Poll: Vote the future lens you want from Fuji!

A couple of weeks ago I asked the Fujirumors reader to send me their wishlist for future X mount lenses. We know the official Fuji X roadmap (see image on top) But what exactly should come after it?

I summed up your suggestions and tried to group them in a way that it makes sense. Please note that your dream lens may not be on the list, but you can always vote what’s similar to it. The poll may will give us and Fuji the idea what kind of lens is needed:

Should the lens be faster (and therefore bigger) than the current F2?

View Results

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X-PRO2 with Dual Processor chip coming within a few months?

Image on top: The dual processor chip used by Canon cameras

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Please check the updated post here! The X-PRO2 won’t come before LATE 2013 EARLY 2014

I’ve received an email from a new source who shared with me an interesting rumor. According to the source the X-PRO1 will be replaced in a few months. The camera will have a newer viewfinder and a Dual Processor chip. I have been told the new Dual Processor eradicates jerkiness and lag in the EVF. And it of course makes the image processing even faster.

Reminder: A Nippon magazine rumored the X-PRO2 for June, the X-E2 for September and an X-M1 for this month (read here). But the source we have could not confirm this release period now. Hope I can tell you more soon. So stay tuned!

As you can see, there is a rumor-box now on FR. You can use it to share anonymously rumors. Please mark your message with an invented name or mark so that I can recognize you in future. That will help me to recognize trusted sources :)

have a great day
Patrick

miXed zone: a little bit of everything

– “Following the recent public release of Adobe Camera Raw 7.4, we’ve updated our studio comparison database with new raw conversions of files from the Fujifilm X-Pro 1, X-E1 and X100S. We’ve been using the release candidate version of ACR 7.4 for some time, which contained significant improvements to Adobe’s treatment of files from Fujifilm’s X-TRANS sensors. The official public release version of ACR 7.4 brings some further (very minor) tweaks.” Check it out at dpreview here.

– I already told you months ago about the Kage Collective: “The KAGE COLLECTIVE is an international group of independent photographers focused on visual storytelling, essays and documentary projects… Our body of work is exclusively captured using Fujifilm X-Series cameras. We have chosen this system as a common baseline for its impressive image qualities, its soul and its stealth.” Just look at the results here!

– The question is, “Fuji – just another camera company?” Interesting article of Dave Kai-Piper. Check it out here!

image courtesy: Dave Kai-Piper

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X100S

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– Brian sent me his review called “The Fuji X100s – The New York test. (If it can make it here, yadda yadda yadda).” via twitter. There is an “unscientific” comparison between the following cameras: The X-E1 (“I had a love/hate relationship with the X-E1 […] But hated the electronic viewfinder.” The AF was sluggish, so he borrowed the OM-D EM5 (“I had the opposite experience with the Olympus. The autofocus was so freaking fast, it practically locked in before I even thought about taking a picture. But I didn’t like the ergonomics of the camera“). His next camera was the Sony Whatever It’s Called (“I picked it up at B&H Photo. I hated it. I put it back down and walked away“). He then took the X100 and finally the X100S (“I’m still not sure the AF is quite as fast as the Olympus, but we’re talking milliseconds difference. This camera (the X100s) just makes you want to go out and make pictures. I’m antsy to go out again tomorrow. It’s a joy to use.). Read the whole post, and see his shots, here at walkamileinmyunderpants.

image courtesy: walkamileinmyunderpants

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–  “Retro Design Meets Modern Technology“. In case you are interested in ratings, the X100S gains 4.5 out of 5 stars at the digitalcamerareview. Class leading image quality, fast autofocus, leaf shutter lets you sync flashes at a super high speed are just a few of the reasons for this high rating. But there are some quirks. So, the flash has some seriously weak game, lens cap is easy to come off and focusing in low light can be frustrating. But check it out by yourself here.

