Fujifilm X Series Firmware Requests Ver.03.2017

I have a bit of an affinity for Fuji cameras. I don’t think I could have chosen a better system to switch to. Nothing is perfect though, and there are a few items on the firmware level I’d really like to see tweaked, adjusted, or have options provided for.

This list is by no means exhaustive. There are probably a couple things that have slipped my memory even with this batch, but these are the ones that came to mind in my recent X-T2 testing and comparing.

The Q Menu Is (Partially) Backwards

I’ve been using Fuji cameras since the days when finding an X100S in stock was miraculous. Over half a dozen cameras later, I still struggle with Q Menu selection. For me, the way some1 of the items cycle during selection is just plain backwards.

We typically make selections of things from left (-) to right (+).2 Sliders in our digital lives and “IRL” slide right (or up) to increase. In the Q Menu, settings like Highlight Tone, Shadow Tone, Colour, Sharpness, and Noise Reduction are reversed. Turning a dial left (as you are looking at the camera) results in a positive amount or increase, and right, a negative amount or decrease.

It could be argued that you are spinning the dial in a clockwise rotation as you look at the top of the camera to increase which makes sense for things like volume knobs, but I intuitively want to flick my thumb from left to right to input an increase.

It could also be argued for Highlight and Shadow Tone that you are adding or increasing detail in those areas by turning the dial right, but it strikes me as more intuitive to add contrast as you would add saturation, sharpness, and noise reduction. And no, I don’t think the notion of adding noise is acceptable. We are adjusting the degree in which the noise reduction algorithms are affecting our images.

The real kicker is the Custom Settings banks and Dynamic Range in the Q Menu count up as the dial is turned right. Even Film Simulation Mode selection cycles in from the default PROVIA through the other simulations in the order Fuji presents them by turning the dial right.

This is a source of daily frustration for me. It’s like reversing the direction of handles on a faucet. I actually find myself avoiding the Q Menu in favour of honing my Function button setup. I think if I had a single usability request of Fuji, it would be to optionally reverse how these Q Menu items are selected. It will be difficult though as the inconsistency means it’s not a global setting.

Front Dial For Q Menu Selection

While we’re on the Q Menu, it drives me a little bonkers that we could use the front dial for Q Menu selection on the X-T1, but can’t on the X-Pro2 or X-T2. I assume this is because the front dial is used to adjust exposure compensation beyond ±3EV, but I can’t see how those two would conflict with one another. It’s a step backwards I’m still hoping gets addressed.

Command Dial Menu Access

This is one area that has improved immensely, but there’s one thing missing. As I recently tweeted, the rear command dial functions as OK when in menus, but the front dial does not function as BACK,3 forcing my thumb to travel all the way down to the actual BACK button. This isn’t a huge deal—you can also exit the menu with a quick tap of the shutter release—but it would save having to cycle through each of the tabs in “I.Q.” and “AF/MF,” as well as avoid lighting up the AF Illuminator if you have it on.

Press and Hold Functions

On my Nikons, I could set the front Function button to switch the camera to spot metering when held. This made a huge difference in quickly adjusting my exposure to a specific part of my frame. Having dedicated Exposure Compensation dials is great, but not as fast as pressing a button your finger is always poised over.

Flash Sync Shutter Speed Changes

On the X-T1, if you set your X-T1’s shutter speed to 180×, the camera’s max flash sync speed, turning Command Dials will not change your shutter speed. From a UX perspective, this is how it should be, at least by default.

On the X-T2, this is not the case. I recently lost a pretty big chunk of testing work because I accidentally turned the rear (default) dial which resulted in the shutter speed on my X-T2 being changed to 1/320 of a second, leaving a dark gradient across the bottom of my images. The X-T1 has this right, and Fuji should really fix this or add an option to disable shutter speed changes via the Command Dials. I personally never use them.

Rotating LCD UI

After the X-T1 was released, I was sure it wouldn’t be long before a firmware upgrade would make add the same UI rotation seen in the EVF to the LCD. A bunch of cameras and even more firmware upgrades later, the LCD’s UI stays fixed in landscape.

What’s Your Burning Feature Request?

Send it in, or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter.

