Fuji patents evolution of the “real-image zoom optical viewfinder”.

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This is one of the (many) Fujifilm patents you can check out at freepatentsonline here (PDF file here). It was published back in April (04/29/2014), Filing Date or the Patent: 01/02/2014

It seems to be an evolution of the “Real-image zoom viewfinder” already present in the X20 viewfinder. There is plenty of technical stuff to read at freepatentsonline, but petapixel sums it up saying that “the viewfinder would be able to optically zoom in synchronization with the varying focal length of a zoom lens.” And, at least looking at the image of the patent, this viewfinder should find its way into future compact Fuji Point&Shoot cameras.

But what’s the advantage of this specific “real-image viewfinder” compared to the one of the X20 (which delivers 85% coverage and a 20° horizontal apparent field of view)? Well, I do not know, and it must be hidden somewhere in the very complicated description of the patent.

So will maybe the X30 feature an upgraded “real-image zoom optical viewfinder”? That’s the question I’ll now send directly to our sources ;-)

But it’s good to see that Fuji continues to work on the OVF technology. It’s definitely a good news for OVF lovers. However, no OVF in the world will give you the possibility to see in real-time how your final shot will be (WYSIWYG), which is very useful, especially when you have to act fast and there is not the time to take a shot, check the result on the LCD, change the exposure, take another shot, check the image again, make adjustments and so on. With an EVF you look through the viewfinder, turn the dial, see immediately the result in the EVF… and “click“.

But what do you think? Do you prefer the EVF or the OVF? 2 alternatives, one answer. And feel free to list your PROS and CONS for a OVF or EVF in the comments.

Oh, and I know, a hybrid viewfinder would make us all happy. So, dear Fuji, don’t forget it in the X-PRO2 :-)

Between the X-T20 and the X-E3, I'd buy the...

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And just for fun. Here is how Fuji explains the “real-image zoom viewfinder“. It’s all one sentence, so be concentrated:

“A real-image zoom viewfinder substantially consisting of, in order from an object side, a variable-magnification objective lens system having a positive refractive power, an erect optical system, and an eyepiece lens system having a positive refractive power, wherein the variable-magnification objective lens system substantially consisting of, in order from the object side, a first lens group that includes a first lens having a negative refractive power and a reflective member arranged in this order from the object side and is fixed during magnification change, a second lens group that has a positive refractive power and is moved during magnification change, and a third lens group that has a positive refractive power and is moved during magnification change, the erect optical system has at least one reflective surface for converting an inverted image formed by the variable-magnification objective lens system into an erect image and is fixed during magnification change, the eyepiece lens system has a positive refractive power and is fixed during magnification change, and conditional expressions (1), (2A) and (3) below are satisfied at the same time:
1.5<U2/U1<3.0 (1),
1.76≦|f2/f1|<2.0 (2A) and
1.0<f3/f2<5.0 (3), where U1 is a distance from an object-side lens surface of the first lens to a most object-side lens surface in the second lens group along an optical axis in a state where zoom setting is set at a telephoto end, U2 is a difference between the distance from the object-side lens surface of the first lens to the most object-side lens surface in the second lens group along the optical axis in a state where the zoom setting is set at the telephoto end and a distance from the object-side lens surface of the first lens to a most image-side lens surface in the third lens group along the optical axis in a state where the zoom setting is set at a wide-angle end, f1 is a focal length of the first lens group, f2 is a focal length of the second lens group, and f3 is a focal length of the third lens group.”

via freepatentsonline / photographybay / petapixel

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[UDPATE: ISO unlocker cancelled. Not enough pre-orders] ISO Unlocker website is offline!

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the ISO-unlocker site is offline [UPDATE 2: the site is online again, with the following note: “Unfortunately, a full two months past the initial funding goal, support for the project has slowed to a rate that indicates that it would not be sustainable for production and as of the project close, the funding has stalled short of its seed goal of 250 orders with the order cancellation rate matching the ordering rate.” Ian also said in the comments: “The pre-order system was handled through the Celery crowdfunding service so all user data was protected.”]

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UDPATE 1: I just received an email from Steven. He has received the following email from Ian Norman:

“To all the supporters of the ISO Unlocker project,

Thanks so much for your pledge to support the development of the ISO Unlocker for the Fujifilm X-T1. I am sorry to inform you that we will not be pursuing funding any longer and you will not be charged for your order. As of this moment, all orders are cancelled. You will receive a separate email confirming the cancellation of your order.

Please note that your initial order was just a pledge and pre-authorization and no orders were charged at the time of placing the order.

I developed the idea for ISO Unlocker when I and so many other X-T1 owners felt that their photo shooting experience could be improved by a simple fix. The initial response to the project idea was very positive and I was very excited to seek funding to produce something that would help other photographers enjoy their camera even more.

Unfortunately, a full two months past the initial funding goal, support for the project has slowed to a rate that indicates that it would not be sustainable for production and as of the project close, the funding has stalled short of its seed goal of 250 orders with the order cancellation rate matching the ordering rate.

Thanks again for your support, I’m sorry we didn’t see it happen.”

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Original Post

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As you may remember, on March 2 I told you here about the ISO-unlocker for the X-T1, a “fully machined aircraft grade aluminum cover for your X-T1′s ISO dial. It keeps the dial lock button held down so that you can more quickly change your ISO setting on the fly“.

The news quickly spread around the web, as many considered it a useful accessory in order to improve the ergonomics of the X-T1.

At the ISO-unlocker site we could read that “designs for the ISO Unlocker are finished and prototypes are on the way but we need your help to make ISO Unlocker a reality.” So they needed 250 pre-orders in order to make this accessory become reality.

