[UDPATE: specs table!] Surprise! Rico’s exclusive first look at “a new X-mount camera” today at 11:30 PM New York time!

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Big surprise folks!

Rico just told me that he is preparing a first look to a “new X-mount camera“. It will be complete and ready to go online at 11:30 New York Time (04:30 GMT).

And I suppose you know what this means, don’t you? You can (and should) look for every information about this mysterious “new X-mount camera” on the web (I’ll do appositely a live blogging session for you here on FR), but you will hardly find a better initial report than Rico’s one.

One more (and excellent) reason to stay tuned on FR in a couple of hours.

stay tuned,
facebook, google+ and twitter

P.S: Rico’s XF56mm first look is online here.
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X-shooter facebook zone: top rated images on the Fujirumors facebook wall!

I know, I know, we are all eagerly waitng for the X-T1! But there are plenty of X-series cameras out there that already allow you to take some incredible shots. I’m glad to see that more and more X-shooters use the FR-facebook wall to share their very best shots and stories. I’ve selected some of the top liked one here. See them all on the FR-facebook wall.

Here we go:

Mitch Highman Fuji X-E2 / 35mm 1.4

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Dave Geffin: “It’s not what but how you see that’s important.”

NYC, XE2, 35m

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Stefan Neagu “Waiting”

 Fuji XE-1, 35mm

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Darren Brwon: “Under the Cambie Street Bridge – Last July, while I was in Vancouver, I took this long-exposure shot from beneath the Cambie Street Bridge.

Fuji X-Pro 1 w/ XF35mm f/1.4R

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Marvin Javellana:

“I sold my Nikon D800 a few months ago and picked up a Fuji X-E2 with the 18-55 OIS plus the 55-200 OIS for my travels. I got really sick and tired of lugging all the heavy stuff that goes with my D800. Last week I had a chance to take my new X-E2 with me on a business trip to southern California and made it a point to stay a few more days so I could take it for a spin. Below is one that I took at Laguna Beach. I am very happy with my decision to go with Fuji as proven on my first trip with it. PS. I didn’t have to pay extra for luggage check-in.”

X-E2, f/8, 1/180, 25mm

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Blacksmith Pat “The magic forest”

X-PRO1 + 35mm

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Tim Venchus: “Moon over Lake Lugano, Switzerland”

Fuji X-Pro1 with 55-200mm – f/5.6, 1/40s, ISO 1600 zoomed to 200mm

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[admin: and last but not least, a warm welcome to the youngest X-shooter out there! Have a beautiful life, Benny.]

Ramon Touw

Hi Patrick. I have some beautiful photo’s of my son Benny. He’s Born on Januari 21, 2014. All taken with my Fuji X-E2 23mm 1.4. If you like you can share them. I would be more than thankfull!

X-E2

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Because we love Kaizen: new firmware wish list!

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Kaizen, continuous improvement philosophy. Japanese for “improvement” or “change for the best”, refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, and business management.” src-wikipedia

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Everything I know until now about the X-T1 is shared. A big question is still if it will have a dual card slot or not. As you know, the trusted Japanese source said it won’t have a twin SD-slot. Therefore, no matter what the leaked images say, I still blindly trust this source. If he can’t confirm it, I wouldn’t count with a double SD-card slot on the X-T1… but it’s the first time I hope that I’m wrong with my rumors!

I’ve shared the dual card slot rumor already a few months ago. I believe that originally Fuji really planed to implement this feature in the X-T1, the source told me about, but the company changed plans afterwards. That’s what could have happened.

The updated specs list can be found at the bottom of this post.

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The firmware wish-list by Marco Ricci

Some FR-readers asked me in the comments and via email to launch a new firmware wish list. I’ll take the one of Marco Ricci and feel free to extend this list in the comments. Who knows what may be already implemented in the X-T1!

Marco Ricci (website). Here is his list:

I am an X-Pro1 users since September 2012, so yes i was so crazy to buy it with a FW 1.0 installed, at that time my wish list for fix and improvement was a *really* long list. Now, with FW 3.10 installed, I am happy to see such a short list :)

Anyway my suggestion to improve X-Pro1 (and X-E1 and X-E2 in the same way) is here:

1) Fix the half-pressed shutter button behaviour. Actually keeping the shutter button half-pressed *after* the shooting doesn’t keep the focus locked. So you have to refocus before to shoot again (each camera I own keep the focus locked keeping the shutter button half pressed after the shoot).

2) Add a new “view mode”. I am sure a lot of photographer use OVF/EVF to compose/shoot and LCD for playback/menu setting.. so please add a “mixed” view mode enabling (without eye/proximity detection)  the viewfinder *ONLY* to compose and LCD *only* for playback/menu navigation.

3) Improve the Manual focus mode/checking focus function. When in MF using the arrow keys to move the checked focus area around in the frame it would be a lot faster than the actual method .. my canon  work like that and trust me it”s a lot faster for  checking the focus in different region or to manually “track” a moving subject..

