FR-reader feedback: eXperience tour with Al Pacino ;) + follow Fujirumors on April 17th

With the launch of the 55-200 on April 17th we will finally know the price, the specs, read the first reviews and be very likely able to preorder it the same day (or the day after – the lens will be shipped on May, according to Fuji).

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But now I’m glad to keep a promise :). FR-reader Francesco sent me his feedback about the eXperience tour and told me that they saw Al Pacino walking through the streets of Rome. I couldn’t believe it, and told him that if he sent me an image, I’d post it on Fujirumors. Now, he did. Here is Al Pacino captured through the eye of the X100S! Btw, he liked the eXperience tour a lot. Here is his feedback: (for those interested to participate, click here to know more – Italy only)

“Hi, just a quick feedback from the fuji eXperience tour in Rome. It has been a really nice experience, with the two “riflessifotografici” guys (Max & Donato) which are often featured on FR and some helpful fuji staff. There were x-pro1, x-e1 and x100s for testing, with many lenses. I only tried the x100s so I didn’t notice if there was some other camera (x20?) [admin’s note: I’ve asked the riflessifotografici-guys. They told me that there were a lot of X20, but they were snapped up like hot cakes!!!]. Fuji had picked a very nice location, with a lovely model for trying portraiture and in a wonderful place in Rome (Trastevere) for street photography.Furthermore, we found that Al (Pacino) had decided to take a stroll in Trastevere just right when we were snapping. So, a funny day. I recommend to everybody who is interested in the X system to try to attend to this kind of events.

My (very) first impressions: moiré is extremely well controlled, auto WB works great, write speed of SD cards can be an issue (mine was definitely too slow) and parallax can be tricky. I have shot jpeg + raw, I will try what LR 4.4 is really going to do for me.
After this hands-on test, I think that I will get an x100s :-)

Thanks for your site and keep up the good work!”

And here is Al Pacino!

 

Fuji X100S: [shopcountry 10075] Fuji X20: [shopcountry 10267]

jpg straight out of camera

Francesco told me this shots reminds him the Beatles… True!
al pacino1 photo 20130414_AlP_2_zps63fe206f.jpg
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and here is Donato’s shot (riflessifotografici)

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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

bike photo dscf0281_zpsd0079358.jpg

Poll: Vote the future lens you want from Fuji!

A couple of weeks ago I asked the Fujirumors reader to send me their wishlist for future X mount lenses. We know the official Fuji X roadmap (see image on top) But what exactly should come after it?

I summed up your suggestions and tried to group them in a way that it makes sense. Please note that your dream lens may not be on the list, but you can always vote what’s similar to it. The poll may will give us and Fuji the idea what kind of lens is needed:

Should the lens be faster (and therefore bigger) than the current F2?

View Results

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miXed zone: a little bit of everything

– “Following the recent public release of Adobe Camera Raw 7.4, we’ve updated our studio comparison database with new raw conversions of files from the Fujifilm X-Pro 1, X-E1 and X100S. We’ve been using the release candidate version of ACR 7.4 for some time, which contained significant improvements to Adobe’s treatment of files from Fujifilm’s X-TRANS sensors. The official public release version of ACR 7.4 brings some further (very minor) tweaks.” Check it out at dpreview here.

– I already told you months ago about the Kage Collective: “The KAGE COLLECTIVE is an international group of independent photographers focused on visual storytelling, essays and documentary projects… Our body of work is exclusively captured using Fujifilm X-Series cameras. We have chosen this system as a common baseline for its impressive image qualities, its soul and its stealth.” Just look at the results here!

– The question is, “Fuji – just another camera company?” Interesting article of Dave Kai-Piper. Check it out here!

image courtesy: Dave Kai-Piper

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X100S

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– Brian sent me his review called “The Fuji X100s – The New York test. (If it can make it here, yadda yadda yadda).” via twitter. There is an “unscientific” comparison between the following cameras: The X-E1 (“I had a love/hate relationship with the X-E1 […] But hated the electronic viewfinder.” The AF was sluggish, so he borrowed the OM-D EM5 (“I had the opposite experience with the Olympus. The autofocus was so freaking fast, it practically locked in before I even thought about taking a picture. But I didn’t like the ergonomics of the camera“). His next camera was the Sony Whatever It’s Called (“I picked it up at B&H Photo. I hated it. I put it back down and walked away“). He then took the X100 and finally the X100S (“I’m still not sure the AF is quite as fast as the Olympus, but we’re talking milliseconds difference. This camera (the X100s) just makes you want to go out and make pictures. I’m antsy to go out again tomorrow. It’s a joy to use.). Read the whole post, and see his shots, here at walkamileinmyunderpants.

