Availability of Fuji X-T1 in Australia

Fuji X-T1 is expected to be in Brisbane "after mid-March" (source: Digital Camera Warehouse).
Here in Brisbane the CameraPro shop hold "Fuji X-T1 launch" presentation today, and their prices of Fuji products usually are very competitive.

Sony A6000

Sony Alpha A6000 with 16-50mm PZ OSS lens is selling under $800 in B&H compared to AUD 1121 here in Brisbane.  

Sample photos from Canon G1X Mk ii

Link to post on the DPReview forum with links to full-size images from Canon PowerShot G1X Mk II.

Fujifilm to refresh the lens lineup

Very interesting interview with Toshihisa Iida, from Fujifilm.

Fuji sells more lenses for high-end cameras (no surprises here, but the number of lens owned by an average X-Pro1 user is fairly big)

The refresh rate of EVF on Fuji X-E2 will be increased to that on Fuji X-T1 through the firmware upgrade. Fuji is great company in this respect. I remember stories about other (very prominent) camera manufacturers disabling features in cheaper cameras to boost sales of higher models. But Fujifilm produces firmware upgrades even for discontinued X100.

Initial demand for X-T1 exceeded the expectation, hence expect a stable price for the body for some time.

The company apparently will slow down development of new camera bodies and put more efforts in lens. 

Is new Fuji XF18-135mm F4.8 on long end?

Interesting photo of Fujinon XF18-135mm lens from CP+ show appeared on DPRevew. The sign from the company: XF18-135mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS WR. The DPReview note under the photo also indicates 18-135mm F3.5-4.8. I think the info engraved on lens also says 4.8 (photo in the first link) but it can be just my imagination.

Fuji lens roadmap shows the max aperture values as F3.5-5.6.

Canon PowerShot G1X Mk II

It seems that Canon significantly improved Canon PowerShot G1X Mk II over the original G1X. For sure, some people will mourn the disappearance of viewfinder but with tilting screen the camera will be usable in most conditions (usability is a personal thing). The camera can focus very close, especially at wide angle, good for DoF but hard to get close to bugs. The lens specs are better, with wider zoom range and brighter lens. The amount of image correction remains to be seen. The camera is also fairly compact, and reasonably priced in the US.  Australian price for Canon PowerShot G1X Mk II is not available yet but it probably will be around $1000, or slightly higher. As a reference, Sony RX10 in Brisbane is available for ~$1300, and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 II is close to $800.

Modular lenses

Fujifilm recently announced a teleconverter lens for Fuji X100 / X100S that would change the focal length to ~50mm (full frame eqv). I am curious if it would be possible to implement some sort of a modular lens design for such cameras. Put the part of lens involved in autofocus into a camera body, and make the front part detachable. This might reduce the size of camera and converter combos. The only minus I see is a more expensive body. The positive moments: sensor will be sealed, a leaf shutter can be used. 

New design for Foveon sensor

Sigma announced three new DP Quattro cameras, with specs available for DP2 Quattro. As with Merrill line, there will be three models, with the same lenses. The camera body undergone a dramatic change. The most intriguing change is the new design of Foveon sensor. It still has three layers, but only top (blue) layer has 19.6MP, while other two layers have 4.9MP. So, there will be some color interpolation, but it is possible that the camera would get less noise at high iso, and the processing might be a bit faster (less pixels to process). With total number of 'pixels' (photosensors) close to 30 millions and non-conventional color interpolation , it still would require intense calculation.

Lenses! Lenses! Cheap!

It is time to top up collection of Fujifilm lenses for X-mount, if you live in the US: currently Fuji offers significant discounts for most lenses.

In the same time the price in Australia for the latest Fuji lenses is:
Fujinon XF56mm F1.2 - close to $1,100 (AUD)
Fujinon XF10-24mm F4 R OIS - over $1,400 (AUD)
(based on information from CameraPro in Brisbane)

Addiction to rumors

In the past I used to read DPReview articles and followed some forums on the site. Now I check mainly photorumors sites. The change is puzzling. While I like to have the latest cameras and lenses such as a recently announced Fuji X-T1 or Fujinon XF10-24mm lens, it would not happen any time soon. Santa had brought a present for this year, and his budget is limited :-) I do not earn money by camera or lens testing, and capabilities of modern cameras exceed my needs, so there is no urgent need to get the latest model. While I do like the external controls of Fuji X-T1, the image quality probably would be similar to that of X-E1. It would focus faster, maybe a bit faster than even X-E2, but I am happy with the autofocus speed and accuracy of X-E1 (except for XF60mm Macro). So, why are rumors  so addictive?

Some people follow life of celebrities. This is a big business, with glassy magazines, news channels, press. I suspect this activity is similar to my interest in latest cameras. The pity is that the usefulness of both activities is very similar...

(provoked by Thom Hogan's post on cameras' buzz)

Canon PowerShot G1 X II

According to Photo Rumors, Canon may announce PowerShot G1 X II camera next week. We expect to see 5x zoom lens spanning 24-120mm with  F2-3.9 aperture. If it the sensor size will be the same, and the rumored ~$700 price is real (nearly half of Sony RX10), than the camera might extremely attractive option. EVF is optional, so the camera should be very compact.

Test photos from Fuji X-T1

DPReview posted the test images from Fuji X-T1 camera. Additional four megapixels on Canon 70D are visible, but both are inferior in resolution to might Sony Alpha 7R.

