X-E1 bug found

In short: A Fujirumors follower wrote me an email. He says that: “When shooting in JPG you have the option of choosing the picture format just as with the XPRO1, 3-2 equals 4896×3264.  This is the same if you choose Raw+Fine also, and it works properly with the generated RAW file being 4896×3264. BUT If you choose RAW only, the format changes to RAW and the file size locks at 4896×2760!  The XPRO1 if set the same way is 4896×3264!  There seems to be NO way to change this. This has been very frustrating.”

There is also a dpreview post about it here.

PS.: Another feedback on the X-E1: Alexander startet this blog, fujifilm-x-opinions, because he now owns a X-E1, and although it’s a good camera, there are some irritating quirks that he would like Fuji to improve with updates in future. above all the focus in backlit situations. The AF of camera really struggles with backlight situations. “I have used a Panasonic GF1, G5 and a Sony NEX-7. These cameras all don’t offer lightning fast AF. But I had never experienced that they almost completely refused to focus like the Fujifilm X-E1.”

And thanks James for sharing this information with us.

 

X-PRO1/35mm and kickboxing: sport photography with the X-series

image courtesy: fotoaprendiz.com

We read in different reviews, that the X-PRO1 and X-E1 are great cameras, but if you want to use them for sport photography, then these cameras are not the best for such a purpose.

Now I found a Spanish review on fotoaprendiz.com with a field trial of the X-PRO1 on a kickboxing match. I’ll make just a short translation, or go directly to the translated version here.

A big room, it’s night, bad light conditions and no flash. How will the X-PRO1 handle this? He uses the Fujinon 35mm 1.4. Well, the AF had indeed some problems. So he decided to shot images with the MF to achieve better results, by adjusting the depth of focus. But then another problem arose when he tried to shoot many images in a row: the camera was able to shoot just 8 or 9 images in rapid succession because of the buffer, and the problem was not the SD-card, because he used the Sandisk Extreme Pro SD 16GB (click here), the very best and fastest out there in the market.

Take a look at his shots on flickr (click here) or read the original review here… I’d like him to go on the ring again with the 18-55mm lens, and make this test again.

if you want share your opinions in the comments.

PS.: Well, there was someone else out there that also challenged his X-PRO1, trying to freeze the motion “while not going crazy with a super high ISO and shooting tons of frames“… the set? No kickboxing ring, but a Justin Bieber concert. So, if you want, click the link here and see the images of the concert.

 

 

X-E1: the perfect travel companion? on tour in Copenhagen

image courtesy: www.25daysoff.com

Beautiful, compact, great lenses  and outstanding image quality. The X-E1 could have everything what it takes to become the perfect travel companion. 25daysoff sent me an email, and I’m glad to publish his review.

25daysoff.com made a week end trip to Copenhagen with his X-E1. He likes it to travel light, put the X-E1, the 35mm and 18-55mm lens, 2 spare batteries and a circular polarizer in his leather bag. He wanted to know if this camera is a good travel companion! All in all less than 1 kg. So he starts his trip.

You know, great handling, great images, good built quality. The usability is much, much better than the E-M5.

If you are used to the DSLR, you will notice the differences with the autofocus of a DSLR, and you have to get used to it. “If you try and treat this camera’s focus system like you would a DSLR, you will be disappointed.” And “the contrast detection AF system of this camera is very different to the system that DSLRs use. You really need to understand how CDAF systems work in order to get the most of it. I suggest reading the manual if you don’t already know. Once you know the limitations of the AF system, you can work around them with ease.”

He also made a list of bugs and suggestions. Many of them are also in our X-mas wish list to Fuji (keep on voting the poll at the end of this post… choose three options)

There is more to read. But there are also many images. So look at the sort of background blur you can get with the 35mm and 18-55 lens. He “used the zoom’s optical image stabilisation to shoot this at 2 sec, f/11, ISO 200. Surprised it came out so sharp given the long exposure. I was braced against a wall.” He also “shot in aperture priority mode, and auto ISO chose this stupid minimum shutter speed. The photo could have done with 1/125 – Fuji please let us choose the minimum speed!” And the 35mm is almost perfect (apart from the focus speed). Look at how the zoom renders the out-of-focus areas, how is the bokeh with the zoom lens, at the great job of the OIS and more here!

From the conclusions: “As a street shooting camera, the X-E1 excels mostly thanks to its stealthy appearance. Not a single person noticed or cared what I was doing… For quick landscapes and indoor/static scenes, the zoom is an excellent choice which is sharp across the frame even from the widest aperture… As a portrait camera, the X-E1 coupled with the 35mm f/1.4 lens (53mm equiv) is absolutely outstanding… The reduced size and bulk made a massive difference… The loss of the OVF is not such a big deal because the EVF is very good. I actually prefer the 100% accuracy of the EVF over the loose framelines on the X-Pro 1.”

