Fuji Great sensor but slow, any advice

wojconner

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Name
Woj
I absolutely love the images I'm getting from the x100s but, for street photography it's way too slow when compared to the ricoh gr. I've tried all the different AF settings as well as zone focus and zone focus is really the only way I can get any satisfactory images. I see that if I changed my style of street photography then the fuji would be great but I tend to work very quickly rather than wait for ideal shots.
Outside of street photography the camera has been great and really beats the ricoh gr for high iso and color although I find the WB rather finicky on the x100s.

Is the auto WB on the xt1 or xe2 better? Does it do a good job of dealing with multiple light sources? (I know I should shoot raw but I'm looking for more enjoyable workflow otherwise I'll shoot the Nikon)

Any advice on improving AF?

My main complaint with Zone Focus is how the manual focus ring moves as I'm walking and handling the camera.

Thanks!
 
I absolutely love the images I'm getting from the x100s but, for street photography it's way too slow when compared to the ricoh gr. I've tried all the different AF settings as well as zone focus and zone focus is really the only way I can get any satisfactory images. I see that if I changed my style of street photography then the fuji would be great but I tend to work very quickly rather than wait for ideal shots.
Outside of street photography the camera has been great and really beats the ricoh gr for high iso and color although I find the WB rather finicky on the x100s.

Is the auto WB on the xt1 or xe2 better? Does it do a good job of dealing with multiple light sources? (I know I should shoot raw but I'm looking for more enjoyable workflow otherwise I'll shoot the Nikon)

Any advice on improving AF?

My main complaint with Zone Focus is how the manual focus ring moves as I'm walking and handling the camera.

Thanks!

I have an original x100 (not the s), and I, too, find it less suitable for street work. Although a series of firmware updates have vastly improved the focus performance since the 'early days', there remains a problem with the shutter frequently failing to release when taking a very rapid grab shot. Because of this, I now tend to use the x100 for slower, more 'considered' types of photography - especially as the output is so agreeable.

For street work, I much prefer my RX100 Mk1. And I must say that the RX100 Mk3 looks tempting...!;)
 
There is (at least on the X100s, not sure about the X100) the option of forcing it to release the shutter when you press, not after it's sure it has focus. Won't solve everything, just making sure you know the option is there.
 
Well, my "street" cameras are a Leica M2 and IID, so I may be a little biased when I say that I would just set everything to manual and go from there - zone-focus, Sunny-16, manual WB. That said, I couldn't get on with the X-100 either - the only "fail" for me with Fuji - so my main digital vade mecum is my GR...
 
As Kyle indicated, you can just mash the shutter, and more often than not, the camera will focus properly before taking the shot; this takes the human element of "seeing the focus rectangle go green, recognizing that the camera has focused, and fully depressing the shutter" out of the equation, making the whole process a good bit quicker.
 
Thanks for the advice, I'm taking a long weekend biz trip to S. Korea at the end of the month and will most likely have a new GR with me. Although its sensor isn't as great at high iso the handling and controls cannot be beat. I was out shooting last night with the fuji and it was frustrating. I would most likely improve with time but I'll have a limited time to shoot street in Korea and I know that I know the GR well enough to make it work. On the upside, I've gained a new appreciation for both the GR and for fuji as this was my first fuji camera to try out. I definitely like it but for the price it needs faster performance.
 
As Kyle indicated, you can just mash the shutter, and more often than not, the camera will focus properly before taking the shot

Yes, I'm aware of the shutter-mashing technique with the x100, but (and maybe it's just my x100) it fails more often than not:(. If this were not the case, then I'd be just as happy shooting street with the x100, as with the RX100.

Despite this problem, I still very much enjoy using the x100 for the type of shooting which works best for me, and it.:)
 
Thanks for the advice, I'm taking a long weekend biz trip to S. Korea at the end of the month and will most likely have a new GR with me. Although its sensor isn't as great at high iso the handling and controls cannot be beat. I was out shooting last night with the fuji and it was frustrating. I would most likely improve with time but I'll have a limited time to shoot street in Korea and I know that I know the GR well enough to make it work. On the upside, I've gained a new appreciation for both the GR and for fuji as this was my first fuji camera to try out. I definitely like it but for the price it needs faster performance.

I think the GR sensor is better than the X100 S/T sensor in low light, and that much more beyond the original X100. Ricoh doesn't have the jpegs the Fuji does and Fuji had relatively good jpeg NR in the original X100 (not sure about the X100S or T - their jpeg NR got really nasty in the XE2 and XT1), so you might just be seeing the baked in NR if you're shooting jpegs. And Fuji inflates their ISO numbers anywhere from a half to a full stop so some of what you're seeing is an unequal comparison using the same ISO numbers. But I've shot pretty extensively with the Coolpix A and GR (which have almost identical noise performance) and with the X100 and X100S and I don't agree at all that the X100 variants are better in low light than the GR, except for the fact that the lens is a stop faster. But the sensor is no better IMHO and arguably not quite as good.

-Ray
 
I think the GR sensor is better than the X100 S/T sensor in low light, and that much more beyond the original X100. Ricoh doesn't have the jpegs the Fuji does and Fuji had relatively good jpeg NR in the original X100 (not sure about the X100S or T - their jpeg NR got really nasty in the XE2 and XT1), so you might just be seeing the baked in NR if you're shooting jpegs. And Fuji inflates their ISO numbers anywhere from a half to a full stop so some of what you're seeing is an unequal comparison using the same ISO numbers. But I've shot pretty extensively with the Coolpix A and GR (which have almost identical noise performance) and with the X100 and X100S and I don't agree at all that the X100 variants are better in low light than the GR, except for the fact that the lens is a stop faster. But the sensor is no better IMHO and arguably not quite as good.

-Ray

Ray, that's a good point about the baked in NR. I should have specified that in my original post. I've been using the x100s for jpg shooting only, mainly because I'm looking for something with an easier workflow that doesn't require much time in post. After reading the reviews of fuji's jpg processing I thought I'd see how it stands out and I think that's what I meant by it having better high iso capabilities whereas the Ricoh GR gets too noisy at iso 3200 and up. But you're correct, that's different than saying the sensor itself has better high iso capabilities. I do wonder though, about the x-trans sensor and how it's supposed to create less noise and if that actually makes a difference? Either way, I like the camera but not as much as the Ricoh for street. I prefer to look at the Ricoh as the poor man's Leica M.

On another point that you made, I had no idea that the NR on the X-E2 and the X-T1 was that much different and in an unpleasant way. That's too bad.
 
Thanks for the advice, I'm taking a long weekend biz trip to S. Korea at the end of the month and will most likely have a new GR with me. Although its sensor isn't as great at high iso the handling and controls cannot be beat. I was out shooting last night with the fuji and it was frustrating. I would most likely improve with time but I'll have a limited time to shoot street in Korea and I know that I know the GR well enough to make it work. On the upside, I've gained a new appreciation for both the GR and for fuji as this was my first fuji camera to try out. I definitely like it but for the price it needs faster performance.

Just a little piece of advice (I'm pretty sure you would have done that anyway): Make sure to get your GR to the latest firmware (4.00) - it vastly improves AF performance overall, but mostly in low light.

M.
 
Just a little piece of advice (I'm pretty sure you would have done that anyway): Make sure to get your GR to the latest firmware (4.00) - it vastly improves AF performance overall, but mostly in low light.

M.

Yep, I did that with the previous model I had to send back. Wow, it really made a difference.
 
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