image courtesy: walkamileinmyunderpants

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–  “Retro Design Meets Modern Technology“. In case you are interested in ratings, the X100S gains 4.5 out of 5 stars at the digitalcamerareview. Class leading image quality, fast autofocus, leaf shutter lets you sync flashes at a super high speed are just a few of the reasons for this high rating. But there are some quirks. So, the flash has some seriously weak game, lens cap is easy to come off and focusing in low light can be frustrating. But check it out by yourself here.

– FR-reader Mike posted Valis’ review in the comments. I checked it, and appreciated it. Read it here. “Overall, I do like this small camera A LOT ! According to all those reasons above and also to the good images it will motivate to take. I said “motivate”, not “help”. I’d love that those of you reading such reviews understand that NO camera, no matter how good it is and appreciated by other photographers would help you taking great images. The photographers themselves are responsible for this matter. And that means studying, experimenting and most important the LOVE for this beautiful form of art called PHOTOGRAPHY!

X20

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– X20 video review at digitalcameraworld (click here).

– mingthein has to make a choice: buy the [shoplink 8820]Nikon Coolpix A[/shoplink] or the Fuji X20 to replace the [shoplink 10254]RX100[/shoplink] ? “Quick first thoughts – Nikon Coolpix A and Fuji Finepix X20“. Read here.

“[…] The X20 has the weakest image quality by some margin and is neearly as large as an OM-D, but it’s also the most fun to use, has a built in optical finder, mechanical zoom, a mechanical exposure compensation dial, and the fastest and most accurate focusing. The Coolpix A leads the pack on image quality and UI, but lags on focus speed and VR/IS. I think the dissonance comes from what I think I want (small, fast prime, high IQ, fast AF, optical finder) vs. what I actually tend to use (small, flexible lens range, taking my time to frame and shoot precisely using the LCD, high IQ). Honestly, perhaps the trouble is I like them both – but for different reasons. My heart says ‘buy both’, my wallet says ‘pick one’. Choices, choices…MT”

X-E1

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– “Now that Adobe have (for the most part) sorted out their issues with the Raw conversion of images using Fuji’s X-Trans sensors, I decided to bite the bullet and step back into the fuji ring. Since selling my X-Pro1, I’ve missed the wonderful colours that Fuji cameras produce.” Read more and see Dublin in Fuicolour here.

– And here is the X-E1 camerastuff-review. “The Fujifilm X-E1 is a beautiful, solid and easy to use camera with high image quality. In terms of resolution, dynamic range and signal to noise ratio, this camera equals a professional SLR camera with a full frame sensor. It is an ideal camera for travel photography or street photography. Your presence will be much less obtrusive than with a professional SLR camera. But the image quality will be of the same high level. The image quality of the jpg files is so good, that for almost every photographer there’s no real need to shoot in RAW. The Fujifilm X-E1 is a camera that gives you the fun in photography and lets you forget all the technology that comes with it.” They tested also the [shoplink 10276]Fujinon XF60mm[/shoplink] here and the zoom lens review [shoplink 10279]XF 18-55mm[/shoplink] can be read here.

X-PRO1

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-Testing a [shoplink 10291]nikon adapter[/shoplink] with the X-PRO1 at laroquephoto (click here).

– After two weeks with the X-PRO1, fadedandblurred says: “Look, I could go on and on about how incredible this camera is on paper, and while things like pixel density, dynamic range and the ISO vs noise graph are important to digital photography, they aren’t very important to photography, which is what this was all about for me in the first place; to find a tool that would help me to reconnect to the process of seeing and making pictures. The X-Pro1 is definitely not the camera for everyone. It doesn’t look, feel or behave like the DSLR you are probably used to, but, for me, that’s exactly what I was looking for.” Read the whole review here.