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Author Topic: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions  (Read 18840 times)

Greg D

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Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« on: July 08, 2013, 11:33:10 am »

I've been considering an XE-1 for awhile, but little questions hold me back.  A glance at the shutter speed dial makes it apparent that you can't select shutter speeds in fractional stops (at least not above 1/4 sec).  But - when shot in aperture priority will the camera select fractional stops?  And what about when set to "T" - can fractional stops be selected then?  I ask this because I often shoot waterfall or other scenes needing slow shutter speeds and small differences in shutter speed can make quite a difference when working in the range of about 1/2 - 3 seconds.  Being able to only select 1/2, 1, 2, 4 seconds, etc would be quite a limitation.  I think I'm also correct that the minimum ISO in RAW is 200, right?  Again, that seems like a problem, in that it would require more frequent use of ND filters (and stronger ones).  I'd be interested in hearing anyone's experience with these issues.
Thanks,
Greg
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Alan Smallbone

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2013, 01:16:21 pm »

Greg,

You can adjust the shutter, the 1/3 stop increments are available by pressing the "left" and "Right" button, on the directional pad. Pressing "up" give you macro mode, with the new software the "down" button is a programmable function key that defaults to focus point selection and while shooting the right and left directions adjust the shutter speed in 1/3 stops.

Iso 200 is the minimum iso and I don't find it a limitation.

Alan
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Ken Bennett

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2013, 04:44:06 pm »

The camera chooses fractional shutter speeds in aperture priority.

One common issue is when using auto ISO, the camera tends to choose very low ISO values and thus slow shutter speeds -- I can hand hold the camera, but any subject movement blurs. Otherwise auto ISO is fairly useful -- just set the aperture yourself, and let the camera handle the rest.

In T mode one uses the dial to select shutter speeds in thirds of a stop.

I haven't found too many issues with ISO 200 as the minimum - even at ISO 100 it's not easy to use, say, f/1.4 outdoors in bright daylight.
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armand

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2013, 06:03:27 pm »

I'm playing with it for a week now and I'll try to write some impressions later. One of them is that the overall exposure seems to be more than I would expect, I'm not sure the shown iso is really accurate and not lower in reality. For the zoom it does choose low shutter speeds, maybe is very confident in the optical stabilization as for the 35 mm lens if there is enough light it will choose 1/52 which is exactly 1/focal length in 35 mm equivalent.

Ken Bennett

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2013, 06:18:52 pm »

Yes, I seem to get a lot of 1/30 sec for the zoom, and 1/52 for the 35mm lens. That's fine except that I shoot a lot of candid people photos and they have a tendency to move. I think I'll try just setting the ISO for each situation, rather than using auto ISO even though it is so handy....
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armand

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2013, 01:52:34 am »

What I do to solve the issue is to set both aperture and the exposure time and leave it on auto iso. But it goes very fast to the max iso and that's I have some concerns that it might not be that high. It's true that it has a very good performance at higher iso but still I'm not used to those values.

Ken Bennett

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2013, 07:51:43 am »

Yes, I do the same thing - set manual aperture and shutter and let the camera choose the ISO. However, the main problem is that this disables the exposure compensation dial (argh!!!)  There is no good reason for this to happen -- it's the only auto-exposure mode that exhibits this behavior. Would love to see this fixed in a firmware upgrade.
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scooby70

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2013, 08:30:14 am »

I hadn't thought about shutter speed stops being a problem but not being able to shoot RAW at ISO 100 and the base being 200 is a problem for me and no matter how many times I look at this camera I can't bring myself to commit to buy.

I like shooting at wider apertures and with many CSC the double whammy is that the base ISO is higher than I'd like and the maximum shutter speed is probably going to be 1/4000. These things combine to make the use of ND's more likely and personally I hate juggling the camera, lens hood and ND's for one shot only to have to repeat the juggling when removing the ND for the next shot if the shutter speed falls too much or the ISO rises too much. I carry a ND2 and a 4 and often need to use them both stacked despite my G1 having ISO 100.

I do accept that years ago we could only dream of having a shutter speed as fast as 1/4000 and never dreamed of changing ISO between shots but I've become used to being spoilt by being able to use my DSLR at f1.4 and 1/8000 second in good light and being limited to f2.8 or even to f4 and smaller or being forced to use ND's does irritate me and in fact with modern cameras aimed at enthusiasts I think that a base ISO of 200 is inexcusable.
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Greg D

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #8 on: July 10, 2013, 09:17:15 am »

I hadn't thought about shutter speed stops being a problem but not being able to shoot RAW at ISO 100 and the base being 200 is a problem for me and no matter how many times I look at this camera I can't bring myself to commit to buy.

