Fuji hands-on at CES 2013

A full day at CES today, and I made straight for the Fuji stand in the central hall.

Fuji had a good display of technology from snappy cams through the X series, to pro TV cameras and lab photo printing machines.

I spent about an hour with the Fuji team. looking at the new equipment and asking as many questions as I could.

X100S

It looks and feels exactly like the original X100 - only the S gives it away.

All accessories fit the new camera, and they have designed a new leather case with a built-in flap for the battery/SD Card slot.

The rear of the camera has a minor change, the RAW button is now the Q button.

Manual AF is easier as the lens now requires fewer turns to move focus.

The Menu for MF allows you to select split screen focus (shown above) which delivers a nice digital form of the old focus technology - it's easy to decide if focus has been achieved, and it works well.

You can also select the focus peaking feature.

This shows areas that are in focus with a ring type highlight - and is very effective when using the EVF. Its's very clear what is in focus using peaking - a good addition for MF users.

The Fuji reps said that both features required the new focus sensors in the X-Trans II, so would not be implemented in older cameras using firmware.

The X100S is silver only for now - they were tight lipped about a black version - but one rep suggested that three months after launch there might be more news...

Over-all the camera looks the same, performs faster for AF, and has the new features - a good upgrade.

X-20

I've not used the older X-10, so this was all new to me.

Very similar look to the X100S - also available in black from day 1. Good build quality and weight - very small with zoom retracted.

AF seems snappy and the rear screen is good - no focus peaking or split screen as far as I could tell.

Both the X100S and the X-20 were pre-production models, so I was not allowed to take any images with them.

X Series 14mm Lens

I got the chance to fit the 14mm lens to my X-Pro1 and take some test shots at the show - the lens needs new camera firmware to enable all functions, which was unavailable, but it seemed to perform AF just fine.

Here's the 14mm on the X-E1 (ignore the incorrect lens hood)

And here are some test shots taken with my X-Pro1

Close Focus - which is extremely close!

The 14mm has fast AF, and very little distortion - it feels solid and well made, with smooth AF, and a typical aperture ring just like the previous primes.

The additional manual focus scale is a nice feature.

Very happy with the quick test - I will be buying this lens as soon as available - Fuji reps suggested within the next 2 weeks.

Lenses

There was an additional case of X Series Lenses - with many future lenses represented - these lenses were not available to handle or use, so could have been pre-production dummies. I was told that Fuji plan 12 lens releases by the end of 2013.

Activity was high on the stand - lots of interest - and the X-20 had just won an award at CES so the Fuji team were very buoyant.

They confirmed that they had not seen the cameras at all until Monday - they were kept completely under wraps by Fuji Japan.

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http://www.dodkin.com
Chris@1D-Images.com
Mac Pro/MacBook Pro/iPods/iPhones/iPad

Chris, great report, thanks much!

Did you discuss with the Fuji guys the problem with RAW conversions using ACR and Lightroom?  Did they have any encouraging news for us on that front?

Also, the sensor in the new X100S, how is the IQ expected to campare with with the IQ from the XP1?

Dave

1.  How is the autofocus in the x100s.

2.  Is there still evf/lcd lag?

Yes - I bought up the question around Fuji and Adobe - and the Fuji rep expressed frustration at Adobe.

He said that Adobe were given all of the X-Trans data and formulas from Fuji over a year ago, for software development. He was frustrated that people had found Adobe to be slow to market, and said that work was on-going, but that I would need to ask Adobe how it was going.

I did not ask around X100S vs X-Pro1 - I'll ask that question tomorrow

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http://www.dodkin.com
Chris@1D-Images.com
Mac Pro/MacBook Pro/iPods/iPhones/iPad

Sucks about peaking. Oh well. Shows how many corners were cut and how little thought went into the details of the early models. It's days like this I hate to love Fuji.

