5 new Fuji compact cameras released

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  1. F900EXR (specs & price)
  2. F850EXR (specs & price)
  3. S6800 (specs & price)
  4. S4800 (specs & price)
  5. JX680 (specs & price)

These are the 5 new compact cameras announced by Fujifilm. Here the specs:

FinePix F900EXR

Read the digitalcamerainfo preview

• 16MP ½-inch EXR-CMOS II sensor with Phase Detection and EXR Processor II
• 20x optical zoom (25-500mm*4) with CMOS-shift Image stabilization
• 3.0” LCD screen with wide viewing angle
• EXR-Auto (with auto optimization for 108 different scene permutations)
• Full manual controls
• Intelligent Hybrid AF (World’s Fastest AF of 0.05 seconds*1)
• Start-up time of 1.1 seconds*2
• Interval between shots of 0.5 seconds*2
• RAW shooting (RAW, JPEG, RAW+JPEG image capture modes)
• Wireless Image Transfer to PC, tablets and smartphones
• 11 frames/second*2 (max 5 frames) continuous shooting (at full resolution)
• Advanced Filters
• Motion Panorama 360
• Full HD 1080p Video (60fps)
• Available in black, and indigo blue
• 260 shots*4 per battery charge

FinePix F850EXR

• 16MP ½-inch EXR-CMOS sensor with EXR Processor II
• 20x optical zoom (25-500mm*4) with CMOS-shift Image stabilization
• 3” LCD screen
• EXR-Auto mode (with auto optimisation for 108 different scene permutations)
• Full manual controls
• Fast AF of up to 0.21 seconds*2
• Start-up time of 1.1 seconds*2
• Interval between shots of 0.5 seconds*2
• 9.0 frames/second*2 (max 5 frames) continuous shooting (at full resolution)
• Advanced Filters
• Motion Panorama 360
• Full HD 1080p Video (60fps)
• Eye-Fi Card Compatibility
• Available in black
• 250 shots*2 per battery charge

FinePix S6800

• FUJINON Super zoom Lens (24mm wide-angle to 720mm telephoto lens, f/3.1 to 5.9)

• 16MP 1/2.3” BSI-CMOS sensor
o Autofocus speed of up to 0.3 seconds
o Continuous shooting; 8fps (10frames, full resolution), 60fps  60 frames, image size 1280×960) ,120 fps  (60 frames, image size 640×480)
o Start-up time of 1.0 second
o Shooting interval time of 0.5 seconds
• Optical Image Stabilization (Sensor Shift)
• Full HD movie 1080i/60 fps with stereo sound and slow-motion capture at 480fps
• Bright 3.0-inch LCD screen ( 460K-dot)
• Manual exposure control(P/S/A/M modes)
• Super Macro to 0.78”
• Dual zoom control
• Instant zoom and Zoom Bracketing
• 4×AA alkaline batteries with an approximately 320 shot battery life
• Available in black, white, and red

FinePix S4800

• FUJINON Super zoom lens (24mm wide-angle to 720mm telephoto lens, f/3.1 to 5.9)
• 16MP 1/2.3” CCD sensor
• Optical Image Stabilization (Sensor Shift)
• Scene Recognition Auto with 6 pre-set scenes
• Autofocus in 0.3 seconds*1
• HD Movie 720P/30fps with Video Scene Recognition
• 3” LCD monitor (230k dots)
• Manual exposure control (P/S/A/M modes)
• Instant Zoom
• Mini HDMI output
• 4×AA alkaline batteries with an approx. 320 shot battery life
• Available in Black

FinePix JX680

• 5x FUJINON optical zoom (26-130mm*) with Digital Image Stabilization
• 16MP CCD sensor
• 26mm* wide-angle
• 3.0” LCD screen
• Creative Advanced Filters
• Individual shutter 3D
• Motion Panorama
• Easy to use GUI with large buttons
• 720p HD movie recording with dedicated “Movie Recording Button”
• Advanced video editing features
• Super slim and pocket-friendly (just 20mm*2)
• Battery charging via USB cable

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Interview with Kayce Baker, marketing director at Fujifilm North America

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Here’s what Kayce Baker, director of marketing for professional digital cameras at Fujifilm North America, says in his interesting interview with IR founder and editor-in-chief Dave Etchells.

