Thanks to our reader Sean we have the links to the first Zeiss lens US preorders:

The 12mm f/2.8 lens can be preordered for $1,250 at Uniquephoto (Click here).
The 32mm f/1.8 lens can be preordered for $900 at Uniquephoto (Click here).

Thanks to the Munich store Sauter we got the info about the new “Touit” Zeiss lens primes:
Touit 32mm f/1.8 for 799 Euro (Click here).
Touit 12mm f/2.8 for 1099 Euro (Click here).

There is still no info about the price in US/Canada. To get notified when these lenses will be sold on eBay login our Slidoo-eBay website and save this searches: Touit 32mm and Touit 12mm. You will can change the country in your settings. And here is the HowTo to learn how all this works (P.S.: Slidoo Amazon is in the works and will be announced in a few weeks).

VSCO Film 02 now supports Fujifilm’s X-Trans files. Check it out here.

“We’ve updated VSCO Film 02 for LR 4 and ACR 7 to include Custom Camera Profiles for Fujifilm professional cameras, including the X100S, X-Pro1, X-E1, the X100 and the X10.

If you are an owner of VSCO Film 02 for LR 4 or ACR 7, this update is FREE. […]

If you don’t own VSCO Film 02, it is 15% off till end of day Friday, May 3rd, 2013. Additionally, as an owner of VSCO Film 01, Film 03 and or VSCO Keys, you are eligible to receive an additional 25% off with your VSCO Loyalty Discount.

We’ve also updated the Film 01 and 03 for LR4 and ACR 7 to include support for Fujifilm’s outstanding X100S. […]”

image courtesy: Zeiss/ Touit 32mm f/1.8

The Zeiss lenses for Fuji X-mount will be announced on May 7th (follow Fujirumors that day). But now Zeiss published PDF’s, sample shots, and specs at blogs.zeiss.com.

1) The name of the new Fuji X Zeiss lens family will be “Touit“! “We decided to derive the future names of the lenses from the Latin names of birds. That fits well, as birds usually have excellent eyesight and can take unusual perspectives… Touit stands for good visibility, agility, mobility and diversity, qualities which also aptly describe the new ZEISS lenses for mirrorless camera systems.” But read this post at blogs.zeiss.com to know more about it.

2) The first two focal lenghts will be the 12mm f/2.8 and the 32mm f/1.8. Zeiss posted a Brochure here (PDF).

3) If you want to know more about the 12mm f/2.8 lens, visit this website here (with gallery) and read the technical specs in this PDF.

4) For the 32mm f/1.8 visit this page here (with gallery) and read the data sheet here.

image courtesy: Zeiss/ Touit 12mm F/2.8

The brand new [shoplink 10075]X100S[/shoplink] has already been updated with a new firmware (1.02). I was curious to know why Fuji seems to release firmware updates more often than other companies. So I made a little search and stumbled across this article at fujifilmxseries.

According to the author “some manufacturers might be reluctant to update firmware, as it represents, in a sense, an admission that things were not correct or perfect at the time of product release“. This isn’t the case of Fujifilm, as they frequently release firmware updates to improve their cameras. This philosophy can be summarized in one word: KAIZEN… and, unless you are a Japanese reader, many of you probably won’t know what “kaizen” means. Fujifilmxseries looked for the definition:

“kaizen […] My iOS dictionary […] defines kaizen as “betterment, improvement.” It then expands thusly, “kaizen (Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement). […] Thus, strictly speaking, I’m not sure that firmware updates in of themselves are an example of kaizen. However, the frequent refinement of the firmware itself most probably is, and Fujifilm can only be applauded in extending this concept out to cameras already in the hands of consumers, rather than waiting for the cycle of new generation releases. If nothing else, an understanding of kaizen might offer a convenient framework for interpreting why Fujifilm frequently updates firmware, rather than attempting to ‘get it right’ the first time round. It was ‘right,’ now it’s ‘more right.’”

There is always something to improve. Now, just add in the comments what you would like to have fixed (or added) with the next firmware update: faster autofocus, focus peaking for the X-E1/X-PRO1, set minimum shutter speed when in Auto-ISO, customizable “Q menu”… just extend this list in the comments.

Over at uservoice you can vote a X100S firmware-poll (thanks Fredrik).

Kaizen (wikipedia) / fujifilmxseries (read here)

enjoy your Sunday