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A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. - Sir Winston Churchill

1 - Very fast  - compared with Sony/Samsung/Canon EOS M/Olympus OMD - it smoked them all

2 - Didn't note any lag, but will go back tomorrow and look for that specifically

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http://www.dodkin.com
Chris@1D-Images.com
Mac Pro/MacBook Pro/iPods/iPhones/iPad

Chris, thanks for the nice report!

Did you have a chance to ask the Fuji guys what kind of possible firmware upgrades could be expected for the X-E1/X-Pro1 in the future?

Jacob

They could not comment - but did suggest that X100 firmware updates would no longer happen

Not sure if they knew this, or were just guessing

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http://www.dodkin.com
Chris@1D-Images.com
Mac Pro/MacBook Pro/iPods/iPhones/iPad

Hey, hey could be wrong - they only got the cameras to look at on Monday morning.

Having said that - the cameras is as it is, when you buy it - anything else is a bonus

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Chris@1D-Images.com
Mac Pro/MacBook Pro/iPods/iPhones/iPad

I sure hope they were wrong about peaking. Would also like to see programmable auto ISO and reprogrammable buttons allowing the AF button to be moved to the other side.

Already have the X100S on order, just don't want to see Fuji bail on the X Pro 1 until the next model. The slow lens development is hard enough on the system.

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A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. - Sir Winston Churchill

Why on earth would focus peaking require PDAF sensels?  Seems strange, I'd be willing to bet that the reps are wrong... they're typically fairly clueless.

Sounds like 6 more lenses are coming this year alone. That is a FAST release schedule, considering nothing is coming this month.

EDIT: Make that 8.

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DISCLAIMER: The text written herein is meant to provide the opinions and/or suggestions of the author. No statement herein is meant to be considered law of the land, representative of any party or group, and or a quote from any party or group. Neither is any statement in the contained text meant to be taken as scripture, doctrine, or all encompassing of an entire populous or any groups or individuals therein.

Available in two weeks?  That means the lens is shipping and in the pipeline now.  They could not have the finished firmware for the show?

We have the 18,35,60, and 18-55 zoom now.  That means 8 more lenses released this year?

That's a bit less than one release ever month and a half!

I dont think they told the truth here.

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DISCLAIMER: The text written herein is meant to provide the opinions and/or suggestions of the author. No statement herein is meant to be considered law of the land, representative of any party or group, and or a quote from any party or group. Neither is any statement in the contained text meant to be taken as scripture, doctrine, or all encompassing of an entire populous or any groups or individuals therein.

Crossing my fingers.

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A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. - Sir Winston Churchill

I guess what I mean is that I don't believe them. 8 lenses in 11 months? No way. They are talking about the 55-200  in April.

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A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. - Sir Winston Churchill

As most anyone knows this.  Ricoh has focus peaking and does not have PDAF.  You are right, the reps are clueless on this since they just saw these cameras the same day they were released.  Although they should not make claims that are easily disproved like the above.

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DISCLAIMER: The text written herein is meant to provide the opinions and/or suggestions of the author. No statement herein is meant to be considered law of the land, representative of any party or group, and or a quote from any party or group. Neither is any statement in the contained text meant to be taken as scripture, doctrine, or all encompassing of an entire populous or any groups or individuals therein.

Seems like the reps are just reading off the roadmap here. There's no way that's possible. They're gonna release 1 lens per month starting from April?

Now that AF/drive buttons switched places (good change) - how do you exactly move the active focus point?

How does AF work in low-light when you point it on people eyes? (let's say ISO3200 1/125s F2 type of light)

He is most likely partially correct - PDAF is required for split image to work but I suppose that the new cpu (EXR Processor II or what do they call it) is required for focus peaking.

Thanks for the report Chris.

Regards

The same way as before?  Only the button locations changed not how they work.

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DISCLAIMER: The text written herein is meant to provide the opinions and/or suggestions of the author. No statement herein is meant to be considered law of the land, representative of any party or group, and or a quote from any party or group. Neither is any statement in the contained text meant to be taken as scripture, doctrine, or all encompassing of an entire populous or any groups or individuals therein.