4) Improve the bracketing limits. Really +/-1 EV it’s a joke, expand the limit at +/- 3 EV at least.

5) Improve Playback of vertical images. Now, looking a vertical photo and zooming in, only a vertical “crop” is showed, leaving a large part of the LCD black and unused.

6) Enable the trash button in playback when zoomed. It’s normal to check focus (zooming in) and trash the shot if it’s not good enough

7) For X-E2 user, please add the VIEWmode function to a Fn button

Isn’t it great? Put your wishes in a post and know that a big company listens to you and considers your feedback seriously? Try to do this with other companies ;).

Oh, and what about the ability to turn ON and OFF quickly face detection via FN button… and more colors for focus peaking? FR-reader XE2owner would like to have the ability to control the camera from the app!

Now it’s your turn to extend or change Marco’s list in the comments. I’m sure somebody in Tokyo is taking notes.

For Portraits I prefer the...

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image courtesy: Marco Ricci (website)

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[At the CES, Fuji reps took note of Chirs’ firmware wishes. What else has been discussed between Chris and Fuji can be read here.]

image courtesy: f-sunny.com

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X-T1 rumored specs

(TS= trusted source / NeS =New Source / AS = Anonymous Source / SRP = source who was right in the past, but not yet trusted / ORS = other rumor sites)

  • announcement January 28th (TS)
  • big EVF (x77 magnification) /  (TS)
  • better EVF (2.36 million OLED, 0.005s lag) / (AS)
  • APS-C X-Trans sensor II (16MP) / (TS + AS)
  • EXR II / (TS + NeS)
  • support for the UHS-II SD-card for super-fast writing speed / (TS)
  • start up time 0,5 sec (TS)
  • Shutter time lag 0,05 sec (TS)
  • time-lapse photography function – interval timer function (TS)
  • 8fps with AF tracking / (TS)
  • weather sealed body / (TS)
  • 18-135 will be weather sealed and come in May (TS + ORS)
  • tilt screen (SRP)
  • Price: €1,200 body only (≈ $1,300) – €1,600 body and 18-55 – €1,800 body and 18-135 / (NeS)
  • SLR-type (Fujica) design / (SRP)
  • name: X-T1 / (AS)
  • WiFi / (NeS)
  • smaller than the X-E2 / (AS)
  • additional battery grip / (AS)
  • 18-55 kit lens / (AS + ORS)
  • ISO up to 51200 (NeS)
  • in stores mid-February / (AS + ORS)
  • price range between X-E and X-PRO line / (NeS + AS)
  • faster AF then X-E2 (o,o8sec) / (NeS) [maybe the source mixed up faster writing speed (UHS-II) with faster AF-speed]

XF56mm samples and first impressions online!

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XF 56mm f/1.2 ($999): USA AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama – EUROPE: wexUK / PCHstore / DigitalRev

X100S black ($1299): USA AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama – EUROPE: wexUK / PCHstore

It’s a great Fuji day! After the first image of the X-T1, Fujifilm posted some beautiful samples taken with the 56mm f/1.2 on their website here.

1) X-photographer Nathan Elson shared some first impressions and a video on his blog here: “The Fuji 56mm f/1.2 (85mm equivalent) has quite possibly been the most anticipated lens for portrait photographers using the X system, and now that it is finally here, I can honestly say that it is beautiful.”

David B. send me his first feedback, judging from the images on Fuji’s website:

– some samples, especially sample number 4 clearly illustrate that Fuji need to consider a 135mm equivalent prime.   The face of the woman clearly looks unflattering with 85mm equivalent which is too short here.   135 or above would have flatten that face nicely and made the photo more flattering.      I guess a 70-200 equivalent is the answer?

– 1.2 on a crop is not a 1.2 on a full frame and that is clear from samples shot at 1.2.   Those who were concerned that it is hard to keep in focus at 1.2, its not.   It is merely like focusing Full Frame at 1.8.  Nothing magical.

– the sharpness looks great at all photos even wide open.

2) It’s online again, Patrick La Roque here. For part2 click here: “Here are some 100% crops to give you an idea of the sharpness vs DOF when shooting this lens wide open. Bear in mind that these are from an early pre-production unit. You can click on them to get a larger and clearer version.

3) For Bert Stephani’s nice video review click here: “Even at 1.2 it’s perfectly sharp.”

[UPDATE: Rico Pfirstinger started a sample set on Flickr here.]

X-shooter zone: X-photo of the week, top photos 2013 and an unexpected conversion to Fuji!

Lemme introduce today’s X-shooter zone with the words of 2 Fuji top managers.

1) “we want you to use our cameras longer and longer in your life” (Mr. Kawahara talking about the Kaizen philosophy and the frequent firmware updates also for “old” cameras!)
2) “I think 16MP are enough!”
3) “I think APS-C is enough!”
4) “we always concentrate to hear the customers opinion”
5a) “We are committed to our products, not industry trends”.
5b) “if user demand FF, really, I want to hear the reason why.”

