MikeA

I always wondered if this was a problem with the X-T3. I did not upgrade from X-T2 to that camera...and now I am wondering if it remains a problem with the X-T4. I ran across it yet again two days ago. I had forgotten to disconnect the grip from the camera body. Two batteries were at full charge and the one in the camera was at about 50%. A week and a half later, perhaps a bit longer, all were fully discharged. I used to think it was a problem with leaving the camera powered up but in 'standby' mode—no, it happens even with the camera supposedly powered down. It's pretty frustrating to call Fujifilm tech support, only to have this quickly dismissed by their main U.S. tech support guy as a non-issue. After that happened I realized I was in one of those situations where the techs might examine a camera, declare it to be "working within spec," and that's the end of it. Well, it might be that "spec" itself is a problem. I do hope they fixed this in the X-T4. It would be kind of outrageous if they haven't.

Not that I'm glad to have problems with the grip, but I'm relieved to see this thread and realize I'm not imagining it. Within the last couple of months my X-T2 grip has also developed problems, with one battery not being recognized as full even when it is (I use only Fujifilm branded batteries). I have to remove the battery and re-insert it, sometimes several times in a row. I've always found that the batteries drain unusually fast when the grip is left attached to the camera. This also happened with the X-T1. Clearly there's some flaw in the design. If the camera is left in 'standby' the batteries drain VERY quickly. But they shouldn't. I've spoken with Fujifilm tech support about it in the past, but the guy just shrugged verbally, so to speak. No, they don't seem to be acknowledging this problem.

I've just had a mishap with a Watson product — the dual-battery charger with digital readouts. First time this has happened: after charging a (Wasabi) battery in it, I put the battery back into the X-T1, which fired up dead as a doornail. I put the battery back into the Watson charger and it again showed the battery as being 100% charged. Removed it and put it into a small Wasabi charger, which showed it as being in need of a charge. About two hours later the Wasabi charger indicated full charge and this time the camera agreed. Irritating. Up to now the Watson dual charger has been fine, and I don't know if this means it has failed or if just there are individual batteries that don't like it. If that's the case and if the results stop being predictable, then it sure won't be a good idea to take it on the road. (Four of the small Watson chargers would take up roughly the same amount of space.) If you have more than one charger, you might try another one to see if it makes a difference. One of the few things I miss about the Nikon DSLR is that its batteries and charger were of really high quality...and the cost of those things reflected it.

Interesting. I'll keep an eye on their web site. For now, their thinner strap (used as a sling strap) is working out well. One other bit of accessorizing that I did, with thanks to whoever posted the suggestion in this forum: I got rid of the sub-optimal lens hood for the 35/1.4 and replaced it with a 52mm screw-in metal lens hood -- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A3LONQ8. There are probably a lot of these available here and there. Also taking the advice of someone here, I bought a 55mm Tamron-style lens cap, which happens to fit quite well over the end of the screw-in hood (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L6J69FE). There are a bazillion 55mm lens caps of that style out there and no doubt a number of them would work. To be sure the lens+hood+cap combination takes up more space in the camera bag, but I prefer this kind of arrangement because it means no more having to reach inside the lens hood to get at the cap (or first remove the lens hood). If Fujifilm's own hood+slip-on plastic cap weren't so flimsy, they'd have worked well. But neither wants to stay on.

In the film days I used this kind of accessory all the time. Until cameras began being produced with grips containing buttons that were rounded and tilted forward, "rounding off" the shutter release gave me a feeling of greater control -- less downward motion of the finger required to get the desired effect. I don't know why Fujifilm didn't use a threaded release for the X-T1 as it does for some of its other cameras -- that would make it a lot easier to add a product like the Lolumina button. Perhaps the next "flagship" camera will have that design. Hope so. At any rate I find the Lolumina button a major improvement. Half-pressing the button, and releasing it, are more comfortable now.

Interesting. I wouldn't have thought that design would work -- they mention on their site that they've found the hand strap not working on mirrorless cameras with the shutter release on the camera's top deck. I tried the Peak Design hand strap (they'd warned me it might not work) and nope -- not usable given the placement of the shutter release, the right-hand strap lug, and where the right hand contacts the camera relative to the strap lug position. Had to take it back. Too bad. Nicely designed strap, that one.

Battery grip Lolumina soft release Peak Design "leash" strap -- works as a sling strap. Lightweight and handy. I found their main Sling Strap product very well made, but overkill for the X-T1. Made my own vintage-style round eyecups by using Sugru to attach Nikon rubber eyecups to the X-T1's slip-over eyepieces. (I'd have loved to use Peak Design's hand strap, but the X-T1 doesn't work well with that kind of hand strap.) There is a video on how to build up the X-T1 buttons with Sugru. It's by Eivind Røhne, an "X-Photographer" in Norway.

