How I shoot: Fuji X100T

fjrabon

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So, I get a decent amount of questions about how I use this thing. What settings, how my menus are set up, what accessories I added, what modes I use, etc. So I decided to kind of break down how I shoot with it. It's not a review per se, but review type thoughts will be sprinkled in here and there.

I'll typically underline what I think are the most important/interesting observations I had

I'll break it up into multiple parts (all in this thread), part 1 going over the physical aspects, part 2 going over my settings and modes I use, part 3 going over my mental approach with this camera and part 4 going over my processing approach (or in some sense lack thereof).

Part 1: The physical aspects: General feel, size and accessories


The X100T isn't really pants pocketable, it is more jacket pocketable, but even then it's not the easiest fit and will make your jacket hang to one side. How you feel about this mostly has to do with what you expected in the first place. I read reviews and some say that the X100T feels too light, others say it's too heavy. I think the people who feel it is too light were expecting it to feel like a Leica, and the people who think its too heavy were expecting it to feel like a point and shoot. Fuji split the difference here, meaning that people with either one of these expectations were not 100% satisfied. I find it just about perfect though. My hand never got used to the way a Leica felt as I never used one more than a handful of times, so maybe that's why I don't want it to be bigger or heavier.

The X100T just makes you want to hold it.
It just fits in my hand, is well balanced in my hand, and is unobtrusive in my hand. As you can see from the photos, I've made a few additions that add to this: a Grey braided nylon Joby wrist strap (connected via a key ring loop, which is surprisingly critical), a black soft shutter release, a B&W UV filter and a generic black thumb grip covered in gaffers tape and some gaffers tape around the grip.

This combo really gives me perfect control with one hand. I never feel like I'm struggling to hold it. The weight is very easily balanced. I'm about to talk a lot about how I hold the camera, because for me this is one of the big, little discussed aspects of the X100T.

IMG_4489 by franklinrabon, on Flickr

IMG_4491 by franklinrabon, on Flickr

About how I grip it. Let's start with the obvious, I got a thumb grip. I was originally hesitant about a thumb grip, as I didn't want to bulk up the camera anymore, and at first there wasn't the beautiful lensmate version for the X100T (the addition of the drive button built into the top plate necessitated an updated thumb grip from the X100S, lensmate took several months to design a new one after the release of the X100T). But I went ahead and got a cheapo one to see if I liked it, figuring that I'd upgrade to the lensmate when it came out if I liked the cheapo one. It screws in with a mini alan wrench for stability to the hot shoe. It's black as you can see. I put some gaffers tape around where my thumb contacts it, partly to cover up the white branded lettering, but mostly for additional grippiness, as the aluminum finish is a bit slippery and I have sweaty hands. However, I've really liked the little cheapo hot shoe thumb grip and haven't felt any need to upgrade to the prettier Lensmate, which I'd probably just end up uglifying with gaffers tape anyway.

Next, I use the wrist strap. A critical point is that I attach the wrist strap with a key loop for easy removal, but also because I can put my index finger through the key loop. I find this gives a TON more control. It places the corner of the X100t right into the base of my palm, and with just these two contact points I have control over it. Add in the thumb and front fingers and you have a really stable grip. I can operate this way completely one handedly with complete control and confidence. Because of the index finger loop, I can use the thumb to adjust the exposure comp, focal point, 3 function d-pad keys, and q menu. The thumb rest allows me to use my index finger to adjust shutter speed, shutter and engage the ND filter (what I have the top fn button set to). I use my middle finger to engage the different viewfinder modes. I use my ring or index finger to adjust aperture. My pinky curls underneath the bottom of the camera to further stabilize.

IMG_4498 by franklinrabon, on Flickr

You'll probably notice I've gaffe taped over a lot of places. Essentially anywhere I make contact with the camera as part of the grip I put downs some gaffe tape. I have sweaty hands and I find Fuji's rubberized black coating is a bit slick. Some people are probably thinking "why would you uglify such a beautiful camera with gaffers tape?!" I still think it's a handsome camera this way and it feels so much more comfortable. It also just feels like it's mine this way, as opposed to anybody's camera off the shelf.

