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Fujifilm offers X100 firmware v1.11 and Japanese company offers custom covers

Oct 24, 2011 at 21:45:22 GMT

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Fujifilm has released updated firmware for its X100 premium large-sensor compact camera. Firmware v1.11 improves autofocus performance at close range and corrects a couple of bugs with the camera's operation. Meanwhile, Japanese company Aki-Asahi has begun offering custom coverings for the camera, including wood and leather covers in a variety of colors and textures. (Via PetaPixel)

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Press Release
Aki-Asahi Custom Covers for the X100

Press Release:

FinePix X100 Firmware Update Ver.1.11

The firmware update Ver.1.11 incorporates the following issues.

1.Performance of auto focus at near distance has been improved.
2.When "SHADW TONE" is set to "MEDIUM SOFT" or "SOFT", live view in LCD may display with abnormal pattern (so-called "solarisation") just after pressing the shutter halfway. This update improves the phenomena.
3.When self-timer mode is selected, focus and exposure (AE/AF) are set just after pressing the shutter button and these settings are remained for the final shutter releasing.

Click here to visit the Fujifilm X100 firmware page

Aki-Asahi Custom Coverings:

Click here to visit the Aki-Asahi X100 custom covers page (Google Translated)

Fujifilm FinePix X100

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Comments

Total comments: 63

Small but useful update. Does seem to have noticably sped up the menus and the auto focus - especially when closer to the subject - good work Fuji!. Now you need to sort out that sticking aperture blade debacle so we can all trust our cameras again...

0 upvotes

I do think dpreview should not mix the firmware and covers in one news...
because those topics are mixed in the discussion for the article. And a topic interesting for some might not be interesting for others - there is no reason to mix them. Come on - there is really little connection between firmware and covers...

0 upvotes

I'll say it here.
The X100 is like being married to the most beautiful woman alive...
With the worst lisp you've ever heard.
In some ways it's incredibly beautiful. But then you have to USE it.
The files, unfortunately, are so unbelievable, unique and delicious, that I've hung on to the thing if only for that.
Having to format the card every single time after I've downloaded the images to my MAC, is crazy. The startup times are ridiculous otherwise.
Minimize the AF area, (it's in the Manual) and try AF-C instead of AF-S, its quite an improvement. I noticed a different 'feel' as soon as I did the Firmware update. It's like the Meds finally kicked in on the thing.
Now, I put the lenscap down somewhere in my apartment last night and using it's magic lenscap properties, it teleported itself to the same planet as single socks do in the dryer.
Try finding a replacement for THAT.
Uh huh, Hong Kong with a 20 buck rush FedEx charge.
It's an unnerving contraption but I ain't giving up on it yet.

0 upvotes

Untethered lens caps are meant to be lost. Mine recently spent a night in a Tiberias gutter, but thanks to light holiday traffic, I managed to find it only slightly bruised the next morning. Replacements are available in the U.S. from Fuji for about $17, including shipping. Why bother, though, when a UV filter will do a better job while never leaving the lens?

0 upvotes

Now if they'd just issue a real firmware upgrade to take care of the generally lousy autofocus performance, and the flakey metering. As things stand now this has become my love/hate camera. Like the little girl in the nursery rhyme, when it's good it's very very good, and when it's bad it's horrid. The only way I can maintain my sanity while using it is to pretend it's a meterless film camera, use a handheld meter, and play around with manual focus using the AEL button.

www.bdcolenphoto.com

Comment edited 29 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

ouch!
mamma mia!

0 upvotes

Can they get any uglier!

1 upvote

I have instaled the firmware and the AF is really improved. Very good.

0 upvotes

Aki Asahi cases and skins are my favorite. Really high quality stuff.

1 upvote

Brace yourself for the Limited Editions which will be like frequent flyer programs: Platinum, Rhodium, Plutonium, etc. Maybe even a First Anniversary model.

1 upvote

Have had the Fuji x100 now for three weeks and am totally pleased with the quality of the images! I had read the DPreview on this camera first so was aware of any of the quirky issues out front.
Excellent review
Only complaint so far are the updates. I use Apple lion platform and Fuji x100 CDROM for update usage is a legacy format and no longer supported by Apple. Using CDROM's is so old school. Why not allow for firm ware updates on line? So now we have to wait for Fuji to update their platform for any firmware updates.

