Honestly… thank you soooo much Fujifilm for your Kaizen spirit. Even the “old” X-E2 camera will get a huge update on February 4th, making it basically a complete new camera (electronic shutter, new AF-system, Interlocking of Metering and Focus areas and A LOT more).

This is unmatched by any other company, who never offered such huge FW updates or eventually charged customers extra money for the update – see Panasonic… but you, Fujfilm, give us all this for Free!!!

So while I’m aware we X-shooters are complaining at a level all other camera brands owners frankly envy us, I would just ask you, once again, not to ignore the X100S and X100T owners out there.

Let there be Kaizen also for them

with unchanged and deepest admiration for your work and your relation to your customers
Fuji X Forum, Facebook, RSS-feed and Twitter

P.S.: I share this, because I know you read this blog and the comments of FR-readers… and care about us :)

*Fujifilm Reads You!
Click HERE to see the original FujiRumors Poll, that Fujfiilm used in an official presentation to the Press

Fujifilm X-Pro2: USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / EUROPE: AmazonDE / AmazonUK / WexUK / PCHstore / AmazonITA / AmazonFR / AmazonESP /   AUSTRALIA: CameraPro

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I never had such a busy time on Fujirumors. Several New Products, new Firmware announcements, an infinite Number of Reviews.

In this huge flow of rumors and information, it’s easy to miss something. In fact, I’ve receive a lot of emails from readers, informing me for example that the X-E2 will get a new Firmware on the 4th of February… an information that I did share on the Fujirumors blog right when the Firmware was announced, but got lost somewhere in the big news stream.

So I thought I should invest a bit of my time to make a summary of 10 news you might have missed

1. Rico Pfirstinger published a brilliant Fuji X-Pro2 First Look
2. BHphoto & other stores initially displayed availability for X-Pro2 at the beginning of February. It then changed to late February (Read more here)
3. A Fuji Manager said that Fuji is testing Medium Format sensors. There are no plans for now to really make it. Also talk about the X-Pro2. Read more here.
4. the X-E2 will get a new Firmware update on February 4th. It will include the new AF-system, the Electronic Shutter, Interlocking of Metering and Focus areas and a lot more (see here). It will basically become an X-T10 in rangefinder style.
5. the X-E2s will have an Auto button instead of FN2 button (X-E2) for Scene Recognition mode.
6. the X70 price dropped from $799 to $699 just 2 days after the announcement (Read more here)
7. there is an WCL-X70 (wide angle converter) for the X70. There is no information (or rumor) about a Teleconverter. I guess we will only see one, if the X70 sells well.
8. Fujifilm launched the new version Camera Remote that supports all of Fuji wireless-equipped digital cameras (see here).
9. Fuji announced a New Flash, the EF-X500. It will be available in May (read more here).
10. I finally slept for the first time after several weeks for more than 4 hours!!! :-)

And just in case you missed the live Streaming for the 5th Anniversay, here is the youtube link to it.

Fujifilm X-Pro2

ACROS, all images between ISO 25600 & 12800 – Rico Pfirstinger Flickr

Shooting with the fujifilm x-Pro2 at davidgaberle / Claire Rammelkamp at Eastington Park ~ Fuji X-Pro2 by Damien Lovegrove at prophotonut / Field Test at the Spanish site dslrmagazine (translation) / X-Pro2 Facebook User Group / Field Test at French site focus-numerique (translation) – with RAW file to download / Fujifilm ACROS samples at dslrmagazine (translation) / First Impressions at ephotozine / NSFW: Shooting on location with the XF90mm F2 at ideasandimages

One of the questions in this DPReview youtube video is: is the Hybrid Viewfinder Useful or Not? Two reviewers, two different answers. So let’s see what FujiRumors readers think about it:

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Making of the X-Pro2 & Co at quesabesde youtube

Fujinon XF100-400: USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / EUROPE: AmazonDE / AmazonUK / AmazonITA / AmazonFR / AmazonESP / PCHstore / WexUK / AUSTRALIA: CameraPro

Fujifilm X70: USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / EUROPE: AmazonDE / AmazonUK / AmazonITA / AmazonFR / AmazonESP / PCHstore / WexUK / AUSTRALIA: CameraPro

Fujifilm X-E2s: USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / EUROPE: AmazonDE / AmazonUK / AmazonITA / AmazonFR / AmazonESP / PCHstore / WexUK / AUSTRALIA: CameraPro

Fujifilm X-Pro2: USA: BHphoto  / AmazonUS / Adorama / EUROPE: AmazonDE / AmazonUK / WexUK / PCHstore / AmazonITA / AmazonFR / AmazonESP /   AUSTRALIA: CameraPro

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Interesting dpreview interview with Fuji Managers Mr. Toru Takahashi and Toshihisa Iida. Here a few excerpts:

Mr. Takahashi – you mentioned in your presentation at the press conference that Fujifilm is not interested in becoming involved in a ‘pointless technical race’. What did you mean by that?

We think that the most important thing is overall image quality. So for example just increasing [pixel count] won’t make a better picture. We [also] need better high ISO image quality. It’s always a tradeoff, and to find the optimal point is very difficult. That’s the reason we why we picked the APS-C image format. […] If we increased to 28 or 30MP there would be more disadvantages than advantages

What are the essential ingredients of the Fujifilm X-series?

Product design is a key point of differentiation. We do this by ourselves. So sensor design, although we don’t make the sensors by ourselves. We design our processors, but of course we do not manufacturer them so we require other companies. […] So [the sensor in the X-Pro2] is a good example. This is a 24MP sensor that can produce something like 30-36MP equivalent resolution. Design is our strength I think. And lenses. We have very strong lens design capabilities. Lenses, we have our own technologies, we make lenses by ourselves.

What kind of company will Fujifilm’s camera division be in five years’ time?

We’d like to be at least in the top three companies in the camera business by market share.

And the other company [along with Canon and Nikon] of course is Sony…

Sony has a big advantage, they make their own sensors. That is a very big advantage for them, but they are weak in lenses.

And they are weakened by having so many formats. APS-C, full-frame, [across both] DSLR and mirrorless. So their lens division must be under a lot of pressure!

Where are the remaining gaps in the X-series lens lineup?

Customers are requesting more compact lenses. Our 35mm F2 is one example. So we may need to supplement this lens [with others of this kind]. And also photographers are challenging us to make more telephoto primes. And astrophotographers want fisheyes, and also [we have requests] for tilting lenses. So although the volume [of those products] might not be as big, photographers are asking us.

Fujinon XF100-400: USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / EUROPE: AmazonDE / AmazonUK / AmazonITA / AmazonFR / AmazonESP / PCHstore / WexUK / AUSTRALIA: CameraPro

Fujifilm X70: USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / EUROPE: AmazonDE / AmazonUK / AmazonITA / AmazonFR / AmazonESP / PCHstore / WexUK / AUSTRALIA: CameraPro

Fujifilm X-E2s: USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / EUROPE: AmazonDE / AmazonUK / AmazonITA / AmazonFR / AmazonESP / PCHstore / WexUK / AUSTRALIA: CameraPro