$130 price drop for the XQ1 and new firmware coming March 12th!

The Fuji XQ1 will be the next camera to get the firmware update. From Fuji’s global site:

Added “Suppressed Flash” option when selecting flash mode. Once the firmware is updated, a “Suppressed Flash mode (where the flash does not fire even when the subject is poorly lit)” can be selected from the flash menu. In particular this is useful if you use the XQ1 with the waterproof housing WP-XQ1 when diving as it makes it possible to select “Auto” or “Suppressed Flash” mode freely.

Launched at a price tag of $499, it’s currently available for just $369 at at AmazonUS, BHphoto and Adorama ($130 rebate). Seems that warehouses are pretty full of unsold XQ1′s.

Ibelux 40/0.85: world’s fastest lens for X-mount now available for pre-order at AmazonDE

Dealsrunner just found the Ibelux 40mm f/0.85 available for pre-order at AmazonDE here (via DR).

This is the fastest lens you can get for your X-mount camera and costs €1799.

“The future lies in mirrorless technology” + 2013 bad year for photography industry

X-T1 in stock check: Amazon, Adorama, DigitalRev, J&R, Canon USA, B&H, eBay

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FR-reader vortsg sent me the following article of Michael Reichmann over at luminous landscape here. Since I like unpopular statements, I’ll start by quoting the following one:

“It’s clear to everyone in the industry that the future lies in mirrorless technology.”

And here is what Michael Reichmann from luminous landscape says, among the others, about Fujifilm:

“Fuji seems to have been “thinking-out-loud” for the past few years, experimenting with novel designs and trying new technologies. Some are misses, and some are hits, but they certainly appear to have the cojones to try something new.

[...] Fuji, always a great lens maker, are also bringing out new X mount lenses at a fairly rapid clip, and offering the high-end market some interesting primes as well as bread-and-butter zooms. When combined with their innovative cameras this makes for a compelling sell, at least compared with some others.

One area where Fuji shows that they “get it” better than possibly any other camera maker in Asia, is with regard to firmware updates. Not only do they release regular updates for current models, to fix bugs and add features, but they even do it for older discontinued models. Some camera makers don’t even bother with bug fixes, and if they do, it is often months after these are well known before they become available. Nicely done Fujifilm!”

But Michael has comments to make on many other brands out there. The Nikon DF is called “Frankenstein“, the Hasselblad “a joke“, he talks about Sony’s “lens mount fiasco“… and what about Olympus, Panasonic, Sigma, Canon, Pentax and more? Read it here at luminous landscape.

And as always, feel free to make your own considerations in the comments. Is mirrorless really the future?

I don’t know what the future is, but the present isn’t looking good at all. Here are the figures of the CIPA (the Camera & Imaging Products Association) summarized in a nice infographic by lensvid here. Smartphones, the global crisis and the fact that Americans and Europeans still don’t like mirrorless cameras make of 2013 “the worst year for the photography industry in a long long time (maybe even decades).” (via Canonwatch)

image courtey: lensvid

Light Leak Problem: Fuji GER says “just a few X-T1 affected and repaired within 10 days”

Light Leak

A German FR-reader asked Fuji Germany for a solution with regard to the light leak issue on his X-T1 (I’ve reported about this problem here). They said that the problem affects just a few cameras (“es sind einige wenige Kameras betroffen“) and they will take the camera via UPS, fix it within 10 days and sent it back to him.

[UPDATE: The German FR-reader just told me that his local reseller replaced his X-T1 (so no need to go through the repair service), but the new camera suffers from light leak too... I don't know how reliable Fuji is when they say "just a few cameras" are affected by the light leak]

Also my buddy Andrea of sonyalpharumors writes about the light leak… but on the Sony A7 (read here)… it occurs when you use flash and the light filters into the camera even when all the doors and covers are closed. But the A7 light leak is a non issue, accoring to imaging-resource. They say that the Canon 5D Mark III leakes even more (as other Nikon and Canon cameras).

And what’s your experience with the Fuji service?

P.S: TJ Donegan via fujirumor [at] gmail.com : “Just wanted to let you know that we put up a nice article explaining the X-T1′s light leak issue, where it comes from, how it compares to other cameras, and how to fix it. The secret is pretty simple, as you’d expect: Gaffer’s tape. Anyway the link is here, feel free to grab the hero image or any of the shots from the post, we just ask that you credit Reviewed.com.

First Impressions

X-shooter Sabino did the upgrade from the X-E1 to the X-T1… and he seems to enjoy it. You can read his first impressions in English here, or here in Italian: “Well, let’s start with the only thing that i would like to change on this new Fuji camera: the 4 selection buttons on the front side are definitely to small… but I will get used to… Apart from this, the X-T1 it’s one step more in the photographer’s paradise!!”

In Stock Check

the kit is in stock at Amazon and the body at Adorama

X-T1 body only ($1,299): USA: AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama / Pictureline / EU: wexDE / wexUK / PCHstore /
X-T1 with 18-55 ($1,699): USA: AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama / Pictureline / EU: wexDE / wexUK / PCHstore /

Firmware update (ver. 1.03) for Zeiss Touit lenses available

The new firmware for the Zeiss 12mm and 32mm is available here. It adds compatibility with Phase Detection AF.

On the FR-facebook wall Mike shared his first impression of the new firmware: “I have both lenses. For 2.8/12，AF speed is already moderately fast before update. It is a bit faster after update, but not remarkably faster. For 1.8/32，AF speed is a bit slow before update. It is now noticeably faster!”

At BHphoto, AmazonUS and Adorama the Zeiss lenses are still available at the discounted price of $720 for the 32/1.8 and $999 for the 12/2.8

The permanent price drop could indicate that the Touit lenses for Fuji X-mount are not selling well. I’ve heard that Zeiss will focus to produce lenses for FF CSC and DSLRs in the next time… so we shouldn’t be holding our breaths on any new Touit lenses in the near future (except for the 50mm 1:1 macro coming this spring).

and thanks for telling me via FR-facebook of the new firmware, Stefan and Mike.

Zeiss Touit 12mm Amazon, Adorama, DigitalRev, J&R, Canon USA, B&H, eBay
Zeiss Touit 32mm Amazon, Adorama, DigitalRev, J&R, Canon USA, B&H, eBay

have a great day,
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