0 upvotes

The update program IS available online. Or, without the update program, you can use an SD card reader to copy the firmware image on to an SD card. See the X100 Forum for details.

1 upvote

Thanks but I shouldn't have to buy a card reader to get updates. Also Fuji on line update is still indicating you need to use their CDROM software package to download for the camera update. Which of course is not supported anymore by the new Apple platform.

0 upvotes

^^^www.whitewhine.com

0 upvotes

Or you can download only the file FPUPDATE.DAT from the firmware page, copy-it to a formated SD card inserted in the SD card slot on your Mac (almost all of them have that), insert the SD card in your X100 and follow the remaining steps in the procedure.

At least that's what I did.
No CDROM involved :-)

Comment edited 41 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

Having owned a Leica M8 I would feel embarrassed to haul around the X100. Worst decision I ever made was to sell the damn thing along with those fantastic primes.

0 upvotes

I would be embarrased to compare $3000 Leica to $1000 X100.

5 upvotes

Not to mention half the people who own Leicas haven't got a photographic eye in their heads!
Not all but most of their portfolios are full of wanna be crap!

0 upvotes

Like so many Leica owners, you seem more interested in impressing people with your bling camera rather than taking pictures. Perhaps coat your camera in Swarovski plastic beads or Hello Kitty stickers?

0 upvotes

And you appear on another thread talking about buying a Sony ?

0 upvotes

The wood cover is promising.
It could make an evening by the fireside just that little bit longer.

2 upvotes

You could just bring in some extra wood to make the evening by the fire longer -- no need to burn the camera.

0 upvotes

I was so excited to see this new firmware release... until I read the updates. Yawn!

Faster manual focus ring please!

0 upvotes

Personally prefer the original skin, looks more classic and professional.

1 upvote

I like the wood the best. It looks completely fake. It's spot-on fake retro.

0 upvotes

The wood looks like cheap 1970's veneer but at least it's not varnished like that Sigma outrage. I suppose the wood has to have the 'grain' like that in order to curve around the body, but really I know nothing about these things and really must go and flush my head down the toilet before I say even more rubbish.

1 upvote

Will Fujifilm ever publicly acknowledge the common x100 sticky blades problem?

1 upvote

The blue is nice, the other two IMO really don't suit the retro character of the cam.

0 upvotes

Yikes! Why would you want to go from retro to painful?

1 upvote

No matter what to don, you can not change the quirky characters of this cam.

0 upvotes

Don't know about Australia, but here an English version:
http://aki-asahi.com/store/

1 upvote

Anyone knows how to buy the custom cover from them to Australia? I tried to add to cart but got a japanese message that i can't understand =D

1 upvote

The blue leather one looks really special....something to brag about in a party.

0 upvotes

Where is the sticky blades permanent fix announcement Fuji?

3 upvotes

What is that sticky blade? I don't have sticky blade

0 upvotes

You might have it without realising. It surfaces as an exposure error because the Aperture blades fail to move to the correct Aperture in time. If you are new to the Camera you may think it is your error as you are still learning about how the camera is metering.

Certainly if you'd have posted in the fuji forum about metering/exposure issues before this problem was known, you would have been attacked by the wolves and beaten into submission that it was incompetent you to blame and not the wonder camera.

Lets hope the overtly vicious learn from their mistakes, as well as Fuji making some sort of statement so people can buy this excellent camera with confidence, and accept the repair with assurance.

1 upvote

Do you personally have this sticky blade problem? Why I can't find any video about sticky blade in youtube?

0 upvotes

I think this youtube video shows it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df1JvcshWqw

At F2 the exposure is correct. With each F stop increase it over exposes.

I think mine may just be starting to develop it. I bought it in Thailand and have taken over a thousand photos. I noticed exposure issues with some but put that down to me learning a new camera.

But back in the cold UK I recently started noticing more frequent over-exposing. After reading about the issue, I took these two photos:

http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4910244932/albums/x100-aperture

The only difference was the second shot was at F16, which the EXIF shows as reducing to 1/15s but is massively (3 stops?) over-exposed in comparison to the F5.6 (3 stops bigger) at 1/125s (3 stops faster). It's as if the 1/15s exposure was still using f/5.6 Aperture, hence the term Sticky Aperture.

1 upvote

I have look at your picture. Did you used auto program? If you do the problem should be due to wrong exposure calculation by the camera. You closed down the aperture by 2 stops (from 5.6 to 16) but increase the speed by 3 stops (from 1/125 to 1/15). The speed should be 1/30 to obtained the same exposure as the first photo. I don't think you have sticky blade from this photos..

