Butterfly with Fujinon XF55-200mm

Common Crow. Fuji X-E1 & XF55-200mm

It was windy, but the camera was snappy enough to get the picture. Fuji E-X1 & XF55-200mm is not a speed demon at 200mm with closed aperture but the combo is usable for static objects. Autofocus is challenging on moving subjects at limited light. Both X-E2 and X-T2 should be more snappy because of a hybrid autofocus system in these models.

While I found Fujinon XF55-200mm is very useful for close-up shots, it does not give the same resolution(? crispness probably would be the better word here) as XF60mm macro. I struggled with autofocus on Fuji X-E1 & XF60mm, while the autofocus is not an issue for XF55-200mm (on static objects). I got more keepers with XF55-200mm but photos taken with XF60mm have a wow factor if in focus.

Fuji X-T1 made to top 20 best selling digital cameras at Amazon

Recently announced Fuji X-T1 is currently in top 20 best selling digital cameras at Amazon. Among all digital cameras, not just compact system cameras (in this category X-T1 is #1). Fuji X-T1 with XF18-55mm lens made to top 100 (all digital cameras). Well done, Fujifilm. This is the most expensive camera in the top 20 list. As with Sony RX100, people are ready to pay a premium price for a good product.

With such demand we may not see this camera in Australia for some time. It is also possible that X-T1 will repeat the life cycle of Fuji X100: it was hard to get X100 for very long time because of overwhelming demand despite of some issues with the camera upon the release. As a result, the price was maintained for very long time. 

There were no any systemic issues with the latest cameras such as X-E1, X-E2, X-M1, X-A1, X100S, so no nasty surprises are expected from X-T1. In addition, Fujifilm has a decent collection of very good prime and zoom lenses.

Availability of Fujinon XF10-24mm F4 and XF56mm F1.2

Big camera shops in the US expect to get Fujinon XF56mm F1.2 in February and Fujinon XF10-24 F4 in April. Both are priced at $999 at B&H. None are listed in local camera shops here in Brisbane :(

Considering the popularity of new Fuji X-T1, I would not be surprised by limited availability of these lenses for some time...

Announcement of Fuji X-T1

Fuji had announced X-T1, the first weather-sealed compact system camera with X mount (link to the DPReview first impression article). Essentially all specs of the camera were leaked earlier, but the DPReview team provides an very interesting opinion on X-T1.

Some news on X-mount lenses. Mirrorless  Rumors site has some images of coming weather-sealed Fujinon zoom lens for Fujifilm X mount. The lenses are:
XF18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS
XF16-55mm F2.8 R OIS - filter size 77mm
XF50-140mm F2.8 R OIS - filter size 67mm
The latter two lenses have aperture values on the ring (constant F2.8 through the zoom range). It seems that XF18-135mm is not very big. Unfortunately, I cannot figure out the filter size...

Zeiss announced (link to DPReview) Touit 50mm F2.8 macro (1:1) autofocus lens for Fuji X mount. The lens can be pre-ordered in some shops.  Here in Brisbane it cost ~$1,500 (AUD). Fujinon XF60mm F2.4 macro is available for $660, but it is not 1:1, with very slow autofocus on Fuji X-E1.

X-T1 or not X-T1

I made some changes to pages on this blog. The Fuji X-E1 page was split into Fuji X system and Fuji X-E1, and added a new Fuji X-T1 page. I want to have the second X body, and Fuji X-T1  with all these switches and dials looks like a perfect camera for me, so I will add some links to this page after the release of the camera. I thought about getting either X-M1 or X-A1, mainly because of the price. It turned out that I barely use the EVF on my Fuji X-E1 (except for a very bright sunlight), but very often shoot from very awkward positions, and in such situations a tilting screen would be very useful. However, I don't like dials and external controls on both X-M1 and and X-A1. On other hand, Fuji X-T1 got the external controls I really like, plus a tilting (non-fixed) screen. It is also weather-sealed, a huge plus for my occasional trips to a local rainforest. Obviously, such beauty comes with the price tag...  I would prefer a bit less pricier camera with similar controls but without build-in viewfinder, sort of Olympus E-Px line.

Fuji X-T1

Even the DPReview site posted images of yet to be released Fuji X-T1. Obviously, these guys are under NDA, and cannot say much before January 28, but it seems that the leaked specs for the new camera are correct. It will have a slightly higher continuous shooting rate and better electronic viewfinder, and as DPReview pointed out, it will be the most capable X camera build so far. It seems that Fuji is working on improvement of manual focus assist function, but it is unclear if it will be implemented in X-T1 upon the release or added later by a firmware update. 

