The Complete Guide to Fujifilm's X-100f - Expert Insights for Experienced Photographers

By Tony Phillips

Written for Fujifilm’s outstanding X100F street camera, this is EVERYTHING X100F explained in easy to understand language! It is the Manual on Steroids and much more…

So if you’re uncertain about anything your X100F does, grab this book! It’s packed with clear tutorials and examples, with over 400 tips, tricks, and tweaks to help you master photography with your X100F.

In this 584-page full-color eBook, you’ll learn:

* About every mode, menu, button, function, and socket.

* How the new Fujifilm flash system works.
* How to capitalize on a 1/2000th flash sync speed – RHSS.
* All about the EF-X500 and Fujifilm wireless flash.
* Why the OVF is so, so good – and how to have fun with it.

Plus more!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781387175635

Book preview

configuration.

2.2      Shooting Modes - DRIVE

Since several of the features in this Chapter are found by selecting them in the DRIVE menu, it seems relevant to add a few words on it here.

DRIVE menu shooting modes

There has been a DRIVE menu or dial on most X cameras. In keeping with previous X100 series cameras, the X100F uses a button and menu system rather than dial employed on some interchangeable lens Xs.

The Drive menu provides access to shooting Stills, Continuous (burst), Bracketing (AE, ISO Film Sim, WB, DR brackets), Panoramas, Multiple Exposure, Advanced Filters, and Movies.

Brackets require you to set the Bracket, and the range to be bracketed in the Menu beforehand. Advanced Filters require you select the Filter to shoot, and Panorama mode requires you to make selections in the Panorama shooting screen in that mode.

The DRIVE menu is discussed in detail in Chapter 7.

2.3      Inbuilt Films - Film Simulations

You are probably aware that Fujifilm produced highly respected film stock used by photographers the world over (they still do). And just as their film heritage is obvious in both the company name and the creation of the X100F’s colour filter array which digitally simulates the random nature of film, so too does that heritage show with the inclusion of in-camera film simulations. Of course, in the days before digital, you needed to select which film to use well in advance. Now, you can just dial this up at will from one image to the next.

Film Simulations are actually collections of pre-programmed in-camera tweaks applied to JPEG images to simulate an array of actual film from bygone days. In some ways, they are quite like Advanced Filters (discussed next), and in others, nothing like them. Advanced Filters degrade image quality to simulate cheap, low-cost cameras from way back, or to emulate post-processing practices that have become popular. (I’m not saying they are not useful in the creation of photographic art – and I use them from time to time, and write about them at length in this book.)

Film Simulations act on the image data in much the same way as Advanced Filters, but the intention is to simulate known film stock. This may not seem too big a deal for digital-only photographers who have never used film, and/or are heavily into Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture One, or similar, but historically, the selection of actual film stock was a crucial part of the photographic process, impacting on image quality and look in a way that could not be altered in dark room processing.

One major benefit of shooting Film Simulations over Advance Filters is you can shoot film sims in RAW+JPEG and retain all the benefits of capturing simulated film (the JPEG), and having a RAW image to which the simulation is not applied. (Otherwise it could hardly be a RAW, could it?).

Interestingly, you can select RAW (only) Image Quality for any Film Sim. Do that, and you see something like the Q-Menu pictured in Figure 2-6. But… you get what you should expect to get when shooting RAW only – just a RAW – with no film simulation applied. While this may seem an oddity in the way the Q-Menu displays, some software is aware of the sim you applied, and you can apply film sim tweaks in post in these packages. The greyed out RAW icon in Figure 2-6 is my Image Size setting – indicating that RAW is without the JPEG constraints of size. In truth, it could say 3:2, since that’s the sensor’s native aspect ratio.

The quickest way to switch Film Sims is with a Fn button or the Q-Menu.

Film Sims are covered in detail in Chapter 6.

2.4      Advanced Filter Effects

Advanced Filters allow you to do some creative things right in the camera, without having to learn Photoshop.

Just because you have one of the best cameras on the planet doesn’t mean you must forego those fashionable Instagram and iPhone effects.  In addition to boosted contrast and selective colour, you get monochrome (with a handful of coloured filters), a miniature (selective focus mode), High and Low Key, Soft Focus, a plastic lens Toy camera effect (heavy vignetting and grunge colouring), and Dynamic Tone.  Don’t turn up your nose at the Advanced Filters until you’ve played with them. They surprised me and I have fun with them. Advanced filters can be selected in the DRIVE menu, and I go into all the details in Section 6.4.

2.5      Panorama

Panorama is so convenient I use it regularly.  It is a way of taking sweeping shots without the need for a tripod, extra-careful alignment, or a computer to stitch lots of images together after the fact.

To shoot a panorama, select Panorama under Adv. in the DRIVE menu, put your eye to the viewfinder, press the shutter button once to start shooting, and move, or sweep the camera.

