For those who have read some of my other reviews, you will remember that every EXR CMIOS sensor (CMOS started with the F550EXR) has had a serious issue with recording heat. You get purple instead of yellow or red.
So I thought it might be an idea to test the XQ1 and see how it fares with heat. The element on my stove served the purpose today, as it did when I tested the F800EXR, which really purpled things up :-)
My first image caused me a huge amount of concern, as it looks like this at 0EV, this being the OOC JPEG:
After knocking the RAF’s exposure way down, I arrived at a decent rendering …
So I videoed the element going on and off for a while and it came out red, which you will see in a moment. I took a still while the video was recording and here is what the camera does at 0EV in video:
That is red enough in my opinion.
So what is going on? I speculate a bit in the video, but the bottom line is that I don’t know. Here is what I do know:
- The camera is very responsive to the +2 and –2 stop range for compensation in normal light. But it is unresponsive when shooting the heat source. It looks the same throughout the range.
- The camera can capture the heat source correctly, indicating that there is either a difference in how the video is read from the sensor, or that the natural exposure is very low. I know the latter to be untrue in good light, but I have not yet tested the low light chops, a traditional Fuji weakness. Soon.
So I am stuck for an explanation. Purple Heat Syndrome seems to be no issue for the X=Trans sensor. But there are peculiarities that make no sense when comparing PASM images with video stills.
Anyway, the video showing all of this with commentary …