Fujifilm has a very interesting approach with their cameras. The company uses the same sensor in several cameras, so the image quality is essentially the same in these models, while camera bodies differ significantly. User interface is a very personal thing, which is very hard to measure or compare: some people like touch screens, some prefer buttons and wheels, and so on. And for sure, Fuji X-T1 will make many people happy...

Walk with Fujinon XF55-200mm

St Lucia campus, the University of Queensland. Fuji X-E1 & XF55-200mm

In scenes as pictured above I tend to shoot at wide end of a standard zoom lens such as XF18-55mm, and distortions are very common at wide angle. Obviously, the situation is different with a moderate telephoto lens such as XF55-200mm.

Samsung to put 1" sensor in their camera

Apparently Samsung may build camera with 1" sensor. Nikon and Sony both made cameras with similar sized sensors. Immensely popular Sony RX100 is a truly compact camera with 20MP 1" sensor, while RX10 is an extremely appealing high-end model boosting 24-200mm F2.8 lens in front of a similar sensor. Nikon 1 system has several bodies and lenses.

Compact cameras with 1" sensor provide both convenience of and high image quality, and it is good to see other manufactures going this route. After release of Sony RX100 the web was full of expectations and speculation about other cameras from other companies, especially Olympus. However, most camera makers decided to put smaller (back-illuminated) sensors in their advanced compacts. Fuji kept 2/3" sensor in X20, but it is twice smaller than 1" sensor.  

Interesting info on Sony RX10

Sony released many interesting cameras in last few years. Their RX10 is probably the most capable compact camera with zoom lens. It uses fairly big 1" BSI-CMOS sensor  (twice bigger than in Fuji X20), and it has an incredible Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 24-200mm (35mm eqv) F2.8 lens. It is a very capable high-end compact camera. Kirk Tuck, the author of Visual Science Lab, recently added several very interesting articles about Sony RX10. Kirk is very good writer and photographer, with interesting views on "cameras" and photography.

High quality images of Fuji X-T1

The Photo Rumors site got very good images of yet to be announced Fuji X-T1, included an optional grip. The body is packed with various controls. I hope it is not very small, or at least it is as comfortable as Fuji X-E1 or X-E2 models. The camera is expected to use the same sensor as X-E2, so there is no questions about the image quality.

It would be logical for Fujifilm to put the same controls (extra switches for selection of the shooting modes and metering, as well as ISO dial) on X100-like camera. Just imagine: essentially all most important settings would be controlled through the switches or dials, and it is possible to shoot using the optical viewfinder... 

Playing with Fujinon XF55-200mm

Fujifilm X-E1 with Fujinon XF55-200mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS (left)
Olympus E-30 with ZUIKO 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 SWD (right)

Santa came a bit late this year but it did came, with a little help from CameraPro, a local camera shop here in Brisbane. Their price for Fujinon XF55-200mm was very tempting irresistible, and XC50-230mm was not listed in any local camera shops at that time. The XF55-200mm lens is brighter on the long end of the zoom range, and it not just depth of field but rather the amount of light going to the sensor, and this in theory may affect autofocus in some situations. Not many people posted their opinion on XC50-230mm, while XF55-200mm is a very popular choice, with extremely positive opinions from different people. The regular price for XF55-200mm is a bit steep for my liking, and it is very unlikely it would go down: Australian dollar is going down. Now I can say that I did my bit for support of the world economy :-) 

I like a moderate telephoto. ZUIKO 50-200mm SWD was my favourite lens on Olympus DSLRs, and it was the main reason for keeping Olympus E-30. Fujinon XF55-200mm is essentially made my 4/3 gear redundant, or completely obsolete. Fuji X-E1 with XF55-200mm is smaller and significantly lighter than the Olympus E-30 with ZUIKO 50-200mm. ZUIKO is a bit brighter, but Fuji X-E1 is less noisy, and its base iso is 200 compared to 100 on Olympus E-30. The major plus is an ability to use the mirrorless camera at arm length even with moderate telephoto lens. I don't know if this is due to lack of mirror slap or a very good optical image stabilisation system in the lens. It works very well for me even at 200mm, and I really like it. Initially I was a bit worried about the weight, but it turned out that the X-E1 / XF55-200mm combo is not heavy.

It seems that XF55-200mm has a very accurate autofocus at close distances to objects. It is also extremely fast on Fuji X-E1 compared to XF60mm Macro, but I used XF60mm with another (old) firmware. It seems that XF55-200mm gives a slightly higher magnification as XF18-55mm, but the main benefit is an ability to shoot at longer distance to objects, very handy for all sorts of bugs. Obviously, separation of the object and background is better with XF55-200mm. It is not a macro lens, by any means, but it still provides a decent magnification.