Just a couple of days ago I stopped again at the ISO-unlocker site and saw that it got 92% of the requested pre-orders. So the goal was almost reached but…

…but was it all just scam? In fact, if you now click on the isounlocker site here, you’ll see that the website no longer works. According to the anonymous FR-reader who passed me this news, the “owner is not responding to emails. Pending PayPal refund request.” [UPATE: Other FR-readers received an email with the text published in the first part of this article]

I’ll keep you posted in case I get some news about it. And if you got some more information, please contact FR at fujirumor [at] gmail.com.

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Travel-X: 700 days + 54 countries with the X-PRO1 + 18mm: “The Fuji hasn’t skipped a beat with all weather conditions”

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I’ve reported about the story of Nate, who’s travelling non-stop around the world with just one lens 18mm and one camera (X-PRO1) here. Well, it’s more than 700 days now that Nate is on the road and his blog (yomadic.com) is full of impressions and images of his endless travel. Today I’m glad to post a reminder to his blog and to share Nate’s feedback about the X-PRO1 as a travel camera… after 700 days of travel and 54 visited countries. Nate wrote:

“Hey Patrick,

Thought I would contact you again – I have now been travelling for 700 days, with my Fuji X-Pro, and just an 18mm lens. My latest set of photos show some great “ruin-porn” from Sarajevo – the abandoned Bobsled track from the 1984 Winter Olympics. I’ve now visited 54 countries, and all weather conditions, and the Fuji has not skipped a beat.

Feel free to share some of these photos, and report to your readers the incredible reliability of the X-Pro 1 …I don’t even have a case, and I never carry an umbrella ;)

Take care, eagerly awaiting all news on the X Pro 2

http://www.yomadic.com/sarajevo-bobsled-track/ Nate Robert

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New firmware for X-T1, X-E2, X-PRO1, X-E1 adds 18-135 compatibility and more. XQ1, X-A1 and X-M1 get direct Instax Printer support

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photo ttt_zps5e830ba8.jpg

It’s Kaizen again!  Today you can download the new firmware for X-T1, X-E2, X-PRO1, XQ1, X-A1 and X-M1 from Fuji’s support site here.

X-T1 firmware ver. 1.10

  • 1. Addition of compatibility with “XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR” – To ensure that autofocus performs as expected, upgrade the firmware for the camera.
  • 2. Improvement of “Exposure compensation/exposure indicator” in EVF – Values are added to the scales of the indicator for better visibility.
  • 3. Improvement of Movie-record button operability – To avoid an accidental movie shooting, the delayed time will become longer between the moment you press the button and a movie shooting starts or ends.
  • 4. The phenomenon is fixed that images are not recorded with the set interval when “INTERVAL” in “INTERVAL TIMER SHOOTING” is set to 5 sec or less. In this case, the setting of “IMAGE DISP.” in “SCREEN SET-UP” will change to “OFF” automatically.

X-E2 firmware ver. 2.10

  • 1. Addition of compatibility with “XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR” – To ensure that autofocus performs as expected, upgrade the firmware for the camera.
  • 2. Change of aperture display for zoom lenses – Display of aperture value when zooming with the shutter button pressed halfway will become same as the display when zooming without the shutter button pressed.

X-PRO1 firmware ver. 3.30

  • 1. Addition of compatibility with “XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR” – To ensure that autofocus performs as expected, upgrade the firmware for the camera.
  • 2. Change of aperture display for zoom lenses – Display of aperture value when zooming with the shutter button pressed halfway will become same as the display when zooming without the shutter button pressed.

X-E1 firmware ver.2.30

  • 1. Addition of compatibility with “XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR” – To ensure that autofocus performs as expected, upgrade the firmware for the camera.
  • 2. Change of aperture display for zoom lenses – Display of aperture value when zooming with the shutter button pressed halfway will become same as the display when zooming without the shutter button pressed.

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Some fixes and improvements also for the X-M1, X-A1 and XQ1. And if you own the [shoplink 23847]Instax Share SP-1 printer[/shoplink], you can now send images directly via WiFi to this little printer without having to send it first to your iPhone. If you own the best sellers in the X-lineup, X-T1 and the X-E2, then you still have to continue to upload your images to your smartphone first and from there send it to the printer.

X-M1 ver. 1.20 / X-A1 ver. 1.20

  • 1. Addition of compatibility with “instax SHARE SP-1” – Images can be directly transferred to the “SP-1” from a camera and then printed.
  • 2. Addition of compatibility with “XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR” – To ensure that autofocus performs as expected, upgrade the firmware for the camera.
  • 3. Change of aperture display for zoom lenses – Display of aperture value when zooming with the shutter button pressed halfway will become same as the display when zooming without the shutter button pressed.
  • 4. Improvement of recorded sound – Sound quality of a movie shooting is improved.
  • 5. The phenomenon is fixed that in rare cases, gray stripes could appear in highlight portion of images with a standard viewer of a smartphone (only Android).

XQ1 ver. 1.20

  • 1. Addition of compatibility with “instax SHARE SP-1” – Images can be directly transferred to the “SP-1” from a camera and then printed.
  • 2. The phenomenon is fixed that in rare cases, a camera could stop working during image transfer when starting “PC AutoSave” function by pressing the Wi-Fi button.

And now, lucky XQ1, X-A1 and X-M1 shooters, download the firmware at Fuji’s download site here (X-M1 / X-A1 / XQ1)

Instax Share SP-1 printer: [shopcountry 23847]

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