This is my problem (for a different reason - I need slow shutter speeds).  I think I'd wind up using (and stacking) NDs all the time.  Why not ISO 100?  Or lower for that matter?
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Paul Sumi

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #9 on: July 10, 2013, 02:45:31 pm »

This is my problem (for a different reason - I need slow shutter speeds).  I think I'd wind up using (and stacking) NDs all the time.  Why not ISO 100?  Or lower for that matter?

I know this doesn't solve your problem but it is interesting how different people want to use the Fuji X cameras.  I've always thought of them as classic handheld cameras so seconds-long shutter speeds never entered my mind.

I've had a X-Pro 1 for over a year and it is the only camera I have owned in the past 10 years for which I didn't buy an arca swiss type L plate.  I think it has sat on a tripod a grand total of 2 times.

Paul
« Last Edit: July 10, 2013, 02:55:59 pm by Paul Sumi »
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Telecaster

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2013, 03:48:10 pm »

Yeah, Fuji's choice of shutter speeds in Av mode defies common sense. I was out in the SE Michigan gloom yesterday late afternoon between torrential downpours, and the camera decided 1/30th sec. was appropriate for use with my 90mm lens (Leitz Tele-Elmarit via adapter) at f/2.8. Huh?! The camera knows I have a 90mm lens mounted on it...I told it so. The ISO (auto mode) was nowhere near maxed out. Hmmm...rough edges.

That said, I'm very impressed with the X sensor. This system has great potential, I think.

-Dave-
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Ken Bennett

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2013, 05:28:16 pm »

That said, I'm very impressed with the X sensor. This system has great potential, I think.



Right, every time I get annoyed I'll download a new set of photos and they are pretty wonderful. So there is that.
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kers

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2013, 07:26:25 pm »

I just read the blog of diglloyd  ( www.diglloyd.com) ( http://diglloyd.com/blog/2013/20130711_2-FujifilmX-system-bugs.html)
In trying to see then differences between some lenses he had problems of something he calls focus creep...;
a change of the focus distance by the camera during photography and after being switched off and on...
he says " The X-E1 exhibits a FOCUS CREEP: it changes focus even in manual focus mode when nothing is done except to change exposure (aperture and/or shutter speed). The Fujifilm X-Pro1 can be expected to have the same bug."
Something you probably do not notice when you just use the autofocus...
anybody...?

« Last Edit: July 10, 2013, 07:29:00 pm by kers »
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Alan Smallbone

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #13 on: July 11, 2013, 10:00:16 am »

kers,

lloyd has hated anything to do with the fuji's since day one, I have never ever seen focus creep. I my opinion he has just sensationalized his outlook, which has not changed. I don't expect it to, my x-pro does not change focus, when I turn on and off the camera, and definitely not with manual focus. Sean Reid and other competent reviewers have not seen any of this. He likes to drive traffic to his site, and it makes sense as that is his business.

Alan
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Alan Smallbone
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Greg D

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #14 on: July 12, 2013, 10:16:30 am »

I know this doesn't solve your problem but it is interesting how different people want to use the Fuji X cameras.  I've always thought of them as classic handheld cameras so seconds-long shutter speeds never entered my mind.

I've had a X-Pro 1 for over a year and it is the only camera I have owned in the past 10 years for which I didn't buy an arca swiss type L plate.  I think it has sat on a tripod a grand total of 2 times.

Paul

Yeah, I may be barking up the wrong tree.  This system appeals to me because of high quality with light weight and small size, but maybe it's not the best for my use.  When I look at the work of folks who like this camera, it's great, but it's usually not the same sort of results I aspire to.
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Ken Bennett

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Re: Fuji XE1 shutter speed & ISO questions
« Reply #15 on: July 13, 2013, 10:30:16 am »

Shooting some long exposures last night revealed another quirk in the Fuji XE1. When set to T, if the camera goes to sleep, it reverts to the 1/2 sec speed upon awakening. So if I set a 2 sec exposure and put the camera down for more than 30sec, when I pick it up again it's set to 1/2 sec. This is annoying, to say the least.

On the upside, the IS in the 18-55 works very well. Handheld long exposures were smooth, even when I could feel the truck bumping hard on the highway. (No, I wasn't driving :) )

(EDIT: swapped out the sample photo, which looked like a terrible low res jpeg. Maybe this will be better.)
« Last Edit: July 13, 2013, 10:34:27 am by k bennett »
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