IMG_4483 by franklinrabon, on Flickr

You also may notice I kind of went with a black accessories motif. Black UV filter, black thumb grip, black soft shutter release, black and grey wrist strap. This started off unintentional, B&W's UV filters are black, and the thumb grip I bought was just going to be a black one until the silver lensmate came out. But I ended up really liking the black accessories look. It made it feel a bit grittier and a bit more like mine, without getting silly and putting a blue or red soft shutter on there. I used loctite (the blue removable kind) to secure the soft shutter release. The soft shutter release ends up being surprisingly handy. I originally thought they were just gimmicks, kind of like earrings for the camera. But the way I grip it, I don't actually hit the shutter with my finger tip, more like the top knuckle, and the protruding soft shutter really makes this easier. I paid like $4 for a pack of 4 different colors, I only use the black, but it's nice that I have spares if I lose the black one somehow. It was also nice to be able to try all four out so that I could realize I really liked the black the best.

IMG_4484 by franklinrabon, on Flickr

I bought one of the JJC hoods, and I liked it okay, but I felt like it made the camera too bulky. I went with a UV filter for protection instead. I'm glad I have the hood, even though I rarely use it. I do use it sometimes if I'm at a concert or something where bulk isn't an issue, but maximum protection is. I shelled out for the best one B&W makes. It's brass, it doesn't deteriorate the image quality at all, it was expensive. The "made in germany" up top is kind of weird, but I almost like it. It confuses people, haha.

I carry it in a small black canvas Messenger bag (it's not a purse, it's a satchel, Indiana Jones has one, okay), along with several other things (extra batteries, portable USB charger (which will charge the X100T with the battery inside the camera), Nikon Coolpix A, headphones, sunglasses, etc).

Putting all these things together, the camera's just right weight, the accessories I use, the way I grip it, the look, it all adds up to a very natural, comfortable usage experience. I can't say it enough, this camera makes you want to pick it up, it makes you want to take it places and do things with it. My hand is just attracted to it. I'm reminded of a really well made knife, how your hand just loves the feel of opening and closing it, of using it, of carving with it, of cutting with it. That's what it is like to have the Fuji in my hands. Putting the incredible images aside, it's just a joy to hold and use, even if it wasn't even taking pictures.

It's a difficult thing to describe, and one that many reviews gloss over. Skeptics might argue that Fuji fanatics like to talk about non-quantifiable factors because that's all they have. But I owned a D600 while I owned my Fuji. I loved the pictures my D600 took, but I hated picking it up. I hated lugging it around. I was very meh about the way it made me shoot. The Fuji being such a joy to hold makes my photography better because I use it more and I'm happier and more comfortable shooting with it. Shooting with a dslr can seem like a job, shooting with the X100T is a joy, even when somebody just so happens to be paying me for it.
 
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Part 2: Settings, modes and menus

This is probably the thing I get asked about most, which makes sense, because it was the thing that took me the longest to figure out, and also the things I fiddle with the most.

First, let's go through how I set up the fn buttons, as to me I base how I set up the Q menu off how I set up the fn buttons.

Top plate Fn button: ND filter

I love the ND filter being built in. Like I freaking adore it. And I say this as somebody who almost never uses a ND filter on his DSLR. To me, the ability to just push a button, that's directly next to the shutter and instantaneously drop down 3 steps is a game changer. Why? Because 3 stops is generally the difference between open sunlight and shadow. So, what this allows is instantaneously switching from sunlight to shadow without having to fiddle with ISO, aperture or shutter speed. I can leave everything set up how I like it for shadow, and then just tap the ND filter if I see a patch of open sunlight I want to shoot. Cloud rolls over, turn ND off, cloud rolls back in front, tap ND on. This is great for street, where you're pretty much always going from shadows between buildings to patches of open sunlight. With a DSLR, I'd be doing a delicate dance of shutter speed and ISO switching. Here, everything can stay the same. Game changer for me, thus I want it in the easiest possible place to engage, right next to the shutter. I don't really worry abut accidentally hitting it, because of the way my index finger sits across the soft shutter release (see grip post above).

