The Fujifilm X-T2 is available at eBayUS via Top rated and authorized Fuji Seller Kenmorecamara here. There is also still one left at AmazonUS (via third party seller Focus Camera – official Fuji Seller).
Moreover, I’ve heard from a FR-reader, that Adorama received some X-T2 boxes. They are now in the warehouse and Adorama should ship them today or tomorrow.
So here I am… after a long, very long day, at Photokina.
As a mere mortal visitor, I sadly couldn’t visit the Fujifilm backstage… that’s where the real fun is. I could only stare at the Medium Format Fuji closed in a glass box. I couldn’t touch it, I couldn’t test the AF, I couldn’t look through the viewfinder, I couldn’t hold that wonderful baby in my hands. This is a privilege reserved to the press like our fellow FXF admin Andreas (see here), or others (see this post).
I really just attended the event as a mere mortal visitor… invisible… like… like… a stealthy ninja ;)
But I have “met” quite some “famous” people we all know from the internet. And I must say, I really did appreciate the fact to be be 100% anonymous.
At the end, I joined a Fujifilm Photowalk, and it was the most relaxing way to close an intense day. Hanging out with fellow X-shooter taking some shots… probably the very best part of the day… and it’s a pity I had too leave earlier.
At the Photowalk, there was one guy, who had the X-T2 with the 56mmF1.2 attached. When a runner passed along, he shot a burst @1.2. We checked the images, and no joke, 100% of the images where in focus!!! I tell you… whatever Fuji did with the X-T2, it really can compete with THE BEST DSLR’s.
I’ll let you just with some random impressions from my day… I’m going to grab a beer soon, to share with a student, who passed an important test ;)
take care fellow X-shooters,
Patrick
P.S.: I asked Metz about their new M400 flash. They Rep told me they do not know for sure if their current protocols work with the X-T2. The flash will be available shortly after Photokina for €250. And if it doesn’t work for X-T2, they will work for a firmware fix, which should take no longer than a few weeks.
Yesterday, a facebook follower shared the image you can see at the top in this facebook post. He asked me some information about the lens. I told him that the XF 18-135 (the first weather sealed lens in the Fuji lens line-up) could come in June and asked him what’s the source of the image.
I obviously made immediately a screenshot of the leaked image. So, although the follower deleted the image just a minute after he posted it, I was fast enough to copy it for you.
The image shows the size of the XF18-135 f/3.6-5.6 compared to the [shoplink 20414]XF 10-24[/shoplink].
And here is the still unofficial roadmap of Fujifilm
After his EVF comaparison X-E1 vs X-E2 here (where Randall shows us the amazing, lag-free performance of the X-E2’s EVF), now he also shared his initial impressions and thoughts about the X-E2 on his blog here.
“I will reserve any comments about image quality till after I run it through a proper shoot but all-in-all, I’m happy and welcome all the improvements implemented on the X-E2. Physically, it looks like the same camera, but only after using it will you realize the differences and improvements are significant.”
Pre-order (and Support Fujirumors)
If you think the X-E2 is the camera that meets your needs and you want to pre-order it, feel free to use one of the links below. FR will get a small commission and it won’t cost you one single penny extra. Thanks in advance for every FR-reader who places his pre-order via Fujirumors. It’s a great help to keep the site ticking over.
[I’ve already share Fuji’s X-E2 high-res samples at Fuji’s website here (and XQ1here). For the X-E2 Brochure click here and here is the features page. The Brochure says that the X-E2 (AF-speed 0,08 sec.) has the fastest AF speed among digital cameras equipped with a 4/3-inch or larger sensor. Measurement conducted by Fujifilm research based on CIPA guidelines using the X-E2 equipped with [shoplink 12888]XF14mmF2.8 R lens[/shoplink] in High Performance mode as of September 2013.]
_ _ _
It seems that for Riley Joseph, the X-PRO1 isn’t Fuji’s flagship anymore! It has become the back-up camera of the X-E2. Why? You can read it here:
“The X-E2 inherits the X-Trans II sensor and the phase & contrast auto focus from the X100S. In using the camera I found the auto focus to be very accurate and snappy. Definitely better than my X-Pro1. And that is not even using the phase detection because my lenses do not have the required firmware updates for the camera. […] And in another suprise (to myself especially) the X-Pro1 will become the backup to the X-E2. At least until the X-Pro2 turns up.”
You can find one more first impressions article at KaleJF here. And check out also Rico’s first look (with more then 200 comments) here (for Rico’s XQ1 Flickr set click here).
How to support Fujirumors
Here is how you can support Fujirumors: if you think the X-E2 is the camera that meets your needs and you want to pre-order it, consider to use one of the links below. FR will get a small commission and it won’t cost you one single penny extra. Thanks in advance for every FR-reader who places his pre-order via Fujirumors. It’s a great help to keep the site ticking over.
“There is certainly now much more foliage detail, colour rendition is excellent and as you can see with the last 100% blowup ISO 6400 with some noise reduction added in Photoshop is simply spectacular… it does seem that finally we can see the potential of the raw files from this sensor, in an efficient and familiar workflow.”
“The raw conversion engine no longer suffers from the dreaded water-colour effect and is as good if not better than Capture One, and pretty much on par with the Fuji Jpegs. Where as previously any amount of sharpening would cause the raw files to fall apart, now you can sharpen away. Adobe have done a great job…”
“I’m please to inform everyone that the dreaded watercolour, or colour smearing issue has been abated in this version which is very welcome… Although details are still not as good as some of the other RAW processors that I’ve thrown at it, it is improved over the previous versions. One of the more notable details is in the shadow details. LR4.3 lost a lot of micro details in the darker or shadier areas. LR4.4RC improves that dramatically. But as you can see, the Capture One details are still surpassing what both default settings are putting out in this case… Is it perfect? No it isn’t, but its improvements are dramatic“
Rico Pfirstinger updated his RAW converter comparison with two samples that were processed with Lightroom 4.4RC. Click here, read the article, and see the images.
There is also the first dpreview test: “In the ACR 7.3 rendering, the foliage takes on a distinct ‘watercolor’ appearance, and the white text of the sign is ‘filled-in’ green. As you can see, the new processing approach in ACR 7.4 RC offers substantial improvements in both areas.” (thx MJr)
Lightroom 4.4 Release Candidate and Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 7.4 include a correction to the demosaic algorithms for Fujifilm cameras with the X-Trans sensor. This specifically impacts the following cameras:
I know you are all waiting for the Lightroom 4.4 release candidate. In response to the comments here, my source didn’t confuse the C1-express 7 version with the LR 4.4 RC. It’s just, I should have been more precise: it should be released Monday in the USA, and Tuesday in Europe (obviously because of the time difference).
dpreview (click here): “A stripped-down version of Capture One Pro, Capture One Express 7 gains features including HDR processing, lens correction and a new digital asset management tool. Express doesn’t support tethered shooting, but images can be viewed remotely and wirelessly using either the Capture Pilot iOS app or a web browser on other devices.” thanks again, MJr.
A trusted source told me that on Monday Adobe should release Lightroom 4.4 RC with better support for X-TRANS RAF-files! Let’s hope that Adobe finally unlocked the potential of the X-Trans-files.
