What is the Truth about X100 AF Performance?

[barjohn]

Kyle Barrow on DPR and a photographer from Japan I have corresponded with rated AF performance about the same as the GF-1. Some posters on the ePhotozine Blog site attending Focus on Imaging 2011 are reporting slow AF performance. Much slower than a GF-1 according to the posters. My question is how can this be? The only rational explanation I can arrive at is that the demo cameras at the shoe are earlier firmware versions which might explain why they were not allowed to insert their own SD card to take pictures. I know that Kyle's and the photographer in Japan's cameras are version 1.0.

Does anyone else have another explanation? Can the perceptions be that far off? If the other site's photographers are correct, then Fuji has a serious problem it will have to address quickly. If they don't they stand to see orders cancelled left and right as people postpone their orders while the wait to see if Fuji will fix the issue. On the other hand, if Fuji has already fixed the issue, they really should update cameras they take to trade shows to avoid this type of issue.

Does anyone have any better data or more current information?
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[Terry]

Well camera setup is important....



.....I think you just need to wait and see. I wouldn't get too hung up on it right now. We won't have it in the US for several weeks. That is plenty of time for more people to get production copies and perhaps test it out some more.

[barjohn]

I am aware of that but they had images of the menus and it showed it being off. What they didn't show was the version (I noticed the date showing on the camera back was 2011 . 1 . 1 1141 PM and that makes me wonder if the camera was a prototype that had not been updated). Another explanation would be that they were not in macro mode but were close to their subject and on the border between 70 and 80 centimeters or they were in macro mode and the camera is noted to be slower in macro mode.

[Terry]

A link would be useful

[barjohn]

Terry,

Sorry, here is the link. http://www.ephotozine.com/forums/top...ing-2011-88362

[Terry]

I just looked at the link. I think you are reading way too much into what they have to say and you can't draw any conclusion about the camera settings. The person saying it was slow was not the same person showing the screen shots of the menus. So, there is no way to tie together those settings and the comments.

[barjohn]

Terry,

You could be right. I certainly hope so.

[Terry]

just relax a let things play out. Seems like there are a good three weeks before the first cameras hit the US. Plenty of time to get more information from users that have more than 15 minutes of experience using the camera.

[tom in mpls]

Originally Posted by TEBnewyork

just relax a let things play out. Seems like there are a good three weeks before the first cameras hit the US. Plenty of time to get more information from users that have more than 15 minutes of experience using the camera.

Now don't spoil our fun, Terry. I suspect we are all members of the OCD club (at least I am), so obsessive speculation makes us happy.

[monza]

Report from a production camera:

"Focus: Very quick, almost no lag when on auto focus. Manual focus is great, because it shows you the hyperfocal zone of focus in the OVF, so you set it to where you want and go. It's incredible. I shoot at f8, set to 2m and can forget it. Very happy. The lag is non-existant."

http://www.x100forum.com/index.php?/...__445#entry445

[barjohn]

This is certainly exciting news!

[Godfrey]

Originally Posted by tom in mpls

Now don't spoil our fun, Terry. I suspect we are all members of the OCD club (at least I am), so obsessive speculation makes us happy.

LOL ... For my use, I'd probably just turn AF off most of the time anyway. I think it's only turned on about 10-15% of the time I'm using the E-5. ;-)

One of the big reasons I am interested in the X100 is that the viewfinder and controls looks like they will be great to use for manual focus ...

[bowlachili]

Originally Posted by TEBnewyork

just relax a let things play out. Seems like there are a good three weeks before the first cameras hit the US. Plenty of time to get more information from users that have more than 15 minutes of experience using the camera.

Fuji issued a statement apologizing for delays--apparently demand is exceeding production. http://translate.google.com/translat...lead_0088.html

What to do now? Take pictures with cameras we already have?

[barjohn]

I think chiii out is the expression you were looking for.

[tjv]

I handled one today and it was a great little camera. I didn't have a problem with the AF, especially compared to the competition, e.g. the GF2, NEX etc. I'd definitely buy one if I could afford it. Seems the perfect little camera to haul around everywhere I don't want to carry my bulky gear. It takes a lot to impress me these days so this is high praise indeed.

[bowlachili]

"The AF works well and fast in street shooting situations and can focus where contrast exists - like this scene."

http://brandonremler.blogspot.com/20...vf-vs-evf.html

[Terry]

Here is some additional hands on information.....

http://www.x100forum.com/index.php?/...__815#entry815

[jorgeAD]

More fuel for your furnace...

"it is certainly the most responsive compact camera i have ever used. The files at 6400 are outstanding in my humble opinion. Don't think much of the buffer when shooting in burst mode but out on the street fixed focus @ F8 it appears to be great as a street camera. Much quicker than the old Hexar AF which i own and still love...."

"I've had some 'computer says no' situations in low-light where the X100 doesn't want to focus, but have managed to overcome these by changing my focus to a higher contrast area. Speed has generally been impressive. It's not as good as my 5DII's but it's pretty close."

