Last time around I talked about the Fn buttons, how to set them up and what I’ve personally chosen to assign to my Fn buttons.
This week, we’ll cover off some of the other external buttons and also some shortcuts and tips!
(This is actually a shot of my X-Pro1, but this dial is the same on the X-Pro2)
This is the focus selection switch, set it to ‘M’ for manual focus, ‘S’ for single AF and ‘C’ for continuous focusing.
The C and S modes can be used in conjunction with the 3 AF modes (which I have on a Fn button) and also continuous shooting modes, found on the drive menu.
D-Pad and AE-L button
The drive mode is the uppermost button on the rear ‘D-Pad’ (at time of writing: Feb 2017) this button can’t be re-assigned to a different function.
EV dial set to C
If you set the EV dial to ‘C’ then the front command dial can then be used to control EV adjustment. This can be done with up to +/- 5 stops, rather then the 3 stops available from the physical EV dial.
Front dial OVF switch
This shot shows the front command dial. If you’re using it to control the EV adjustment, then you’ll need to press it in to active that function. As standard, this dial also controls the ‘in-between’ SS values (the physical SS dial only contains full stops) There’s also a Fn button in the centre of the OVF lever
Rear Dial and AF/AE-L, Q & Metering Buttons
The rear dial controls the aperture on any Fuji lens that doesn’t have an aperture ring (the XC lenses and the XF27). The rear dial also controls focus magnification if you’re using manual focus, which you can swap between using by pressing the dial in. A longer ‘press and hold’ of this dial enables you to swap between the manual focusing aids (eg focus peaking)
I’ve made some changes to this buttons… I’ve swapped the function of the AF-L and AE-L buttons. I use a back button focus a LOT and using the original AF-L button is -for me- an awkward and fumbling affair, but the AE-L button is a lot nicer to press and easier to find with my thumb.
I’ve also placed the shutter choice (mechanical or electronic or both) on the metering button (metering now lives on the OVF switch Fn button)
If, with the camera switched on, you press and hold the Display Button, it will display the Fn menu and you can assign all of your Fn button choices at once. You can also change them individually by pressing and holding a button you wish to assign a function too.
The Main Menu. This has a lot of stuff in there. I try not to go there, and can go for weeks without needing it 🙂
When compared to the X-Pro1, the X-Pro2 is a very fast and spritely camera. However, there is one usage case where the performance is, in my opinion a little sub par.
The ERF view, showing NON-magnified view
If you use the ERF in either of the two magnified views then the camera slows down to meter the scene and the shutter lag goes up and the histogram is inaccurate.
I would love for Fuji to remedy this with a firmware update… But it’s not a bug, it’s a feature !!
If you DON’T use the magnified EVF modes then this ‘slow-down’ doesn’t occur
If you read the support pages at Fujifilm’s website you’ll find an explanation for this behaviour. That doesn’t make it any less annoying, but it at least explains it.
You can read that by clicking here
Now I’ll share with you some tips and shortcuts, so that the menu isn’t a place you’ll need to go too all that frequently!!
Shortcut for SD card Format:
Press and hold the delete button for a few seconds. Whilst KEEPING the delete button pressed, simultaneously press the rear command dial and you’ll get straight to the format SD card menu (you can format both cards from this menu)
Changing the view of the ERF, and the magnified view within Manual Focus:
Whilst using the ERF mode, press the rear command dial in to change the magnification level of the ERF window. For the magnified views for manual focusing these can be changed by SCROLLING (turning) the rear command dial. There are 3 ERF views to chose between: a full scene view and 2 magnification variants; and 2 magnification levels with the manual focusing feature.
In MF & AFS shooting mode you can also press the rear command dial to zoom into the position that you’ve set the AF point. There’s 2 magnification variants to chose from.
Items you can cancel or “OK” by half pressing the shutter:
– Switch out of playback image review and return to shooting mode.
– To cancel and image review when the camera is set to immediately display the last image captured
– To “OK” a menu item choice you can do this with a half-press of the shutter button. (Instead of the OK button)
– Half-press and momentarily hold down the shutter button to wake the camera up from sleep mode.
Other ‘Shutter Button’ Tips:
– Half press the shutter to lock current exposure and focus settings, these settings are locked whilst the shutter is held at the half way point
– If you DON’T FULLY RELEASE THE SHUTTER after taking a shot, then the current exposure and focus settings and locked for all subsequent shots (until the shutter is fully released)
Q Menu Tips:
– To edit and assign content to the seven Q Menu profiles, press the Q button to get into the Q menu, THEN press and hold the Q button to enter into the Q content menu
– To edit and assign content to the Q Menu itself (ie decide what the items in your Q menu are actually set too) then press and hold the Q button whilst you’re NOT in the Q menu
Image Playback Tips:
– Whilst in Playback mode, you can launch the WiFi Feature by pressing the Fn button that’s on the top plate (next to the shutter button), this works no matter what you have that Fn button set too in the menu
– Whilst in Playback mode, you can rotate the rear command dial to zoom into and out of a shot. Pressing the rear command dial in will zoom into the 100% view of an image, directly where the camera has deemed the focus point to be. By pressing the DISP/BACK button or focus stick, you can return to the standard-size view.
– Whilst in Playback mode you can rotate the front command dial to browse through your images, if a zoom level has been selected (see above) this zoom level is maintained whilst reviewing images.
– Whilst displaying a raw image in image review mode, you can press the Q button to engage the in-camera RAW converter, which will let you make ‘SOOC’ Jpegs from the RAF file
– Whilst in playback mode, you can press the upper D-Pad button to review two image info pages that show the camera settings, the histogram and a ‘blinky’ highlight warning
– Whilst in Playback mode you can press and hold the playback button to swap between the 2 memory card slots
General Tips:
– You can use the focus joystick to navigate and ‘OK’ the menu items, in lieu of the D-Pad and OK button
– The menu for the Focus Joystick options can be accessed by pressing and holding the joystick for a few moments
– Press the joystick in shooting mode to access the focus frame and zones menu. you can position the active focus zone with the joystick and in/de-crease the size by using one of the command dials. If you press the joystick again it will return the focus frame to the centre
– In shooting mode the joystick can be set to move the focusing frame without any additional pressing, and the joystick is capable of moving diagonally (as well as up and down and left to right)
I hope that some of you were able to get some value from this article?
I’m sure that I’ve made this sound like a very complicated camera?!!
But by understanding only what you need and want, you can focus on learning only what you need to know.
That’s certainly how I work, but of course we’re all different, but if anything here has been helpful then I’m delighted!
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The X-Pro Series Content: Referenced and All In One Place
The X-Pro Series Content: A Contents Page with Page Numbers and a Brief Description
Adam Bonn Fotografia 