Are all Fuji X10 cameras created equal?

The dpreview have published interesting analysis of the orbs issue in the Fuji X10. They confirmed that the firmware update 1.03 does not prevent or reduce the orbs appearance (but that's old news). However, they discovered that the orbs size varies a lot between different X10 cameras (check the second page of the dpreview test). So, it seems that not all X10s are equal (at least in term of the orbs). The difference in orbs size between cameras is very pronounced. The guys at dpreview are very pedantic with their tests.

The "batch effect" can explain at least partially why some people so upset with the X10 while other are quite happy. It is hard to say for sure what kind of the X10 camera I have, Mother of All Orbs, or its modest sibling. I generally do not shoot in conditions favorable for appearance of the white discs, so the orbs are not a problem for me. I just don't have orbs in vast majority of my images from the X10.

I doubt that anyone outside of the Fujifilm company can say what's going on with the X10. Is it assembly/quality control problem or some chips/hardware was replaced to address the orbs? Are the orbs smaller in current batch of cameras? What is the range of difference?

While this "batch" issue did not change my attitude towards the X10 (I love this camera) I became more suspicious about the company. The situation around the orbs issue in X10 cameras looks increasingly similar to the shatter/sticky blades issue in the X100. It is unclear how the company resolved this problem. According to rumors the lens/shutter design was changed some time ago but I do not recollect any official message from the company. Yes, the company had fixed cameras with sticky blades but what would happen after the warranty?

The tragedy is that both cameras, the X10 and X100, produce very good images.

I hope that the company will eventually overcome such technical problems. There is always a light at the end of a tunnel. Unless it is a night time :)

 Fuji X10, cropped | February 24, 2012 | flickr