Well, there are more and more photographers, who also believe, like Mr.Kawahara & Co, that the X-series already offers all they need! So they got an X-series camera and started to have fun with it.

In this X-shooter zone I chose to feature some great X-shooters you may already know, like Sabino Parente (who just launched his X-photo of the week series), Olaf&Kasia (with their favorite shots 2013) and Carlos Bueno (whose images speak for themselves). But there is also place for new X-shooters, just check their images down below.

Remember, you can take a look at the work of many more X-shooters and also share your own stories and shots on the FR-facebook wall. Give your work immediately more visibility. Feel free to use it!

enjoy your day,
Patrick

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Olaf & Kasia

Patrick,

I trust this e-mail finds you well in the New Year. Kasia and I put together a short summary of 2013 and presented our favourite images.

If you find it interesting enough to share with your readers, please go ahead. Here is the link.

We are looking forward to more information about an upcoming camera from Fuji. [admin: see the images here]

Olaf & Kasia

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Sabino Parente

[From his blog]: “Whoever follows me knows that from a couple of years, I have a passionate love for the Fuji and its system X that I met first with the X100 and now with the X-E1. This system has completely changed the way I do photography and I do not regret the day I left the heavy Canon equipment for the small but powerful Fuji X. There is no day and journey which is not always at my side ready to shoot at every opportunity and give me great satisfactions.

So I decided that every week, every Thursday, I will select my photo taken with a Fuji X, telling the story behind it, the emotions, the technique that led to this shot.

Sabino Parente

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Carlos Bueno

– Hi Patrick, how are you? great Christmas? Let me send you some new x-photos procesed these days :-). Photo1 and Photo2.

Carlos Bueno (website)

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Patrice

A few shots taken today with the X100S. This beast is dead sharp at F/4. It is fast, small and works like a charm. Many said it was the best camera and they were right. Once you have this little baby in your hands you forget everything else.

See some shots here (translation). [shared at the FR-facebook wall]

Patrice

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Anderson Miranda

[admin: shared via FR-facebook wall]

Sorry for this post in portuguese…. This is a bridal session all shots done with X100s. Curitiba, Brazil.

Anderson Miranda

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François Marclay

Hey guys,

Thanks for the daily dose of inspiration, always bringing a motivation boost to my photographic adventures! Speaking of it, in case you’re interested, I shot a series on Jim Wheeler the ship builder & on my recent trip to Kosovo & Macedonia exclusively using my X-E1 and XF 35mm. Have a look here:

https://francoismarclay.squarespace.com/humans/#/jim-wheeler/

https://francoismarclay.squarespace.com/places/#/kosovo-macedonia/

Have a great day :)

François Marclay (Jim Wheeler)

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Art Codron

Hi Patrick,

Great website!

I work in the entertainment industry and I have been a longtime Nikon user since mid-80’s. I have had many Nikon SLR bodies over the years. While I have some M4/3 cameras (which are great for what they are), I have always reached for my Nikon when I am going for the highest quality. I must say that recently I have been reaching for it less and less. I have grown tired of feeling like there is a brick hanging around my neck.  It seems as of late I either leave it at home or bring one of my small M4/3 cameras.

This past summer I reached a point where I felt I was way overdue to update my DSLR. I was waiting a couple years for the D400 which never came and was mulling over going to full frame FX. While they are both very capable cameras, the D600 & D800 were not wowing me… I was hemming and hawing which way to go and could not make a decision.

So in the meantime, I bought a Fuji X-E1 on a lark. I fully intended to eventually get a new Nikon but was going to wait a few months and see if Nikon came out with something more interesting. The Fuji has far exceeded my expectations and has blown me away.

First, the size… much smaller than my Nikon with the same sized sensor. SO much easier to carry around. The Fuji kit lens is amazing. It is FAST and SMALL with top notch quality. A comparable Nikon lens is nearly double the size. I also have the 27mm pancake which is great too.

Second, the interfacefantastic! The reviews that say this camera begs you to pick it up and use it, are dead on. Very tactile experience that I have not felt since my old manual camera film days. I just look down at a glance and see where the settings are at on the dials.

Third and finally, the quality of the imagesphenomenal. Out of camera JPEGS are great. I have not even used RAW as of yet. The quality I get out of this camera easily meets and exceeds what I can get out of my Nikon DX camera. All in a smaller and more elegant package. I have since sold my Nikon DSLR and do not anticipate looking back.

I am an unexpected convert and could not be happier.

I have been on the road the last couple months and I have a flickr page of images made with the Fuji X-E1. You can find it here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/artcodron/sets/72157637972247333/

I also have a general photography photo blog here (same fuji stuff at the top)
http://acodron748.tumblr.com

Regards,

Art Codron

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