tz Santos’ camera strap + Paul’s X-PRO1 musings

tz Santos (website)

Hi Patrick!

A months ago i bough a keychain that i improvised to be a camera strap, last week, i decided to buy the lanyard version of the strap, is the same but longer… today i saw through facebook that the company developed a real camera strap from the same concept.

here is my improvised one.

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and here is the one they created.

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It costs only 10€ and i can assure by my improvised one that is is great!

heres the link to the online store and facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Original-Lanyards/171714706197728 / www.originallanyards.com

Have a great week!!

tz Santos

[Patrick: and what camera strap do you use?]

tz Santos (website)

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Paul

Hi Patrick

Love the site, and all the great info you put up !

Here’s some X Pro 1 musings,  info, and pictures to illustrate – feel free to use any or all of it…

Fuji’s X Pro 1 – some thoughts from a Professional user.

Much has been written about this great camera, which has many foibles, but Fuji’s firmware upgrades seem to be sorting them out gradually.

I love it’s style, weight, low light capabilities, very quiet shutter, image quality etc. but from my personal perspective as a professional photographer I wouldn’t be able to stop using my Canon SLR’s, as there’s too many situations where the Fuji wouldn’t cope – but it’s a perfect compliment to the Canons, and goes everywhere with me.

Here’s a few specifics I’d love to see amended with future Firmware upgrades.

– Flash firing in continuous shooting mode –  that’d be a useful function, and there’s times you don’t mind if it doesn’t fire, as there’s then the option of available light too.

– File numbering and playback in continuous shooting mode – I’m baffled as to why the file number prefix changes from DSCF in single shot, to SOO for pictures shot in continuous mode – which  then appear at the end of the image set when downloaded and viewed on screen.

Also, in playback, on the camera, the sequence of continuous photo’s appears in a small sub window, and to view the burst, you have to use the down arrow to look at the pictures !

– Pictures can’t be deleted in playback mode when either the + or –  zoom buttons have been pressed – you have to return the image back to it’s original size first.

– Autofocus in low light still isn’t great, even after the latest Firmware upgrade. I was at a gig in a dimly lit pub and it often failed – that said, I was then at a festival shooting under stage lighting and it produced superb results !!

– In OVF mode with the 55-200 lens, the view finder only shows  framelines up to about half the lens’s focal length – not an issue in EVF though !

– Following on from previous posts regarding batteries – always carry a spare – they do die SUDDENLY !

There’s some hardware ‘issues’ that’d be great to see sorted

– No built in eyepiece correction – I had to buy screw in Diopter correction lens – my Canon G9 has it, as does a forty year old Russian FED 4 rangefinder !!

– The battery charger shows a green light whilst charging, which goes out when fully charged – why not have red or orange when charging, followed by green when fully charged ??

And here’s some practical notes about grips, cases, and lens adaptors, that I’ve bought to go with the camera.

Grip – via Ebay
[shoplink 15967 ebay]Metal Quick Release Plate Camera Handle Fuji X-PRO1 Tripod Ballhead[/shoplink] £48.00 via ebay UK

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To my mind it’s better designed, and more useful for larger hands like mine – I bought a Fuji grip, and took it back, as for me, it was too small !!

You can also access the battery and memory card without removing the grip from camera – unlike Fuji’s version, and there’s  also a tripod screw under lens axis too, as per Fuji’s own version.

It’s also designed for mounting to AS interface ball heads on tripods, and comes with a piece on the side for upright mounting – which is removable.

[shoplink 15968 ebay]Canon FD lens to X Pro adaptor[/shoplink] – £24.00 via ebay UK

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I bought this to use my 30yr old [shoplink 15969 ebay]Canon FD 100mm f2.8 lens[/shoplink], that now fits perfectly on the X Pro 1 with this well made adaptor, and has manual aperture control too, with a stop down control, so now have a 100mm manual focus lens, that with my set of extension tubes, also offers a macro facility too !

Camera case – £20.00 via Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Leather-Fujifilm-X-Pro1-Camera/dp/B008GNM1Y6/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1372162143&sr=8-7&keywords=Fuji+x+pro+1+case

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This is a copy of Fuji’s own [admin: the original Fujifilm X-PRO 1 Leather Case can be found [shoplink 15970]here at Amazon[/shoplink] or [shoplink 15970 ebay]here at eBay[/shoplink]], operates the same way, and comes complete with a strap and lenshood case.

