Photography News Issue 48

Camera test 29

Photography News | Issue 48 | photographynews.co.uk

Performance: ISO

Original image

ISO 200

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

Above The X100F is a perfect take-everywhere camera. It’s even portable enough to take cycling, as was the case with the lower image here.

consistently well, sometimes locking on quickly, other times not at all. I also tried with and without the pre AF engaged. Pre AF means the camera continually autofocuses even when there is no finger pressure on the shutter button. There is a price to be paid in the form of greater battery consumption and the focusing is constantly twitching, but it does mean that when you do press the button to take the shot the camera is probably alreadymost of the way to a sharp picture. In theory. For general shooting the wide zone is good but if you want to be selective, shallow focus or go for off-centre framing the mode is more fallible. The X100F uses the same battery as found on the X-T2/X-Pro2 so bigger than the batteries found in the three older X100 cameras. This means potentially greater shooting capacity – clearly there are a great many variables here that impact on shooting capacity. Back to the focus system; should you prefer more control go for zone AF where you get the options of 3x3, 5x5 or 7x7 AF points. The Zone AF group can be shifted around the 13x7 grid quickly using the focus joystick and within the zone, you get the active points lighting up. The focus lever comes in really handy for single AF point where you have the option of 13x7 grid or you can even go for 325 zones in a 13x25 grid. The area of coverage grids of both is the same. The final focusing option is manual, selected by the sliding control on the left-end of the body. A distance scale (you can choose

between metric or imperial) appears whether you are using the optical finder or the EVF – it appears on the monitor too. Using the finder, adjust the focusing ring and you get a magnified view of the electronic finder image whether you are in EVF or optical finder mode and using the rear command dial gives two magnifications, while touching the shutter release returns you to the full view. With the EVF image you can also get a small inset image at the corner of the frame. Push the rear input dual and you get a zoom view too. If you prefer, the magnified focus check can be turned off and there are other manual focus aids on offer too. Over the years I have tried all the cameras in the X100 series and enjoyed them. I have also appreciated the benefits as they have come along but the cameras have always delivered fine image quality, goodhandling and featured the lovely retro styling. The X100F is by some measure the best X100 camera so far which will not surprise you one bit. Of course image quality is going to be better with the latest sensor and processor, butmoremegapixels is not a priority for everyone. If handling is, then the X100F will not disappoint and it is a lovely camera to use. The AF system is responsive and precise so if grabbing shots is your thing then the X100F is very likely going to fulfil your needs. Also on focus, the addition of the focus lever is very welcome and it is difficult to imagine going back to the four-way pad to shift the AF point around.

ISO 6400

ISO 12,800

ISO 25,600

ISO 51,200

The X100F’s native ISO range is 200 to 12,800. The lift-and-drop ISO dial also has an L and an H setting – these only come into operation when the mechanical shutter is selected and the expanded settings are not available when either the electronic shutter or the mechanical/electronic shutter is chosen. The H setting gives either 25,600 or 51,200 and you decide which in the menu. Our set of ISO shots was taken late evening when the base exposure at ISO 200 was 1/5sec at f/8. The ISO NR setting was set at 0 and the long exposure NR setting turned off. The resulting Raws were processed in Lightroom with no NR set. Images are noise free to ISO 800 and then it starts to appear from ISO 1600 although you have to look

hard in the shadows to see any grain effect. Detail is still very well resolved and colour saturation stays at very good levels. Venture to ISO 3200 and any shadow noise is more evident but it is acceptable and looks filmic. Even the ISO 4000 image looks acceptable in the right situations and if you really had to push the limits of the camera’s ISO skills for a sharp picture then ISO 6400 looks remarkably good. To sum up, the X100F delivers an impressive ISO performance throughout its native range and I have had no hesitation using ISO 3200 and even ISO 6400 if the conditions demanded it knowing the resulting shots would show great detail and saturation.

Above images The FujifilmX100F with its tried and tested APS-C X-Trans CMOS III sensor gives an impressive ISO performance even at the higher speeds. Right The camera’s design has a retro theme and that includes a lift-and-drop ISO dial and a shutter button that has a screw thread to accept a traditional cable release.