You’ll find some surprising infos, like the fact that Fuji sells more X-E1 body only versions than the kit with zoom lens. And that they are selling more 35mm prime lenses than all of the X-PRO1 bodies in the market so far.

She also gives some news about Fuji’s roadmap where some lenses are slated for early 2013. “We’re looking at around April to May availability for the 55-200mm, as well as the 27mm pancake. For the 10-24mm and 23mm f/1.4, more towards the end of the year or the beginning of 2014.”

She explains how Fuji worked to improve lens flare on the X100s and also that”… together [X-Trans II and no low-pass filter], those allow a 30% improvement in signal to noise over the previous model, and a 25% increase in resolution.”

And what about Adobe and Apple? “As far as I understand it, we have given each company all the algorithmic information that they need, and which they have requested to be able to make a more powerful and accurate RAW converter process.”

Read the whole interview at imaging-resource here.

 

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Tips for Updating your Firmware

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by Rico Pfirstinger

While this column is officially due on Fridays, Fuji has a habit of issuing firmware updates (and press releases etc.) on a Thursday. And so they did today, releasing firmware updates for the X-Pro1, the X-E1 and the XF35mmF1.4 R – with a delay of two weeks due to a last minute bug fix regarding the XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS “kit zoom” lens. So I thought this may be a good opportunity to write up some tips regarding firmware updates and release it here ahead of time as well. Here we go!

What’s my current firmware status?

You can determine the status of the firmware in your X-series camera (and whichever lens you have attached at the time if it’s an X-Mount camera) by holding down the DISP/BACK button while turning the camera on.

Where do I find new firmware versions?

By following websites like Fujirumors, you can find out if there is a newer firmware version than what is currently installed on your camera. You can then download the new firmware updates directly from FUJIFILM using this link.

But… I can’t see it there?!

If you don’t see the new firmware listed on the global FUJIFILM firmware update site, there’s a good chance your browser or Internet provider has still cached an older version of that webpage. In this case, just delete your browser cache or force your browser to reload and refresh the page by, for example, holding the Alt or Option key while clicking on Reload.

My camera doesn’t recognize the firmware files!

When you download a new camera or lens firmware update to your computer, make sure you do NOT have previous firmware update downloads either for the X-Pro1, X-E1, other Fujifilm cameras or any XF lenses sitting in your PC’s download destination folder. File naming conflicts may cause your computer to save the new file under a different name (like FPUPDATE-01.DAT instead of FPUPDATE.DAT), which your camera won’t recognize and won’t be able to install.

Currently, firmware files for cameras are named FPUPDATE.DAT for the X-Pro1 and FWUP0001.DAT for the X-E1. Updates for lenses are named XFUP00xx.DAT, with xx being a number signifying a specific XF lens. For example, updates for the XF35mmF1.4 R always bear the filename XFUP0002.DAT. Do NOT ever change these filenames!

Follow these steps when updating your firmware:

  1. Locate the latest firmware for your camera or your specific lens on the FUJIFILM website and download it to your personal computer. Unzip the file if necessary and then double-check that your computer hasn’t given the downloaded file a name different from the filenames mentioned above.
  2. Make sure that you have a fully charged battery in your camera.
  3. Connect an SD memory card to your computer. The card must have been formatted in your camera (SETUP MENU > FORMAT). If your computer has an integrated card reader, use it; otherwise you will need an external card reader.
  4. Copy the FPUPDATE.DAT (X-Pro1) or FWUP0001.DAT (X-E1) or XFUP00xx.DAT file (when you’re updating a specific lens) to the top directory level of the SD card.
  5. Disconnect the SD card from your computer (using your operating system to properly unmount it first). Make sure your camera is turned off, and insert the card into the appropriate port on your camera.
  6. If you are updating a specific lens, make sure this lens is now affixed to the camera. However, if you are updating the camera body, make sure NO lens is attached to the camera while doing so.
  7. Turn your camera on while holding down the DISP/BACK button.
  8. Follow the directions on the LCD monitor and do not interrupt the update process. Do not turn the camera off before you receive confirmation that the process has completed!