As it’s a lot cheaper than Fuji’s own brand item, there’s not the worry about damage either.

I use the bottom half of the case for holidays – and the grip for day to day use.

www.sherwood.ie – check out my website !
http://paulsherwood.blogspot.com – For regular updates of my work.

Press, PR, Social, Corporate, Commercial, Conferences, Golf Days, Editorial, Weddings, Awards Ceremonies, Graduations, Interiors & Food Photography…and more…

Regards

Paul Sherwood
Photographer

Member
– Press Photographers Assoc. of Ireland
– National Union of Journalists
– Dun Laoghaire Chamber of Commerce
– British Irish Chamber of Commerce
– Irish Professional Photographers Assoc. (1996-2013)
Linked-In Paul Sherwood Photography
Facebook – Paul Sherwood Photography
Twitter – paulsherphoto

Iridient Developer 2.3.1 update with X-E2 and XQ1 support

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Brian just released Iridient Developer 2.3.1 with official support for the new Fujifilm X-E2 and XQ1 models! This release also includes a bug fix for the handling of a couple of the auto dynamic range modes for the X20.

The new version can be downloaded here:
http://www.iridientdigital.com/products/rawdeveloper_download.html

The full release notes for this and all previous version are available here:
http://www.iridientdigital.com/products/rawdeveloper_history.html

cheers
Patrick (google+, facebook and twitter)

Zeiss Touit 50mm f/2.8 for Fuji coming November 8!

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The Zeiss Touit Trinity for Fuji X-mount will soon be complete. After the [shoplink 13645]12mm[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 13646]32mm[/shoplink] there will be soon also the 50mm f/2.8. BHphoto estimated availability is November 8th! Check it here.

Pre-order

In case you’re interested in the X-E2 / XQ1 (or other gear), feel free to purchase it using the links on Fujirumors. This blog will get a small commission and it won’t cost you extra money. It’s a great support for FR, and thanks a lot to those who used FR-links in the past to buy their gear. It keeps this site ticking over.

X-E2 – USA: AmazonUS / BHphoto / AdoramaDigitalRev / Pictureline / EUROPE: wexphotographicUK / DigitalRev / Fotomundus24 GER / PCHstore /

XQ1 – USA: AmazonUS / BHphoto / AdoramaDigitalRev / EUROPE: wexphotographicUK / DigitalRev / PCHstore /

 

cheers
Patrick

Kaizen-spirit (X100 firmware): “Fuji is the only one doing it. I’d love this to be industry standard”

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Three years have passed since the X100 was announced at the photokina 2010 (and, as you know, three years are a long time in the this business). Now, I don’t think that many X100 photographers expected such a major improvement for their camera after all these years.

But Fujifilm did it. The company invested time, effort and money to give your classic X100 a fresh, new software look. The camera is now significantly better than before.

diyphotography said here: “So why would a company release an update that is not going to generate any sales or hold users from moving to another system? If anything this update might slow down the move to Fuji’s X100s. They do it because they care about their customers. […] Fuji is the only one doing it. I would love this to be industry standard. Release new features on old cameras. I really can’t see why this would be too hard on camera makers. […] It is not enough because the camera can do more. This is just my wild guess here, and since the X100 is not firmware broken yet, we can’t really tell. But I think it is not pushed to the limits yet. […]”

Another feedback of long time X100 photographer Luke Bhothipiti can be read over here at Craig Litten’s website: “WHOA.  Manual focus WORKS now.  Like. . . it WORKS. […] However, all is not well with 2.0 as now the meter that was so fantastic before is now a little dodgy.  Shooting from the hip in aperture priority, I found that the camera was dramatically underexposing the images in bright scenes, regardless of which metering mode I was in.”

I’ve already shared the AF comparison firmware 1.30 vs 2.00 here. Many of you were enthusiastic about the new firmware, other still have some firmware wishes for the future. So, given Fuji’s Kaizen spirit (listen to feedback of customers and continuously improve its products through firmware updates), why shouldn’t we ask for more?

Now you know it, Fuji is listening. So don’t hesitate to extend the “TO DO” list in the comments! ;-)

Here is some feedback from the previous comments about the X100 firmware.

DONE

– “AF in low light seems much improved. MF works waaaay better, and the peaking is nice. General operation feels faster. I’m super pleased.”
– “The turn-on process is improved also, but it is not as impressive as the Af performance.”
– “Seems that the focus ring sensitivity was also improved. Chapeau!”
– “Manual focus actually works now! You don’t have to strain your arm turning the focus ring anymore!”
– “I have to say this is a spectacular improvement!”
– “So hats off to the team at Fujifilm, this is an amazing update! My X100 just got about 50% better and just feels faster overall. Thank you very much!!!”
– “New life for that little guy.”

