Why is the Fujifilm X30 limited to 1/1000s at wide apertures in aperture priority mode?
Asked 3/1/2015
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The Fujifilm X30 specs say shutter speed is up to 1/4000s, but with a note: 1/4000s at small apertures and 1/1000s at full aperture. In aperture priority mode, if I set a wide aperture such as f/2, the camera tops out at 1/1000s and the shutter speed display turns red, which can lead to overexposure in bright light. However, in manual mode, the camera still lets me select speeds faster than 1/1000s at f/2, up to 1/4000s. If the camera can shoot at f/2 and 1/4000s in manual mode, why does aperture priority refuse to do it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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This is actually a characteristic of the leaf shutter used in Fuji's X10/X20/X30 and X100 cameras. The leaf shutter can only travel so quickly. The wider the aperture is open, the slower the shutter speed has to be to accommodate the operation speed of the leaf shutter. It's a mechanical limit.
In M and shutter priority modes, Fuji is allowing the faster shutter speeds with only a partially opened aperture anyway, but at the detriment to background blur (the bokeh becomes choppier) and accuracy of exposure. Dpreview's detailed review on the X100 shows this effect very clearly. Because most people use aperture priority to control DoF and probably to gain a smoother background blur, chances are good Fuji decided to limit the shutter speed farther to mitigate the effect on the bokeh, while still granting access to the faster shutter speeds in Manual (where any camera lets you shoot yourself in the foot all you want) and shutter priority, where it's safe to assume that the shooter prizes a faster shutter speed more than the quality of the bokeh, but they warn you about the exposure issue.
Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27440
11y ago
0
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This is due to the X30’s leaf shutter design. A leaf shutter has mechanical timing limits, and at wide apertures it cannot fully operate at the fastest shutter speeds in the same way it can at smaller apertures.
On the X30, 1/4000s is only fully available at smaller apertures. At wide apertures like f/2, about 1/1000s is the practical limit for normal operation. In manual or shutter-priority modes, Fuji still allows faster settings, but this is done with compromises: the aperture may not be fully open for the whole exposure, which can affect exposure accuracy and make out-of-focus rendering less smooth.
In aperture priority, Fuji likely caps the speed at 1/1000s at full aperture to preserve the aperture you selected and avoid those side effects. Since people often use aperture priority specifically to control depth of field and bokeh, the camera is being conservative rather than silently altering the rendering.
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