Fujifilm X-T10: good for Mf lens enthusiasts?

[wolan]

Hi,

I have been entertaining the idea of buying a Fuji camera for my MF lenses (I have a small little army of them) and as a camera for travelling when my D800 would be inappropriate.

I understand there are some missing features in the X-T10 when compared with the X-T1. I basically do not care about that, except for the smaller viewfinder and the lack of the 100% view of the subject in the EF, which probably could be an handicap when manual focusing.

Anyway I wanted to hear your opinion before doing any choice.

Thanks.

[scsambrook]

Hi Wolan!

I keep thinking about these cameras - I have an XE-1 and am very pleased with it but think the"SLR" style ones might handle bit better. Although there's a large price difference, I would go for the XT-1 because of it its bigger viewfinder. For me, the bigger finder imag makes focusing manual lenses so much easier. But it's a lot to pay to get that one advantage so I'm waiting for the "XT-2" to come out, when the used prices for the XT-1 will surely tumble.

On the other hand, I manage just fine with the XE-1, so I might be wiser to spend the money buying some other lenses

[wolan]

Thanks.
Yes I know you are right.

But here is my reasoning:
I need anyway a smaller body anyway for when I travel, I do a lot of business traveling and I'd like to have something that can always have with me. Also I often go out with the family and I'd like to have something small enough that I can throw in a small bag when taking with me the D800 would be inappropriate.

I could use the saved money to buy next year the rumored X-pro2, which is something I am craving for.

Makes sense?

[scsambrook]

Yes, you're thinking is much like mine in many ways - maybe you could even go for a used XE-1 or an XE-2 if you really fancy the rumored X-Pro2.My local Fuji dealer was teling me it will be "very special" but I'm not sure that he really knows much about it. He couldn't, or wouldn't, tell me anything specific, apart from saying it would not be cheap. He thought it would be more costly than the XT-1, so probably outside my present budget:cry:

[rbelyell]

i am in the same situation. i would like to use the 'split csreen' manual focus aid, which is similar to old slr film cameras ive had. is there a difference between the xt1 and the xt10 in how it implements that function?

[wolan]

It looks like we have to wait just another couple of months:
http://photorumors.com/2015/10/26/fuji-x-pro2-and-full-frame-camera-rumors/

[Belcanto]

I bought my first mirrorless in 2010 because of the possibility to adapt legacy lenses. So I started with a
G1 then onto a X-E1 and then to a G5 and finaly to an X-T1. When it comes to viewfinders I've always
wondered about the complaints of older evf's. The G1 was really good. The G5 and G6 a little bit better
but not much. When I got the E1 IQ got better but the evf was a big let down. Smaller, sensible to
stray light (compared to Panasonic) and crucially a beyond acceptans low refresh rate. When I mounted
an 135mm on it, it was like looking at fast changing slides and not a film and it made focussing impossible.
Something that also was a dealbreaker for me was, since I only shoot with old MF lenses, was the
magnification function. Fuji has something like 5x or 10x magnification, but the level of detail was far lower
than on my old G1. The 5x on the E1 was appallingly bad. So I got the X-T1 hoping for better and it is.
Viewfinder is bigger than Panasonic. Magnafication quality is unfortunately not so. I still have a g5 and I
see a bit more detail when magnafying . Still basically it works. What is good with the T1 is a dedicated
Magnafying button(focus assist). Its implementation is flawless. its easy to reach and change between
peaking, split view, standard magnafying and double window. Somehow I allways end up using standard
magnafication.
Right now I have my attention directed towards olympus omd-5ii. Small, big evf, IS, High resolution mode.
this idea of blurring things out using big sensors and fast lenses i mostly nuisance to me. I really dont mind
having both nose and ears in focus when shooting a portrait. So M43 appeals to me. So I have to try it out
to see how magnafying is implemented.
Kjell

[wayno]

I would say that the answer is yes. I purchased an x-t10 several months ago. It has not replaced my Ricoh GXR as it (the X-T10) is a bit larger, and the GXR has one of the best manual focusing aids I have ever used. That aside, the fact that the X-T10 has a fine built in EVF, as well as a tilt screen, makes it my digital camera of choice when size is not a consideration.

I have owned the X-T1 and thought it fine camera. There were issues that allowed me to return it for full refund after having used it for three or four weeks. On consideration of price, I decided it was not the best value for money. When the X-T10 came out, it was a no-brainer. While the X-T10 EVF is not as good as the X-T1- at least by the specs- it is not the sort of thing you really notice in use, i.e. the X-T10 viewfinder is very good, even though rated as being inferior to the EVF on the X-T1.

I have made a lot of stupid mistakes, and needlessly spent a lot of money as I have gone through various mirrorless cameras. In my final analysis, the X-T10 is the best value out there.

I shoot manual focus lenses exclusively.

BTW, give the GXR with M mount unit some consideration. They can be had at very reasonable prices, and the M mount unit, with readily available adapters, makes it possible to use just about any manual focus lens. While it has fewer megapixels than most of the current herd of cameras, it does render images with a certain level of magic....Especially with Leitz glass.

[rbelyell]

wayno, it seems you use 'focus peaking', which is fine, and as you said, really good on the gxr which i shot for a couple years. for me, i dont like that mf aid, and was much more interested in the 'split screen' focus aid in the xt1/xt10. i understand in the xt1 you can have a dual view, with the full scene on one side of the screen and a maginfied view of the focus point on the other, and thats not available on the xt10. did you use any of these features?

[wayno]

I was very exited about using the sepparate focus point feature on the X-T1 when I purchased it. The reviews made it seem as though it was a great and useful feature. In use, I was pretty disappointed with it; I found it to less usefull, from a focus accuracy stanpoint, than magnifying the entire EVF view. Your results could be different. I do wear glasses, and am 55 years old, but do have my vision corrected to 20/20. I do not suffer from any known problems related to vision.

I find the split view focus aid to also be better in description than in practice. This is particularly true when there is no high crontrast area featuring a straight vertical line in the subject to be photographed. I envisioned something very much like the old split screen finder screens in film SLR cameras of yore. In fact, the feature built into the Fuji digital cameras is not even close.

When using my X-T10, I simply use the magnified view for manual focus. It is my experience that focusing through magnified view on the X-T10 is superior to using the same feature on any other camera I have owned. It may just be something that pertains to me personally, but I would even go so far as to say that the manual focus through magnified view on the X-T10 works better than it did on the X-T1. I am not a fan of focus peaking, but found the peaking on the Sony and Panasonic cameras to be the best. Personally, I have alway considred Fuji focus peaking to be the worst.

I find it interesting that you own a collection of Kodak Retina lenses. I own and use a complete collection of those lenses myself. In fact, those lenses have prompted me to purchase a 2nd GXR and M mount module, as I find the rendering of the M mount module with the Kodak Retina lenses to be magic. I have used the Retina's on the X-T10, and they work well with it as well; but there is something about the sensor in the M module that makes it seem as if the Retina's were built specifically for it.

Hope this is of some use to you.

[tb_a]

[wayno]

I guess my comments on focus peaking were a bit misleading. I do not, generally, like focus peaking. However, I believe the focus assist of the GXR is, technically speaking, a form of focus peaking; it is so different from what other camera makers have implemented that I do not really think of it as focus peaking.

I do use a VF2 with the GXR.

[rbelyell]

wayno thank you so much for the excellent detailed compariosn between the xt1 and 10 focusing aids. i really appreciate it and found it extremely helpful.
tony