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fuji x-e1 full spectrum issue


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Hello,

 

I am new to photography as a job requirement so please bare with me. My department has an X-E1 that we just had full spectrum modified. The lens it has is a Super EBC XF 35mm 1:2 R WR 043 Fujinon aspherical lens. (whatever all those numbers mean, but there they are). I used this camera for taking 360 panormic views and we decided to have it converted for the IR/UV capability. 

 

I just got it back and am having a problem with it I cannot figure out. Long story short, the only way to take a pic is by leaving the lens aperture setting on the big "A" as well as the exposure knob on "A".   Any other setting, such as moving one of these to anything different such as the aperture to 16, etc,  or the exposure to any of the other numbers, the indicator lamp flashes orange or red. It seems to be inconsistent with this as well. Heres a break down of what happens:

 

If I turn it on while the aperture and exposure are both on A, the lamp sits there and flashes orange until I focus on an object and take a picture. Then the lamp stops blinking orange.

 

After that, if I turn it off and back on without changing those settings, the lamp doesnt blink and will take a photo.

 

If I then change either of those settings after that and while it is on, and then i start to press the button, the lamp will blink red. Once I turn the settings both back to "A", it will shoot just fine again. And back and forth...

 

I hope I provided enough info for a diagnosis, if not let me know and I will try to fill in the blanks. As it is, I would obviously like to be able to change the settings when needed, or is this normal after this kind of modification and I am stuck with the "A" settting. (which im not even sure what the A stands for..."

In talking with the company that did the mod, I don't recall being told of this limitation. I'm waiting for them to call me back which can take days.

And as a side note to muddy the water, when putting on a Canon macro lens that has an adapter to try, it would not take a pic at all. It's an older lens and does not have the "A" setting that I see.

 

And yes, ive tried different batteries, SD cards, etc, etc. as after reading the manual on the lamp indicators, it says something about lens, flash, or memory error.

Thanks for any help I can get.

 

 

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Pardon my ignorance but doesn’t this full spectrum modification imply that the camera has to be used with filters to selectively shoot some part of the visible and invisible spectrum? What I see from the sites of the modifiers is that cameras with this spectrum modification are separated from a filter which covers the sensor but they can only retain autofocus with an (expensive) filter on the lens. There are different filters for different wavelengths.

 

From what you write you aren’t using any filter hence the inability of the camera to focus or expose. On top of this some sites specifically recommend to disable the sensor cleaning ( because that happens with the part that has been removed).

 

 

“.....While modified cameras can be and are used for everyday photography using either external color correction filters or a custom white balance, please be aware that these modifications fundamentally alter an important part of your camera's optical chain.  

 

By replacing both the IR filter and the front filter used for the dust cleaner function with a filter of the proper thickness, the optical viewfinder calibration and autofocus with normal lenses is retained.  External or clip-in filters are used to customize the camera's response for the use at hand...astronomical, normal photography, or IR imaging. 

 

Be sure that you understand that the Full Spectrum modification requires that external or clip-in filters are required to tailor your camera to a particular application.  These filters are NOT supplied as part of the modification. .."

Edited by milandro
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You are correct, it does need filters depending on the application. I do have an IR filter in place but forgot to mention that. I have tried with and without the filter but there is no change. I will try to find the sensor cleaning function to disable. Thanks for the advise.

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It might not be the solution to your problem but it is a start.

 

If you are still having problems due to a camera malfunction, and the company which made the modification appears to be unresponsive and unhelpful telling you that you are on your own, I am afraid that the situation will be rather more complex because maybe Fuji won’t “ repair” a camera that has been modified outside their control. They have made a version of the X-T1 with expended spectrum capabilities.

 

The  A setting of the lens makes the aperture depend on the shutter speed, the A setting of the shutter speed makes that depend on the aperture.

 

If the camera is in both A then it is in Program mode.

Edited by milandro
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Do I need to take it out of program mode? Or can I? I found the sensor cleaner and turned it off. Didnt seem to do any good. Which brings me to another point. I could not get into the menu after I turned the camera on until i manually focused the lens. The lamp just blinked orange non stop and nothing would work at all. None of the buttons, i,e, ae-l/af-l, live view, Q, nothing. Not sure if thats another clue or not.

 

As far as the lens, my understanding is that because the x-e1 is a mirrorless camera, it didnt need to be calibrated to any specific lens. This is from the website:

"Mirrorless Camera Calibration
Because of their unique design these cameras stand apart in their ease of use both as IR only and as full spectrum converted cameras. Since they are mirrorless they rely completely on the imaging sensor for all aspects of the image capture process, including focus and metering. Because of this they are able to “see” the IR focus shift real time and adjust for this on the fly while focusing. This allows you the freedom to use pretty much any micro four thirds lens and still achieve sharp images. All mirrorless cameras like the Panasonic Lumix G series, Olympus PEN series, Sony NEX/A series, etc are all calibrated specifically to take advantage of this unique capability. Therefore there is no need to have any focus calibration options or to send us a lens when you order a mirrorless camera conversion service.This makes mirrorless cameras stand out from the pack for their ease of use with Infrared and Full Spectrum photography. If you are not tied to a particular brand or set of DSLR lenses then mirrorless would be the holy grail choice for camera conversion for both infrared and full spectrum photography. Infact, you could use ONE camera for all your photography needs, be it normal visible photography or infrared photography. How is this possible? Because of the unique focus capabilities and the fact that there is no pentaprism viewfinder, what you see is what you get. The active viewfinder on models that have viewfinders  and the rear screen both show you a live view of the scene just as the camera sensor would see it, even in infrared. All you need is a Full Spectrum Converted mirrorless camera with a lens and two (or more) External Filters.When you would like to use the camera normally, for visible light photography, just place the Visible Bandpass Filter on the lens. Then for infrared photography you would just switch filters to one of our Infrared Bandpass Filters, set a custom white balance and off you go shooting IR! "

So... whatever all that means. The one thing I did pick up on was "This allows you the freedom to use pretty much any micro four thirds lens and still achieve sharp images."

So is that saying I need to get a "micro four thirds lens"?

And thanks for all the help Milandro.

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To be clear I don’t have a camera with extended spectrum and I am just thinking with you to help.

 

I don’t think this is a problem of which lens you are using! Your Fuji autofocus lens should be working like any other or actually better.

 

The flashing light indicates some type of malfunction but I don’t know which. It is possible, I gather from what you are saying, that the camera is now, for some reason, unable to focus automatically and that you need to use the camera only in manual focus? Maybe you cannot use automatic exposure?

 

Set the camera on Manual focus and see how that works. If that is not working try also setting the exposure to manual.

 

 

Page 33 of the manual should give you some directions towards how to choose Manual exposure, AE(P0 , AE(S), AE(A). 

 

There is a X-T1 IR (different camera) made for extended spectrum ( infra red) maybe that manual gives more and better ideas on how to deal with things like this.

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