Anyone using Fujifilm X series?

[Camelopardalis]

Folks,

Anyone using one of the XTrans based Fujifilm X-series DSLRs with their scopes? If so...

Is it possible to disable the LCD when using with an intervalometer? (don't want unnecessary power draw or heat)

What T-adapter are you using?

I'm sure there's more I can think of... ;)

Cheers,
Dunk

[Ken]

Hi Dunk been using a xm1 for a short while very impressed with the low noise and user friendly controls. Not sure about turning the screen off, once I have found and focused the object I turn screen brightness down with q menu. The battery lasts longer than me.
Clear Skies Ken.

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Ken - I'm probably unduly worrying about the heat, but I've seen the X-E1 has a viewfinder so I'm assuming the screen switches off then.

Are you using it with a scope or a lens?

[gregbradley]

You can switch an XE1/2/XT1 to viewfinder mode to turn the LCD off.

Greg.

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Greg, that makes sense :thumbsup:

[Ken]

I have only used the xm1 with my Orion 190 mak newt so far using a x mount to t2 adapter with thin oag. The intervalometer time shows clearly on the screen, you can see at a glance how long the exposure has gone.
clear skies Ken.

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Ken, yeah it looks like the advantage of the X-M1 is that the screen tilts and way from the body. Downside being that it's on constantly draining the battery. Although from what I can see, the X-E1 you have to have either the screen or the viewfinder on and there's no way for it to be "blind" like with a normal optical viewfinder in a DSLR that doesn't drain the battery while the mirror is up.

[Camelopardalis]

Oh btw chaps, what's the correlation with ISO? I see Greg mentioned the Fuji ISO doesn't seem to be as bright as other makes, and I've read that elsewhere, but seemingly no other explanation for it.

To be honest, I don't really care about ISO numbers, I'm just interested in the better signal to noise ratio, especially while the warm weather is here :D

[ZeroID]

I haven't got the Fuji X-M1 but interestingly My SONY A77v uses less power to the back screen than the Electronic Viewfinder, states it so in the Manual. It recomends using the screen to save battery.
I get 4-500 frames easily regardless and I have two batteries so never a problem.
As Ken says, the battery normally lasts longer than me. :P

I wouldn't worry about the heat problem either, internals are quite different from any DSLR arrangement. Again my SONY doesn't seem to suffer this issue at all even after along night.

[gregbradley]

For some reason Fuji do overstate their ISO. ISO3200 on my XE1/XT1 is more like ISO1600/2000 on my Sony or a Nikon/Canon.

ISO is merely a standard of sensor sensitivity and can be measured one of several ways and the manufacturer can choose. I suspect its something to do with the Xtrans colour filter overlay that lets them use a method that exaggerates the sensitivity by about 40%.

Having said that the X series are still the lowest noise APSc cameras around. Perhaps the new Canon 7D2 may be similar although I suspect not.

Auto white balance works great for nightscapes and also on my Sony. With my Nikon D800e auto white balance looked bad and I would do nightscapes at 4200K or so and adjust in post processing. With the Fuji there is no need as the auto white balance turns out just great.

Fuji is all about the best colours around, great auto white balance, super low noise and high resolution due to no AA filter. Also a fantastic selection of lenses that match or better the best from Canikon. More on a par with Zeiss.

Greg.

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks chaps, that's all interesting stuff. The X-E1 can be had at quite a good price at the moment, no doubt because it's an old model, but I'm guessing the differences between the first generation X-Trans models are just wrapping. Or at least that's how it looks from reviews online. I see also that they've got a $200 rebate on the XF lenses until Christmas :D

Has anyone tried using a battery adapter? The fake battery shell draws power from an external power source, which sounds useful for AP.

[MelD]

Hi folks - this all sounds very promising. I have an X-E1 and would like to try it with my 8" R-C. Can anyone suggest where I can source a body-scope adapter (1 1/4 or 2")?
Thanks and Season's Greetings / clear skies to all.
Mel

[gregbradley]

I used to use a Scope Stuff Tthread adapter with a 2 inch eyepiece tube.

Usually these are made for Canon. Then I suppose you would need a Canon EF to Fuji X adapter which are plentiful on Ebay.

Then you would have a 2 inch eyepice tube coming off the X camera and it would fit into your 2 inch eyepiece holder on the scope. It would be smart to string a tether line to the camera and to the scope. Sometimes eyepiece compression ring holders can come loose when cold and the camera could fall out.

Greg.

[Camelopardalis]

I bought said t-adapter off the bay. It replicates the 55mm focal length from chip to flange of Canon/Nikon/DSLRs.

[Camelopardalis]

Please forgive the gratuitous image in a discussion thread...

Here's a familiar object taken last weekend with the X-E1. 5x 3m subs at ISO3200. I'd actually taken a few more but my drift was poor. I'm pretty pleased with the level of detail and fainter nebulosity it's picked up compared to my 1100D. No stretching - just colour balanced. It also shows more towards the purple hues than the 1100D. Unless that's my colour balance! Ignore the blue star halos, as I believe that's because I'm only using a little doublet for imaging...and maybe I'm ever so slightly out of focus.

Edit: I've added a similar stack (5x 3m subs, ISO1600) with the 1100D that I collected last month from the same site, albeit the temperature was 5 or so degrees warmer. The left hand edges of the histograms for RGB have been brought down to the same values...not sure this is a valid technique, but still...

If I could tame the blue halos, I'd pretty happy with the X-E1 for AP on a budget :D