The updating process can take several minutes, so it is important that your battery is fully charged. You wouldn’t want your camera to shut down during the update because if it did, you might need to have a professional service your camera.

Lenses and camera bodies must often be updated together. If you attach an updated lens to a camera body that has not yet been updated, the camera will detect this after you turn it on by indicating that a firmware update for the camera body is needed. Conversely, the camera will also indicate that a lens firmware update is needed if you attach a lens that hasn’t been updated to a camera body with a newer firmware version.

Anything else?

Today, the CP+ show did kick-off in Japan. Watch out for news regarding Fuji’s XF lens lineup! Oh, and if you use a X-Pro1 or X-E1 and haven’t already done so: consider getting a copy of my book “Mastering the FUJIFILM X-Pro1” (Kindle Edition) (Apple iBook Store) (German version).

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.

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[UPDATE] Firmware Update available (X-E1 Ver.1.04 and X PRO 1 Ver. 2.03)

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[UPDATE] Many of you could not notice a slower AF and noisier lens. So also Einar, who posted his findings here. “I think the camera seems more responsive, faster. The autofocus too, seems better on all the lenses. I have only tried in good lighting conditions, still some hunting in low contrast areas, but overall I would say this is an improvement.” I got more emails from readers telling me that the improvements of the AF (35mm lens) in low light conditions are impressive! And Rico anticipated his X-Pert Corner post from friday to today.

[Original Post] Finally, here it is! Click here to go to the download page (for X-E1)… But, maybe it would be wise to wait until tomorrow to update the firmware, when Rico will give you some useful tips in his X-Pert Corner article about how to do it. (For the X-PRO1 firmware update click here)

In the meantime I’ve received some first impressions from Fujirumors Readers. They are reporting some problems with this new firmware.

“The lens firmware may update, but the version number remains 2.01.  An oversight on Fuji’s part, possibly. I see the issue, and so do others… the other thing is they may have improved accuracy of focussing with the 35mm lens… but it has slowed down and become MUCH noisier.”

“…focussing speed has definitely slowed down considerably compared to the last update, but may still be slightly faster than original. Noise is an issue.  When the XP1 first came out it was quiet, the only issue being aperture chatter.  Now the 35mm lens, in particular, is a VERY noisy lens, and it’s not a nice noise.”

So, just install the firmware update, as soon as Rico posts his article, and then share your findings in the comments.

Here are the details of this update:

The firmware update Ver.1.04 from Ver. 1.01 incorporates the following issue

1.    Adding the compatibility with “XF14mmF2.8R”.
You will get the full performance of “XF14mmF2.8R”, including Manual Focus function.

2.    Newly added function
Shutter release button can be active even if an external microphone or a remote release is connected to USB mini terminal or MIC/REMOTE terminal (Φ2.5mm) of the camera.

3.    Improvement in performance
(1)Accuracy of auto focus performance has been much improved under a various shooting condition.
Shooting with XF35mm lens, Shooting for the target with relatively high frequency, One-push AF by pressing AE-L/AF-L button,

<Notice>
To enable more accurate AF performance with XF35mm lens, please update the firmware of your Fujinon XF35mm lens at the same time. Firwware version must be Ver 2.02 or later.

(2)Audio performance has been optimized for Stereo Microphone MIC-ST1 (sold separately.)
(3)Improvement of unexpected pixels recorded in the top far-left taken with XF18-55mm Lens under the condition of middle range focal length.

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