TO DO

– “[…] the Q function […] (for the 3.0 version :-D ).”
– “Perhaps a “final”update with red focus peaking?”
– “Unfortunately, with all the nice things in FW 2.00 there also is a rather severe bug that renders manual focus highly unreliable, for detailed description see for example here (focus shift issue at fujix-series)”

PRE-ORDERS

by purchasing your camera using the link below, you’ll support Fujirumors. You won’t pay a single penny more for your camera, but a small commision goes to FR. It’s big help for the site and keeps it ticking over. Thanks for your support.

X-E2 – USA: AmazonUS / BHphoto / AdoramaDigitalRev / Pictureline / EUROPE: wexphotographicUK / DigitalRev / Fotomundus24 GER / PCHstore /

XQ1 – USA: AmazonUS / BHphoto / AdoramaDigitalRev / EUROPE: wexphotographicUK / DigitalRev / PCHstore /

 

cheers

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PDAF & LMO Lens Firmware Updates Coming in November

 

 

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by Rico Pfirstinger

Talk to Rico (open forum for questions & feedback)Rico’s Flickr sets – X-E2 Sample Images SetX-E2 Tracking AF Samples (private set, must use this link) – X-E2 Lens Modulation Optimizer (LMO) Examples (private set, must use this link) – XQ1 Sample Images Set – Mastering the Fujifilm X-Pro1 reading samples (65 free pages) – Order my NEW book (print or DRM-free eBook/PDF): Mastering the Fujifilm X-E1 and X-Pro1 (use code FUJISAVES30 to save 30%!)

Good news from Tokyo: Fujifilm has been expediting  their efforts to provide lens firmware updates in order to fully support the new X-E2 with its PDAF/CDAF hybrid autofocus system and lens modulation optimizer. Click here to learn more about these features and read my First Look on the X-E2.

Here’s the plan:

On November 7, Fuji hopes to roll out PDAF and LMO firmware updates to the following lenses:

  • XF14mmF2,8 R (V. 3.10)
  • XF35mmF1.4 R (V. 3.10)
  • XF60mmF2.4 R Macro (V. 3.10)
  • XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS (V. 3.10)
  • XF55-200mmF3.5-4.8 R LM OIS (V. 3.10)
  • XC16-50mmF3.5-5.6 OIS (V. 1.10, PDAF update only, no LMO support)

By the end of November, Fuji plans to offer updates to the remaining XF lenses:

  • XF18mmF2 R (V. 3.10)
  • XF27mmF2.8 (V. 1.10)

The XF23mmF1.4 R supports PDAF and LMO out of the box with firmware 1.00, so no update is required.

The new XC50-230mmF4.5-6.7 OIS supports PDAF out of the box, too (firmware 1.00). However, there will be no LMO support for XC lenses.

X-E2 kits sold with the XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS kit zoom include lenses that have already been updated to firmware 3.10.

Of course, all future Fujinon XF lenses will automatically come with full PDAF and LMO support, and future XC lenses will support the PDAF.

Still no word if or when Zeiss will offer PDAF and/or LMO support for their Touit lenses.

Please note that these dates are semi-official, so they may still change. As usual, you heard it here first.

By the way, the tiny XQ1 contains an LMO, as well, and I’ve spent a few hours earlier today taking a bunch of sample images. Click here to access the sample set on Flickr.

For your convenience, here’s a TOC with links to my previous X-PERT CORNER articles:

Rico Pfirstinger studied communications and has been working as journalist, publicist, and photographer since the mid-80s. He has written a number of books on topics as diverse as Adobe PageMaker and sled dogs, and produced a beautiful book of photographs titled Huskies in Action (German version). He has spent time working as the head of a department with the German Burda-Publishing Company and served as chief editor for a winter sports website. After eight years as a freelance film critic and entertainment writer in Los Angeles, Rico now lives in Germany and devotes his time to digital photography and compact camera systems. His book “Mastering the FUJIFILM X-Pro1” (Kindle Edition) (Apple iBook Store) (German version) is available on Amazon and offers a plethora of tips, secrets and background information on successfully using Fuji’s X-Pro1 and X-E1 system cameras, lenses and key accessories.