X-T1 FW 4.0 BETA: I have it and share my findings soon ;)

[Patrick FR]

 I just did a test with the 50-140 trying to track birds in flight; result is not very good compared to my D810, but this is a very hard test and probably I'm still not used to this new AF system as for the D810

Did you had the following settings?

 

Mechanical Shutter (MS) only. Focus between each shot (in CL or CH) doesn’t work with MS+ES (electronic shutter) enabled

Turn Off face detection to enable PDAF

High Performance Mode ON

[milandro]

Yes,PatrickB, it is called consumerism.

 

Guilty as charged!

 

Put a new model out there and replace the older one. Hope that some older model owners will switch to the newer one.

 

Years ago you could buy one camera and use it for the rest of your life without ever needing another one.

 

Differentiating by slowing down innovation of an older model when introducing a new one is a basic concept in marketing.

 

Are you listening what Fuji-Rumors admin is saying, “ a nice kaizen (the same?I doubt it! ) in about half a year” this means, methinks, that whatever comes that late wan’t be of the same magnitude as the 4.0 firmware and that, by that time, the XE-1 in stock will be all sold, the XE-2 will become the new model on the way out together with the X-Pro 1

 

X-Pro 1 are now sold at a pittance in a kit with 18mm and 27mm ( + leather cases for camera and lenses)

 

Some folks like them enough to buy the camera and sell the lenses ( masses of them start appearing for sale) and try to sell the lenses for almost the price of the whole kit.

[typeronin]

Happy customers and competing with yourself ( because then no XE-2 owners would buy a X-T10) don’t get along.

 

Providing equal performance to the two competing cameras is a commercial oxymoron and I doubt they are prone to be oxy-morons. But maybe they are. Wait, keep on waiting, wait , and wait, and wait.

 

I disagree, sort of. I hate brand loyalty when it isn't because of something quantifiable. Nothing annoys me more than the idiots that realize I'm a photographer and want to talk brands. I hate that conversation. "I SHOOT NIKON BECAUSE IT'S THE BEST!" 

 

But what I like about Fuji is that they give photographers that use their stuff a good reason to stick around...because Kaizen improves the cameras beyond what they were already happy with. Yes, maybe that person won't buy a new X-T10 because their X-E2 is improved to that level...but then they'll take that money and spend it on new lenses instead because they're invested in Fuji.

 

I also have Canon gear and I don't have nearly the same optimism with my 5D3, which is probably why I'm downsizing all my Canon gear and swapping to Fuji and possibly a Sony/GH4 for video.

[milandro]

there is a important difference between providing  “ kaizen" and  committing “ seppuku", that difference implies that you might want to please customers ( Kaizen)  while trying to avoid killing yourself ( Seppuku) in the process.

 

If you would provide the same performance of the new model to the old camera that is exactly what you will be doing.

 

Again, this shows, time and time again, that this way to the kaizen approach has been causing a wave of unreasonable expectations among many western customers and will be, down the line, causing more hostility among those who, periodically ( with the introduction of every new camera featuring capabilities mostly due to new software ) who will feel ( for no good reason) “ left out” if their old-er camera is not matching the new-er ones.

 

It is already clear that the move to the new camera and software caused such a stir that Fujifilm France had to intervene with a declaration of intent to cool down the riot which was brewing among those who were gathering around with pitchforks, feathers and tar.

 

However the declaration stayed well away from simply stating “ we are going to provide you with the same firmware as the X-T10 ( which they did say for the X-T1 from the start ...) ” but made general promises of improvement and never talked of a timeline to when they will be delivered.

 

This alone talks volumes to me.

 

Meanwhile, I am quite sure that , at Fuji’s headquarters, meetings are being held, to face this ( methinks!) unexpected bump in the road.

 

The declaration of intent is out there, what it REALLY means remains to be seen.

[keoniahlo]

To Fujifilm... little improvement proposal

 

It took us a long time to get rid of the term "silent mode" - which disabled also flash - but we are still getting a, in my eyes, potenially confusional formualtion "Sound and Flash OFF"

 

So, when you have "Sound and Flash OFF" turned to "OFF", sound & flahs are actually ON

When you have "Sound and Flash OFF" turned to "ON", then it's OFF.

 

Why not simply call it "Sound & Flash" and then you turn in ON or OFF, how you prefer?

 

Does it make sense for you?

