Mr. Handsome (Fuji X-H1 Part II)

Mr. Handsome (Fuji X-H1, radical center crop)

As usual when a new camera arrives, the first thing I did when the Fuji X-H1 got here was to wander around my quotidian environs snapping meaningless snaps, because, what else are ya gonna do? I also took some photos of my favorite captive but cooperative model, above.

And naturally the first thing I did was to gather some immediate initial impressions of the feature that I'm most interested in, the only thing my X-T1 lacks that I want: IBIS.

"IBIS" stands for in-body image stabilization, a technology that moves the sensor to compensate for camera movement, making slower shutter speeds possible.

It would take me weeks to really get a handle on the X-H1's stabilization behavior, but first thing off the bat I did a few quick trials. The inset frame in each of these pictures is the "magnifying glass" in Adobe Bridge (which doesn't render the image fully sharp, by the way) set to 100%, just as a quick check to see if there is any motion blur. These were made with the XF 23mm ƒ/1.4 lens, which Fuji rates at "5 stops." Manufacturer ratings for IS can normally be taken with large doses of salt. I'm happy if I can consistently get two stops, so I initially tried the IBIS at around 1/8th of a second. I can normally handhold a 35mm or equivalent lens at about 1/30th second.

1/6th sec.

Window screen makes a nice test subject because it's easy to see if there's any blur.

1/7th sec.

This is a JPEG...it was about the second shot I took with the camera. This one was taken with the 35mm (52mm-e) ƒ/2, come to think.

I had the IBIS set on "SHOOTING ONLY." That keeps the IS on only while you're making the shot. The other two modes are "CONTINUOUS," which keeps it on all the time (so you see it in the viewfinder) and allegedly drains the battery, and "OFF."

For these next trials I got slightly more serious, and shot a series of three with a second or two between them, to check if I wasn't just getting lucky:

1/4th sec.

1/3rd sec.

Nope. On both, all three shots showed no motion blur.

This is pretty great, I think. It's certainly reassuring. I like to work in low light, and being able to trust 1/8th with the 23mm would be luxurious. As it would be nice to use 1/2 sec. as a Hail Mary speed.

I tried a bunch more, of course. Wandered around the house shooting stuff at low shutter speeds then magnifying it on the viewing screen to see if there was any blur. I do get blur pretty regularly at a second and a half and more. But then, I'm not very good at holding the camera steady.

Note, though, I do kinda have to roll back my comments yesterday about the camera's size. With the fast 23mm attached it's what I'd call a full-sized camera. Not huge, but this is definitely no compact body.

So, first impressions: very positive and encouraging. Looks like the IBIS works well. More time, and especially real shooting, will reveal more.

I finished my evening with a few torture tests for DR (dynamic range, properly exposure range). This is one of my usual trials. It might look fairly naturally balanced here, but it actually has a heavy amount of HDR applied; I could pull more information out of that lower light, but letting it wash out a little makes it look brighter. This is what this shot looks like out of the camera:

Anyway, this is just geeky stuff, sliding the sliders and seeing how the raw files hold up, but I have to say I'm pleased and reassured in this regard as well. The DR might not be quite up there with a good full-frame camera, but it doesn't feel like it's too far off the pace. There's a lot of forgiveness in these files.

Other than that, I just wandered around making friends with the camera, snapping this and that and the other thing, getting familiar with the handling, making discoveries. For instance: to get directly to "Format" in the menu, hold the trash icon in for three seconds and then press the rear control dial in (it's also a button). There ya are. Wish I had me some more of these fancy UHS-II cards...I only have one. Their prices are not going down.

It was a horribly dull, gray day, of course, weather that is caused by me renting a camera. Does this look all gray? Well, I had to juice this shot up considerably just so it wouldn't make you weep. We did have some sunlight, for about nineteen seconds. I dashed into the house for the camera, but by the time I got back the sun had vanished. The weather will get beautiful again on the 21st, right after I send the camera back to Lensrentals.

