Fuji X Custom Settings

Today arrived the new firmware for most of the Fuji X series cameras.  When you update all the custom settings are wiped out as well as cache memory and frame numberHere are more or less my latest  custom settings.

Name	ISO	Dynamic Range	Film Simulation	White Balance	Colour	Sharpness	Highlight	Shadow	Noise
Standard	AUTO	DR100	Provia (standard)	Auto	0	0	0	0	0
Landscape Normal	200	DR100	Astia (soft)	Auto	-1	+1	-1	-2	0
Landscape  High Contrast	400	DR200	Astia (soft)	Auto	-1	+1	-1	-2	0
Portrait Neutral	200	DR100	Pro-Neg Standard	Auto	0	0	0	0	0
Portrait Neutral Higher Contrast	400	DR200	Pro-Neg High	Auto	0	+1	-1	-2	0
B&W Landscape	800	DR100	Mono+Red	Auto	0	+1	0	0	0
B&W Portrait	800	DR100	Mono+Green	Auto	0	+1	-1	-1	0

I have set them according to the subjects I tend to shot so I can change a whole group of settings with a push of the "Q" menu button and a quick turn of the dial.   Finer tweaks to color and highlight/shadow tone were done from experience of using the camera and the above are what I  eventually arrived at after some months of use.

I tend to play quite a bit with Highlight Tome, Sharpness and Shadow Tone so I change them often. For the ISO thee are times when I like to have in AUTO with Standard 200, Max 3200 and min shutter speed at Focal length I am using x1.8

While I like the more saturated colors and higher contrast in Astia (soft) for landscape generally, I found it tended to clip into the shadows too easily so I somewhat reduced the contrast there by making a -2 adjustment.

For portraits the Provia (standard) or Pro-Neg film simulations work well as they are rather neutral and subdued in colour, so render skin tones well.  The Pro-Neg Hi gives the same colours but more contrast.  I reduced the contrast at the shadow end as I found it was clipping to black too readily.

The dynamic range settings work really well and allow the camera to record more detail in highlights and shadows than in a normal exposure.  For the higher DR setting (DR200 is all I have needed) the camera needs to be set to ISO 400 but the sensor/processor is so effective that there is no discernible noise penalty.  It isn't an HDR feature....my understanding is that it works like many other similar features and the camera basically underexposes the image then processes in an exposure and tone curve that avoids clipping at each end.

The Jpeg output is so good on this camera that I shoot Jpeg almost all the time, whereas I only shoot RAW on my Nikon DSLRs.  Images from the X-E1 print superbly and have amazing pixel level sharpness.  The camera seems to resolve beyond what its 16MP sensor should, probably due to the absence of the anti aliasing filter.  Strangely, when 100% images are viewed on a computer monitor, detail can look somewhat mushy due to the unusual colour filter layout of the X-Trans sensor, but images view nicely at normal sizes and print in a very natural way, giving what I would describe as an organic look to textures that look real enough to touch and bitingly sharp.

Fuji X Custom Settings

Today arrived the new firmware for most of the Fuji X series cameras.  When you update all the custom settings are wiped out as well as cache memory and frame numberHere are more or less my latest  custom settings.

Name	ISO	Dynamic Range	Film Simulation	White Balance	Colour	Sharpness	Highlight	Shadow	Noise
Standard	AUTO	DR100	Provia (standard)	Auto	0	0	0	0	0
Landscape Normal	200	DR100	Astia (soft)	Auto	-1	+1	-1	-2	0
Landscape  High Contrast	400	DR200	Astia (soft)	Auto	-1	+1	-1	-2	0
Portrait Neutral	200	DR100	Pro-Neg Standard	Auto	0	0	0	0	0
Portrait Neutral Higher Contrast	400	DR200	Pro-Neg High	Auto	0	+1	-1	-2	0
B&W Landscape	800	DR100	Mono+Red	Auto	0	+1	0	0	0
B&W Portrait	800	DR100	Mono+Green	Auto	0	+1	-1	-1	0

I have set them according to the subjects I tend to shot so I can change a whole group of settings with a push of the "Q" menu button and a quick turn of the dial.   Finer tweaks to color and highlight/shadow tone were done from experience of using the camera and the above are what I  eventually arrived at after some months of use.

I tend to play quite a bit with Highlight Tome, Sharpness and Shadow Tone so I change them often. For the ISO thee are times when I like to have in AUTO with Standard 200, Max 3200 and min shutter speed at Focal length I am using x1.8

While I like the more saturated colors and higher contrast in Astia (soft) for landscape generally, I found it tended to clip into the shadows too easily so I somewhat reduced the contrast there by making a -2 adjustment.

