Fuji Rumors

Samyang 10mm f/2.8 announced!

Finally, it’s here. Samyang officially announced the 10mm f/2.8! Some specs: Weight: 580 g (1.28 lb) – diameter: 86 mm (3.39″) – length: 77 mm (3.03″) – no AF – aperture ring – DOF scale.

It will be available from the end of January 2014. Suggested retail price of £429.99

The company also said here that all their existing lenses will be available for X-mount in future. Up to now, here is Samyang’s offering for X-shooters:

Samyang 10mm f/2.8 (pre-order check): Amazon, Adorama, DigitalRev, J&R, Canon USA, B&H, eBay
Samyang 8mm: Amazon, Adorama, DigitalRev, J&R, Canon USA, B&H, eBay
Samyang 300mm mirror lens: Amazon, Adorama, DigitalRev, J&R, Canon USA, B&H, eBay
Samyang 16mm f/2.0: Amazon, Adorama, DigitalRev, J&R, Canon USA, B&H, eBay
Samyang 24mm f/3.5 Tilt Shift: Amazon, Adorama, DigitalRev, J&R, Canon USA, B&H, eBay

Press release

December 6th 2013 – New 10mm f/2.8 wide-angle lens for APS-C.

The new Samyang 10mm 1:2.8 ED AS NCS CS is an ideal tool for indoor, architecture and landscape photography. It provides an exceptionally wide field of view of up to 109.5 degrees and rectilinear image mapping function. Owing to a fast f/2.8 lens speed you can also use the lens in low light conditions as well as sports photography and photojournalism purposes. The product’s optics comprises 14 elements divided into 10 groups, this includes 2 aspherical AS lenses and one lens made of extra-low dispersion glass.  During development works on the prototype version the lens was fitted with an embedded lens hood which ensures a more compact size and reduces its weight by approximately 160 grams*.
* – applicable to a version with Canon E mount

NCS (Nano Coating System)

The Samyang 10mm 1:2.8 ED AS NCS CS is the first Samyang Optics lens to feature a nano crystal anti-reflection coating system. This technology provides a lower reflection factor than (U)MC system as the coating is now applied more evenly on the surface of the lens. Benefits brought by the nano crystal layer include better light transmission, increased resistance to reflections and higher contrast, and all of this translates into supreme optical resolution of the lens.

The lens will be available from the end of January 2014.
The suggested retail price for the Nikon version is £469.99 inc VAT
All other fittings carry a suggested retail price of £429.99 inc VAT

via dpreview

[UPDATE] X-PRO1 firmware 3.10 postponed to the 19th of December!

[UPDATE] Fuji’s global site updated its page and says that the update is postponed to the 19th December 2013 (Thu.). See here.

I’ve received emails from French FR-readers saying that the X-PRO1 3.10 firmware, originally scheduled for tomorrow, is postponed to December 19.

Romain for example told me that: “In France, when you buy a X-Pro1 or X-E1/2, you get in the box a black letter which invites you to register to the French Fuji Pro club. It gives a lot of advantages : 1 year extra warranty (on top of the 2 legal ones), “priority after sales support” for repairs and regular email updates like this one.” This is why French readers know about the firmware delay. At the top you can see a screenshot of the email sent from Fujiflm to French X-shooters.

At Fuji’s global site there is no news about it. But some readers linked me to the UK site, where the Pro1 firmware update is announced for the 19th.

Maybe you will remember that last time some customers, after upgrading their X-PRO1 with firmware 3.00 (the focus peaking firmware), discovered that the video mode was faulty (while some others discovered that the X-Pro1 HAS a video mode )… seems that Fujifilm wants to be 100% sure that there won’t be bugs this time.

We will see in a couple of hours who is right. Fuji France and UK or the global site.

[UPDATE] Fuji’s global site updated its page and says that the update is postponed to the 19th December 2013 (Thu.). See here.

stay tuned
  (google+, facebook and twitter)

All Black X100S at the CES (January)?

the black X100 costs $1,199 at AmazonUS now… the X100S can be found for $1,168 at ebayUS at top rated plus reseller bigvalueinc (7 available)

The title of this post already reveals everything what the Japanese source wrote me:

At the CES in January, together with the weather sealed X, Fuji could also announce the black X100S.

That’s all for now, but I should have a late night chat with the Japanese source in the next days. I hope to get some fresh rumors from the land of the rising sun soon… and keep up sharing rumors with Fujirumors!

have a great day,
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X-E2 vs A7r (JPEG comparison), X-E2 vs X-E1 (write speed performance) + subliminal message :)!

subliminal message: the X-E2 is “seX-y too” (shared by Jan at the FR-facebook wall: “Hello folks, a X-E2 mirrored is just pure S3X!!!!”)