Replacement for Fuji X10

Flowers of Burdekin Plum. Fuji X10, Supermacro mode

I've got Fuji X10 long time ago, shortly after it  became available in Australia. The camera was used fairly extensively, and it started to show some signs of wear and tear. It lost a rubber thingy at the back, which is not surprising considering the local climate with temperature over 40 C. It freezes occasionally, which is again, not surprising considering the local humidity. But it seems that our 'orb generator' will not survive for very long. I hope it would last till release of rumored X30....

I often use Fuji X10 in supermacro mode, or macro at long end. The quality is good enough for my needs. The XF60mm macro lens can produce a stunning images but the autofocus (speed) on early versions of the X-E1 firmware was not very impressive. The latest firmware adds a very nice manual focus assist option but I don't have the macro lens. On other hand, it turned out that XF55-200mm is very handy for modest close-up shots. The magnification is ok, and 200mm is not very obtrusive for various bugs.  Obviously, 200mm provide some extra reach, which is handy for shooting distant objects such as flowers on trees etc.

Blue Triangle Butterfly. Fuji X-E1 & XF55-200mm (crop)

Fuji did it again

Mirrorless rumors posted leaked images of of forthcoming Fuji X-T1. Camera got several additional external controls compared to X-E1 / X-E2. The most interesting are the "double dials", something similar to high-end Nikon DSLRs models. The shooting mode switch is under the left (iso) dial, and the exposure settings switch is under the shutter speed dial. The additional switches and iso dial would cover essentially all most frequently used camera control parameters,  without screen. It would be possible to setup the camera in the sleep mode, or even on turned off camera, or just check the parameters in sleep mode. For me, external control on this camera is close to perfect. 

The camera got a tilted screen, too. It turned out that I can get very sharp photos using Fuji X-E1 & XF55-200mm combo at arm length, and tilting screen in this type of shooting would be very useful.

Fuji announcement on January 28.

Fujifilm posted a teaser on their X-system site with picture of a new (mirrorless and presumably weather-sealed) camera:
http://fujifilm-x.com/teaser140128/en/
The camera does have a prominent hump in the middle. The compensation is now extended to 3 stops (X-E1 got 2), and there is a small red button instead of Fn, probably a dedicated 'movie' button. The camera got an extra dial on the top left, and it looks like a dedicated iso dial. This would be really cool thing to have but I am not sure how this would work with custom modes where it is possible to select iso as a custom parameter. Anyway, the new camera looks very cool. According to the rumors, Fuji made additional improvements in autofocus for X-T1 compared to X-E2. Frankly, I am very happy with the autofocus speed on X-E1 and two zoom lens, XF18-55mm and XF55-200 (I do not take many pictures of fast moving subjects). I am unhappy with performance of the macro lens (I mean the autofocus speed).

Duck and ducklings. Fuji X-E1 & XF55-200mm (crop)

Good discounts on some Fuji stuff in Brisbane

For those with an acute form of the gear acquisition syndrome: CameraPro shop in Brisbane has good discounts on some Fuji cameras and lenses, eg XF55-200mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS is available for ~$630 (AUD). The shop also offer some deals on camera/lens combos.

Digital Camera Warehouse has Fuji X-M1 with two zooms (including XC16-50mm and XC50-230mm) for $979. I don't know if they have this kit in store because XC50-230mm is not listed separately on their site.

Fuji X10 and X-E1

Bahnamboola falls, Lamington national park. Fuji X10, panorama mode

On the recent walk at the Lamington national park I used two cameras, Fuji X10 and X-E1. Most pictures were taken with the X-E1, but the X10 was more fun to use. The X10 is better for macro (compared to XF18-55mm), and the panorama mode works better for me in X10 (with X-E1 I usually get a lot of vertical banding). Obviously, image quality is better on X-E1, especially in shady or low contrast areas.

Bahnamboola falls, Lamington national park. Fuji X-E1, polarizer

Weather-sealed mirrorless camera from Fuji

More rumors appeared about a weather-sealed Fujifilm mirrorless camera, X-T1 (tough?). This would be an extremely welcome addition to Fuji X family. The only problem: there is no weather-sealed lenses for the X mount. Weather-sealing is not mentioned for the latest XF10-24mm F4 R zoom lens. It is possible that a new weather-sealed lens will be announced alongside with the weather-sealed body. It can be XF18-135mm F4.5-6.7 R OIS planned for release in the middle of 2014, but this does not agree with the rumored X-T1 announcement later this month.