  1. And not all, which is actually worse. ↩︎
  2. I’m speaking for Westerners here, and am not accounting for cultural differences, if any. ↩︎
  3. It, in fact, does nothing. ↩︎

Recommended Kits, Early 2017

My Early 2017 Recommended Kits have been posted.

Last year’s kit recommendations were awkwardly straddling two generations of sensors and processors. This year, just about the entire X-Series has caught up and is now on equal image quality footing.

A Note About Formats

What could be more awkward for kit recommendations than bodies with different sensors? A whole new format and system, natch, and that’s exactly what Fuji’s gone and done.

While I will be sure to compare the GFX with the X-Trans III sensor, it’s really not appropriate to consider medium format when building out an APS-C kit. Plus, those who need medium format know that they’re getting it already. So, apart from casual mention and perhaps an exclusive category or two, this kit building piece will focus mostly on X-Series.

A Note About Lenses

The breakneck pace at which Fuji has been releasing lenses seems to have finally levelled off a bit, but I still have a lot of catching up to do on my testing and review. Thus, a couple lenses are recommended based on preliminary testing, and have been noted as such. This page will likely see an update in the second half of this year.

My Kit

For the TL;DR folks out there, here is what I choose if I could only have a selection of 3 lenses:

DSCF8943.jpg

Busy Month

It’s been an action-packed month in the land of Fujifilm. From new finishes to new formats, Fujifilm are on a tear we haven’t seen in some time. Let’s take these in order:

CES; Fujifilm in Graphite

Outside of another rugged point and shoot, Fujifilm’s CES showing has consisted of the announcement of a “Graphite Silver Edition” of the X-T2, and, for the first time in this form factor, a “Graphite Edition” of the X-Pro2. Note the missing “Silver” on the X-Pro2. I noticed a difference in the finish of these two models immediately, but it took me a while to realize the names were actually different.

I prefer the Graphite finish over Graphite Silver myself,1 but it is curious that yet another “colour” has been added to Fujifilm’s roster. We now also have lenses in 3 different finishes, black, non-graphite silver, and graphite. Graphite is seemingly exclusive to the XF 23mm F2 for now, and is only available as part of an X-Pro2 bundle.

Can we expect more lenses to become available in Graphite? The XF 35mm F2—my preferred lens to pair with the X-Pro2—seems like a prime2 candidate, along with the next announcement:

XF 50mm F2 WR

Rounding out a nice compact set of weather sealed primes at f/2, the XF 50mm F2 WR is a 200g 76mm equivalent that sadly doesn’t share the same 43mm filter size as the XF23mm F2 WR and XF35mm F2 WR. Strangely, or perhaps tellingly, this new prime is also not currently available in the darker Graphite finish.

X-T20

One of the quickest iterations, the X-T10 has been superseded by the X-T20, which sees improvements as large as the X-T1 saw with its successor, the X-T2. This isn’t the form factor for me, but man, talk about a feature-rich little camera.

X100F

Number Four. Everyone’s favourite fixed focal length photographic device finally gets the not-so “New AutoFocus System,” and ACROS. It also gets new teleconverters, presumably better optimized for the new sensor. As someone who owns both of the original teleconverters, this certainly isn’t my favourite part of Fuji’s announcements.

(Almost) All 24.3 MP X-Trans III/X-Processor Pro

Every currently available form-factor but one, the X-E2(S) is once again available in Fuji’s latest sensor and processor. Pretty soon our camera body buying decision will once again come down to body size and handling preference without compromising image quality. I loved it when every camera was X-Trans II. This is Fuji at their best.

Medium Format

I’ve been pretty quiet about the GFX 50S. Not for lack of excitement, more for trying to figure out if this new format is something I’m going to be able to get my hands on and add as part of the content of this site. At $6,499 for just the body, I suspect it will be out of reach for many, if not most of my readers, but I sure would like one.

The Big Event

Yours truly has been invited to a Fujifilm Canada Media Event late tomorrow afternoon that I plan to attend with the opportunity to do some interviews and ask questions. If you have any burning questions of your own, feel free to pass them along and I’ll do my best to get them answered.

