X1 first shots and opinions

[Magnus Wedberg]

(also posted at Yahoo!)


http://www.magnuswedberg.com/docs/Th...rs_and_the_X1/

Nothing really fancy. Hard to imagine harder conditions, though -- very dark, lots of movement, limited ISO (max 200 on this model).

To give an example, pict0026.jpg (the fourth) is 1/8 sec at f/3.5. pict0052.jpg (second last) is 0.6 secs! So, even if it actually looks OK, it was very dark. Notice subject movement in all shots.

Random quick notes:
* Noise levels actually manageable. I shot in 5Mp mode because I don't really need more, and my guess was that downressing in-camera will free up the card faster and combat some noise. Of course it's noisy anyway, 200 is like the 7D at 1600, without having made any direct comparisons.

* The new AS works, and works well. 1/8 in such a camera is impressive. You can get instant feedback on the screen, although that will eat batteries.

* I have seen comments that exposure is bad and colours are washed out. That is not true, both are excellent, /much/ better than I thought. Very little PS work was done and levels weren't adjusted for many of these pictures!

* Response (focus/shutter lag combination) is sluggish, but not more than other X models, which in turn aren't worse than many other cameras... horrible wait time between shots though, two secs.

* AF is OK but fails miserably at low light levels. Flash or lamp assistance would have been /really/ nice. A menu option for zone focusing would have been wonderful -- you could have set this with the four-way rocker! Sideways for exposure compensation, up/down for focusing in, say, six zones. DOF takes care of the rest. This could be a firmware upgrade! Are you listening, Minolta?

* Optical viewfinder is needed on a model with AS, or proper handholding techniques can not be applied, defeating AS. I didn't think of this before buying the thing, but it's a major point.

* Finish and build quality is absolutely excellent, /much/ better than the flimsy X50/60 and better than earlier X models, but the mirror finish is just OK -- pretty but impractical.

* Comes with a very practical neck strap, cellular phone-style. Good initiative.

* You can set the camera to remember its last settings, or reset them at startup. Some (all? The Xg for sure) previous models forgets all settings, which is a pain.

* Good charger/cradle. Can charge a spare battery while the camera is out of the cradle. Cannot charge both at once though.

* Comes with a 32Mb card. Previous X models came with a 16Mb. Both are of course laughable, but the 32 MB is at least good as an emergency backup...

* I bought the "black" one. It's not black. Hard to say which colour it really is, but something like "gunmetal" would probably fit...

[Drudkh]

Hi Magnus, what about the auto white balance? Vader complaint that it is very bad, what about your set?

Don.

[Stevick_Lee]

Bro Magnus, How did u manage to use the AS? I tried but the outcome was bad, unless I use timer function with it. Any method recommended?

[TME]

Dear Stevick_Lee,

U mind losing the super long signature? This isn't Hardwarezone where listing your equipment gives u street cred... thanks!

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

Originally Posted by TME Dear Stevick_Lee, U mind losing the super long signature? This isn't Hardwarezone where listing your equipment gives u street cred... thanks!

that sig is super long ago 1... now there is a 100character lock... try duplicating this stunt lor..

[Magnus Wedberg]

Originally Posted by Drudkh Hi Magnus, what about the auto white balance? Vader complaint that it is very bad, what about your set?

I don't know, I set it to daylight manually and don't bother more... just like I do on my 7D.

[Magnus Wedberg]

Originally Posted by Stevick_Lee Bro Magnus, How did u manage to use the AS? I tried but the outcome was bad, unless I use timer function with it. Any method recommended?

I just shot. But I turned on the live preview, it may work better then? Don't know.

[vader]

Originally Posted by Drudkh Hi Magnus, what about the auto white balance? Vader complaint that it is very bad, what about your set? Don.

What I have said is tried out in indoors...shots from Magnus is outdoors ya...well, hit the stores and try them out...pics exposure not consistence...maybe my set faulty...

[Stevick_Lee]

Originally Posted by TME Dear Stevick_Lee, U mind losing the super long signature? This isn't Hardwarezone where listing your equipment gives u street cred... thanks!

Sorry Bro, it was done long time ago. Yeah! Since now its limited to 100 characters, keeping it as rememberance. Something ppl cant do it now. *Collectibles*

[vader]

Originally Posted by Magnus Wedberg I don't know, I set it to daylight manually and don't bother more... just like I do on my 7D.

Well, most of the people who buy such cameras don't know much bout colour balance, what they want is the camera to be use easily. I'm talking bout those people who want to own a digicams but don't want to learn more bout digicams. When they ask to compare X1 with other brands, the results generate out really puts them off, I mean from the X1.

[Stevick_Lee]

Originally Posted by vader What I have said is tried out in indoors...shots from Magnus is outdoors ya...well, hit the stores and try them out...pics exposure not consistence...maybe my set faulty...

Tried the indoors shots, exposure was ok. (Colours was more vibrant than my Sony T1) But AF is quite a prob though. As wad Magnus mentioned AF assist or manual focusing wld b a plus point. Agree wif Vader on the LCD, its pretty weak.

[Drudkh]

its quite irritating though.

[synapseman]

Played with the X1 at COMEX. Somehow, I thought the buttons weren't very good. Too flat, and very close to each other. And the glossy finish made the demo model look very "mucky".