What lens?

I have used both. I currently own an XC50-230, but I no longer own an XF55-200. I will use the XC50-230 until it no longer produces images that make me gasp. I like the color and contrast of the XC better than the XF, although the XF was sometimes a little sharper. If I ever move up to a better telephoto, it will cost ten times what I paid for my XC50-230, and it will weigh four times as much. And I think it a wise move on your part to consider weight in a travel lens.