You're paying $10 a month for a year's-worth of subscription. I'm paying $25 a month for a shorter time. With Lightroom having (so it's claimed) improved its X-Trans support, I'd rather evaluate C1 than buy it outright considering the cost. The company's present policy is not to apply even a portion of already-paid subscription money toward purchase price. I'd rather be in and out for $75 only if I decide not to continue. (Then again if they allow you to use the $10/month plan and bail out early, then the $10 option is clearly the better one.) The interface's beauty (or lack of it) is strictly in the eye of the beholder. Just to pick one part of the UI: I think C1's output "recipe" arrangement is way over-designed -- unnecessarily complicated and cluttered. Despite the complexity, if you want to assign custom text to an output filename, that custom text is applied to every possible output filename, no matter which "recipe" you use. I wrote to Phase One about this and they said it isn't likely to change. I replied, asking the guy: why would it be a benefit to the user not to be able to alter the custom text on a recipe-by-recipe basis? He said he got the point -- but that it isn't likely to change. Lightroom's output-recipe interface is somewhat simpler and does allow custom text to change on a per-recipe basis. Lightroom has that good "parametric" curve control; C1 is still using a 1990s-vintage curve control (although they at least have Levels). These two things and others are tilting me toward Lightroom but in the end, it's going to be the raw-conversion algorithms for the X-Trans files that will take precedence over the UI. That's still up in the air...

Thanks very much for pointing this out. I had missed it entirely. I'm not sure why it is designed that way but I'm glad that the focus ring can be used in "S" mode after all. In checking this out I ran across something I also hadn't noticed before. I have the AF-L/AE-L buttons at the "switch" setting (rather than "while pressing"). With the clutch lens in manual mode and the switch setting at "S", focus having been locked with the AF-L button can be undone in one of two ways: 1) press AF-L again; 2) half-press the shutter release -- which would normally have no effect in this case -- and turn the focusing ring. That removes the focus lock and enables you to fine-tune focus again with the focusing ring. I don't know why it was designed this way. They must have had some particular shooting situation in mind. Now I think I'm wrong about the camera's behavior in manual-focusing/"S" mode being a bug. One of my wish-list items is to have the "switch" - versus - "while pressing" options be available separately for AF-L or AE-L. This is probably not a high-priority item for them. :-)

They probably take a pretty keen interest in feedback w.r.t. major firmware changes. It's great if they are able to get feedback here.

Replying to my own post. Well, this is stranger yet. I asked a friend to double-check one of his clutch lenses, changing settings in the same way I did. I found six instance in which the AE-L and AF-L buttons did not function at all, whether they were used at their default settings or if the positions were swapped. When the friend tried it, in all six cases both buttons worked. Baffling. What would account for that, I wonder.

The only way I know of to reach them is via their page on Facebook. But then I don't use Twitter. Do the "Fuji Guys" hang out on Twitter? I suppose they must. Everyone but me does. :-)

Yes, face-detection is off. A friend, checking with one of his own clutch lenses, also observed that if the lens is set to manual focus and the switch on the camera body is set to "S", turning the focusing ring has no effect. Instead, it's the shutter release that handles the focusing. My first reaction was: wow, there's a serious bug. Why wasn't it caught in testing? Then it occurred to me: is there a special situation the designers were thinking about, in which photographers would not want the focusing ring to focus the lens ... when instead they'd prefer to keep the lens in manual-focus mode but use the shutter release to focus? If so, I wonder what the situation is. What I found with a clutch lens (23mm): Lens set to manual focus (focus ring turning): Switch on camera set to "M": Focus ring: focuses Shutter release: DOF preview AF-L: no effect AE-L: exposure lock Switch on camera set to "C": Focus ring: focuses Shutter release: DOF preview AF-L: no effect AE-L: exposure lock Switch on camera set to "S": Focus ring: no effect Use shutter release alone to focus AF-L: no effect AE-L: no effect Lens set to auto focus (focus ring not turning): Switch set to "M": Shutter release: DOF preview only (this also seems kind of strange) AF-L: focuses AE-L: exposure lock Switch set to "C": Shutter release: focuses, but with continuous "hunting" AF-L: no effect AE-L: no effect Switch set to "S": Shutter release: focuses -- no "hunting" AF-L: no effect AE-L: no effect

Also my impression, but it's based on only brief experience so far. Specific lighting conditions seem to make a big difference. I got a message from someone who was demonstrating the new firmware in an X-T1 in a studio setting. He said he demonstrated the new features by turning on face recognition and the eye-aware feature, then aiming the camera toward the model without bothering to compose the shot carefully. He was shooting from the hip, so to speak, using the LCD screen for very rough composition. Both face-related features worked and time after time, he got pinpoint focus on the model's eyes. That was with the 56/1.2. So this works well in some situations. So far I've found that the rectangles within the viewfinder representing the face area and the eyes tend to blink on and off and it is difficult to know if this means "I found the areas to focus on -- take the shot" or "I'm not sure what to focus on -- don't shoot yet." So far those rectangles haven't been lighting up and staying lit-up. There must be a number of variables that affect whether the feature is effective and I haven't even scratched the surface yet. (Hmm. I guess that isn't an the best possible phrase to use when talking about lenses.)

Hm. I don't remember if face-detection was on or off at the time. Need to spend much more time with it...