Friday, December 28, 2018

A Little Convenience Feature I Had No Idea Was Available On My Fujifilm X-T2 And X-T3

Dodge pickup truck and lobster pots, Bernard, Maine (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 40mm; 1/950th sec. @ f/8; ISO 400
My career required me to be fastidious, thorough and exacting in everything I did.  Of course, when you have to act that way at work, those behaviors also carry over to one's home life.  One of the results of thoroughness is my habit to read my camera's user's manuals from front to back when first buying a new camera.  

 My thinking is that by reading the manuals closely, I can fully understand all of the features and capabilities of my cameras thus letting me fully exploit them.  Why pay a lot of money for a sophisticated "computer with a lens attached" (i.e.—digital camera) and not know how to use it or only use a few of its many attributes because you haven't fully familiarized yourself with it?  You might as well buy a point-and-shoot camera and let it make all the decisions for you.

 However.....

 I continue to find out that no matter how thoroughly I think I have read the extensive manuals (normally several hundred pages), I always seem to come across something I missed.  When I serendipitously discover a hidden gem, it is like a present.  Last week I was using my Fujifilm X-T3 and accidentally discovered a convenience feature of which I had not known.  Also, when I checked my X-T2, I found out this feature is there as well.  I suspect it is in all Fujifilm X cameras, but I don't know for sure.

 What is it?

 In the past, when I bring up the Menu by pressing the Menu button, I have used the "Joystick" to either a) move the highlighted area left to the various sub-menus or b) to scroll down through each menu item until find the one I want.  What I didn't know is that once you bring up the Menu, you can use the front rotating Command Dial and the menu will scroll a full page at a time instead of one item at a time.  I didn't know that!  I don't know how I missed it but I did.  This is a thoughtful feature.  This is especially helpful when in the "wrench" or "spanner" menu which has many pages and tens of items.  One can quickly move from page to page with little effort.

 This is such a small thing but very convenient.  So, I thought I would pass on my small discovery to each of you Fujifilm users in case you were unaware.  If you already knew of this, that is great.  If you know of other small, convenient features from which others might benefit, please pass them on by leaving a comment.

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 Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

 Dennis A. Mook 

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4 comments:

  1. Curtis TakanoDecember 31, 2018 at 1:54 PM

    Thanks, your article motivated me to check my Olympus and Panasonic bodies. They have similar dial shortcuts. Now I have to practice to proficiency.

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    Replies
    1. The Wandering LensmanDecember 31, 2018 at 2:38 PM

      Thanks for the comment Curtis. Keep practicing. I’ve been “practicing” my photography for more than 48 years and I STILL make mistakes! Lol. However, it’s all good. Happy New Year to you.

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  2. Stan CarterMarch 10, 2019 at 8:55 PM

    Thank you, thank you, thank you.....having to scroll through the menus one line at a time has always frustrated me and knew there had to be a better way.
    Little features like this become huge when the pressure’s on and you need to change a setting in a hurry but can’t remember where it is in the menu.
    For me this little feature will be a big feature!

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