Zeiss X-mount lenses: samples, specs and new name “Touit”

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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

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Tested: X20 review at dpreview

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If you have some spare time, you could use it to read the comprehensive X20 review over here at dpreview. The X20 has an overall score of 77%. For a quick overview, read the PROS and CONS here:

“The Fujifilm X20 is a true enthusiast’s compact, with solid build quality, a fast lens, unique optical viewfinder, and sharp, high resolution photos. It offers a wide selection of manual controls, easily adjustable settings (thanks to twin control dials, the Fn button, and Quick Menu), and 1080/60p video recording. Downsides include a mediocre, hard-to-access movie mode and sub-par battery life. Good for: Enthusiasts and low light shooters who want a compact camera with high-end build quality and features. Not so good for: Users who want to get a full day of shooting out of one battery. Movie enthusiasts.”

Fuji X20: [shopcountry 10267]

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XF 55-200 first look by Tony Bridge

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image courtesy: Tony Bridge (Fujifilm X-E1, Fujinon 55-200mm)

It’s autumn in New Zeland, and Tony Bridge went with his pre-production 55-200 to his favorite place to take some pictures in the dawn. Read the in field test of Tony Bridge at his website here. I’ll post just a short extract:

“Fitted to either an X-Pro 1 or X-E1, it sits nicely in the hand and balances well, and the fit and finish is Fuji-superb […] The stabilisation really works, and I found myself able to handhold at 1/50 second in damp and unpleasant circumstances. […] The scene I photographed is rich in micro-detail, including power pylons, farmhouses, trees of various species and fine lines from intense agriculture. They are guaranteed to test any lens, and I wondered if the lens would deliver what I was the asking of it. It did. […] the lens is sharp right out to the corners, and contains a remarkable sense of three-dimensionality. The files required little or no sharpening, and micro-detail requires little or no extra work. If anything the lens is a little too sharp, and I found myself applying softening in places to create a greater sense of distance-reality. Colouration too seems a little on the cool side, but it is particularly responsive to reds and yellows. […] I was more interested in how the lens would cope in the field, how it would resolve detail, its flare and contrast characteristics, and above all whether it had that indefinable X factor, that sense of character and colour and light and space which marks a truly great lens. It has all of them. In spades.”

Preoder the lens at BHphoto, Adorama or DigitalRev.
Check the in stock status in your country: [shopcountry 10575]

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Fuji’s idea of Kaizen, or why Fuji frequently releases firmware updates

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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

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