Since so many people are so interested in the X100V right now and are probably stuck at home bored out of their minds, I’ll keep talking about it and showing sample images.
I want to again talk about the autofocus problem.
A lot of reviews keep saying the autofocus is great, it’s better – Yes, it is . . . kind of.
People keep calling me out for my criticism of the X100V autofocus, and to be honest, I do make mistakes all the time, but not with this.
I’ve been shooting with the X100V more and testing it more, and I will still stand by my claim that the X100V autofocus is not good enough by today’s standards.
It’s better, but there is a catch.
You might think the autofocus is better if you stick the camera on a tripod and have your wife dance in front of the camera with eye-tracking turned on and film the back LCD screen while watching the little green box track everything then say, hey look the autofocus is good, then upload it to Youtube and call it a review (Do you guys like how cynical I’ve become? 🙂 I’m just having fun and joking around).
But seriously, the only thing that matters in real life with autofocus is shots in focus on the SD card.
UI feedback means nothing. All those little dancing focus boxes make no difference if the lens can’t keep up. This is one of the big things with Sony cameras. They put on a beautiful autofocus display, but really the FF mirrorless cameras are all showing about the same results now. Some are tuned differently so some work better in different situations.
So when I criticized the autofocus on the X100V review, saying it’s not really better than the X100F, this is what I mean. A massive chunk of my shots when shooting AF-C with my kids are slightly off even though it’s engaging eye AF or face AF. Is it a deal-breaker? No, because it’s better than the X100F at knowing what to focus on and not getting confused by objects in the background.
So I get fewer errors in autofocus, but still the same amount of misses due to a slow lens. So yeah, there is an improvement there.
But I do want to be honest about this so I’ll keep talking about it. This is simply out of my own self-interest. I want Fujifilm to put a faster lens on the next X100 even if it’s bigger. I want a weather-sealed lens so I don’t have to use the adapter. I think they can do it and I wish more people would get behind this idea.
That being said, I still love this camera. I’m so glad this camera came out when it did because it’s made this lockdown so much more fun.
Here are some more samples with the Goddox flash.
Banana Muffins
These shots are all super rushed. Shot RAW with the Goddox flash and my presets applied. Pretty much no editing.
I like this on-camera flash look. I used to never do it because all the snobby pros always told me when I was learning photography to take the flash off the camera. But this look is cool.
Guitar Time | X100V Bokeh Samples
In my X100V review, I also mentioned the different or strange bokeh the X100V produces. Here are some more samples so you can see how the bokeh renders differently. It’s pretty cool in most images, but here is some occasional weirdness. This is not a complaint, but it’s interesting seeing the new and different character the lens produces.
I also did some more tests about the onion ring bokeh. I shot some shots at a faster shutter and some at a slow shutter with the ND filter. I do notice that the ND filter does change the bokeh rendering slightly, but the faster shutter does not seem to cause more onion ringing. Only specific situations produce the onion ring. Most of the time it looks like the sample below. A little bubble with a ball in the middle and some onion ringing.
I’m still on the fence as to which camera lens renders better, the X100F or the X100V. I feel like there was something a little more organic with the X100F, but I would take the improvements to the close IQ capabilities of the X100V any day.
Again I don’t have my X100F with me so it’s tough to compare. It’s still in California and who knows when I’ll be able to go back to Japan. And I’m definitely not going to go back if they are in lockdown for the summer.
| **This website contains affiliate links. We will earn a small commission on purchases made through these links. Some of the links used in these articles will direct you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. |
I appreciate that you stick to your guns, Alik. This is my favorite series of camera and I’ve never been thrown off by its focus speed. That said, the improvement of each iteration’s AF has been greatly exaggerated in the online review world – only to be referenced as slow when the next iteration arrives.
Regarding rendering, I’m a little thrown off by the V. At times I love it and appreciate the new look of the lens. At other times its bokeh has some of the downfalls of other sharp pancake lenses. It’s definitely a unique look. The old lens was very predictable. A little soft. A little vintage. Smooth bokeh. Beautiful, and something different from other modern lenses.
Right, lol. Yes nothing is actually slow when you look at where we have come with digital photography. It’s all amazing and fast. I shoot more with my crazy kids now though so it taxes the camera more than it ever has with my other x100 cameras before I had kids.
But the new rendering is interesting for sure. Looks amazing most of the time, but then in some situations it looks really funky. It’s all a trade-off I guess. I wonder if they would consider making a slightly bigger lens that is weather sealed without the need of an adapter. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone with an X100 camera without that UV filter adapter. I would be curious to see what the statistics are on that. Are they just making a small lens for no reason? Would anyone care if it was a touch bigger? They could do so much more with a bigger lens.
Hey Alik thank you for your reviews. I just bought a X100F (was thinking of buying X100V instead but price was 2 times). I am using X100F for a few days and I am amazed by the quality of the image. If you can make a tutorial on Autofocus modes on Fuji devices, it would be very nice. TYhere a re lots of options to choose from and which one to use in which situation. Also if you can make which settings you use for X100F, it would be great. That was a fantastic trailer by the way.
Thanks, I’ll keep churning out the Fujifilm content when I can. I’ve never really sat down and tuned out the continuous AF settings on the X100F, but I did on the X-T3. Every lens is a little different and they like different settings but I can do some general overview.
Hey Alik thank you for your reviews. I just bought a X100F (was thinking of buying X100V instead but price was 2 times). I am using X100F for a few days and I am amazed by the quality of the image. If you can make a tutorial on Autofocus modes on Fuji devices, it would be very nice. TYhere a re lots of options to choose from and which one to use in which situation. Also if you can make which settings you use for X100F, it would be great. That was a fantastic trailer by the way.
As you said, the character of the lens has changed just slightly, will take a while to figure out if it’s for the better or not.
As always I appreciate for your honest review, and yes, after handling the X100V for a month it’s safe to say the AF improvement is overly exaggerated from others reviews. The camera is more decisive at choosing focus distance, similar to the improvement you get on the older f/1.4 lenses from X-Trans III to IV. As a result you get less focusing hunting induced by the camera itself, but it is still very limited by the lens’s slow focus motor. It is very evident that the AF motor is the limiting factor here if you power cycle the camera with the lens pre-focused at the closest distance. (On a side note I do hope Fujifilm introduces a setting to not remember the previous focus distance to improve startup speed.)
As for the rendering I’m fine with both the X100F and X100V, but I will take the much improved close-up image quality on the X100V every time. The new tiling screen, improved EVF and WR are also pretty important upgrades for me.
There is also something I found that seems to be missed by almost every review: the EVF stays up even when you move your eyes away unlike previous generations. No more waiting for 0.5 seconds for the viewfinders to switch when you look into window.