0 upvotes

I had this problem 2 weeks after I purchased it. I had the pleasure of speaking to Fujifilm in the USA and they heard about it but never experienced it at the repair facility. They had me send it into them for training purposes as well as repairing. At first they were skepticle about the problem but did bench tests against a known working model. They were dumbfounded. It turned out that the lens was bad and had to replace it! Been working ever since and that was quite awhile ago. Don't look for a firmware fix. Send it in!

0 upvotes

@jondh - The camera was in Aperture priority.

F/5.6->F/8->F/11->F/16 = Three stops less light
1/125->1/60->1/30->1/15 = Three stops more light

The exposures should be equal, and the problem is real

Comment edited 10 minutes after posting

1 upvote

I got a offer for the orange cow leather one as Hong Kong special edition (limit 200) for 18 800HKD instead of 11 350HKD - (stupid) anyway would wonder what is the price here. - and I wonder if people really buy it.

0 upvotes

The first cameras were wood and brass,it is just the brass we are missing and the long black cape!!!! Yes, agree wood nowadays looks a bit over the top.

0 upvotes

At last... a wooden camera that restores faith that adding wood to a camera can make it look spiffy instead of an unspeakable horror from beyond.

3 upvotes

can someone please explain the aesthetic appeal of the wooden cover?

Comment edited 22 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

You either see it or your don't.

It's a Zen thing. Don't despair.

5 upvotes

Yes!
And the ones buying the SD1 wood edition must be the zen masters of the universe!!!

0 upvotes

Yes, I can. It's the aesthetic of fablon-era fake wood finishes.

0 upvotes

the petrol leather one is just siiiick! if until now i was thinking it is cool but expensive now i think it is expensive so what?! this has to be the most exquisite design for a camera that cost less than a car

0 upvotes

Any ideas how to get those custom covers exported outside Japan? They're positively dribble-worthy. Much as I love the red leather I suspect it would be too shouty for such a discrete camera, but the wood looks lovely.

Also, is the manufacturer warranty likely to be affected? Given that I've already had to send mine back once with the sticky aperture problem I'd hate to have it turned away a second time...

0 upvotes

Ye Gods, that's an attractive camera, much better than the ridiculous Sigma abortion from a while back that looked like a broken potty. Fuji thoroughly understand that photography equipment enthusiasts - and that's what we are, we're photography equipment enthusiasts - are inherently fetishistic, and this is a lovely fetishistic thing, with the smooth wood and the bumpy leather. The details; it's one big detail.

3 upvotes

In fact, just looking at the picture I can smell the wood. I long to brush my fingertips over it, score it with my fingernails, and squeeze it, and smell the wood. Curse you, Fuji, for tickling my innermost desires.

2 upvotes

lol, nice. Tho i must note that it's not Fuji offering the 'custom' covers. This is a dual news post.

0 upvotes

2 insignificant bugs squashed and 1 very minor improvement. This is what they've been working on instead of addressing bladegate?

2 upvotes

This is simply the coolest camera made in the last 15 years. I'm glad someone is thinking outside the typical digital gear box and resurrected the joy of photography-taking experience.

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

3 upvotes

Nice outfits though when using this at the airport last week I was so glad I didn't buy it - photos took what felt like eons to be saved before I could take another!

0 upvotes

Was there a fast SD card in the camera? If it was saving to the internal memory it is woefully slow but a decent SD card makes all the difference.

3 upvotes

I am using a Class 10 SD card and so far had no issues with the speed. Also I keep hearing about the sticky blades. I never experienced it so far. I hope it's not on every camera...

1 upvote

How cool is this! Firmware and custom coverings for a camera you can't even buy anywhere. Thanks again Fuji!!!!

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 2 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

I guess it's bad in the states... Europe is quite different

0 upvotes

I bought mine in Juneau, AK, and the shop had 5 more when I left.
I paid $1200 + 5% tax=$1260.

0 upvotes

i don´t care one second about covers in wood and bling stuff, being aprofessional i care abt other things like water sealing (non existant) and other essential things.
any word on other improvents by the new firmware?
startup times? other behaviour?

1 upvote

Looks much better than the SD1 Hard Wood Edition

1 upvote

Total comments: 63


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