The camera shoots continuously, aligning images even while you are on the move, providing you with a single high resolution image as a result. Four shooting directions ( ) are available – as are options for the angle of coverage (or sweep). Figure 2-8 puts Panorama to good use shooting street art in the city of Melbourne, Australia.

Making the most of Panorama is a big topic, so there’s an introduction to help you start shooting panos in the Quick-Start Guide in Section 4.3, and coverage of all the details in the DRIVE modes chapter in Section 7.5.1.

2.6      Multiple Exposures

Surprisingly, not many modern cameras offer a multiple-exposure option. It’s nice to have, and fondly reminds me of my old Canon AE-1. It’s a lot of fun to play with too, and you can get some wonderfully creative shots.

Since it’s a DRIVE function, select Multiple Exposure under Adv. in the DRIVE menu. Once you take the first picture, you’ll be asked for Next, or Retry. Press OK for Next, and take the second shot. You can Retry this shot too, or OK to confirm.

Try light on dark, and vary camera angles to find what works. The good thing is (and quite unlike my 1970’s AE-1) you can see your first shot in the viewfinder as you compose the second shot. You can use film sims too!

I find multiple exposures always benefit from tone curve work in software to boost contrast. Figure 2-9 shows an example.

2.7      High-Speed Shooting

With its fast shooting interval, the X100F captures up to 8 pictures per second in Continuous burst mode. You can select an alternate frame rate right in the DRIVE menu. Options are 3, 4, 5, and 8fps.

In AF-C focus mode, the camera uses phase detect pixels to lock focus for each frame as you shoot! This is quite a technical feat. Exposure is locked too! This is not the case in AF-S though, where focus and exposure is determined by the first frame in the sequence – meaning it is not good for tracking fast moving subjects, or where lighting conditions vary much.

While you could use a TCL converter lens on your camera to photograph fast-paced people, there is something wonderfully satisfying at which this feature excels – capturing the nanoseconds-long expressions of young children who don’t pose AT ALL!

2.8      Hybrid Shutter

The X100F has a max mechanical shutter speed of 1/4000th of a second.  If 1/4000 isn’t enough, switch to the electronic shutter with its 1/32000th max shutter speed. Additionally, there’s a fully automatic hybrid version of this with MS+ES, where the camera switches between MS and ES at 1/4000th.

There are a few caveats with using the electronic shutter. Most notably, no flash! See Section 14.3.5 for a full run-down on the shutter types, and the benefits and caveats in using them.

2.9      Wireless – Wi-Fi

The camera has built in 802.11b/g/n wireless used in five distinct ways. To:

1.      Transfer images to a known desktop computer across a known wireless connection. This is the PC AutoSave feature.

2.      Collect GPS information from a phone or tablet to geotag images.

3.      Transfer images to a phone or tablet. This is called Wireless Communication, and there are several apps to facilitate this.

4.      Remotely control the camera from a phone or tablet. This is also Wireless Communication, and requires an app.

5.      Print to an Instax Share Printer.

The first two are clever, but not terribly practical. Setting up and using PC AutoSave is covered in detail in Section 17.7. Geotagging is covered in 17.6.

Transferring images to a device is something you might use for uploading to social media whilst travelling. You can transfer images to a friends phone too. See Section 12.2.

Remote control of your camera via Wi-Fi from your phone is brilliant! It’s easy to set up, easy to use, and once you work with it a while, you’ll start finding all sorts of creative ways to use it. I encourage you to experiment, for all those times you find yourself facing down a cobra in the streets of Marrakesh, hanging over a cliff in the Great Australian Bight (Figure 2-11), or on some other adventure where you’d like to put your camera, but not your body.

Printing images directly to an instax printer is also brilliant. It’s easy to set up, and even easier to use. As an added benefit, you can also print to the instax printer directly from your phone. This is great for family gatherings, it’s also great for street and travel photography to break the ice. That’s because it’s tactile. Something digital photography has largely lost. I mean, how many people actually print their pictures now. I know some do. And probably many readers are among this group.

There’s an entire chapter on the X100F’s Wi-Fi features - Chapter 12. And of necessity, since some Wi-Fi features can be altered in the Set-Up menu, there’s more on these Connection Settings in Section 15.7.

2.10      High Quality Video

Video has hit the big time. At least for Fujifilm it has. The X-T2 demonstrates Fujifilm’s aspiration to provide cameras that can do it all. And this includes shooting movies. A splash of this video goodness has spilled into the X100F’s movie modes.

To this end, you can you can record HD and Full HD movies. You have 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, and 24p, options – all with onboard stereo audio recording. FHD contiguous clip limit is 14 minutes, with a 27 minute limit on HD clips.

Video quality at these resolutions is more than acceptable for casual movie making. You can also apply film simulations to movies for great/modern movie effects, negating the need to grade and colour footage manually.

AF-C focusing turns the whole unit into an expensive camcorder – though like all camcorder autofocusing for movies, it is subject to limitations – since the camera really has no idea what you want in focus.