Up button on the 4-way selector pad (4 directional buttons around the menu button): macro focus engage

I go into and out of needing to close focus a lot when I'm out walking around, so I want macro focus mode in the second easiest place to engage,the up button on the D-pad. I kinda wish you didn't have to turn macro focus on and off, but you do, so it just has to be easily accessible.

Left button on the 4-way pad: Film simulation selector

I use classic chrome ~80% of the time, but I also tend to use Veliva, Astia and Provia a lot as well. I'll even sometimes use the two pro neg modes. I'll go into those a bit more later in the film sim section. Since I do change these pretty frequently, I want them where I can easily select them on the fly.

Right button on the 4-way pad: DR expansion level

I'll go more into this later in the modes section, but I use the DR expander a LOT. Like I totally love it. So I want to be able to change and turn it on and off pretty easily.

Down button on the 4-way pad: engage focal point selection

Some people like to use all 4 buttons for immediate focal point moving. I don't. I tend to focus in 3 ways the majority of the time: 1) center point focus and recompose 2) manual zone focusing 3) facial recognition focusing. None of these require moving a focal point, so that wasn't a priority. So I can live with having to press the down button to engage changing the focal point when I do want to move the focal point around, since that gives me 3 more Fn buttons.

Trash button: turn facial recognition focus on and off

I love facial recognition focus mode, but when I'm not focusing on faces, it tends to find "ghost faces" and thus I turn it off when there aren't faces in frame I want to focus on.

Wi-Fi button: Wi-Fi

I love the Wi-Fi being built in, so since it's already labeled that, I just leave it labeled as that. It also has the benefit of being the most out of the way button, so it's the button I'm least likely to accidentally touch, which is good.

Q Menu:

Thought this would be easiest to just do in one shot with a picture:

IMG_4509 by franklinrabon, on Flickr

My organization here was that I put the things that I'd use the most, but didn't assign a Fn button closest to the "base" square, which is where you always start off in the Q menu. So one click down and you have flash engagement, one click right and you have ISO, down and right flash compensation, two down highlight compression. You get the idea. One note, I ordered the 50mm "telephoto" converter, and when that arrives the DR button on the Q menu will be changed to the converter lens selector button, since I already have DR as a function button anyway.

I'll add in the modes I use later tonight or tomorrow.
 
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that was a long read about how to hold a camera. suppose the effort in doing this is good and might be helpful to some . so thanks.
 
Will there be a chapter on pressing the shutter button?
I find the nuances of that even more exciting than how to shovel light into the front of that tube thingie on the front.
 
As silly as it sounds, I do pretty regularly get questions via direct message on how it handles, if I'd rec a thumb grip, etc. If nothing else I can now link those people to this instead of typing responses to questions from scratch all over again.
 
Can it be zone focused ? If not I wouldn't buy one
Yes, though it's not the absolute easiest depending on how you zone focus. I had to slightly adjust my zone focusing method compared to how I did it with lenses with distance markings on the lens. But after that it was fine.

I'll go into more detail about that in parts 2 & 3.
 
I went to look at one today but they were sold out and only had the X30
I think the X30 is an okay camera, but as Zack Arias says, it's like a Porsche Boxster. It's a fine car, well made, really good for what it is, but everybody knows you really wanted to by the 911.
 
I went to look at one today but they were sold out and only had the X30
I think the X30 is an okay camera, but as Zack Arias says, it's like a Porsche Boxster. It's a fine car, well made, really good for what it is, but everybody knows you really wanted to by the 911.

I owned the X20 for a few months and ended up selling it and bought a used X100 but I ended up selling the X100 to put money toward my D610. But for a compact camera, I really might consider getting the RX100III over the X100 cameras again but it doesn't look as nice as the Fuji retro style cameras.
 
I went to look at one today but they were sold out and only had the X30
I think the X30 is an okay camera, but as Zack Arias says, it's like a Porsche Boxster. It's a fine car, well made, really good for what it is, but everybody knows you really wanted to by the 911.

I owned the X20 for a few months and ended up selling it and bought a used X100 but I ended up selling the X100 to put money toward my D610. But for a compact camera, I really might consider getting the RX100III over the X100 cameras again but it doesn't look as nice as the Fuji retro style cameras.
Ive got an A7 but would love the RX1 because I mostly shoot with a 35mm lens
 

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