"Another really impressive thing is the range of focus points. As someone who is used to the craptastic AF point layout on Canon's 5DII, 50D and 20D, the coverage is awesome. There are 49 focus points arranged in a rectangle that literally stretch from one corner of the frame to the other. It really is full frame coverage. Very impressive."

All from comments after the review at:

http://www.tony-hart.com/files/x100_initial_review.php

[Show Performance]

Hey guys, I wrote the hands on that Terry linked to. As I said in the write-up, the AF speed was great, close to that of the GF-1 w/the 20mm 1.7.

I hope to do a side by side test tomorrow to confirm but it felt good.

Also, if you have the camera set to silent mode it will deactivate the AF assist lamp, which could affect the focus in lower light situations. As Terry said, relax and let this play out. Based on my time with the camera I'm confident it is going to be a big winner.

[Helena]

Originally Posted by Show Performance

Hey guys, I wrote the hands on that Terry linked to. As I said in the write-up, the AF speed was great, close to that of the GF-1 w/the 20mm 1.7.

I hope to do a side by side test tomorrow to confirm but it felt good.

Also, if you have the camera set to silent mode it will deactivate the AF assist lamp, which could affect the focus in lower light situations. As Terry said, relax and let this play out. Based on my time with the camera I'm confident it is going to be a big winner.

When you say close to GF1, do you mean slightly faster or slightly slower? I was hoping that it'd be clearly faster, because GF1 with 20/1.7 isn't particularly fast, so I'm a bit worried now.

[barjohn]

I now have hands on experience and I will tell you I think it meets Fuji's specs. You will more likely be held back by your reflex time.

[Terry]

John,
Did you order one from Japan?

[barjohn]

Hi Terry,

Yes, I got one from Japan. I have only had it since yesterday but so far I am really impressed. As much as the Leica philes will hate it, it really is the camera Leica should have made. I am still learning and adjusting a bit but the overall quality is outstanding. I even like the way the lens cap has this soft felt lining and pushes on smoothly. It reminds me of my dad's cameras from 40-50 years ago.

I don't yet have enough experience shooting moving targets to see how the AF does with them but on still subjects it seems to focus as fast as I can push the button.

I think you are familiar with Fuji's terminology and the manual fails to provide much information on highlight tone, & shadow tone. How do these relate to contrast?

If anyone has any questions they want answered, please ask and I will do my best to answer them.

[barjohn]

The manual doesn't tell you how to see what version of the firmware you have or how to install a firmware upgrade. I have found the secret. Hold the Disp/Back button in while you turn the camera on. You can then see the version number.

[monza]

The AF is plenty fast, even when it's in OVF Power Save mode. We did some AF comparisons between NEX, X1, GF2 and X100. Will post the findings on http://x100forum.com.

This camera was very well thought out. ND filter is killer...

[cjlacz]

I played with one at Yodobashi in Shinjuku yesterday admid the earthquake recovery. The AF seemed slightly faster than my GF1 + 20mm. It's not up to the speed of the newest m4/3s cameras and you might want to keep it on MF if you are looking for the decisive moment.

I hadn't read much about it before playing with it. I wasn't sure what i was expecting, but not being able to focus through the OVF was a little surprising. It does have the focus distance marked below with the DOF range. I didn't find it as easy to focus with the EVF as I had hoped. You need to move the focus ring quite a bit to adjust focus, too far if aren't close to being focused already. The AF button + MF is probably going to be common. I didn't check the firmware version though.

Besides that I liked it quite a bit. Seemed fairly responsive. I didn't switch the menu to English, but looked easy enough to navigate through. I like being able to adjust and aperture ring and shutter speed directly and having it automatically switch between P/A/S/M depending on how you had them adjusted. Having a mirror-less system with interchangeable lenses that incorporated an aperture ring (and maybe the shutter speed dial) would be very appealing to me. Any modes besides the normal ones could be accessed through a menu/button. Image quality seemed great and the lens too.

I love the look of the camera with the OVF, but I'm not sure how useful it is. Street shooting with a large DOF it could be pretty useful. I think I'd be just as happy with only an EVF, especially if it was implemented a little better.

[monza]

We did the following AF speed comparison between Panasonic GF2 with 20mm f/1.7, Leica X1, and X100.

X100 seemed to be just as fast as the GF2 with the X1 coming in 3rd.

A simple test...half-shutter button press, wait for AF beep and/or LED light.

All cameras were set to single point AF.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSP-JpLQlNk

[tjv]

From the video it seems the X1 is a dog...

[Terry]

The x100 seems just fine to me. The two AF problems that I find annoying are:

1) the back and forth honing in on focus - think of the Oly E-P1 when it first came out with a combo of slow AF and a kit lens that had a slow design.
2) AF that is indecisive and you have to try and get focus a few times to get the camera to lock in (my biggest surprise and frustration on the Canon S95 and G12).