Most popular cameras on DPReview

DPReview has stats on most popular cameras. Today's list:

Fujifilm X-T1: 13.1%
Fujifillm X-E2: 12.0%
Sony Alpha 7: 7.9%
Olympus OM-D E-M10: 7.2%
Olympus OM-D E-M1: 3.3%
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 II: 3.1%
Nikon D7100: 2.8%
Nikon Df: 2.6%
Fujifilm X100S: 2.6%
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1: 2.4%

Quite telling :)

The popularity is strongly affected by the latest news and reviews published on the site, e.g., a real life experience with Fuji X-E2 as a part of the forthcoming review of the camera was published recently.

Thom Hogan on Fuji X-T1

Thom Hogan's comments on Fuji X-T1, X system, and mirrorless cameras in general.

For me main reasons of going mirrorless were following:
- small weight and ability to shoot using a rear screen
- price advantage over full frame DSLRs

My eyes became unhappy with small viewfinders on Olympus DSLRs. I tried full frame Nikon D700, and loved it. There were / are two problems with full frame DSLRs: weight and price. This is true for camera and lenses.

Fuji aren't particular cheap, but it got layout I like. The lenses aren't small either but of high quality. With no mirror slap, the camera can be used at low shutter speed with OIS lenses. It also turned out that X-E1 EVF is quite comfortable for my eyes. Keep in mind that photography is my recreational hobby.

For me the biggest minus of mirrorless cameras is a short battery life. I've got a spare battery, but probably need at least two more for a long weekend camping. I rarely shoot moving subjects, so poor continuous autofocus on X-E1 is not an issue for me. Single autofocus is fast and dead on even at close distance. I don't bother with RAW anymore: JPEGs are very good, and offer greater compatibility over RAW format. 

Fuji colors

I prefer non-saturated images, and mainly use S mode on my Fuji cameras. Most my pictures are ordinary snapshots, pictures taken for plant identification or something like that, nothing artistic. 

Recently I came across pictures taken by David Taylor-Hughes, presumably in Velvia mode (on Fuji X-M1). He is very gifted photographer / artist, and high saturation in these images creates a very interesting effect. Very emotional pictures. 

Fuji X-E1 for $100

Amazon and B&H offer Fuji X-E1 with XF18-55mm lens for $799 (plus some free stuff at B&H). In B&H Fujinon XF18-55mm lens is available for $695. The difference is ~$100. While X-E1 does not have a hybrid autofocus, it is still a very good camera. Price for Fuji X-M1 with XC16-50mm lens is $599, just $200 less than the X-E1 kit.

The lowest (known to me) price in Brisbane for X-E1 & XF18-55mm is $990 (Aussie) and $639 for XF18-55mm lens. These are not regular prices. With current exchange rate, cost of shipment and currency conversion fee the local price for the X-E1 kit is similar to that in the US.

I guess Fuji will cease production of X-E1 soon, which is not surprising considering that X-E2 has more to offer. Discounts on X-E1 are not surprising, but I am curious about  XF18-55mm lens. Fuji will release the weather-sealed XF18-135mm in the middle of the year, and probably will sell it together with X-T1. Still, I am puzzled why XF18-55mm is included in heavily discounted kits.  

Fuji X-T1 in Australia

Australian price for Fuji X-T1 (body only) is $1659 (Aussie). Source: Digital Camera Warehouse (check Mirrorless cameras). I don't know if the camera already available in Brisbane but these guys are among the first in Australia for new products. Their prices are very competitive, and the Brisbane team is really passionate about photography and cameras.
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Update: In Australia X-T1 is expected in mid-March.

Amazon top 100 for all digital cameras

This post was started a couple days ago, when I checked the most popular cameras on Amazon. 
 
A compact camera Sony DSC RX100M II (in top 20) is still selling for $700. Fujifilm X100S with hefty price tag of $1,299 is in top 100 list. The price on these cameras remains the same for very long time, and both cameras stay in top 100 list for quite a while.

Several compact system (or mirrorless) cameras also made to top 100 list:
Sony NEX-3NL/B (lens kit) for $339
Fujifilm X-T1 (body only) for $1,299 (the lens kit is also in top 100)
Samsung NX1100 with 20-50mm lens for $275
Sony NEX-5L/B with 16-50mm power zoom lens for ~$580

It seems that even in the US the mirrorless cameras gain in popularity. Someone pointed that advanced models such as full-frame Sony a7 and a7R, Olympus E-M1, and Fuji X-T1 may lift the whole mirrorless market.

Photos of Fuji lenses in development

Polish site Optyczne.pl posted a detailed review of Fuji X-T1, with many very interesting illustrations, such as comparison of EVF in X-T1 and and X-E2, and some others. The review contains several photos of recently announced lenses and weather-sealed lenses currently in development including high-end zooms with constant F2.8 aperture:
XF56mm F1.2 R
FX10-24mm F4 R OIS
XF18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R OIS WR
FX16-55mm F2.8 R OIS WR
XF50-140mm F2.8 R OIS WR

Weather-sealed Fujinon XF18-135mm is a fairly compact lens. It seems it takes 67mm filters.  

Predictive autofocus on Fuji X-T1

Rico Pfirstinger posted a very interesting review of Fuji X-T1 on Fuji Rumors. It seems that X-T1 utilizes some kind of predictive autofocus (predictive object tracking), and it works quite well on moving subjects in continuous autofocus mode. If true, X-T1 has the most advanced autofocus among mirrorless cameras from Fuji. The display lag on X-T1 is 1/10 of than on X-E2. It is also significantly smaller than on Olympus E-M1.