Hurray! riflessifotografici now also in English and XF 55-200 samples!

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image courtesy: riflessifotografici

Good news! Times are over, when google translator put together some words in English and tried to translate the great riflessifotografici reviews (btw, thanks google for this useful tool). From now on, Luca Petralia will write the English versions of their articles. I wish Luca good work and would like to express thanks for all the effort he’ll put into the translations. Read the offical announcement here (with the first translations – X20 first impressions and X100S first impressions).

And for the first XF 55-200mm sample shots click here (you’ll see also the 100% crop of the image above).

check the in stock status of the 55-200mm lens (preorder at Adorama (click here), BHphoto (click here): and DigitalRev (click here).

 

First Look: XF55-200mmF3.5-4.8 R LM OIS

UPDATE (18APR2013): Added more llama shots and a new flower shot.

UPDATE: US readers can already preorder the brand new Fuji 55-200mm lens at BHphoto (Click here).

by Rico Pfirstinger

Talk to Rico (questions & feedback) – Rico’s XF55-200mmF3.5-4.8 R LM OIS Prototype Samples

Fuji’s XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS “kit zoom” was one of last year’s most pleasant surprises, offering very good image quality in a portale package at a quite affordable price. This May, it will be complemented by a telephoto zoom that was officially announced today. The new lens starts off exactly where the kit zoom ends: at 55mm, going all the way to 200mm. According to Fuji, that’s 84-305mm in 35mm (“full-frame”) equivalence terms.

The telephoto zoom’s full name is FUJINON XF55-200mmF3.5-4.8 R LM OIS, and it’s supposed to sell for USD 699.– (plus sales tax) in the U.S. or EUR 649.– (incl. VAT) here in Germany. I have been able to work with an early prototype of the lens for more than a week, so let’s have a closer look, shall we?

Same, same, but different…

If you already know Fuji’s 18-55mm kit zoom lens, the new telephoto zoom will immediately feel familiar. It’s obvious that Fujifilm wants you to buy this zoom as an extension to your already existing standard zoom. Both lenses offer the same key features: a manual focus ring, an aperture ring without engravings, a zoom ring, an optical image stabilizer (OIS) and fast/silent linear autofocus motors. Everything is located in the same place: There’s one switch to turn the OIS on and off, and there’s another one to toggle the lens between automatic and manual aperture settings. Design, build quality and used materials appear to be quite similar, as well.

Would you like to know more about what all those letters and numbers in XF55-200mmF3.5-4.8 R LM OIS actually mean? If that’s the case, you may want to read my article Decoding XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS here on Fujirumors. Pretty much all information on the kit zoom lens is also applicable to the new telephoto lens.

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

X100S at f/2: riflessifotografici feedback

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image courtesy: Max Angeloni (riflessifotografici) – X-Pro1 – 35mm, Color Efex Pro4

[Reminder: At the X100S Cnet review here the reviewer talked about an “almost unusable” lens performance at f/2 for anything closer than 10 feet (3 meters).]

I dropped an email to the riflessifotografici-guys. They are right now deep into the testings of X100S and X20. (on March 11 they posted the X100S first impression here, and the X20 first impressions here). So they are quite busy, but found the time to answer me.

They are checking the X100S “unusable f/2” and compared it also with the old X100 at f/2. According to their first impressions, they suppose that those reviewers who reported problems shooting wide open with subjects closer than 10 feet probably tested a pre-production X100S that may not have been perfectly adjusted.

So far everything seems to be ok. But for the final word we’ll have to wait their full review, where the X100S gets X-rayed by riflessifografici ;). Thanks guys.

 

image courtesy: Max Angeloni (riflessifotografici) – X-Pro1 – 35mm a f/1.8, 6400 Iso – PP Lightroom 4.4

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X100S: DigitalRev “Fuji X100S vs XE-1 vs Sony RX1 – battle of the X’s” + AmazonUK and ITA in stock

DigitalRev posted the X-battle (X100S vs X-E1 vs RX1) video here… from the conclusions “get the X100S because it’s cool!” ;)

AmazonUK has the X100S in stock here. And so also AmazonITA here.

X100S: BHphoto / Adorama / AmazonUS / AmazonDE / AmazonUK / AmazonITA / DigitalRev / your ebay / your Amazon
X20:  BHphoto (black – silver) / Adorama (black – silver) / AmazonUS (black – silver) / AmazonUK (black – silver) / AmazonDE / AmazonITA / DigitalRev / your ebay / your Amazon
Fuji X-E1: Amazon.it, DigitalRev, eBay

X100S + WCL-X100 = GREAT!

sgoldswoblog tested the brand new X100S with the [shoplink 9132]Fuji WCL-X100 (specs&price)[/shoplink]. The results are great. As Rico said once in the comments, “with the WCL, you basically have a two-lens mini system with leaf shutter, fast aperture and terrific IQ.”

The WCL-X100 converts the X100S/X100 23mm lens to a 19mm lens (28mm equivalent). So, if you’d like it to have flexibility across 2 focal lengths of your X100S/X100, you should consider to purchase this converter. Is it worth to get it? sgoldswoblog says:

“Yes and no. The 28mm focal length is more challenging for street photography but does give you that little bit more to play with. I do prefer 35, but there are times when 28 is a definite preference. This is a really nice, well built piece of kit that is definitely worth getting if you plan to travel with your X100S. The only downside (for me) is that it is relatively expensive and you need to tell the camera it is fitted.”

Just read the review at sgoldswoblog here.

Fuji WCL-X100: [shopcountry 10360] Fuji X100S: [shopcountry 10075] Fuji X100 [shopcountry 9135]

image courtesy: sgoldswoblog

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