The Fabulous Fuji X owners thread

Hi Marc,

In short, it hunts continuously... I've tried it on Red Kites and gave up because it just couldn't track something that small and erratic. My old 5DMKIII could and so could the D800 when I switched to Nikon. I also took the X-T1 to Oulton Park for the first round of the British GT series and essentially used manual focus for the whole day or used single point focus and kept my aperture small to give me a fighting chance. The Fuji was absolutely dire at keeping a lock on a moving target. I know it's not me because I've been at this photography lark for a fair while now and I'd like to think that I've got a good grasp of the basics. :D

For anything that's static, the Fuji system is outstanding but I need something that will do everything well rather than just a few things. Fuji glass on the other hand, is absolutely stellar and I'm definitely going to miss the 56mm f/1.2 and the 35mm f/1.4

Fair enough. As I say, I haven't used it yet and I don't really take that many photos of fast moving objects but yes, very impressed with Fuji glass so far.
 
The Fuji was absolutely dire at keeping a lock on a moving target. I know it's not me because I've been at this photography lark for a fair while now and I'd like to think that I've got a good grasp of the basics. :D

Interesting. There's a few pics here that demonstrate that the x-t1 can make a fine job of motorsport. Perhaps it's more of a case of technique and how you adapt to it rather than it being 100% down to the camera?
 
Interesting. There's a few pics here that demonstrate that the x-t1 can make a fine job of motorsport. Perhaps it's more of a case of technique and how you adapt to it rather than it being 100% down to the camera?

Without meaning to blow my own trumpet, I think it's more the camera that's at fault than my technique! ;)

I haven't looked for motor racing shots taken with the X-T1 on here... I'll have to go and have a nose!
 
Hi Marc,

In short, it hunts continuously... The Fuji was absolutely dire at keeping a lock on a moving target.
When you say it hunts continuously. Did you actually take shots or were you waiting for a lock? The contrast af will not 'lock' in the same way as a phase detection system, but needs to hunt to keep track of the subject. The shutter will release in the point of the cycle that the subject is in focus. It's not perfect and l'm definitely not claiming it's as good as a good dslr, but if you know how it works it's definitely possible to get good results.
 
I haven't looked for motor racing shots taken with the X-T1 on here... I'll have to go and have a nose!

Spring Action Day by Harry_S, on Flickr

I've personally been enjoying the hell out of it and I'm improving every time I go out with it (4 events so far), these are a mixture of 55-200 and 50-140...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/harry_s/sets/72157649997266303/

David has posted a link to my setup guide above, but I've never found a system not completely capable of shooting motorsport. Since the write-up I've gone fully C-AF for motorsport with the X-T1 and my hit rate at the last event was not far off any DSLR/lens combo I've ever used. I do go with single shot as much as possible as tracking with the viewfinder blackout is a pain, but I always shot single shot in my DSLR days anyway so the transition has been pretty smooth.

I can't deny I'm itching for the 100-400, but for now the two shorter zooms are doing a grand job.
 
Last edited:

He's got some nice photos there but there's also a few that I'd have binned! That's subjective though. I wonder if his keeper rate has been as high with the Fuji. Somehow I doubt it. I haven't said that it's not possible to get nice motorsport shots, just that it's inherently more difficult due to the nature of the system.

At the end of the day, I personally don't think it's good enough for moving subjects... Cars are fairly large targets! Here's one of mine from Oulton Park just to show that I too know that it's possible to get decent shots! ;)

Zoom! by Si (Spirit Photography), on Flickr
 
Last edited:
He's got some nice photos there but there's also a few that I'd have binned! That's subjective though. I wonder if his keeper rate has been as high with the Fuji. Somehow I doubt it. I haven't said that it's not possible to get nice motorsport shots, just that it's inherently more difficult due to the nature of the system.

As above keeper rate is very decent, anything above 1/100 is 90% quite comfortably, 1/60 is probably 70%, 1/50 and below is 50% at best, 1/15 is nearer 20%, so not really any different to my DSLR days (remarkably similar, in fact).

Which ones would have gone in the bin, out of interest? My style is inherently a little more 'blurry' than some due to shooting with very, very slow shutter speeds (my average is probably 1/50), so the entire car is never going to be absolutely sharp unless completely parallel, but that's a style choice.

My wife would be the first to say 'bin it, it's blurry', to the shot below, but at 1/15 and with the car not parallel a minute zone of focus is all that's possible, I like that to be the front grill and I was pleased that when moving to the X-T1, it was still possible. 10 years of practice have gone into this not being an utterly blurred mess where it's hardly even possible to figure out a car is in the frame, so my wife does like to wind me up :)

Spring Action Day by Harry_S, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
Shooting fast cars parallel to the plane of focus is not that difficult for the AF. Try shooting a fast moving erratic subject coming towards you and tell me if the X-T1 copes with that.
 
I've had very limited opportunities to test the tougher straight at/going away shots because the current focal lengths don't really allow for it at a lot of places, but what I have managed has been fine...