– FR-reader Mike posted Valis’ review in the comments. I checked it, and appreciated it. Read it here. “Overall, I do like this small camera A LOT ! According to all those reasons above and also to the good images it will motivate to take. I said “motivate”, not “help”. I’d love that those of you reading such reviews understand that NO camera, no matter how good it is and appreciated by other photographers would help you taking great images. The photographers themselves are responsible for this matter. And that means studying, experimenting and most important the LOVE for this beautiful form of art called PHOTOGRAPHY!

X20

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– X20 video review at digitalcameraworld (click here).

– mingthein has to make a choice: buy the [shoplink 8820]Nikon Coolpix A[/shoplink] or the Fuji X20 to replace the [shoplink 10254]RX100[/shoplink] ? “Quick first thoughts – Nikon Coolpix A and Fuji Finepix X20“. Read here.

“[…] The X20 has the weakest image quality by some margin and is neearly as large as an OM-D, but it’s also the most fun to use, has a built in optical finder, mechanical zoom, a mechanical exposure compensation dial, and the fastest and most accurate focusing. The Coolpix A leads the pack on image quality and UI, but lags on focus speed and VR/IS. I think the dissonance comes from what I think I want (small, fast prime, high IQ, fast AF, optical finder) vs. what I actually tend to use (small, flexible lens range, taking my time to frame and shoot precisely using the LCD, high IQ). Honestly, perhaps the trouble is I like them both – but for different reasons. My heart says ‘buy both’, my wallet says ‘pick one’. Choices, choices…MT”

X-E1

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– “Now that Adobe have (for the most part) sorted out their issues with the Raw conversion of images using Fuji’s X-Trans sensors, I decided to bite the bullet and step back into the fuji ring. Since selling my X-Pro1, I’ve missed the wonderful colours that Fuji cameras produce.” Read more and see Dublin in Fuicolour here.

– And here is the X-E1 camerastuff-review. “The Fujifilm X-E1 is a beautiful, solid and easy to use camera with high image quality. In terms of resolution, dynamic range and signal to noise ratio, this camera equals a professional SLR camera with a full frame sensor. It is an ideal camera for travel photography or street photography. Your presence will be much less obtrusive than with a professional SLR camera. But the image quality will be of the same high level. The image quality of the jpg files is so good, that for almost every photographer there’s no real need to shoot in RAW. The Fujifilm X-E1 is a camera that gives you the fun in photography and lets you forget all the technology that comes with it.” They tested also the [shoplink 10276]Fujinon XF60mm[/shoplink] here and the zoom lens review [shoplink 10279]XF 18-55mm[/shoplink] can be read here.

X-PRO1

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-Testing a [shoplink 10291]nikon adapter[/shoplink] with the X-PRO1 at laroquephoto (click here).

– After two weeks with the X-PRO1, fadedandblurred says: “Look, I could go on and on about how incredible this camera is on paper, and while things like pixel density, dynamic range and the ISO vs noise graph are important to digital photography, they aren’t very important to photography, which is what this was all about for me in the first place; to find a tool that would help me to reconnect to the process of seeing and making pictures. The X-Pro1 is definitely not the camera for everyone. It doesn’t look, feel or behave like the DSLR you are probably used to, but, for me, that’s exactly what I was looking for.” Read the whole review here.

DigitalRev X-deals: X-E1/X-PRO1 price drops

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Interesting prices for the X-E1 body. You can grab it for $759 – €713 (Germany) – £529 here. And if can’t go without the OVF, you could buy the X-PRO1 body for $1.209 – €1107 (Germany) – £839 here.

DigitalRev is offering also a free Leather case with the purchase of the X100S (click here). But be aware that the X100S price is higher than on other web stores (like Amazon, BH…). For example you can have the X100S and Leather case cheaper if you buy them separately at BHphot here (X100S) and here (LC-X 100). At BH you’ll pay $1400, at DigitalRev $1490.