USA: AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama / DigitalRev / Pictureline / EUROPE: wexphotographicUK / DigitalRev / Fotomundus24 GER / PCHstore / AmazonDE (via DR)

1) FF vs APS-C, an unfair comparison… or Sony A7r and Fuji X-E2 JPEG comparison at soundimageplus here: “I’ve been writing in the last few posts about how good the OOC jpgs. are from the A7r and how they are better than the Fuji X-E2. Fuji is known for the quality of its jpgs. but they are no longer the best I’ve used. I’ve been writing (as well as Imaging Resource) that the Sony A7r files have the best jpg. rendition currently available. [...] As you can see there is a significant difference and the reason that I’m so enthusiastic about what the A7r produces is that these files aren’t what I expect out of camera jpgs. to look like. Imaging Resource made the point in the above link, that Sony A7r jpgs. look much more like raw files very carefully sharpened with a small radius point.”

In another post soundimageplus says that, although the A7r is better, he still loves the X-system here: “the cameras look great and are incredibly good to handle.  [...] The X-E1 in the picture above is a wonderfully light little high quality combination for unobstrusive shooting and of course there is a fine lens system that the Sony A7r can’t as yet match. [...] Finally, I like the Fuji X system because it’s different. That doesn’t mean that it’s better (or worse for that matter) but it does offer something different. Plus it still has it’s ‘jewel in the crown’ that super special high ISO quality.”

2) Jordan Steele did a test in write performance between the X-E1 and X-E2 on Admiring Light here: “So, it seems Fuji was a bit conservative when they said the X-E2 had write times 1.8 times faster than the X-E1.  In practice, when the card isn’t a limiting factor, it’s closer to three times faster.”

3) Shooting football with the X-E2 and the 55-200mm lens at mikecroshaw here: “Overall I was very impressed and enjoyed the experience.  If someone was paying me to get the shots I’d dig out the D800 of course, but the fuji was more than capable for the purpose I needed it for in this case and I’ll probably take it again just to get more practice with the camera.”

4) Fujifilm X-E2 Initial findings and settings for portraiture at prophotonut here: “’I’ve had the Fujifilm X-E2 for just a couple of weeks but I’ve already studied the camera and the manual in detail to work out how I’m going to shoot with it. Here are three main ways I have established for shooting portraits with the Fujifilm X-E2 camera.”

XF 23mm available at AmazonUS & Adorama + photoreview’s 23mm, X-E2 and 27mm test

Amazon, Adorama, DigitalRev, J&R, Canon USA, B&H, eBay

The XF23mm is in stock at Adorama & AmazonUS (one left, but more on the way).

Reviews

- photoreview’s test of the XF 23mm can be read here: “Our Imatest tests showed the review lens to be capable of very high resolution, which exceeded expectations for 16-megapixel sensor on the X-E2 camera we tested it on. Both centre of field and near-edge resolution were well above the 8-megapixel equivalent measurement we would normally expect, which seldom happens with JPEG files. If this lens has a slight weakness it’s slight edge softening at wider apertures. However, centre sharpness is excellent right up to f/8 where diffraction begins to take effect. Peak performance was between f/4.5 and f/6.3.”

- photoreview tested also the X-E2 here: “The X-E2 will appeal to anyone who liked the appearance and functionality of the X-E1. Essentially, Fujifilm has taken a very good Compact System Camera (CSC) and improved it in response to requests from owners of its predecessor. Buyers of this camera will be primarily raw shooters who want sophisticated controls in a compact camera body that doesn’t compromise on performance and build quality. Its user interface will appeal to traditionalists and serious photographers.  Documentary photographers and photojournalists will appreciate a camera that is responsive and easy to configure.”

- The photoreview trinity is complete with the XF 27mm review here: “One of the drawbacks of pancake lenses is that they tend to be slower than conventional designs. However, with a maximum aperture of f/2.8, this lens is fast enough to suit most photographers and its the compact size and light weight make it ideal for situations like travelling and hiking. It is also relatively inconspicuous, which is excellent for street photography. This lens is better suited to still photography than video because its DC coreless AF motor isn’t totally silent. However AF speed was fast on the X-E2 camera the lens was tested on.”

X-E2 : USA: AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama / DigitalRev / Pictureline / EUROPE: wexphotographicUK / DigitalRev / Fotomundus24 GER / PCHstore / AmazonDE (via DR)