Next up, I'm going to take a look at the various ISO speeds.

Really like what I'm seeing so far. I like the X-H1.

Mike
(Thanks to Lensrentals)

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Rob de Loe: "Your story made me smile, not because of the IBIS (which sounds great) but because you have a standard routine for testing out cameras. By coincidence, a new (old) Fuji X100F arrived today. I've been eying one of these for a while, and finally bit the bullet after unloading some gear I wasn't using. My routine is different in the details, but my little X100F had the pleasure of photographing the exact same objects and scenes many other cameras and lenses that have passed through my hands have shot. Like you it's going to take a few weeks to really understand this camera, but my basic routine tells me it will be worth the effort."

Comments

[Bill La Via]

Like I said before, the perfect camera for you; does everything you want and allows you to keep and continue to use your favorite lens.

[David Place (aka Santa)]

Went from a Nikon D750 to a Lumix GX85 ... needed IBIS due to a hand tremor which is now under medication ... looked at the Nikon Z6 until the specs showed it weighed in at 2.75x Lumix ... the Lumix goes everywhere with me and I won’t use anything without IBIS again ... anyhow, why are you posting late? we both need our sleep ...

[hugh crawford]

"It was a horribly dull, gray day, of course"

Oh man you are killing me. It's been cloudless skies for weeks here save for the odd contrail and the guy across the street setting 800 acres of something on fire a few days ago. The rest of the time it has been cloudless blown out highlight interrupted by deepest shadow hell. The only time it's photographable is at dusk and half the time the wind comes up and the trees start flapping around...

You have no idea what I'd do for a dull gray day before all the leaves fall of the trees and the frost kills the tomatoes sometime in January.

Man do I ever miss that Brooklyn light that bounces off the water into the clouds just like Venice...

[Bill Allen]

I thought “motion blur” was distinct from “camera shake.” The former is blur due to motion of he subject. The latter is blur due to movement of the camera. No amount of IBIS can compensate for motion blur, as my kids have proven time and again when I’m using my GX8.

[D. Hufford]

One of the things keeping me from a X-T3 is the lack of IBIS. Old school stuff is fun, but if I wanted to really do that, I'd pick up a Leica M10-D. Like the X-T3, it has no IBIS.*

I am not planning on a X-H1, at least not until the X-H2 comes out and the price starts dropping, then I might consider it.

But what I am dying to know is: Does the in-body IBIS have that often-mentioned but can-never-actually-seen-by-a-normal-human "magic?"

Does it glow, or does it make the colors more real, or more natural than non-Fuji camera's IBIS photos? Does it make the photos more beautiful, or more artistic? Does it add a deeper meaning to say a photo of a cow pie because it was taken with Fujifilm IBIS?

It may seem that I am being some sort of sarcastic idiot, but why should that be a surprise. I am just wondering, as an owner of two Fujifilm cameras that they left the magic off of, if they did right by this one.

[D. Hufford]

And PS: I actually like that through the window photo. Looks perfectly fine to me. I only wish I could look out my window and see such a scene.

[Peter Williams]

Didn't I say this was your logical choice before you went and bought that Panasonic?
It seems a very appealing camera, and it feels right in the hand.

[Doug Howk]

In the 2nd image in blur test I recognize Merg Ross' excellent book "Beyond Casual Vision". Merg frequently comments in LF Photo forum on his experiences with Brett Weston and other California photographers.

[Sharon]

Go shoot under all those trees, Mike. :-) Overcast skies are perfect for foliage.

Sharon

[Curt Gerston]

I love the XH1. That shutter is my favorite all time button sound. Sometimes I press it just to hear it. Takes great pictures to when I make the effort to point it at something.

[Huw Morgan]

Before you shell out big bucks for uhs-ii cards, check out the speed tests at alikgriffin.com. Even though uhs-ii has a big theoretical speed delta vs uhs-I, the actual in-camera performance is disappointing. The speed difference in an xt-1 is about 33%. Not worth the big bucks IMHO when the fastest 128gb uhs-i cards are so cheap.

[PDLanum]

Just be careful with IBIS. I have been using IBIS since 2007 with my Pentax cameras. Early on, I got into the habit of thinking that "IBIS" (actually SR) will take care of it. In reality I was moving the camera (bigly) as I was shooting, something that plagued me off and on back in the film days. I have quite a few "stabilized" images that if you go to 200% show motion blur.
The other thing about SR/IBIS, it does not help us old guys when we rock forward and backward taking the image out of focus. So it goes.

[Yes, I agree that it's still important to do your best to use good technique and not depend on the tech to save you. I also use the high-speed Continuous drive on my X-T1 to capture people pictures, but I still do my best to hit the shutter at the exact moment I want. --Mike]

[Richard Tugwell]

I've always been a bit wary about IBIS. This in part stems from my experience with the Pentax K7 which although delightful in most respects and with a great range of lenses, would unnacountably produce less than sharp images on occasion, including strange plane of focus anomalies (left side sharp, right side not-so-sharp). Sure, this is 10 year-old technology, but when I revamped my "portable" ILC system a few years ago I went for Fuji. The other suspicion I harboured, with no expertise or knowledge of the subject, was that a jiggly sensor thingy must surely be susceptible to manufacturing tolerances, and anyway, sounded to me to be just to clever to be true. I had two K7's so I don't think my experience was down to having a bad copy.

I feel much more comfortable with the high ISO capabilities these days - not really needing to shoot at such low shiutter speeds. Auto-ISO works well for me on my Fujis, where I'm nornally using min shutter speed 60, and max ISO 1600. (I shoot quite a lot of low light stuff)

[Richard Tugwell]

No spell check or sanity check on Typepad.. ;-)

[scott kirkpatrick]

Your first picture looks like it has some uncorrected distortion, or maybe overcorrected, since I would expect barrel not pincushion. How are you developing these? Jpegs should come out corrected, raw files are automatically corrected in Light Room, optionally corrected in Capture One, and often left untouched in other packages.

[scott kirkpatrick]

Forgot to say, Butters is looking handsome.

[John krumm]

That sounds like pretty good IBIS. I find with my K1 and Olympus EM1 it's reliable for a couple stops, and anything more is a gamble with my shake tendencies. For me that translates to 1/13 or faster, unless I brace on a tree or wall. The newer generation in the EM1 mark ll is supposed to be better. There are few cases where I want a longer shutter speed, I find.

The most valuable feature I've found on a camera for easy sharp shots is the combination of leaf shutter and T-AV shutter priority mode on the GRll. Zero vibration, and you can set a high enough shutter speed, and if the scene gets too bright the camera bumps up the shutter speed as needed (it's auto iso the rest of the time).

[Jay Burleson]

I bought in completely to the Fuji system just as the XH-1 was released. Mainly because of old eyes and auto focus (I had really been struggling of late with my Leica M's). The IBIS was icing on top of a fantastic cake. While on holiday to Scotland, not having to deal with all kinds of contortions in places that don't allow tripods or monopods made photographing the interior of many old Scottish churches & castles a true pleasure. As Mr Lanum states, it isn't a miracle panacea; one does need to be cognizant of gross camera movement. The XH-1 does what is says on the tin, and does it well.

[Dave Van de Mark]

My eyes, bloodshot from 18 innings of baseball and not enough sleep, gives your IBIS shots a thumbs up. I don't think I can match those low speeds holding my X-Pro 1 with 18-55mm OIS lens.

[Stanleyk]

I think you need to work on your dog photo technique. His nose is in focus... :-)

[Barry Prager]

I spy that you are still using your Audioengine A5+ speakers. I remember you writing about your purchase, and I was always curious about them. I recently bought a pair with the powered sub woofer for my computer work station. I run the music through an Asus Essence sound card, and they sound great. Thanks for planting the seed.

[Peter Baglole]

Get yourself a reasonably good quality dumb adapter and try a Takumar lens with Acros simulation..very nice results.

I have also been getting great macro results with a Nikon to Fuji adapter and the Nikkor AI 105/F4 lens.

These will give you something else to play around with on those rainy days.

[Peter Baglole]

It is raining cats and dogs here so I am creating coloring pages for my granddaughter. I am using Analog Efex Pro 2 to open a photograph of Bubbles (the Cairn Terrier) which I shot yesterday with my X-H1. I pick an effect that takes most shadow out and tweak the brightness and contrast. Once I get it looking pretty good, I print on 11 X 17 copy paper.

Kind of fun, maybe I will end up coloring some myself today.

[Stephen Scharf]

I find that I can pretty routinely count on sharp photographs at 1/10-1/15th of a second with the X-H1 on static subjects (again recounting that IBIS does nothing for moving subjects, e.g. someone running or a racing car). But, I'll be honest: I shoot on a tripod – a LOT. Even when using flash or strobes for product photography that result in a very fast "shutter speed". The world's best IBIS systems simply can't match a tripod for critical image sharpness.

Regarding UHS-I and UHS-II cards: the different "speed" specifications of SD cards DO matter, and matter significantly when shooting sports or other very fast moving action in continuous high-speed drive at 11, 14, 20 or 30 FPS (the latter two frame rates available only on the X-T3). They also notably impact the EVF blackout time; a UHS-I class card results in almost unusable EVF blackout times (particularly on an X-T1 tracking a rapidly moving subject at 8 FPS). Shorter EVF blackout times is critical for mirrorless cameras shooting sports because it directly impacts the on-sensor phase detection pixels ability to maintain AF lock and tracking.

The rate that an X-T2, X-H1 and the X-T3 in Boost mode can dump image file data to a UHS-II card is at least order of magnitude or so higher than an X-T1 can. They're not even close. One also runs the very real risk using a UHS-I card of the camera locking up and freezing when shooting at 11 FPS for several seconds, as the card simply cannot write data as fast as the camera is throwing it to the card. The X-T1 is still a fine camera, but it cannot turn into a peforrmance beast like an X-T2, X-H3 or X-T3 can in Boost mode. You have to experience this for yourself to grasp the difference in performance. Its like going from a Canon 6D to a Canon 1Dx MkII.

I would stay away from Lexar SD cards; the last few years they have had significant problems with corruption, failing or just outright breaking. So much so that Micron Technologies sold off their NAND flash memory business to Longsys, who is now distributing these products under the name ProGrade. I've had three lexar SD cards fail on me in the last 18 months and two since the start of this year. Never again. I've had zero failures using Sandisk 300 mb/sec UHS-II cards, even when punishing them when using them for motorsports photography shooting at 11-30 FPS.

[Stephen Scharf]

In my previous post, that darned autocorrect typed X-H3 instead of X-H1. Interesing how something like autocorrect, which was designed to increase spelling accuracy is as inaccurate as it is ;-)

@Rob de Loe: Congrats on your getting your X100F. Take it everywhere with you and use it. Its truly a fantastic camera and the image quality from it reminds me of...the GFX50S. And, don't be limited to thinking it is only for shooting 1 frame at a time either, I shot a skateboarder catching big air using AF-C at 8 FPS with mine at the recent Fujifilm Festival in Venice Beach, CA. I take mine virtually everywhere; every time I go out the door, the "F" goes along.

[Franklin Berryman]

Maybe the IBIS in the XH1 works. The OIS in Fuji lenses clearly doesn't.

[Jason Melancon]

I've shot some 1000s of photos with my H1 and didn't know about the secret squirrel button-1 button-2 feature to bring up image ratio. Maybe I should learn to read the IB. Nah, whom I'm kidding. I'll just keep reading Online.

(old topic: I'm still telling photo friends I run into about your apologizing for not showing a video of the cardboard reveal - everyone gets it and laughs out loud.)