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

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 interface… fantastic! 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 images… phenomenal. 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

On December 18th, Fujfilm announced the new handgrips for the FUJIFILM X-Pro1 and X-E1 / X-E2, giving enhanced performance when using a tripod. Now, one month later, you can finally pre-order it at AmazonUS here.

thx for telling, 2daloo.

Product description:

(1) High quality X Series design

Maintaining the quality associated with X Series cameras, the new hand grip bases are milled from aluminum block with the grip designed to integrate perfectly with the camera, to deliver firm grip whilst keeping a stylish silhouette.

(2) Optimum balance that allows sufficient clearance from the camera body base when the camera is tripod mounted with a large-diameter lens

The new hand grips allow an additional 8mm clearance from the camera body base to prevent large-diameter lenses such as the XF23mm and XF55-200mm from interfering with the tripod head.

(3) Allows battery and memory card access without removing the grip

The MHG-XPRO and MHG-XE hand grips are designed specifically to allow users to open the camera’s battery cover for speedy access to the battery or memory card even while the grip is mounted on a tripod.

(4) Enhanced operability with a tripod

The hand grips have a tripod-mounting screw hole positioned so that the rotation axis of the tripod is aligned with the optical axis of the lens to enable panning and framing free of rotation displacement. The base part also features a 38mm-wide protrusion that acts as a quick-release dovetail plate for use with a dovetail tripod mount.

Here is what Fujfilm Middle East teased in the last few days. It looks like a mix between Hall 9000 and Wall-E’s girlfriend and it’s called X-Robot. All we know until now is written at Fujfilm Middle East facebook page:

“X-Robot has finally arrived!! Just in time to help photographers elevate their visuals. With tips and tricks that he has picked up in his adventures, X-Robot will bring all his knowledge into the service of photographers of all competency levels. Watch this space for more X-Robot!”

I still prefer Rico’s book “Mastering the X-PRO1 and X-E1” to elevate my photography skills.

And now lemme focus again on the X-T1.

cheers,
Patrick – facebook, google+ and twitter