For portraits the Provia (standard) or Pro-Neg film simulations work well as they are rather neutral and subdued in colour, so render skin tones well.  The Pro-Neg Hi gives the same colours but more contrast.  I reduced the contrast at the shadow end as I found it was clipping to black too readily.

The dynamic range settings work really well and allow the camera to record more detail in highlights and shadows than in a normal exposure.  For the higher DR setting (DR200 is all I have needed) the camera needs to be set to ISO 400 but the sensor/processor is so effective that there is no discernible noise penalty.  It isn't an HDR feature....my understanding is that it works like many other similar features and the camera basically underexposes the image then processes in an exposure and tone curve that avoids clipping at each end.

The Jpeg output is so good on this camera that I shoot Jpeg almost all the time, whereas I only shoot RAW on my Nikon DSLRs.  Images from the X-E1 print superbly and have amazing pixel level sharpness.  The camera seems to resolve beyond what its 16MP sensor should, probably due to the absence of the anti aliasing filter.  Strangely, when 100% images are viewed on a computer monitor, detail can look somewhat mushy due to the unusual colour filter layout of the X-Trans sensor, but images view nicely at normal sizes and print in a very natural way, giving what I would describe as an organic look to textures that look real enough to touch and bitingly sharp.

My Recommended Menu Settings Fuji X pro 1

My Recommended Menu Settings

These are the camera settings I changed to made the Fuji X-Pro1 most suitable for my shooting needs. Your mileage may vary, but I found these tweaks to make the camera all the more usable than the stock camera settings:

Shooting Menu 1: Image Quality (RAW+FINE) – Always shoot in RAW. With RAW + FINE, you get the flexibility of RAW with the instant use of the X-Pro1?s excellent JPGs. Also a smart move until Adobe fixes issues with their demosaicing algorithm for the X-Pro1.

Shooting Menu 3: Fn Button (ISO) – Quick access to change the ISO from the Fn button. With this access, which I find faster than the Q button for dedicated ISO adjustment, you have all exposure settings at your fingertips.

Shooting Menu 4: AE/AF-Lock Mode (Switch) – Ability to switch AE-AF-Lock on by pressing button once instead of having to press and hold – a useful tweak if you focus and recompose often instead of changing the AF point.

Shooting Menu 4: AE/AF-Lock Button (AE+AF) – Locks both AE and AF.

Setup 1: Silent Mode (ON) – No AF confirmation noise or beeps from menu selections for quieter operation.

Setup 2: Quick Start Mode (ON) – Doesn’t completely power off camera to increase responsiveness.

Setup 2: Image Display (OFF) – Turns off default 1.5 second image review in EVF for smoother shooting experience. 

Setup 3: Color Space (sRGB) – My preferred color space.

“AF-ON” Button

With my DSLRs, I often have my cameras set up so that the shutter release only fires the shutter, while AF is controlled by the AF-ON button only. This way it’s so much faster shoot for my style of photography, and many other shooters prefer this set up as well.

While the Fuji X-Pro1 doesn’t really have a dedicated AF-ON button like most DSLRs, there is a work-around that you can use to achieve the exact same set up.

The small trick is to shoot in manual focus mode. The camera now defaults to allow the AE-L/AF-L button to activate focus as a kind of “AF override.” Now, the shutter release is entirely de-coupled from AF, but you can still activate AF through the AE-L/AF-L button, so in effect you’ve got your AF-ON button back.

AF Trick: Focus & Fire In One Action

One trick that many users seem to be finding out is to press the shutter release down fully to achieve focus and release the shutter in a single act. Most DSLR users are used to acquiring focus with a half-press and then firing the shutter after focus is locked. With the Fuji X-Pro1, the focusing lag experienced is partially due to the separation of these steps.

Many users are finding that by fully pressing the shutter release in one motion, the delay involving the contrast detection AF and shutter release seems to be lessened.

This trick is basically the opposite of the preceding trick to completely separate focus and shutter release, but if you’re a DSLR user who has been frustrated by the focus speed, it’s worth breaking your habits to see if this works for you. While this trick doesn’t work for all types of shooting, try it – you might just like it.

Never Shoot in 6FPS Bust Mode. Ever.

6FPS sounds great, until you realize that shooting in bursts will lock up your camera for what feels like 10x the time it took you to shoot your sequence. Just stick to single shot mode, your patience will thank you for it.