16 suggestions for firmware improvements of the X-T10

[Jeroen Mentens]

A couple of weeks ago I bought a X-T10 to give the Fuji-system a try. After hauling a Canon camera system along for nearly two decades I longed for equipment which is lighter on the back and shoulders but which is of equal quality.
I gave the X-T10 a try, waiting untill the new X-T2 to appears to get a top level camera. I'll then use the X-T10 as a second body next to the X-T2. Or sell the X-T10 and get 2 X-T2's, depending on what that camera offers. At least, that was the plan if my test of the system turned out well.
 

To set the scene: I'm used to a system with full frame cameras (Canon 1 and 5 series) and L-lenses. On the 5 series I use Magic Lantern for some added features like crop marks and auto-bracketing.

I shoot mainly landscapes as well as macro (insects). I nearly never shoot video.

I know Fuji (so far) can't replace my Canon system for macro. For this I need:
- a 120mm (180mm equivalent) macro,
- a good TTL-flash system with master and slave options,

- a specialty lens like the Canon MP-e

- a macro twin flash.

But for landscapes and assignments (which hardly never involve macro) I hope it's able to replace my Canons rather soon. Most of the equivalent lenses exist and a 100-400 is on the way. And my tilt shift lens should be able to be replaced by a lens I attach to an adapter.

The lenses I got (so far only the XF 18-55 and 10-24) turned out to be superb. I have no doubt the other lenses I need will be of equal quality.

The camera feels like a professional tool, yet also feels like "fun".
The sensor of the camera is very good and the viewfinder is decent. There are enough buttons and dials to change every setting. From a hardware point of view it's really good (I did add an L-bracket which makes the camera fit my hand a lot better than without).

But the software/firmware of the camera needs work for the X-T10 to be able to replace my Canons.
Especially the exposure bracketing, custom settings and the way back button focusing is implemented are show stoppers. That is: for my kind of use. You might pick up the camera and never notice any of these things.

The good thing: all of it can be fixed by firmware.

Some of these things might be available on the X-T1 and not on the X-T10 to distinguish the models further. I don't know.

 

My wishlist of changes/additions in firmware (for the X-T10), in decreasing order of importance:

1. Exposure bracketing. The presence of a BKT1 and BKT2-setting is nice. But the exposure bracketing is way too limited. This should be extended in 3 ways: 1) the ability to choose the number of photos. This is currently 3 photos but at least 5 should be an option. 2) the maximum difference is now 1 stop. This should be extended to at least 2 stops. 3) the order in which way the photos will be taken should be a choice. The two most obvious choices are: "0 - + -- ++" and "-- - 0 + ++". An "auto-bracketing" like available in Magic Lantern on Canon cameras would be a useful addition as well.
2. Custom settings 1. There are 8 custom settings, which is good. But for all raw shooters there is only 1 setting which can be changed by that and that's ISO. Custom settings should be able to change: ISO, bracketing, timer, AF-area (when in S or C-mode), aperture. If possible it should also override the S/C/M-focus switch. On my Canon I have C1, C2 and C3 set as follows: C1 = f8, ISO200, timer 2", mirror lock-up (no use for that one on the XT10 :-) ), back button AF, single shot. This is my standard setting for landscapes. C2 = similar + f16, 3 bracketed exposures at 1.5 stops interval. I use this for high contrast landscapes, frequently with the sun in the viewfinder. C3 = f5.6, ISO800, no timer, no mirror lock up, continuous shooting. This is used when suddenly something fast happens like a flock of birds or a deer passing by. C3 is the outer most setting on the dial so I just rotate till it stops.
3. Custom settings 2. Custom settings can only be reached through the Q-button and then a wheel. Why not use the Adv 1 and Adv 2 settings (and if possible BKT1 and BKT2 as well) on the dial for this. The "advanced filter" settings are totally useless for anyone shooting raw and could be used for "advanced" settings.
4. Back button AF 1. Back button AF is the way I have used all my cameras for over 10 years. The way it is implemented in the XT10 however is very awkward because only in manual focus mode (M) it works as expected. In single (S) and continuous © mode bbAF doesn't prevent the shutter button from focusing. You need to keep the AF-L button pressed to prevent the shutter from focusing. Back button AF should focus while the AF-L is pressed and should not focus when the shutter is pressed in S, C and M-mode.
5. Back button AF 2. When changing the focus point (I've set the 4 buttons of the controller to change this) the shutter needs to be pressed to go back to shooting. A press on the AF-L button or touching the zoom ring should have the same effect.
6. Back button AF 3. When in manual focus mode (the only mode where back button AF behaves as expected) the possibilities to set the AF area are limited.
7. Focus magnification 1. The focus magnification (in manual focus) is limited to 6x (or is it 5x?). An additional 10x magnification would be a lot more useful.
8. Focus magnification 2. When magnified it should be able to change the zoomed location by using the four buttons on the back. Currently the only way to inspect another part of the image magnified it needs a push of the shutter, change location, shutter, zoom ring. That's 4 steps instead of just one push of a button. This makes in extremely unpractical to check the focus of an image (e.g. landscape) before the image is taken. In review mode it does work like this so that's
9. Overexposed areas. The viewfinder doesn't show overexposure. Why not have the possibility to set zebras or blinking highlights for overexposed areas, just like there is the possibility to set focus peaking? There are blinking highlights available but only in review mode and not during shooting.
10. Histogram 1. The edges of the dark histogram area (both in the viewfinder and in review mode) don't fall at the black and white levels but are a little bit further. This makes it impossible to really know from the histogram whether there is pure black and/or pure white in a picture. Either the dark area should be a little bit smaller or there could be some fine lines showing the edges of the histogram.
11. Histogram 2. There's only a histogram from black to white but not for RGB separately. It would be really useful to have the option to show an RGB-historgram in the viewfinder and in review mode.
12. Histogram 3. The histogram is visible in the viewfinder but disappears when the shutter is pressed halfway. I'd like the histogram to stay visible all the time. Or have it as a choice in a setting.
13. Focus peaking. When focus peaking is enabled in manual focus mode the peaking is on all the time, except when the shutter is half pressed. It would be a lot more useful if the peaking is only on when touching the focus ring and not all the time.
14. Focus peaking and Black and White. Focus peaking with a colour doesn't work when the camera is set to B&W.
15. T-setting (longer than 1 second). The T-setting is a very nice thought. But why is it limited to 30 seconds and not 30 minutes?
16. Framing guidelines. The available grids are nice but it would be nice if an additional overlay like a 4:5 image crop could be displayed in the viewfinder as well. Not like the "image size" aspects ratios which turn the part of the image outside the image black but an additional line which should where a crop afterwards would be for a specific aspect ratio.