  1. It would have gone great with the MacBook Pro I returned. Pity. ↩︎
  2. See what I did there? ↩︎

“Photometry” Needs to Go

In referencing Fuji‘s excellent1 online manual for the X-T2 for my (extremely tardy) review, I noticed that while this page URL still says “Photometry,” the page content is exclusively about “Metering.”

I’d really like to see Fujifilm amend the language around Metering in the rest of their online documentation and camera UI, especially of cameras where metering isn’t changed exclusively via hardware.

Photometry or Metering?

While the word “Photometry” certainly makes some sense in this context, I always found it confusing, as I’m sure many people switching from other camera brands do.

There are basic usability issues at play here as well. When making adjustments to the “Display Custom Settings,” the X-T2 still says “Photometry,” which, when paired with the manual, must be awfully confusing for people who want to see their current “Metering” mode displayed. Consistency in the nomenclature would be helpful for everyone.

  1. Outside of Search being “Powering by Google (Ads).” ↩︎

X-Pro2 Versus...

For those of you who hunt around this site a little, this could be old news as I’ve been adding and refining Versus content for the X-Pro2 for a couple of months now.

If you’ve been waiting for an in-depth comparison between Fuji’s latest rangefinder-style flagship and it’s predecessor, or the current DSLR-style flagship, these articles are for you. I compare everything from build quality and handling to image quality and ISO performance.

Fuji X-Pro2 vs. X-T1

In addition, I’ve split my Versus pieces into two categories, Body, and Lens. The Versus menu was getting a bit long, and likely difficult to navigate so this should help.

Next on the to-do list, update my X-E2(S) comparison pieces to reflect Firmwware Ver.4.00

Hits, 50/50, and a Miss

Great read from The Strobist himself, David Hobby. First a hit:

Focus point joystick. LOVE this. Thank you. [ … ] This is something the engineers came up with absent our input. So sweet.

Bang on. And kudos to Fuji’s engineers. This is one my my two top features of the X-Pro2. Next, a 50/50:

Battery. [ … ] Here's the dilemma: Faster, more power-hungry processor. Do you give it a bigger gas tank, or go you continue to allow the battery continuity across Fuji's ILC line that so many of us appreciate.

I’d file this under “Miss,” personally. I grumbled in my review about Fuji going with the same battery as their previous cameras. I still think it was the wrong move. Sure, there’s convenience in having the same battery across multiple cameras, but I think we are quickly going to see a lot of people using their other cameras much less once they get their X-Pro2’s, or going with dual X-Pro2 kits and doing away with the other cameras entirely. Additionally, the camera most likely to be added to an interchageable X-Series is surely the X100, which requires a separate battery and charger anyhow. Now was the time to move to a higher capacity battery. Too bad. Not much to do about it now aside from be thankful whatever extra batteries we’ve purchased will still work.

A Miss:

Eye Relief. And to clarify, this is a miss for me, personally.

Not just you, David. I’ve received a fair number of emails on eye point and have started including it as part of my comparisons. This is one area the X-T1 outshines Fuji’s new flagship.

Head over the Strobist for the full article. It’s great insight in the development of the X-Pro2.

X70 Pricing, X-Pro2 Ship Date

For any of my American readers who were on the fence about preordering an X70, it seems to have dropped $100 from its original price of $799 to $699. I’m not sure if it’s a temporary thing, are a price adjustment as of yet.

That’s the good news. The bad news is shipping dates are either slipping, or demand for the X-Pro2 is outpacing supply, as both Amazon and B&H Photo are showing a ship date of February 25 for the X-Pro2 instead of the original February 4. Bummer. The X70 looks to have also been pushed back, but not quite as much to February 15, according to Amazon.

For my Canadian readers, our plummeting dollar might be making you sad, but you can dry your tears when it comes to X-Pro2 pricing. At just $1,899, our price is pretty awesome compared to the American MSRP after conversion.1 You can stick it to the dollar even more by preordering from the folks at Aden before February 4th and get $150 knocked off the price of an XF 35mm f/2 WR, which was pretty much made for the X-Pro2.

  1. $1,699 USD = >$2,400 CAD, or, put another way, $1,899 CAD = just over $1,300 USD. Folks close to the border might be asking themselves if $400 is worth a warranty in the country of residence. ↩︎