Fuji's attitude is killing the F550EXR !

So many faults, flaws, problems and disappointment in one camera model, which the entire P&S market welcomed with so many expectations:

1. The EXR technology which prevents using full resolution & forcing medium or even low resolution (Explanation & reson not interesting !)

2. Battery drain even when camera is turned off (And also no GPS, no EXR, no nothing !!!)

3. The famous AF hunt during movie shooting which started it all

4. The poping flash that pops out un-invited, whenever the camera is being turned on

5. The movie recording mode 1080i which is inferior to the 1080p format (AKA not a real full HD)

6. The continues shooting speed which all the publications stated 8 fps, turns to be a much much slower speed when you shoot raw and even in JPG recording it is still les then 6 fps

7. and finaly the overall poor quality of photos under normal & well lighten conditions (not even low light condition)...

Well taking all these in consideration and also the fact that no Fuji official came forward, took responsibility to even some of the flaws & declared an official time table towards fixing this problems either by issuing a firmware update or even replacing the camera alltogether...

All of these are sentencing the F550exr to die even before it actually started to breathe ...

More tricks like this one and the "Sit & do nothing" attitude, may sentence fuji itself to vanish as a serious camera designer & manufacturer...

--
Visit my Gallery at:
http://hkphoto.justdrop.in

ignore please - double post
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/techoutsider

Have you been coerced into purchasing a F550?

Harry Kroitoru said:

So many faults, flaws, problems and disappointment in one camera model, which the entire P&S market welcomed with so many expectations:

Click to expand...

There are at least 11 other "travel zoom" cameras that don't use EXR technology.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q210grouptravelzoom/

Harry Kroitoru said:

1. The EXR technology which prevents using full resolution & forcing medium or even low resolution (Explanation & reson not interesting !)

Click to expand...

Legitimate problems.

Harry Kroitoru said:

2. Battery drain even when camera is turned off (And also no GPS, no EXR, no nothing !!!)

3. The famous AF hunt during movie shooting which started it all

4. The poping flash that pops out un-invited, whenever the camera is being turned on

5. The movie recording mode 1080i which is inferior to the 1080p format (AKA not a real full HD)

6. The continues shooting speed which all the publications stated 8 fps, turns to be a much much slower speed when you shoot raw and even in JPG recording it is still les then 6 fps

Click to expand...

I personally think the results are excellent. I have never owned a Fuji before. And this is from a current Panasonic ZS7 owner. I think our definitions of image quality are different.

Harry Kroitoru said:

7. and finaly the overall poor quality of photos under normal & well lighten conditions (not even low light condition)...

Well taking all these in consideration and also the fact that no Fuji official came forward, took responsibility to even some of the flaws & declared an official time table towards fixing this problems either by issuing a firmware update or even replacing the camera alltogether...

All of these are sentencing the F550exr to die even before it actually started to breathe ...

Click to expand...

This post has a valiant cause. Nonetheless, I think the rhetoric would be better directed at Fuji directly. In a sea of posts, what guarantees that Fuji will see this thread? Does Fuji even read the DPReview forums?

Harry Kroitoru said:

More tricks like this one and the "Sit & do nothing" attitude, may sentence fuji itself to vanish as a serious camera designer & manufacturer...

Click to expand...

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/techoutsider

Guess my little F31fd will stick around awhile longer.......lol. Maybe Fuji needs to reproduce the F31fd??

Harry Kroitoru said:

So many faults, flaws, problems and disappointment in one camera model, which the entire P&S market welcomed with so many expectations:

1. The EXR technology which prevents using full resolution & forcing medium or even low resolution (Explanation & reson not interesting !)

2. Battery drain even when camera is turned off (And also no GPS, no EXR, no nothing !!!)

3. The famous AF hunt during movie shooting which started it all

4. The poping flash that pops out un-invited, whenever the camera is being turned on

5. The movie recording mode 1080i which is inferior to the 1080p format (AKA not a real full HD)

6. The continues shooting speed which all the publications stated 8 fps, turns to be a much much slower speed when you shoot raw and even in JPG recording it is still les then 6 fps

7. and finaly the overall poor quality of photos under normal & well lighten conditions (not even low light condition)...

Well taking all these in consideration and also the fact that no Fuji official came forward, took responsibility to even some of the flaws & declared an official time table towards fixing this problems either by issuing a firmware update or even replacing the camera alltogether...

All of these are sentencing the F550exr to die even before it actually started to breathe ...

More tricks like this one and the "Sit & do nothing" attitude, may sentence fuji itself to vanish as a serious camera designer & manufacturer...

--
Visit my Gallery at:
http://hkphoto.justdrop.in

Click to expand...

--
Conrad Birdie
"Aspire to Inspire before you Expire"

1. My post was'nt intended for Fuji's eyes/ears, but for my fellow users to read, comment and shout...

2. And maybe....maybe I'm expecting other hand's on users, or other experts, to come forward and say that actualy everything is all right, and the problems aren't that big, and that the camera is actualy "top notch" as prommised...

Maybe ...

--
Visit my Gallery at:
http://hkphoto.justdrop.in

"Shout" in response to your post? Your trolling. Try logging out of DPReview.

Harry Kroitoru said:

1. My post was'nt intended for Fuji's eyes/ears, but for my fellow users to read, comment and shout...

2. And maybe....maybe I'm expecting other hand's on users, or other experts, to come forward and say that actualy everything is all right, and the problems aren't that big, and that the camera is actualy "top notch" as prommised...

Maybe ...

Click to expand...

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/techoutsider

oops ....1080i IS full HD !

I highly suggest writing a complaint to Fuji.
I did.

theranman said:

I highly suggest writing a complaint to Fuji.
I did.

Click to expand...

Yes, it is the best way to get heard on your complains. Take it one step further and tweet on the FujiGuys Twitter. The more voices are heard the better.

...

Have to agree with Harry, and then some...

When the thoroughly vetted Kim Letkeman concludes"I love this cam," no offense but I gotta go with him. Perhaps you have a bad copy.

Strictly in terms of Fuji's attitude, it's been found wanting, sometimes grossly so, over the years. It often feels like 'take it or leave it' -- you take it, they leave it.

But hope springs eternal. And there's the not inconsequential matter of their imperfect products often as not besting the competition.

TechOutsider said:

Harry Kroitoru said:

So many faults, flaws, problems and disappointment in one camera model, which the entire P&S market welcomed with so many expectations:

Click to expand...

There are at least 11 other "travel zoom" cameras that don't use EXR technology.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q210grouptravelzoom/

TechOutsider said:

1. The EXR technology which prevents using full resolution & forcing medium or even low resolution (Explanation & reson not interesting !)

Click to expand...

Legitimate problems.

TechOutsider said:

2. Battery drain even when camera is turned off (And also no GPS, no EXR, no nothing !!!)

3. The famous AF hunt during movie shooting which started it all

4. The poping flash that pops out un-invited, whenever the camera is being turned on

5. The movie recording mode 1080i which is inferior to the 1080p format (AKA not a real full HD)

6. The continues shooting speed which all the publications stated 8 fps, turns to be a much much slower speed when you shoot raw and even in JPG recording it is still les then 6 fps

Click to expand...

I personally think the results are excellent. I have never owned a Fuji before. And this is from a current Panasonic ZS7 owner. I think our definitions of image quality are different.

TechOutsider said:

7. and finaly the overall poor quality of photos under normal & well lighten conditions (not even low light condition)...

Well taking all these in consideration and also the fact that no Fuji official came forward, took responsibility to even some of the flaws & declared an official time table towards fixing this problems either by issuing a firmware update or even replacing the camera alltogether...

All of these are sentencing the F550exr to die even before it actually started to breathe ...

Click to expand...

This post has a valiant cause. Nonetheless, I think the rhetoric would be better directed at Fuji directly. In a sea of posts, what guarantees that Fuji will see this thread? Does Fuji even read the DPReview forums?

TechOutsider said:

More tricks like this one and the "Sit & do nothing" attitude, may sentence fuji itself to vanish as a serious camera designer & manufacturer...

Click to expand...

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/techoutsider

Click to expand...

--
Tim, FZ18, F20

Is it really all that bad?

Harry Kroitoru said:

So many faults, flaws, problems and disappointment in one camera model, which the entire P&S market welcomed with so many expectations:

1. The EXR technology which prevents using full resolution & forcing medium or even low resolution (Explanation & reson not interesting !)

Click to expand...

Medium res is simply another name for pixel binning mode, its a feature unique to Fuji.

Harry Kroitoru said:

2. Battery drain even when camera is turned off (And also no GPS, no EXR, no nothing !!!)

Click to expand...

Funnily enough this very problem happened with a new F70 I bought. A 3rd party battery sorted it out. I was surprised the Fuji battery was so duff. This needs to be sorted out ASAP though. I am going to go out on a limb here and blame the OEM battery, which I realise sounds unlikely but this was my exact experience with my new F70. It died in 2 days froma full charge even when not in use on the Fuji battery it came with. An el cheapo unbranded battery off Amazon UK sorted it out.

Harry Kroitoru said:

3. The famous AF hunt during movie shooting which started it all

Click to expand...

Kim found it does not hunt in centre focus mode so use that.

Harry Kroitoru said:

4. The poping flash that pops out un-invited, whenever the camera is being turned on

Click to expand...

This is not exactly a big problem. Its a minor annoyance at most.

Harry Kroitoru said:

5. The movie recording mode 1080i which is inferior to the 1080p format (AKA not a real full HD)

Click to expand...

I bet that if you watch 1080i and 1080p on your TV set, you can't tell which is which.

Harry Kroitoru said:

6. The continues shooting speed which all the publications stated 8 fps, turns to be a much much slower speed when you shoot raw and even in JPG recording it is still les then 6 fps

Click to expand...

Oh come on. Slow RAW shooting speeds is inevitable, its a massive amount of data to store. This is not a pro camera. As for slower JPEG's, 5fps is pretty respectable and anyway its all dependent on the read times of your memory card.

Harry Kroitoru said:

7. and finaly the overall poor quality of photos under normal & well lighten conditions (not even low light condition)...

Click to expand...

Kim's, Hugo's and many other users photos contradict this point. Is a sweeping and unfounded generalisation.

Harry Kroitoru said:

Well taking all these in consideration and also the fact that no Fuji official came forward, took responsibility to even some of the flaws & declared an official time table towards fixing this problems either by issuing a firmware update or even replacing the camera alltogether...

Click to expand...

Name a corporation that steps up and sorts things out without obfuscating, other than Intel. The battery issue is potentially serious but the rest of your points are either not settled issues or you are being hyper critical.

Harry Kroitoru said:

All of these are sentencing the F550exr to die even before it actually started to breathe ...

Click to expand...

I would not bet on that.

Harry Kroitoru said:

More tricks like this one and the "Sit & do nothing" attitude, may sentence fuji itself to vanish as a serious camera designer & manufacturer...

Click to expand...

Oh really, do you have the faintest idea how many times on this and the Fuji SLR forum, someone has posted that Fuji is dying, over the last five years?

Harry Kroitoru said:

--
Visit my Gallery at:
http://hkphoto.justdrop.in

Click to expand...

Roy

RoysLaw said:

tweet on the FujiGuys Twitter.

Click to expand...

Dude! that does not even sound right :-D

Seriously though I have never even gone to the site, can you believe it in this day and age? One day I will feel compelled and then it will be a downhill slope

--
JB
I am not a photographer, I’m just a guy that takes pictures.
http://www.buckshot.BuckshotsPhotos.photoshare.co.nz

http://www.fujimugs.com/mugshots/show_member.php?country=&act=&hasmug=&challenge=&cat=&sortby=&sortdir=&thumb=&srch=&member=1341

--
john carson

Wellington, I think you'll see recently Kim lamented the focus hunting in the video, despite the center AF. This part of the camera is an absolute disaster. That for me is a shame.

buckshot said:

buckshot said:

tweet on the FujiGuys Twitter.

Click to expand...

Dude! that does not even sound right :-D

Seriously though I have never even gone to the site, can you believe it in this day and age? One day I will feel compelled and then it will be a downhill slope

Click to expand...

Stay off it, you would not want anyone calling you a twit

Harry Kroitoru said:

So many faults, flaws, problems and disappointment in one camera model, which the entire P&S market welcomed with so many expectations:

Click to expand...

Agreed, and Fuji compounded the problem with their other new camera. The HS20EXR has different bugs but they're possibly even more of a problem. But I don't agree with all of your points.

Harry Kroitoru said:

1. The EXR technology which prevents using full resolution & forcing medium or even low resolution (Explanation & reson not interesting !)

Click to expand...

You may not understand the reason for M size, but if you did , you would find it very interesting. Fuji's 8mp mode has excellent resolution for a small sensor camera, and 16mp in a small sensor camera can't (repeat, can't ) produce a true 16mp's worth of resolution. Only larger sensor cameras can get away with using 16mp sensors and show 16mp's worth of detail. Don't swallow marketing's bait. High pixel count, small sensor cameras may sell well but they don't produce better images. Along with the very good, clean pixels, the F550 in M size also gives you much better dynamic range and better high ISO performance.

Harry Kroitoru said:

2. Battery drain even when camera is turned off (And also no GPS, no EXR, no nothing !!!)

Click to expand...

Correct. I'm testing another F550EXR that I picked up several hours ago. If the battery is dead tomorrow or the day after, back it goes, after speaking with Fuji one more time.

Harry Kroitoru said:

3. The famous AF hunt during movie shooting which started it all

Click to expand...

That's not good, but Fuji never has been able to produce good movies with good sound, so for me, this isn't a show stopper.

Harry Kroitoru said:

4. The poping flash that pops out un-invited, whenever the camera is being turned on

Click to expand...

Actually, Fuji listened and corrected the problem that first showed up with the F300EXR. Although it still tries to pop up, if you push it back down it will stay down, and if you hold it down while it tries to pop up, it will also stay down. I got used to the flash popping up on the F300, so the F550 is a nice improvement and might start to make the F300's flash behavior slightly more annoying.

Harry Kroitoru said:

5. The movie recording mode 1080i which is inferior to the 1080p format (AKA not a real full HD)

Click to expand...

Can you tell the difference? I'd rather not shoot at 1080 anything with a little P&S. 720p is good enough for me. But then I hardly ever shoot movies, so what I say here can be taken with a grain of salt.

Harry Kroitoru said:

6. The continues shooting speed which all the publications stated 8 fps, turns to be a much much slower speed when you shoot raw

Click to expand...

omigod, omigod, how horrible. whodathunkit? Umm, you expected the F550 to shoot like a big DSLR?

Harry Kroitoru said:

and even in JPG recording it is still les then 6 fps

Click to expand...

I haven't tried it, and won't until I see if my new F550 survives its battery test, but before getting too worried about this, make sure that whoever tested it knew what they were doing. It may be that some setting was responsible for slowing down the continuous shooting rate. Newbie testers and incompetent testers have a remarkable ability to bungle tests.

Harry Kroitoru said:

7. and finaly the overall poor quality of photos under normal & well lighten conditions (not even low light condition)...

Click to expand...

In the limited shooting I've done so far that's not what I've seen. The F550's Auto WB does have a slightly blue color cast compared with the F300, but using a Custom WB improve the color accuracy. Shooting indoors in moderately low light hasn't been a problem. Is the poor quality you're talking about from your own photos or is it what you've seen in other people's photos?

Harry Kroitoru said:

Well taking all these in consideration and also the fact that no Fuji official came forward, took responsibility to even some of the flaws & declared an official time table towards fixing this problems either by issuing a firmware update or even replacing the camera alltogether...

Click to expand...

You forgot to finish the sentence. That's ok though. The camera is too new to expect a response from Fuji at this point. Give it a couple of weeks. Most other manufacturers also drag their feet before acknowledging problems, so Fuji is just acting like any other mature camera manufacturer. Fuji also issued several firmware fixes for the HS10, but they didn't arrive as quickly as many people wanted them to come.

Harry Kroitoru said:

More tricks like this one and the "Sit & do nothing" attitude, may sentence fuji itself to vanish as a serious camera designer & manufacturer...

Click to expand...

Maybe Apple with buy Fuji and produce an iPhone 6 with a tiny EXR sensor. Ick.

Conrad Birdie said:

Guess my little F31fd will stick around awhile longer.......lol. Maybe Fuji needs to reproduce the F31fd??

Click to expand...

Smudge-y NR and no RAW make it inferior to the F550 for serious photographers while lack of HD video (even 720p) and a puny 3x zoom make it inferior for casual ones, so... no, not really.

The big problem of the F550 is the same as the HS-20: people are expecting far too much from them. And by "too much" I don't mean "more than what last year's model offered", I mean "more than what a current model costing 3x as much and twice larger on every dimension can provide". Though I'd be grateful for somebody to point me to a pocket-sized compact that can shoot RAW files continuously at 8 fps, preferably for less than the price of a Leica M9 with a collapsible lens.
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/Draek

I got this link to a native MOV file from the new FUJI (about 700MB):

http://www.fileserve.com/file/SfvEX4T

When looking at details, for me it looks like 1080i - not P.

I agree fully with the sentiment of your comments. Early days for me but f550 looking pretty good. Not as good as my nikon slr, but whatcha expect for a tiny 300 uk pds camera.
Thanks for advise on battery.

As someone else has pointed out people maybe are expecting too much from a tiny compact camera, which has more Mp than the previous version and a longer zoom...

Overall I think the 550 gives better performance than the older 200EXR. My reason for getting these particular compacts is the DR feature which puts these cameras into a different league compared to other cameras that dont have the feature. I took amazing pictures of snow scenes with my old 200EXR, something my current Nikon at the time was incapable of.

At the price point you're not going to get Leica quality,( I mean the old film cameras) I'm not sure that Leicas digital cameras are so good for the price you pay.

So, yes anything like a 550 is going to be a compromise- and I prefer carrying a 550 to a heavy bag of DSLR stuff anyday.