There are some offers also at ebay. The easiest way to find them is via slidoo. Click on the links below to compare the prices at other stores:

LC-X100: [shopcountry 10321] Fuji X-E1: [shopcountry 10259] Fuji X-PRO1: [shopcountry 10261] Fuji X100S: [shopcountry 10075] Fuji X20: [shopcountry 10267]

FR-readers roundup: X-series podcast, colours of Africa, X-E1 + fisheye, full spectrum X-PRO1 and a Taiwan story

Piet Van den Eynde: “Hi Patrick, please allow me to introduce myself: my name is Piet Van den Eynde and I’m a Belgian freelance travel photographer and author of books on photography and Lightroom. I just came back from being a guest instructor on a workshop in India, led by travel photographer Matt Brandon. A longtime Canon user, Matt exclusively used his X-Pro 1, 18 & 35 mm on this workshop and I predominantly used my X-Pro 1, X-E1, 14, 18, 35 and 18-55 lenses on this trip. In this blogpost, you can see some of the shots we made during our Rajasthan workshop and there’s also an audio podcast where we talk about our experiences with the system (needless to say, they’re mostly positive). I think this might be interesting content for your blog (click here).”
thedigitaltrekker

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Olaf: “Patrick, Thank you for doing incredible work on your website. I keep sending a link to your site to everyone interested in Fuji cameras. My wife, Kasia Sztaba, just returned from Africa with some incredible imagery taken with the Fuji X-E1 and the XF 18-55 F2.8-4 IS lens. We just published the first set of images on our blog […]” See the colours of Africa through the eye of the X-E1 here.

“It wasn’t the usual touristy trip. She went to raw Africa with a group of women with whom she had worked to help women in Senegal over the last few years. Kasia documented the beauty of this continent along with its struggles. She saw human suffering but also tremendous and authentic joy and hospitality. And she captured all her experiences on camera.”

Olaf

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Toby: “I was at a local shop picking up a [shoplink 9694]Samyang 8mm Fisheye[/shoplink] for my Fuji and came across two new items from Kipon.  One is a flange distance adjustable adaptor for Leica to Fuji, the other a Nikon to Fuji Tilt/Shift adaptor. There are some photos on my Flickr if you want to check it out click here (Flickr)”

Toby

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– Mark: “I just had my X-Pro 1 converted into a full spectrum camera. The benefits of course are being able to shoot IR more easily but a side benefit to full spectrum conversions that many people don’t know about is the nice black and white images you can get with minimal post processing (desaturate, black point and white point adjustment that’s usually it) plus the black and whites have a very, very black and white film look about them in the way the shadows are recorded. Check out my set on flickr (click here). Also here is a set of infrared shots from the camera as well (click here). Still trying to track down just the right enlarger lens and when I do I’ll also be doing some UV photography as well with my X-Pro 1. Not many places to my knowledge convert X series cameras to IR or full spectrum. I had mine converted at Kolarivision. The service is excellent and llija was fantastic at getting back to me with my questions. I don’t think that their website has the X-Pro 1 conversion listed yet (mine was the first they’d ever converted) but they’ll be offering the service for $300. Cheers Mark (markdphotoguy)”

Mark

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Sean Marc Lee: “Hey hey! Just wanted to share with you that I recently shot a story here in Taiwan for The Wall Street Journal completely with the Fuji X-E1 and an X100 (click here)! keep up the great work! I get ALL my fuji news from you. -s. Sean Marc Lee”

Sean Marc Lee

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X100S: BHphoto / AdoramaAmazonUS / AmazonDEAmazonUK / AmazonITA / DigitalRev / your ebay / your Amazon
X20:  BHphoto (blacksilver) / Adorama (blacksilver) / AmazonUS (blacksilver) / AmazonUK (blacksilver) / AmazonDE / AmazonITA / DigitalRev / your ebay / your Amazon
Fuji X-E1: [shopcountry 10259] Fuji X-PRO1: [shopcountry 10261]