 

THIS DRIVES ME NUTS!

 

I can see the manual explanation of this menu item: "Don't not want to disable the sound off feature? Turn this off feature on."

 

[milandro]

Jenglish = Japanese English

[Viewolux]

Regarding the "Sound and Flash OFF" request

 

Separate the sound and flash buttons

 

Sound - OFF or ON

 

Flash - OFF or ON

[heliosfan]

Did you had the following settings?

 

Mechanical Shutter (MS) only. Focus between each shot (in CL or CH) doesn’t work with MS+ES (electronic shutter) enabled

Turn Off face detection to enable PDAF

High Performance Mode ON

 

I hope they update FW akin to what they did to make the flash work when MS+ES is on, when shutter speed is within the MS range it re-focuses, when in the ES only range it will not re-focus.

It will be very annoying to remember to switch between the modes (I usually use MS+ES all the time)

[flysurfer]

I hope they update FW akin to what they did to make the flash work when MS+ES is on, when shutter speed is within the MS range it re-focuses, when in the ES only range it will not re-focus.

It will be very annoying to remember to switch between the modes (I usually use MS+ES all the time)

 

Since this already works since FW 3, I wonder what update you are waiting for?

[azmmount]

Since this already works since FW 3, I wonder what update you are waiting for?

 

I believe that Patrick has said FW4 won't refocus between shots in continuos mode unless you're set to MS. I think heliosfan is saying that if you're in MS+ES and using the mechanical shutter, then it still should refocus.

 

Is the refocus between shots working in MS+ES for FW3?

[flysurfer]

I believe that Patrick has said FW4 won't refocus between shots in continuos mode unless you're set to MS. I think heliosfan is saying that if you're in MS+ES and using the mechanical shutter, then it still should refocus.

 

Is the refocus between shots working in MS+ES for FW3?

 

I thought he talked about flash. That works since FW 3. 

 

Focus tracking can't be performend between shots in ES, and it doesn't make sense to automatically change the focus mode in MS+ES, as the shutter speed can change anytime between shots, getting below or above 1/4000s. Tracking results would be unpredictable, and we don't want that.

 

There is now a warning stating what's happening, as it seems that most folks weren't willing to read the notes in firmware 3. Firmware 4 and the X-T10 are now clearly telling what's going on, but I have already met users who are completely ignoring all written warnings on the screen, then wondering/complaining about the bad results. Difficult subject, I guess.

[azmmount]

... it doesn't make sense to automatically change the focus mode in MS+ES, as the shutter speed can change anytime between shots, getting below or above 1/4000s ...

 

That makes sense.

 

Though I think I would still prefer the camera making a decision - is the first shot MS? Yes? Then refocus and lock to MS only. No? Don't refocus. But, I don't do a lot of continuous focus work so I'm not the target audience

 

I think a warning message (kind of) makes sense as long as it does not interfere with shooting. I suspect after seeing it a few times it will start to annoy me enough that I have to change to MS every time I'm shooting continuous

 

As a software developer I can say that many users will completely ignore the written documentation and many will also ignore the on screen warning. There is no real win.

 

Thanks for the info,

 

Mike

[flysurfer]

As a software developer I can say that many users will completely ignore the written documentation and many will also ignore the on screen warning. There is no real win.

 

Indeed.

 

It's the same with the anti blur warning. Many users want it to be put at the border of the screen, but no one would see it there when they are composing the shot. Beats the purpose. OTOH, it's current prominent position is annoying those who know what they are doing.

 

Similar with the overexposure warning: It's currently a red display of aperture and/or shutter speed. Some users say that's not enough. But as soon as Fuji displays an additional symbol in the middle of the screen, others will complain. 

[Maurice]

Regarding the "Sound and Flash OFF" request

 

Separate the sound and flash buttons

 

Sound - OFF or ON

 

Flash - OFF or ON

 

Obviously you can already do that.

The point is to fix a multiple of settings at once, temporarily.

 

Clearly the new name is just as horrible as the old one, probably even more !

[flysurfer]

Indeed, sound off and flash off are already available separately in the respective menus. 

 

This is about Silent Mode, a quick function to temporarily turn down all emissions (sound, flash, AF illuminator).

 

There used to be a keyboard shortcut for it, but Fuji removed it after too many users weren't able to operate it properly, they accidently pressed the button, then called customer service to complain about a broken flash. They ignored the Silent Mode symbol on the screen, and of course they couldn't be bothered to read the manual.

