[LRflex] Re: Presentation of the X20, a little OT...
- From: "philippe.amard" <philippe.amard@xxxxxx>
- To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2013 22:21:26 +0200
Bravo!
Et merci Xavier - good report indeed!
If you liked the Digilux 3 you'll love the X20 I'm sure - quiet,
resilient, and apt at taking pixes you'd never take with a larger
camera - I love my x10 and the x20 is my next camera for sure, as soon
as one of the kids has spotted the former out ...
I'd be curious to fiddle with a raf file, any way to share one?
Other than that, referring to your shoes and cheekingly, what size to
you take?
Bel achat, je te souhaite bonne lumière :-)
Amitiés
Philippe, not so harsh on the Dig3/L1 as it was and remains a
fantastic cool 'little' camera.
Le 4 avr. 13 à 22:07, Bille Xavier F. a écrit :
Good Day Flexers.
I have been quite interested into the 'niche' market developped by
FujiFilm and recent images from Philippe Amard of New York have
intrigued me more.
Of course, Steve Barbour recent trip to the Care Center and the
wonderful B&W images from the XE1 are opening a new way fro the
Leica Reflex line of lenses.
My choice has been dragged by the compact, built on the style of the
Leica III, the Fuji X20. When working in Lahore, Pakistan, I had
bought a Leica IIIG in the Bazar and kept it for a while, it is
still a pleasant souvenir. When the X20 came at my local photo shop,
in Maisons Alfort, while speaking with Serge, the owner, I had this
flashing image of the trade in Lahore, discussing over the price and
fondling the camera. Serge is by no way a Pakistani merchant but
however, the prices are fair, aligned often to the FNAC shop.
David Young wrote to me the other day that I should do a
presentation, here it is. Sorry for being slightly off topic. But
the camera best for the Leica Reflex lenses is the Fuji XE1 ,
designed as the Fuji X20. Steve has shown us great images in B&W,
the Fuji X20 has obviously the a quality of image, the sensor being
smaller, remember....
The Fuji X20 looks in some way to the Digilux3 and although my left
eye is directing, having my nose licking the screen, I keep in love
with the design. The camera is hefty but small and the knobs are
firm. They are indeed firmer than on a Leica III but this is an
answer to marketing mob listening to the users.
With gogles lime mine, the visor of the X20 is a tad smaller than
the Digilux3. But it very usable, better than a Leica IIIg. It's
like all range finder style of camera, part of the lens is popping
in the viewfinder at some focals. The framing through the visor is a
bit conservative, the LCD display is more precise. But it's a
compact camera....
Whatever, the design is well thought, it required to learn a bit. In
fact, the LX3/LX5 has an ergonomy I knew by heart but the Fuji X20
has new concepts, not so far away from the Digilux3, all weighted
out....
The adaptation of the Leica III is even more obvious when you
remember that the Leica required to extend the Elmar 5cm/3.5 to take
a picture, the Fuji X20 requires a twist on the barrel to 'open' the
lens and switch on the camera. This is fun, to me, at least. And the
Lens Cap, this is a wink to the Leica III :)
There are details marking the 6 years of evolution since the Digilux
3 such as:
a) the focus point can be chosen in a grid, its size changed, The
digilux has 3 Red dot in the visor, individually selectable (never
used the function, though...). Fuji has an auto setting among 256
positions, working well most to the time.
b) the LCD Display can be customized with some 16 items.
c) when reviewing the images, a press on a key display a fluo green
cross where the focus point was done. Another press on the key
reveals all lthe exif data. A press on the display key reveals the
histogram. In fact, with the LX3/LX5, it was possible to see the
histogram while framing, obstruating the LCD display, and after
during reviewing, only if an option for both was set, do, forget it.
d) an option can be set with a quick menu and for most obvious like
WB/AF mode Exp Comp., metering mode, a dedicated button is there.
