Fujifilm X100 Full Guide: Setup & Settings
Table of Contents
This is a summary of my YouTube Video Review, you can watch the whole piece linked at the bottom of the blog post.
I recently did a full review of this camera, the original X100. And I noticed in the comments of the video that some of you were interested in purchasing one, and some of you recently did.
So if you're wondering what to do after you pick one up, setup, the settings and how to shoot with it, then this post is for you.
Before You Buy The X100
The first couple of batches of the original X100 had a manufacturing issue in the lens mechanism, causing the aperture blades to stick. This is commonly known as the SAB issue, or Sticky Aperture Blade issue.
That's something that they eventually corrected and improved upon. However, since you can only buy this camera used, that is something you need to check beforehand. The most common, or effective ways to check are:
- Serial Numbers: According to some of the info I found online, in forums and whatnot, the X100s affected by SAB started with serial numbers that begin with 12, 13 or 14.
That is not always accurate, it does not mean that is guaranteed that those serials will have issues, these are just the earlier batches that were most likely to have an issue compared to newer ones.
My camera serial starts with 12, but It does not seem to have that issue, or at the very least not as noticeable as other cameras.
- Manual Camera Test: If you are buying locally, then you can perform a camera & aperture test yourself to make sure the blades don't stick.
You can visually inspect the camera by taking a photograph and seeing if the results match your settings. Make sure the blades close and open properly, and don't lag behind, the easiest way is to do a shutter test in every F-Stop available.
Set your camera at a high shutter speed, let's say 1/4000th sec, and go over every F-Stop: F2, F2.8, F4, F5.6, F8, F11, etc, while visually checking the blades and making sure these don't stick. Do the blades close all the way? and do they open properly after closing?
Check The Firmware & Update It If Needed
Before continuing, make sure you have the latest firmware installed, to check your current firmware, make sure you press and hold the display/back button while you turn the camera on. You should see this boot menu telling you your current firmware number.
If you have the latest firmware installed, great. If you don't, then make sure you go to the official Fujifilm website and follow the easy and clear steps to download the new firmware and install it. Linked down below.
The Camera Settings
Setup Menu, Shooting Menu, Custom Menu and the Focusing method can be found in detail on my YouTube video, you can watch it here:
