Fujifilm issues X100 firmware v1.21, fixing minor bugs from v1.20: Digital Photography Review

How weird that they call this a bug. I've been telling other X100 owners that this is a feature.

Faster and better focus acquisition by using that button, especially if you're back button focuser, plus you don't have to use macro mode as this button lets you focus the entire range. Personally I like it the way it is. They should make this as an option rather than fix it.

1 upvote

I Agree

0 upvotes

I made some videos with my X100:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYbtJqbSWtc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N58JbGNf3aY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80YfZ2jhQp4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHlYquHOMAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypDAxd_sOms

Kaushik

0 upvotes

Guys,

I read about the slow startup before I bought the X100. On advice of some professionals out there I bout a SanDisk Extreme Pro card. My x100 takes less than 2 seconds to boot up.

I don't think that is too bad.

Just about to upgrade to 1.2.1 firmware - wish me luck, lol.

1 upvote

The autofocus is a lot better, I'm happy with the camera now. They could really do it a little bit better, the start up time could be faster. But the camera has other qualities that makes me love it. Still thinking about to buy the Xpro1, but imagining that the success of the camera and the criticism of the users will do Fuji to launch very soon the Xpro2... They have a great products, but always needing to be a little bit better!

1 upvote

I wish they would fix the super slow start up time. My biggest two gripes with it were the slow AF (fixed) and slow startup after deleting photos on computer. I have to FORMAT THE CARD EVERY EVERY TIME that I transfer images to my Mac. This is so idiotic.

1 upvote

Don't know if this will help, but try and set the mem card to protect mode (tiny switch on side) if you put the card in your mac when transfering images, that will ensure your Mac wont create thumb images on the card when scanning. My ipad does this when I use the cam connect kit to transfer from card to ipad.

Putting card into protect mode stops this behavior, just dont forget to turn off protect when returning card to camera... startup times are fast always :)

I had to google this when all of a sudden my x100 had startup times around 7 seconds, drove me nuts, but understanding how apple's devices wants to write to the card when inserted into said devices made the whole thing clear.

It's not Fuji's fault, its Apple + MemCard;)

Hope it might help.

Comment edited 36 seconds after posting

4 upvotes

Thanks for the tip. As you have noticed I am a novice on this site too.

0 upvotes

Welcome to dpreview!

0 upvotes

Advice would be appreciated. I'm about to choose a new camera, and after thorough examination of mirrorless candidates, I have narrowed the field down to Fuji's X 100 and the X Pro 1. I was photographing a lot with SLRs in the old film days - left photographing for many years, but now I am very interested again. I love the direct control of the parametres aperture & shutter, secondly focus and ISO, and those Fujis seem both right for me. Evidently, after reading the numerous reviews, the X Pro 1 would be the "right" choice, but in spite of it beating the X 100 on every scale, I can't help being drawn to the sophisticated simplicity of the X 100. The thought of having to use a fixed 35 mm (equivalent) doesn't scare, since it's classic and very versatile. But will I - after all - miss the opportunity to change lenses?

Please, let me know what you have experienced in using your X 100s.

Thanks in advance!

0 upvotes

Please, search in the x100 forum, there is a lot of similar questions and, if necessary, post your question in a new topic in the x100 forum:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1020

0 upvotes

I am proud owner of X100, it is a great camera. The F2 fix lens gives very high quality images. The focus system has some problem but you would be okay, it requires more attention, my Panasonic GH2 has great accurate focus, but IQ of X100 is amazing! The build quality of X100 is excellent, it look great while you hold on your hand. Frankly speaking I would love to upgrade my X100 to X Pro 1 but it is an expensive, I think if you do not have budget problem then you should buy X Pro1, which is better than X100 and many other cameras in the market.

I made some videos with my X100:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYbtJqbSWtc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N58JbGNf3aY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80YfZ2jhQp4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHlYquHOMAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypDAxd_sOms

Kaushik

0 upvotes

Polyfem. I've had an X100 for just over a week now and I am absolutely delighted with it. The build quality is great (although the rear buttons, battery door and input/output door are all a bit cheap and plastic) Autofocus seems fine, although nowhere near as good as a DSLR or a lot of other compacts. However the IQ more than does it. The RAW files just POP. Amazing.
On the other hand, if I had the money I would go for the interchangeable lens possibilities of the X1 Pro.

0 upvotes

I would like to confirm that i have tested the new update and it is actually 1.21 firmware. I was just willing to know whether the displayed 1.20 firmware is wrong and it seems it is. So although the support website of FUJI global displays 1.20 firmware. The content of the firmware is actually 1.21. For those who have not downloaded initially and getting confused, i just wanted to clarify.

0 upvotes

How is a camera owner to find out when a new up data is posted?

0 upvotes

super
Thank you for quick response fuji
AF is definitely faster

1 upvote

To me, the overall update from 1.13 to 1.21 has meant that the RAW button can now be reprogrammed. However, I never had a real need for it, since auto-ISO still can't be easily turned on or off. Also, the ISO button (i.e. the Fn button) doesn't actually override auto-ISO, so if you need to set ISO 6400 (or higher), you still need to turn off Auto-ISO, and that's still a chore to do.

I don't notice a practical difference in AF, for better or worse, so until Fuji sorts out the menu system for real, it's kind of worthless to me.

But for those who notice an improvement in AF, enjoy the update. ;)

2 upvotes

Im really really happy with the update,but still no autoISO on custom bottons!

0 upvotes

when i click on the link from Dpreview, it opens a web page from Fuji with a title as ' FinePix X100 / X100Black Firmware Update Ver.1.20 ' So i do NOT see anywhere 1.21 mentioned. That is why i was confused.

0 upvotes

Possible?
Try following link:
http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/software/firmware/x/finepix_x100/download.html

Cut & past the complete URL... ;)

Comment edited 44 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

i tried that as well, still the link you have given or the provided link from dpreview opens a web page with a title of 1.20 not 1.21. Even when you go to fujifilmusa website, initially you see firmware update 1.21 but once clicked on download now, the next page will be the same as the link you posted , which is entitled as 1.20. But i already confirmed that the update file is indeed the 1.21 once i updated my camera (x100). The problem was the title on the website, probably mistyped or something.

0 upvotes

Yes I experienced the same thing. The link provided by dpreview goes to the 1.20 Update.

0 upvotes

When i clicked on the link provided above the FUJI support website displays only the firmware 1.20 .

I was wondering whether 1.21 has been removed or not due to some problems?

Or is it that i have to download 1.20 and it will be shown as 1.21 after the update in the camera? Since i already have 1.20 i havent tried to redownload the same 1.20 from the link provided. Anyone else noticed this?

1 upvote

on the top of the page there is a text on gray background that says 1.21 update, firmware 1.20 is indeed mentioned few times ...

0 upvotes

I hope DP does a review update...I really want this camera to work but I don't want a $1200 ulcer.

0 upvotes

I have it and it works just fine from day one (10 months ago). Now with firmware 1.20 ( and 1.21 that fixes 1.20 :) ) the autofocus is much better than I bought it. Wonderful camera - my only camera for over a year. I wonder if I will replace it with a micro 43 camera, but this camera has got everything except: nice auto focus during video (no manual focus either), stabilization for video, lens option for portraits of my daughter. Thats about it. Otherwise everything else combined makes for the the best compact camera on the market - VF, lens, high ISO, jpeg quality etc

3 upvotes

it's always working great for me from day 1. Don't be picky be happy :) :)

2 upvotes

@ alffastar, I am proud owner of X100 and using it since last one year, it is indeed great camera, F2 lens is very sharp, IQ is amazing, I do have Panasonic GH2 but it is worst in terms of still but in video it is top class, however Fuji X100 is great in video department too, Fujifilm should have given more attention to video department, and 1080p would have been great, Fuji X100 is capable to capture great video in low light better than GH2, well GH2 would be great in F2 lens but this Fuji X100 is amazing in video particularly in low light, I hope Fujifilm will give more attention to its video department, Fujifilm gives great colors!

I made some videos with my X100:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYbtJqbSWtc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N58JbGNf3aY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80YfZ2jhQp4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHlYquHOMAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypDAxd_sOms

Kaushik

1 upvote

@Kaushik Parmar, I like video of X100 - it is really great, however, there is now way to manually focus during video and the auto focus is not good, so focusing is a real problem for me when shooting video...

0 upvotes

@alffastar, yes indeed focus is big problem, X100 has much limitation in video department. If object & camera both are steady then result is good, but if you keep camera in auto focus mode and move camera then forget to have good result, why Fujifilm is not taking care of this issue, otherwise this camera could have been great in video too!

0 upvotes

pinecone

I downloaded the firmware yesterday from the fuji usa site and it worked fine. Just make sure you delete any old firmware images from the directory on your pc before you download 1.21 and make sure you have reformatted the SDHC card prior to copying 1.21 from your pc to the SDHC card so that is absolutely clean.

I don't know why it is saying the file size is 33.9mb other than maybe that it is renaming it as there is more than copy of firmware in your PC directory and it is adding extra bytes to distinguish it.

1 upvote

It worked. Thanks!

0 upvotes

Kudos to Fuji for releasing the update so soon after v1.20 - I hope in future they test the updates thoroughly before general release. All being said and done, the X100 is an excellent camera. Enjoy.

2 upvotes

Hello All,

I'm trying to update to the new firmware however the file size is larger then what's stated. It's 33.9 mb rather then 32.2 mb. Would any one have any idea why or solutions to this?

Thanks!

0 upvotes

All the firmware updates I've downloaded have been exactly the same size - 33,058KB

1 upvote

Pinecone,
The exact file size is 33,850,564 bytes. To convert it to MB in Windows format, it is equal to 33,850,564 bytes / 1024 / 1024 = 32.2 MB.
Don't convert it to MB by dividing it by 1,000,000; In Microsoft Windows, 1 MB = 1 byte x 1,024 x 1,024 = 1,048,576 bytes.
Hope this will clarify your question.

2 upvotes

Actually dividing by 1000/1000 will give MB.

The unit 1024X1024 bytes is the Mebi bytes This abbreviation for this size unit is the MiB.
1000x1000 bytes is the megabyte (MB).
So the only way to get MB from bytes is to divide by 1000000.

This has been the case for some years.
It sucks, but like so many things that suck, it's official.

0 upvotes

jtan163,
That's up to you if you like to use 1,000,000 for calculation of MB.

Unfortunately, most of us are using Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows based on 1,048,576 (i.e. 2^20) bytes as 1 MB. If you use 1,000,000 bytes as 1 MB, then you might not be able to communicate with the Windows society effectively.

Anyway, this is not a big deal. Go your way.

0 upvotes

1 MB = 1024 bytes x 1024 bytes

This is not a Windows thing. That has been so since the dawn of computers. It has to do with the binary base used. 1024 = 2 to the power of 32.

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

1 upvote

Eduardoo,
You make a wrong calculation.
2 to the power of 32 = 4,294,967,296 , NOT 1,000,000 or 1,048,576.
The correct calculation is:
1 MB = 2^20 = 1,048,576 bytes.
By the way, what do you mean "the dawn of computers"? Are you talking mechanical computers or electronic computers or what? Any proven history backup of your assumption?

0 upvotes

Yes, my calculation was wrong, thx for correcting it. In the binary system, 8 bits = 1 byte. Two or four bytes constituted a word in the first computers. So when you requested memory to the operating for your applications, you alway got a number that was a power of 2 for efficiency reasons. So it was always 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 512 or 1024. This last number constituted 1Kb. According to Wikipedia much has changed since then, and there are actually different quantities that are considered a MB. (I am a prehistoric programmer, as you can see). But it definitely is not a Windows thing. 1024 is actually 2 ^ 10.

Comment edited 6 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

So, when you request 1 MB, you actually get 2 ^ 20 bytes, as you acuratelly calculated. Of course no one made such requests in the early days because there was not that amount of memory available.

0 upvotes

Eduardoo,
I think you are still a young guy because your generation is already in the era of 8 bit / byte.
Actually, 8 bit / byte was introduced to us by the IBM System 360.
Before the 360 era, it was 4 bit / byte; and later developed to 6 bit / byte.
Before the 4 bit byte, we only had 1 bit (ie. 0 or 1) which can only be assessed in the machine-code level.

0 upvotes

I worked with the IBM 360 and 1130 computers: 16KW (K words) total, punched cards and 5MB hard disks. Glad to know I am not the oldest guy here :-)

So, if a byte was less than 8 bits before that, there was no ASCII nor EBCDIC standards, right? How was a character represented back then?

Regards, Eduardo.

Comment edited 44 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

Still not a camera that is up to professional standards....

2 upvotes

Whose professional standards? Yours?

3 upvotes

I don't think the designer of this cameras intends to serve the professionals.
This camera is excellent for those who love arts and photography in a unique style; but not using photography as a means for earning the living.

3 upvotes

+1 Edmond

0 upvotes

You can always pay 4 times as much for a Leica if you don't mind inferior low light performance. Is there a professional compact? Or is only an SLSR fast enough/ robust enough and versatile enough to be considered professional? Fuji are hoping other wise with the X Pro-1 I would think.
I use my X100 both professionally (landscape and scenic work) and for fun. It is also my best lowlight camera - better than my 5D MK1 and 60D (by miles).

Comment edited 3 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

Hey, when I bought the x100 on release it was a great camera with superb IQ, great looks and feel, and lots of quirks that could drive you mad.
It's been steadily improved by Fuji - 5th firmware in a year.
Onya Fuji for trying!
1.20 was major advance in focus speed and accuracy IMO, and within a week they've fixed the bugs in it.
Fuji were starting from scratch with this camera - and 12 months on it performs SIGNIFICANTLY better than when I bought it.
In my world that's a good thing, not a bad one.

4 upvotes

Bandaids for bandaids

1 upvote

At least they are prompt about fixing it.

0 upvotes

True

0 upvotes

I think there is a typo on the front page: "Fujifilm has issued another firmware update for the X100, fixing a couple of big introduced in the previous update."

"bugs" instead of "big"?

Comment edited 10 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

I've issued an update, correcting the bug in the previous news story.

2 upvotes

Thank you for correcting the big.

1 upvote

Awesome.

The X-series has been a complete disaster.

4 upvotes

From a design standpoint they have been brilliant, which is why the software bugs are so disappointing.

3 upvotes

oh yeh they have made over 180 million in one year on 2 cameras, i would definitly call that a disaster.

2 upvotes

@snake_b, spoken like someone who has never even held one, let alone used it to take photos. Was X100 perfect? No. Does it let me take ultra high IQ photos? Yes. The rest are just niggles that Fuji has been sorting out.

8 upvotes

I'm sure the aperture issues weren't a disaster, nor the sensor problems in the XS1 and X10 weren't a disaster, either?

4 upvotes

Judging by the anticipation, positive reviews and attention generated by the the X-Pro1, I'd say you're a bumbling moron. If the X100 were a disaster, no one would be paying attention to the X-Pro1.

Snakes and trolls hide in the same places.

Comment edited 23 seconds after posting

4 upvotes

A disaster for who? Fuji, who's made millions on a very successful camera line or all the satisfied X-series owners?

So far they've been hard to keep on the shelves despite all the reviews that outline every issue. Fuji released a camera that people desire so much they can look past the flaws. Sounds like a huge success to me.

0 upvotes

Disaster? Probably along with the K-5 for the best very best IQ of any APS-C camera is the X-100. That's my kind of disaster.

0 upvotes

The "diasaster" have been one of the best cameras ever.......
X-100 rules!

1 upvote

snake_b is right. These things are a disaster and a massive failure. I can't imagine for the life of me why anybody would want to own one.

Now, who wants to sell me theirs for $50? :-)

0 upvotes

Its great that your able to post comments for free but your missing the whole point. Its non of your business what Fuji do - and your not their customer are you? Your at best the customer of the retailer. The X100 is a stunning ground breaking camera and your peers like Ken Rockwell demonstrate this. Try to be rational and constructive before you post as its such a good free resource here. If you need help or advice pose a question as there are far better folk here than you that can give you the correct advice. Post some photos and if they are OK we can elevate you position on DPReview and take you more seriously than a one trick pony at the moment....

0 upvotes

I love my X100. The menu system is a long way from perfect, the autofocus can be slow at times, and manual focusing is kinda sucky. But, it's a camera I love because when it does find focus my images are tack sharp and the IQ is stunning. The dynamic range alone at DR400 is worth the price of admission. It's a camera that constantly surprises me.

Sure, it has its quirks, but they hardly bother me in day to day use. Fuji's last update has pulled certain options from the bowels of the UI (which is a welcome thing) and given direct access to others. Do I wish Fuji would simply perfect the menu instead of delivering small adjustments as if they're clueless about what people really want? Sure. But, even without those the camera is great. Any adjustments they've made are just icing on one heck of a good cake.

0 upvotes

The 1.20 and 1.21 upgrades significantly improve the X100. Thanks Fuji for making it easier to get great results.

0 upvotes

Complete: entire - whole - total - absolute - full. Then how come the X100 is so loved and awarded? Because fundamentally it is fabulous. Fuji have had issues (sticky aperture on X100 and orbs on X10) but they have or are fixing that plus addressing the firmware issues/requests. Yes it would have been better without the issues but there certainly has been no complete disaster. Browsing through the thousands of X100 images I have taken confirms that to me.

Comment edited 9 minutes after posting

0 upvotes


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Fujifilm issues X100 firmware v1.21, fixing minor bugs from v1.20

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