It's very well thought. This is not a surprise as the XE1 nd X PRO1
have the same interface. Very efficient. Te Digilux 3 had the same
approach as well and I like it.
e) the sensor is 12MP and built on a new technolgy. It appeals to
me, a great user of the Velvia and the Provia Slide films,
reproducing the tones. Of course the provia and Velvia are day light
film, here, we have the White Balance...
f) the sensor being XTRANS has no Low Pass Filter,it improves the
micro contrast and give asensation of sharpness.
g) the ratio of the sensor is 4/3 like the Digilux 3. Having used
6x6 for a while, I like this ratio, my dream camera for a while was
the Bronica 4.5x6, ancestor of 4/3, orientated toward portrait, I
agree. The sensor of the Fujifilm have a better ratio Signal/Noise,
although some experts say the competitors are not far.
h) the F Stop is 2.0 at 28, 2.2 soon up to 50, 2.5 up to 85 and then
lastly 2.8 till 112. In this aspect it does better than the LX5,
where falling to 3.3, coming from 2.0 came fairly too quick acros
the range 24 to 90mm equ to 135 film.
There are other concepts like the focus peaking I have not tried
yet. The Autofocus being quick, the 'thing' being a compact camera,
I'll keep this for later.... Those functionnalities are 'gizmo',
required so the reviewers are happy comparing apples....
When shooting in Raw Mode, the camera is limited to 3200 ISO. Up to
12800 Iso in JPEG mode. Of course, being a long term supporter of
SilkyPix, Raw is my daily meat. Photography needs light and this
value seems comfortable, the Digilux 3 is limited to 1600 Iso, 800
being the acceptable limit.
It's fun to see that the Fuji X20, with factory settings, it limits
to 800 ISO in PASM modes. However, The Digilux 3 is showing its
wrinkes of age at 800 ISO. It's an evolution of 6 years. The sensor
of the Digilux 3 is not so ridiculous comapred to the Fuji X20. The
latest being a compact and easy to hand out... say in a bazar of
Isphahan (Iran).
On the downside, the firmware is 1.01 on the Fuji X20 and there is
an issue with SilkyPix: The Auto white balance for images under
Fluorescent Lighting, tipically, my under ground, shows a green
cast. Tomoko Watanabe San of ISL has reviewed my report and started
an investigation. Images can be corrected with the auto mode of SP5.
I want to praise ISL company, they are very reactive and listenning.
Now, I want to show a couple of images. By warned that they are 4k
by 3K and they weight 4MB.
All images developped in Silkypix 5, custom white balance, corrected
in SP5, Black level set to 10 to enhance the black...
At 800ISO, the Dynamic rang set to Low:
http://xavierf.b.free.fr/Temp/FujiX20/DSCF2204_dev.jpg
at 800 ISO, the dynamic range being Auto
http://xavierf.b.free.fr/Temp/FujiX20/DSCF2207_dev.jpg
At 200 ISO, the dynamica range being Auto
http://xavierf.b.free.fr/Temp/FujiX20/DSCF2208_dev.jpg
It's just a compact but very pleasant to use and it has a quality
matching or outclassing the Digilux3.
This is normal, the same evolution has been done for Computers and
Operating Systems in the past 20 years. I can say that the X20 is
smaller than the Digilux3 and the quality is on par or even better
(The Bokeh on the Digilux 3 is better, for sure).
That lens by Fuji is very complex and I would not be surprised to
discover one day that it comes from the same 'mill' as the Leica
Reflex Zoom Vario Elmar 80-200/F4, built by Kyocera.
Apologies to those Flexers, Pure Leica Reflex owner. I'm pretty sure
that the Fuji XE1 built on the same bases as the Fuji X20 is the
best for our beloved Reflex Lenses.
If I May express myself in our froggy Pidgin : C'est de la tuerie
(It's a killer of a product). At least for a Pocket Compact Camera.
If you want to see the images submitted to ISL for investigation,
it's here: http://xavierf.b.free.fr/Vente/
--> Be warned: I trust you to keep this material for yourself until
the investgation is over. It could be a defect with the firmware of
the FufiFilm X20 or with ISL. Any how, this is minor and the JPEG
out the camera ar superb, the camera is superb and SilkyPix is
capable.
I'm a software engineer and a bug is not the end of the world: it's
the easiest to correct in a product!
Remember: The Leica M8, all owners were given Filters to counter up
the sensor.... Call this a mishaps!
Thanks for having raed that far :)
#-----------------------------------
From : Xavier F. BILLE
mail : hot_billexf@xxxxxxxxxxx
Maisons Alfort - France
One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible
to the eye. Antoine de Saint Exupéry in Le Petit Prince.
NO ARCHIVE
Other related posts:
