Fuji X100T Leaf Shutter Camera

Here is a quick rundown on my thoughts on the Fuji X100T camera. I just dug up the photos I had shot a few years back and re-edited the raw files from a swimsuit photo shoot.

I used three different cameras on this shoot and my use of the Fuji X100T was to use the leaf shutter in the bright sunlight we shot in with flash.

Having a leaf shutter camera can give you the advantage of shooting at a much higher shutter speed then most camera can shoot at. So when using flash you can use lower power setting and the high shutter speed can knock down the sun or bright background behind your subject.

I got the Fuji X100T in a few days before the shoot and spent some time learning how it works before going to the photo session.

Overall the camera did well as with the leaf shutter I was able to shoot at over 1000th of a second and for some, I was at 4000th of a second and had no problem with flash power or recycle times. It is quite amazing what you can do with a leaf shutter that you just can not do with any other camera.

I used a Ranger Quadra flash system and the trigger worked 100% on the Fuji X100T. The camera’s viewfinder is a bit on the small side but very usable. The raw files are ok not the best in class but they are good.

In the end, I sent the camera back shortly after this photo session. The main reason was the focus or lack of it for strongly backlit subjects. As part of the session, we shot at sunset with girls in the water with backs to the sun so we used fill flash on the front to fill in.

The X100T had a lot of problems with this. With the strong backlight the camera was having a very hard time focusing. I did get some usable photos but more miss focus or all out of focus images than anything. I had to switch cameras. I also shot with a Sony A6000 and a Samsung NX1 and both did a better job. I normally shoot most all Nikon but I had all three of the other cameras and this was a great chance to test them all out. Overall my Nikon would have done a better job than all the other cameras I used that day is for sure except for the advantages the Fuji has with the leaf shutter.

The reason I dug up the images and made this post is I am about to buy the next version of the X100T that is the newer X100F. The X100F features a much better 24MP chip and they same the focus has been improved. I am going to get one and test it out to see if I can now keep this one and use it on the beach for family beach portraits at sunset or any time of the day. The leaf shutter is such an advantage when shooting in bright light I am hoping this new version will work out for me. I will post sample photos from it and a review after I have shot will it for a week or two and have shoot both normal no flash photos and strongly backlit photos with flash. If it does have backlight problems I will try and work out at what angles I can make it work at and see that will work for me.

I re-edited the Raw photo files in ACDSee 2019 version.