Fuji Apps hijack exposure reading

[garfinkle]

Hi all. Ive run this question through several other forums (with no success) and Ive spoken with Fuji Australia but Ive yet to find a solution to what I see as the most basic of functions regarding the Fuji App.

When performing a Timelapse with an external intervalometer you can manually alter S, A, F and ISO manually and see the incoming light reading from the camera screens. However, manually shifting does create some headaches in post as even the most locked-down camera will inevitably move incrementally when performing these operations. So one might think the new (or even the old) Fuji app would allow one to perform these actions remotely, thus allowing the user not to have any physical contact with the camera once the Timelapse has begun.

But the apps hijack the screens and then unhelpfully don't display exposure, thus rendering the apps useless in this, but also other, applications.

I do use TL View + and this is a workaround but I find shooting day to night Timelapse's work better when making S,A, ISO alterations manually.

Surely being able to read exposure is perhaps the most fundamental requirement of any camera system. Why does Fuji shut us out and is there a viable workaround?

Many thanks for any help anyone might be able to give.

 

FYI - shooting with XH2 and XT2 using both Fuji applications on iPhone X

[jerryy]

I have never been able to get an external intervalometer to work while using the remote app, I can use one or the other separately, but not both at the same time.

That said, if you use the app by itself, it does allow you to change the shutter speed, f-stop, ISO, and a few other settings.

I suspect enough folks will need to request that the app work with intervalometers to have the feature.

[garfinkle]

Thanks for your response, Jerry.

So how does one determine exposure while using the app?

[jerryy]

For this demo, my trusty X-T30 volunteered its services:

I am assuming you were able to get the app up and running on your phone and got to the start screen.

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Click on the Image Acquisition / Photography button. Doing that should take you to this screen:

The top part has two choices, make sure the one with the camera icon is chosen. Then below the current exposure listings are the icon buttons to change the settings. Choose S.S. to bring up the Shutter Speed screen:

Use the left or right arrows to change it. Click Done when you are finished.

You can change the Aperture setting by choosing the "F" icon button.

Similarly, you can change the ISO setting:

I will leave it to your adventurous self to explore importing images:

And that is it for the basic exposure settings, as you can see there are other settings to change or leave alone. i hope this helps.

 

 

[garfinkle]

Jerry.

Thanks so much for going to so much effort here. However, I feel I may have inadvertently led you down the wrong path. Perhaps my OP was incoherent. Certainly it was verbose.

Anyway, my issue is not regarding the connectivity nor the operation of the app (I am all too well versed in its idiosyncrasies), it's solely related to the fact that the app hijacks the camera screen output - not in and of itself the problem but it does exacerbate it. Why?

Here is the issue - monitoring the exposure, not altering it. Once the app hijacks the screen any internal light reading is hidden. How, therefore, can one determine the correct exposure during, say, a timelapse? This renders the latest and previous apps utterly useless (IMHO).

Regardless, you are very kind to go to such trouble for me - appreciated.

 

Edited June 7 by garfinkle

[jerryy]

As I mentioned, I have never been able to get the app to work with an intervalometer, so the only way I can think of at the moment to use the app to get a time-lapse sequence is to click the app’s big round shutter button yourself, wait a while then click it for the next image and repeat until you either fall asleep or get all of the shots you need.

As far as monitoring goes, while the screen shots I loaded do not show it, the app shows how the image would look using the currently chosen settings — I took the screen shots with the lens cap on. The image appears in the black box in the middle. Change a setting and the image brightens or darkens to reflect the change. Also, if you have enough time between image captures, you can switch over to the import tab and grab a copy of whichever image you want to see, the app will download a jpeg image version to your phone which you can take a look to see how things are going, then switch back to image capture.

Edited June 7 by jerryy

[garfinkle]

It's impossible to get an even exposure sequence of photographs by guessing the exposure via an examination of the previous shot. This is not a serious option. Particularly when one might shoot 800-1000 images over 4 or so hours.

However, my broader point is that the exposure reading is there when using the internal intervalometer (but not the application) but when using the application this utterly essential facility disappears. Why?

A completely ludicrous oversight in what the manufacturer claims to be a professional system.