Castle Combe Wessex Chambers Raceday by -Harry_S-

Wyedean Rally 2015 by -Harry_S-

Wildlife Heritage Foundation by -Harry_S-

Wildlife Heritage Foundation by -Harry_S-

Athena (the black Jaguar above) was by far the most surprising to me, as you can see from her back legs she is charging at me, I had assumed the X-T1 wouldn't stand a chance with something like that.
 
Last edited:
Shame you lost the love for the Fuji, Si, there is some fantastic stuff on your Flickrstream. Love the shot of the Ginetta with the 10-24. Very impressive. Some stunning landscapes too!

Thanks David. It's kind of you to say so... I'm very lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world. :)

If I'd been able to afford to run two systems, I'd have kept the Fuji but for my needs, it was easier for me to switch back to a DSLR for now. Of the mirror-less systems, the Fuji is the best by a country mile and if finances improve, I'll probably grab another X-T1 at some point.
 
What lens good for this for compactness?
 
Am i right in thinking you have gone to a D750?

I came from a D7100 (like you i believe) and i have been very impressed with the x-t1 over the Nikon. Nikons APS-C iso performance was really poor imo compared to mirrorless. Didn't really see much improvement in anything over the D7k tbh. Just need to build my kit around my style (not sure i even have one???) and I'll be sorted. Hopefully with the continuing firmware updates Fuji are known for it will become an even better system.
 
27mm f2.8 (y)
Thanks.

Just looking at reviews and images am I right in thinking the ISO and shutter speed value can only be altered on the top dials? If so not much value is there??
 
Am i right in thinking you have gone to a D750?

I came from a D7100 (like you i believe) and i have been very impressed with the x-t1 over the Nikon. Nikons APS-C iso performance was really poor imo compared to mirrorless. Didn't really see much improvement in anything over the D7k tbh. Just need to build my kit around my style (not sure i even have one???) and I'll be sorted. Hopefully with the continuing firmware updates Fuji are known for it will become an even better system.

For the past 18 months, I've been chopping and changing because I felt like I'd lost my mojo and needed to change... In all honesty, I should have stayed with my old 5DMKIII because there wasn't anything wrong with it but I fancied a change so I got rid of it all and bought a D800. That was a great camera but I couldn't get comfortable with it (I don't really know why) and I was running a D7100 alongside it for extra reach. I'd had a Fuji since the X10 came out and everyone started raving about how good the mirrorless system was so I bought myself an X-Pro1 to play with. I enjoyed using that a lot and even kept it with me at a couple of weddings. The X-T1 came out and in a fit of enthusiasm, jumped onto that particular bandwagon and I've stayed there for the last 8 months. Unfortunately, I'd tried to shoot the Red Kites around here which was a dismal failure compared to my DSLR's and I also hadn't taken the X-T1 out to photograph the jets because the C-AF is crap. In short, a lot of what I enjoy shooting wasn't as easy to do (or nigh on impossible with the Kites) so I decided to go back to Nikon. The D750 is an improvement over the D800 (no shutter bounce for a start) and for me, it's a better all-rounder.

Getting rid of the Fuji was a tough decision... In so many ways it's a fantastic camera and it's backed up by some of the nicest people you could wish to meet in the photographic industry... I've made new friends from it (and even one or two enemies) and I can honestly say that in general, I've been very pleased with the body of work I've produced with it. Only time will tell if I've made the right decision (for me at least). I'm pretty sure I'll end up with another Fuji at some point although it'll probably be an X100 variant. :)
 
Thanks.

Just looking at reviews and images am I right in thinking the ISO and shutter speed value can only be altered on the top dials? If so not much value is there??

You alter the ISO in third-stops on the left hand dial and by whole stops with the shutter speed dial... The shutter speeds in between are controlled by the front dial.
 
Ohh seem complicated all that
 
Ohh seem complicated all that

I felt like that before i moved to Fuji. I was expecting it to be a bit of a baptism of fire and end up hating the damn thing but in reality i love it. It's a very simple system to use. I shoot in aperture priority mode and just leave the shutter dial on 'A' and change to iso dial accordingly. Alot of people use auto iso also so it's one less thing to worry about.
 
With auto ISO on this can we in setting select the minimum shutter speed
 
I felt like that before i moved to Fuji. I was expecting it to be a bit of a baptism of fire and end up hating the damn thing but in reality i love it. It's a very simple system to use. I shoot in aperture priority mode and just leave the shutter dial on 'A' and change to iso dial accordingly. Alot of people use auto iso also so it's one less thing to worry about.
OK - you hung back in deference to the Cambridges but shouldn't you be doing something other than pootling around on here? :-)
 
@minnnt had same problem, baby came 10 days late! Although she was due on boxing day so probably for the best!

Auto ISO and aperture is an awesome way to use this camera. I used to work fully manual but since getting the XT1 I don't see the benefits (unless I'm doing something more specialist like 10 stop)
 
We're on 9 days now. Casually re-arranging the bedroom humping stuff about in the hope something may happen.

Haven't tried auto iso, i just usually shoot at 2-400 although 3200 and 6400 are very good.

Still not decided on my next lens. :LOL:
 
Quite tempted get one just need try one out
 
What lowest shutter speed people happy to take handheld of static images if lens got OIS as the OMD can be easily taken at 1/5
 
They quite good how u get that Amazon thingy I like it
 
Back
Top