“Overall though, the camera passed the main test during this trip: I didn’t miss the D800.”

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New M.Angeloni (riflessifotografici) review! X-E1 vs X-PRO1

Fujifilm X-E1 – Fujinon XR 35mm f/1.4 R – 4 sec, f/16, Iso 200

image courtesy: www.riflessifotografici.com

A few days ago I posted the review of the X-PRO1, X-100 and X-10 of riflessifotografici. I have to say that I liked them a lot. So this time I waited for the X-E1 review. And now it’s here, it’s online. (translated version)

Angeloni begins so: You want to know how the image quality of the X-E1 is? You wanna know about the RAW-conversion with adobe? The autofocus? Writing speed? Well, same as X-PRO1, so stop reading, and good bye!

So I continued to read! ;)

Massimiliano Angeloni tested the new X-E1 with the 35mm lens and the 18-55mm zoom lens. And regarding the 18-55 lens, don’t expect over-hasty conclusions, that’s not his style, as you know. He wants to go deep inside the qualities of this lens. Therefore we still have to wait for a study in greater depth of this lens. So be patient, read this (translated) review and wait for more.

Also here the main question is: X-E1 or X-PRO1? Is the smaller size really a PRO of this camera? The smaller size of the body required to rearrange for example the picture review button and the focus-assist light. No problem with the picture review button, but the new position of the focus-assist light isn’t the best. Of course it depends on how you hold your camera, but it’s quite easy to cover this important light with the middle finger of your right hand.

It’s not just a matter of size, of weight, EVF or OVF. It’s a different philosophy. The question is, what kind of photographer you are! So, there is no better or worse choice between X-PRO1 or X-E1. It depends on you. Do you need a compact package [with the future 27mm f2.8 pancake-type lens on Fuji’s road-map] that takes advantage of the potential of the 16 MP X-Trans sensor? Do you need a flash, or the OVF? A small or a (maybe?) more solid camera? It’s up to you.

So, read the review and let’s wait for the 18-55mm review! I’ll keep you up to date.

X-E1 in stock status check: ebay US / ebay Noth America / ebay Europe / Amazon US / Amazon GER / Amazon UK / Adorama /B&H / WexPhotgraphic

Fujifilm X-E1, Fujinon XF 35 f/1.4 R a f/1.4

 

 

Feedback: Lightroom 4.3 and interactive comparison

 

chromasoft

chromasoft wrote about his work with X-Trans files. He makes a deep analyze of the RAW conversion for the Fuji X-trans sensor.

But let’s begin with his first impression about the newest version of Lightroom (4.3). chromasoft.blogspot.it is very disappointed and the whole review consists in one laconic sentence: “In short, same chroma smearing problem as the previous versions. Oh dear. Again(!)”

So his hope when he tested the 4.2 version was not fulfilled: “And no, really, you shouldn’t be blaming Adobe for this. They have limited resources, and you can’t expect Adobe to throw huge amounts of R&D time at solving a problem that Fuji created and have taken no action to resolve.  The situation may yet improve in LR 4.3; the issue may still get to the top of Adobe’s priority list. But don’t count on it.”

But his analyze is very detailed. Here there are the part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4 of his “demosaicing the X-PRO1” tetralogy.

frontallobbings

frontallobbings posted a nice overview of some current options of RAF RAW-conversion. He created an interesting mousover table. Mouse over the links to swap among the others between DCRAW 9.16, Lightroom 4.3, SilkPix Developer Pro 5, In Camera JPG, Raw Photo Processor (RPP 4.7)… He noticed that Lightroom 4.3 has “low amounts of chroma noise, but very heavy detail smearing. Loss of details but no aliasing artifacts. Even at 100% it’s hard to see the ‘Watercolour’ effect if you don’t know what to look for. I suspect a very heavy pre-demosaic median filter and bicubic interpolation algorithm is the cause of the issues. However it’s still one of the easiest to use, and if you can handle some of the image quality loss, most likely won’t notice the detail loss.” DCRAW 9.16: “Gives the highest details, however has aliasing artifacts. Some chroma noise (even after filtering). Command line prompt only. Requires some technical know how. I use VNG interpolation and 15 pass median filtering.” SilkPix Developer Pro 5: “The current version is very clean however does show some chroma smearing. Shows very little chroma noise and no real aliasing errors.” Raw Photo Processor (RPP 4.7): “Utilizes DCRAW and acts as front end. Works very well for details, but aliasing and chroma noise is high.“ Read more in his post here.

qimago.de

Silkypix VS lightroom. Also qimago confirms… silkypix is often better than lightroom. But with silkypix you have to be patient, it’s slow. Lightroom is faster! He dreams of a mix between silkypix and lightroom. Look at the comparison images and read the review here (translated version). You can download the 30 days trial version of silkypix here.