Canon, Nikon and Sony (and probably just about everyone else) has been able to achieve this, the most fundamental aspect of photography (a remote exposure reading), for years. 

Edited June 7 by garfinkle

[jerryy]

The app does show you the settings it is using for the image, they are exactly the same as the ones that show on the lcd or viewfinder when using the intervalometer.

You can see them listed in the screen shots I posted, I did not take the lens cap off to show how they would apply to the image is the only difference. The app puts what was on the lcd screen (live view and settings info) onto the phone screen.

I shoot many hundreds of frames at a time when I am getting astrophotography photos, so I am aware of how exposure changes throughout the night.

Edited June 7 by jerryy

[garfinkle]

Jerry. Im either blind or Ive finally lost it completely.

Where in your screenshots does it display current exposure? In the viewfinder it would appear on the left of the live view.

 

[jerryy]

Here you go:

This is the back of the camera ready to go (no app or intervalometer started).

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The arrow is pointing to the exposure settings.

Here they are in the app.

And for reference, this is the back of the camera when the intervalometer is running:

 

The biggest problem is that currently, the app does not work with intervalometers. When I am shooting astro photos, I use the intervalometer to grab a sequence, then use the app to grab a shot and use it for plate solving, focus checking and exposure checking. Then switch back to the intervalometer for another batch. As long as the analysis time is not too long a stretch, there is not a problem.

Edited June 7 by jerryy

[garfinkle]

Jerry.

Those are the exposure settings.

Not the exposure reading.

They merely tell you how you have your exposure set up, not what the exposure reading for the camera actually is. 

 

Also, there is no way to manually check between shots. Often I end up with a 23 second exposure over a 25 second interval. For eg. Its simply unworkable for any serious output.

Edited June 7 by garfinkle

[jerryy]

Perhaps you can post an image showing what it is you are wanting to see.

[garfinkle]

Jerry.

I want to see the exposure meter. The +- meter you see in your viewfinder that tells you whether or not the picture you're taking is over or under exposed.

[garfinkle]

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Number 32.

 

[garfinkle]

Even Fuji Australia seem to see this as an oversight.

 

The reason Im posting here is in the unlikely event that someone has a functional workaround...hopefully one that doesn't involve physically touching the camera...which is the entire point of the app so far as Im concerned.

[jerryy]

Nope the exposure indicator meter only shows when using an external intervalometer, it does not show when using the internal one or when using the app.

The work around is time limited, a variation of what I have described above, tethering the camera or grab an image using the app. Open the image in Raw Studio or an editor and look at the histogram, etc, You will see if it is over/under exposed. Tethering or connecting via usb to grab the image is fastest, the remote app is okay. If clouds are rolling in, it can be tricky at first.

studio shooters use tethering a lot.

Edited June 7 by jerryy

[garfinkle]

Jerry.

We're really travelling in circles here (please refer to my original post). I know what tethering is and how to use it. I use the TL Plus View to trigger a Zeapon system for Time Lapse and the two together work perfectly fine. However, it would be nice to work occasionally without this rig and simply use the Fuji app.

The workaround you're describing is unworkable for any serious Day to Night timelapse as, apart from anything else (such as camera touching and therefore unwanted movement) you are constantly looking in the rear view mirror as to what it is you're metering, not to mention that the space between intervals would have to be unusably long.

(sigh) All Im asking is that the app displays the exposure when using ANY intervalometer.

There may be no serious workaround, but I thank you for your thoughts.

[jerryy]

Sometime a short break can help to phrase things so that they do not sound annoying, Well that is the hope anyway, so here goes.

Having that meter would be nice as well as having the histogram. But having them or not is a minor consideration in terms of what you are wanting to do because the app does not work with intervalometers. The only way you can get a time lapse sequence using the app is to manually click the shutter button, wait then click it again and so on. Even if the meter were there, you would need extremely fast reflexes to see and react to a lighting change by changing the settings and then going back to clicking the shutter button. Doing that for hours would be a feat indeed.

The equipment you mention does this by analyzing several past images and predicting what settings to apply to the next incoming image.

Right now the app has the live view which will tell you if an area is over or under exposed, but as far as what you are wanting to do without being able to connect the app to an intervalometer, well …