 

Fuji eventually got fed up and wouldn't have that anymore and removed the Silent Mode keyboard shortcut (which was pressing the DISP/BACK button for a few seconds). Today, this shortcut serves as a direct access to the Fn button configuration menu. Sadly, it's not even possible to assign Silent Mode to a Fn button, but one can assign it to a Q menu position.

[Grumpyrocker]

Deleted by user

[jeremyclarke]

Actually, my X-E1 never froze. Did yours? 

 

 

My X-E1 has frozen on me probably 10 times in the 1.5 years I've owned it. Easy enough to reset but not fun especially when it happens while writing a big batch of images to card. 

[jeremyclarke]

Ninja mode?

 

Stealth mode (disable flash and sounds) ON/OFF

[jeremyclarke]

flysurfer, on 23 Jun 2015 - 09:58 AM, said:

... it doesn't make sense to automatically change the focus mode in MS+ES, as the shutter speed can change anytime between shots, getting below or above 1/4000s ...

 

That makes sense.

 

Though I think I would still prefer the camera making a decision - is the first shot MS? Yes? Then refocus and lock to MS only. No? Don't refocus. But, I don't do a lot of continuous focus work so I'm not the target audience 

 

 

 

 

 

Fuji should make it work with MS+ES just like they did for flash, both involve potential confusion, but SOLVE much more common and annoying confusion.

 

Generally speaking I'd rather leave the camera on MS+ES all the time and having AF-C work with it just makes sense. If they can't work together and I am in MS+ES it drastically increases the steps to switch to continuous, as I have to change shutter AND AF mode (BTW I'll also need to change the Face Detection setting much of the time, further dissuading me from using the feature.)

 

There are clearly times when, in a given situation, the camera is actively switching between MS and ES as lighting changes, but is it really so common in AF-C that Fuji can't make it work? IMHO as long as it picks one shutter type for the beginning of the burst and uses it until you stop shooting most users will not be shocked at the results. 

 

The worst case scenario is you have a burst that starts in MS (you confirm this before starting by looking at the screen) and ends with blown-out shots that you THOUGHT would be accounted for by the ES, but weren't because the burst was forced to use the same shutter throughout. This is of course the same thing that would happen if you were in MS only in that same bright-light situation. Either way, this will almost never come up and is no more annoying or likely than the matching situation involving flash. 

 

On the other hand, there are already tons of people who have been confused by the fact that AF-C fails when their camera is using the mechanical shutter, and in many cases those users are likely to never realize what the problem is, instead concluding that the Fuji AF-C "just isn't there yet" and "that's why I keep my DSLR". 

[absolutic]

My X-E1 has frozen on me probably 10 times in the 1.5 years I've owned it. Easy enough to reset but not fun especially when it happens while writing a big batch of images to card. 

 

I had two XE1 which each would freeze.  Flysurfer acts like he is surprised about it.   Even Dpreview, the largest photography site in the world, acknowledge in their reviews of first Fuji X cameras that they freeze and software crashed in them.   But they loved the cameras anyway.     

[ryntim]

I have a quick question: 

Any wedding photographers that have used the XT-1 at a wedding reception before FW 4.0 and think the autofocus will be a great improvement in low light situations?

[abjurina]

I shoot weddings and I am crossing my fingers on this. However, the area where I find both the XT1 and the XE2 failing me right now is with processional and recessional shots. However, this forum has really done a great job recently on enlightening me with the fact that Fuji continuous focus has specific requirements to work properly. In any event, I would say that AF in low light hasn't been extremely horrible yet. I'm also reminded that my Canon also struggled at times in those situations.

[felipey]

I used two X-T1s with the 4.0 firmware this past weekend for a rehearsal dinner and a wedding and they performed much better than any previous event. There were a few missed focus shots but I attribute part of them to my user error. Overall, hunting in low light is significantly reduced. I will post pictures in my blog next week and will link to it here.

[ryntim]

Thanks guys!

[Maurice]

I had two XE1 which each would freeze.  Flysurfer acts like he is surprised about it.   Even Dpreview, the largest photography site in the world, acknowledge in their reviews of first Fuji X cameras that they freeze and software crashed in them.   But they loved the cameras anyway.     

 

Curious .. anyone with a X-E2 or X-T have that happen ?