None of the new AF-C goodness in other X cameras has made its way into our teeny F. But it’s still up to par for camcorder work. Of course, in Hollywood, no one uses autofocus to make a movie. It’s all manual. But for most of us, movies and autofocus will come in handy some time or other. Section 4.4 provides a quick start guide to shooting movies. Chapter 11 covers all this in much more detail. For movie settings see Section 14.5.

2.11      Styling, Build, Dials, Buttons

While others are calling our X cameras retro, Fujifilm call it traditional. While that’s a comment on style, more importantly, it’s a way of working. It’s how the camera works, and how you work with it.

Indeed, it’s highly likely the X100F’s dials, buttons, build, and rangefinder-like styling was a significant factor in you looking at the camera to begin with.

In this day and age style and build quality shouldn’t be something to brag about, right? But how many times have you found that not true? The X100F though, is both gorgeous and built to last, with die cast magnesium alloy body and metal dials.

The camera is fundamentally externally driven – a control method-ology preferred by professional photo-graphers, and carried forward through the growing line of X-platform cameras.

The buttons and dials slathered across the body give you external control of ISO, shutter speed, exposure compensation, drive modes, and metering. And the programmable function buttons, Q button, My Menu and joystick mean you have rapid access to virtually all main shooting features without deep menu diving.

There’s something about the design that doesn’t merely link function and feature; something that creates a unique style of shooting unlike modern menu controlled cameras that have you constantly menu diving and swiping at the screen to get the simplest things done.

It all seems simple (though I know it’s not). But perhaps it’s the simplicity of control over the photographic process that at least in part makes this camera satisfying in the hand.

There’s a full rundown of all the X100F’s external controls in Chapter 8.

2.12      Additional Features

Here are a handful of other noteworthy features:

      The X100F has an AF Illuminator built into the camera body that assists focusing in low light situations.  This can be disabled in the MENU.

      This might sound odd, but I really like it that you can take a picture irrespective of whether the camera is satisfied it has focus or not. Why is this important? At the risk of being stoned, I happen to think that focus is NOT the most significant element of a good image – a point substantiated by a plethora of easily recognizable historical photographs. I’m of the belief it’s better to have an image than none at all.

      There are 7 Custom Settings - memory locations where you can store important camera configurations. I’m puzzled that not all configurable elements are stored. Some important ones that are not saved, are image size and quality. At this stage you cannot name these presets.

      The X100F has outstanding JPEG quality, and yet you can shoot in RAW or RAW+JPEG (Fine or Normal), for the best of both worlds. What’s more, you can combine RAW+FINE with various image sizes (such as 1:1), and with Film Simulations for some great in-camera results – all while keeping the benefits of shooting RAW. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to Advanced Filters.

      The camera has a Face/Eye Detection feature which is great for working with small children when there’s so little time to focus.

      There’s an in-built intervalometer for stop motion videography.

      The X100F’s internal battery can be charged via it’s USB port!

2.13      Some Nutshell!

Well, that’s the X100F in a nutshell. I know it’s a big nutshell, but it’s also a well-featured camera. More than most, this camera will remind you that great photography is not just an iPhone point-and-shoot affair – you have to pay attention to the variables if you want great pictures – especially when the conditions are trying.  It is both challenging, and rewarding, affording you a unique combination of creative tools.

Now let’s dig in, and see how everything ticks.

Chapter 3  Essential Configuration

3.1      Essential Configuration

Before I dive into the nitty-gritty details of all the features and what they do, let me take a minute and recommend some settings that will make the camera better for you right out of the gate. I know it’s bold to suggest settings before explaining what they do, however this is an advanced book and, I provide section references where you can learn more instantly should you wish. 

Some of these settings may already be factory defaults; however just to make sure, here are my most-essential camera settings. The end of this chapter contains ALL of my personal camera settings.

Of course there are many other settings. Indeed, all the X100F’s settings are listed at the end of this chapter, with hyperlinks to detailed explanations of what each feature does. I’ll also explain my own personal preferences, touching on how my camera is set for every setting – and why.

3.2      Customizing Camera Functions

The X100F offers both a fully customizable Q-Menu and a handful of customizable function buttons, plus a customizable MY menu.

Together these features mean the X100F can be flexibly configured for your preferred use – and it is relatively easy to alter this setup for different shooting scenarios should you want.

The biggest challenge with customization, is working out how YOU want to use the camera. Understanding YOUR shooting style and requirements underlines every aspect of customization. And since everyone works differently, there is no one right or wrong configuration.

Let’s run through customizing Fn buttons and Q-Menu slots, and I’ll show you my logic for customization where the camera is primarily used for stills shooting. If video is significant for you, this will be quite different, no doubt.

3.2.1      The Customizable List

The following table lists the functions which can be placed in either the Q-Menu, or on a Function Button. All the functionality of each available option is covered in the pages of this book, and the following table exists as a handy lookup only. Hyperlinked references are provided for each.

The assignable options are:

(F or Q indicates the option can be assigned to a Fn Button and/or the Q-Menu)

¥ indicates item is stored in Custom Settings preset