I just published my first look at the Fuji GFX 100S. Today I present a recommendation that would be a huge win for ergonomics and the Fuji community. This would fix a logical error in how these cameras deal with saving and restoring settings. All it would take is a firmware update to open up a new world of flexibility and the possibility to directly share development recipes.
Film Simulations and Recipes
Perhaps the most compelling Fujifilm feature across their entire range is the emphasis on film simulations. This allows photographers to save on development time by embedding a look in a JPG file. Fuji calls these these film simulations but a desire for a retro vibe is not really necessary. You can simply think of this feature as allowing deep customisation of in-camera development.
While other brands have similar functions, only Fuji have taken it to this extreme. There are no fewer than base 13 film simulation types, plus 15 or so further adjustments. These range from dynamic range to grain size to colour balance. (The actual number depends on how you count them.)
I have long been in the habit of developing files on the computer. But considering how large RAW files are from a 100 megapixel sensor, I am excited to experiment with recipes. Websites like Fuji Weekly provide many that you can dial in on your camera.
The workflow consists of setting various parameters on the IQ submenu and saving this to a Custom Modes on the dial. But here I immediately experienced cognitive dissonance. And after only a day spent experimenting, I now understand why. As I will explain, the system is broken. Makes me wonder why no-one has noticed after so many years.
Custom Modes
All serious cameras provide a way to save a configuration set, so that you can easily switch between different camera states for different tasks. On the GFX 100S (and I presume all the other models in this line) you save settings in to slots C1 to C6 using an option on the IQ submenu. Immediately the placement of this function is misleading, since it is not only the image quality settings that are being saved but every camera function no matter where they are found on the menu. As I mentioned in my last post, the spanner is the logical place for this functionality, not the IQ menu.
You can name a preset for convenience... but here's the odd thing. It's almost impossible to see the names you've assigned! When choosing a Custom setting from the mode dial an icon appears on screen to indicate the base simulation... but that is all. Yes, I might remember that C3 is my "tethered tripod" setting but I shouldn't need to commit this to memory. That's bad interface design.
There is one way to see the preset name. Once you have selected a C mode from the dial, press Q. Once the Quick Menu is displayed, long press Q and the list of presets will be revealed. But this is only slightly faster than navigating to the menu option... indeed it's slower if the menu was last on the correct page!
A further inconvenience is that you can't select presets from the Q Menu. This is odd because other Fuji cameras (X line) allow this. No doubt the reason for this difference is that those cameras do not have C settings on a mode dial. So there is no conflict between different selection methods. And this now gets to the heart of the issue.
Custom Mode versus Film Recipe
Let me finally get to the point. Fuji have confused two separate things: camera operation modes and development recipes. Camera modes include all the many settings including bracketing, drive mode, focusing, flash settings, etc. And these do indeed belong on the Mode dial. A Recipe governs how a RAW file will be developed into a JPG in-camera. This has nothing to do with camera operations.
But this confusion is now an opportunity. So here are my recommendations:
- Change the settings option at the bottom of the IQ menu to save and name recipes.
- Provide a means to import and export recipes to the SD card. Now we can share our inventions!
- Add an option on the spanner menu to save and name presets.
- Add a configuration option that specifies whether a default recipe will or won't be stored with each preset. (Perhaps not necessary but nice to have, as it supports different workflows.)
- When changing the mode dial, momentarily display the name of the preset on the rear screen.
- Add a function for recipe selection that we can access from the customisable physical controls, My Menu, and the Quick Menu. This would list the available recipes with an option to go to the IQ menu for further editing.
- Replace Film Simulation Bracketing with Recipe Bracketing.
All of this could be supported in the cameras we have now. It only needs a firmware change.
Fuji, are you reading?
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