Dani Zisserman

Hi, Just in case you want another example - I've just finished an album where the 50-200 was used almost exclusively (except for the last 2 photos which are 35/1.4) https://www.facebook.com/dzisserman/media_set?set=a.10154245690033191.1073741933.769908190&type=3

I had the 50-230 for a few years, and got some nice shots with it, but eventually I tried out the XF55-200, and never looked back... The 50-230 lacks that extra bit of sharpness, especially beyond 135mm, which tends to bother me on critical viewing... I find the 55-200 to be sharper at all ranges. The difference is not colossal, but it is there and it can be seen. The 55-200 also has much better bokeh rendering, and I've actually started using it for portraits instead of the 35/1.4 for the better compression and flattening. And finally, the 55-200 has better IS..by at least 1 stop - and that is very significant, especially when combined with the extra light it can gather....

Hi, I haven't done too many portrait shoot with it yet, though an upcoming album will be almost entirely based on it... In the meanwhile - you can look at this album: https://www.facebook.com/dzisserman/media_set?set=a.10154058546103191.1073741929.769908190&type=3 The first 6 images of the girl with the light blue costume were shot with the 55-200. The other images in this album were shot with the 35/1.4

True, that is indeed partially what I meant - but I have to say that the XF35F1.4 DOES suffer from some distortion in my experience... Could be a problem with my particular copy (which is otherwise fine and very sharp), but it is there..

I would suggest turning the sharpening down by a notch or two, and then sharpen in LR (JPEGs)... In LR you can do selective sharpening with a mask, while the in-camera sharpening sharpens the whole image, including OOF areas which tends to amplify the perceived noise..

Could this be related to Camera vs. Lens compatibility issues? Not that such should occur, but from reading the German thread, it seems that the problem occurs with certain lenses and doesn't occur with others... Personally I've had a similar experience with my XF60, but on completely different cameras... On the XE-1 it focused slowly, but quite accurately... On the XT-10, however, it focuses much quicker, but displays the same AF miss phenomenon as described here, which brings to do do an AF+MF confirmation every time... I have never experienced similar problems with XF35 or XF55-200, or even XC16-50. It might be that the motor in the affected lenses is not fast enough to keep up with the increased AF speed of the camera itself...

Yes, The XF60 is wonderful with portraiture, and even a bit sharper than the XF35, while the bokeh is actually better... Only problem is that it's autofocus performance is somewhat unreliable, so manual assistance is advised... The other one I really like is the XF55-200. I only got it recently, and am already considering doing most of my Portrait work with it, rather than the XF35, as it has lower distortion and can really give you amazing compression and bokeh even at those smaller apertures. All this coupled with a a very efficient IS... The 35, of course, is much lighter and smaller and more useful in tighter spaces or really dark environments, but when the light is right, the XF55-200 can really shine...

Well, on the XT10 the shutter dial goes only one way, so I have to turn it all the way to B, and then go 1 back (if I want to do it without looking at it), which is quite a bother. I suppose it isn't as bad on the XT1. I can't really understand the usefullness of the dial locks in general, but if they are to be there, the of the "on/off" variety and not ones you have to press every time you want to move the dial...

Hi, Just wanted to share my thought about the future of the shutter dial for the XT2/20 (too late for XP2). This might have been less relevant in the past, but now that "T" mode lets you go through the entire range with one of the scroll wheels, it would have been really nice if the "T" mode was right next to the "A" mode. Either "A"->"T"->8000->4000->etc (best option) or "T"<-"A"->8000->etc (full turning shutter dial). I find it quite frustrating that I can't quickly move from Auto to "T" on my XT10, as I often want to quickly switch to a pre-set shutter speed without making too many turns. This is the only real "design flaw" that is bothering me. I wonder if there is any chance of something like this happening... Oh, and I wish they'd return Movie mode as a "Drive" option with shutter press activation. I liked that much more, instead of occupying a Fn button...

Also got the Meike MK320 recently, and am quite pleased with it. Sufficiently powerful for the photography I do, and quite versatile. I also like the fact that it doesn't feel too big on my X-T10, and only takes 2AA batteries (which seem to last forever). It even comes with a nice diffuser and together with something like the Rogue flashbender should be sufficient for most scenarios. It DOES have a tendency to sometimes fall out of sync with the camera, but disconnecting and reconnecting it fixes this issue. Could also be problematic contacts on my X-T10, but usually it works fine...

Just read in Rico's overview of the X70 that Fuji actually made the Trash button into a full-fledged FN when in shooting mode. So it IS possible... Good start Fuji - now do the same for us XT users...

Well, I guess you are right about 4, but I still kinda like the fact that it switches me automatically to JPEG. However, I DO wish it would have a memory for the quality setting in each mode, as I shoot RAW+N (to save space), but move to FINE with JPEGs... Regarding #3 - if you don't turn on automatic magnification, then using AF+MF will not magnify upon focus ring turn, but only if you press the rear button (press again for unzoom). I suppose that's not exactly what you would want to happen, but that is also an option....

As to your points: 1. Hmmm, well, I have to say I rather like this arrangements, and am quite pleased I don't have to resort to the back dialfor changing Aperture. Then again, when using XC lenses, I DO have to do that, unless I switch the button mapping in the BUTTON/DIAL menu, and then I can assi\gn Aperture to the front dial instead... 2. I also find this quite annoying, but this is a hardware issue and won't be solved in Firmware. Before the "T" setting was used for Universal range, this didn't really matter, but now I find I would have really wanted to have the Shutter Dial look like: "A->T->4000->2000->etc.". That way I could switch quickly from A to T and back. Hope the XT-2/XT-20 will have this arrangement.... 3.You can disable the automatic magnification and use the back dial for manual magnification toggle (on/off) only when you need it.... 4. On one hand, yeah - the option would have been nice. However, it would rather defeat the purpose of the "AUTO" mode, as most settings wouldn't really matter anyway. You CAN simulate RAW auto by doing the following: a. Set to RAW b. Set to P mode (Aperture+SS in A) c. Turn on Face/Eye detection b. Put camera in AF-C and Zone focusing There - you have your RAW auto mode... And besides, I like AUTO mode to be in JPEG as that gives me an option to get good shots on the go, when quality is not critical, but card capacity is.... 5. Yeah - that would be nice... I hope we get the +-2 bracketing from the X-Pro2...

Hmmm... Well, I have been thinking a lot about possible firmware improvements for my X-T10, but my list is somewhat different. I will use the opportunity to present it here, and address your points in my next post: 1. Make trash button into Fn8. Come on Fuji - this is really a no-brainer. This button is literally trash - almost pointless. I'm sure you can tweak the nice function menu to squeeze in another entry. This will really help those of use who use the D-pad for focus control. 2. Center-weighted metering. Ok, so this is a new X-Pro2 feature, but I'm sure the old processor can handle this quite easily. I would REALLY like to have this mode for portrait shooting. 3. Allow flash, even if only external, to fire in CL (at least). 4. Allow Movie mode to be set as one of the Adv. options. For RAW shooters, those are really wasted, and it would be nice to use the Drive wheel to switch to video recording (with shutter activation) in those rare cases one would want to. A movie mode should have been on this wheel from the outset... 5. Add the option to use a "Basic" JPEG quality, especially in conjunction with RAW shooting, so that more shots could be squeezed into a card. I'm using JPEG just for focus checking anyhow, and it is a shame to waste a few MB each time I take a shot...