Fuji seems to like DPReview!

I was talking to the Fuji rep on the online help and in addition to confirming a "Early June as earliest, Early July as latest" release of the F700, they said that if there are any review samples to be shipped to reviewers (no date yet), DPReview would be the first to get their hands on it! Keep us informed guys!

PS-I told the rep that I appreciated that Fuji is willing to take the time to perfect their products and not release half @ssed problematic products like Micro$oft does and he said that's EXACTLY what this delay was trying to prevent. I'll miss out on having the F700 for my Las Vegas trip but I feel better about the product despite the delay. This thing is going to RULE!

Chris Lukowski said:

PS-I told the rep that I appreciated that Fuji is willing to take
the time to perfect their products and not release half @ssed
problematic products like Micro$oft does and he said that's EXACTLY
what this delay was trying to prevent.

Click to expand...

Hhhaaa! So a Fuji rep has admitted that the problem is not "material procurement". .

He said the reason for the delay was quote "CCD development" and when I wrote the comment about Mircrosoft he whole heartedly agreed. I, for one, am glad they didn't release a crappy product in order to meet a self imposed deadline.

George Chen said:

George Chen said:

PS-I told the rep that I appreciated that Fuji is willing to take
the time to perfect their products and not release half @ssed
problematic products like Micro$oft does and he said that's EXACTLY
what this delay was trying to prevent.

Click to expand...

Hhhaaa! So a Fuji rep has admitted that the problem is not
"material procurement". .

Click to expand...

So, how did you talk to the Fuji rep on the online help? Where is it?

I have a suggestion if they're open to changes in their firmware. I'd love to see an option to save both the under- and over-exposed images from the paired sensors to the xd card. Even though their automatic image combination is handy, it can't be optimum for all lighting situations and user applications. The ability to save both images, so that the user can combine them with any algorithm they choose, would be very powerful. I don't think such an option would require changes in the hardware.

Chris Lukowski said:

I was talking to the Fuji rep on the online help and in addition to
confirming a "Early June as earliest, Early July as latest" release
of the F700, they said that if there are any review samples to be
shipped to reviewers (no date yet), DPReview would be the first to
get their hands on it! Keep us informed guys!

PS-I told the rep that I appreciated that Fuji is willing to take
the time to perfect their products and not release half @ssed
problematic products like Micro$oft does and he said that's EXACTLY
what this delay was trying to prevent. I'll miss out on having the
F700 for my Las Vegas trip but I feel better about the product
despite the delay. This thing is going to RULE!

Click to expand...

Any idea on the price yet? Thanks.

Chris Lukowski said:

I was talking to the Fuji rep on the online help and in addition to
confirming a "Early June as earliest, Early July as latest" release
of the F700, they said that if there are any review samples to be
shipped to reviewers (no date yet), DPReview would be the first to
get their hands on it! Keep us informed guys!

PS-I told the rep that I appreciated that Fuji is willing to take
the time to perfect their products and not release half @ssed
problematic products like Micro$oft does and he said that's EXACTLY
what this delay was trying to prevent. I'll miss out on having the
F700 for my Las Vegas trip but I feel better about the product
despite the delay. This thing is going to RULE!

Click to expand...

You can access this by going to the Fujifilm.com website and bringing up the F700 camera page by going through their products listings. There you will find a green button link to access online help. Don't know if these guys have any kind of say in matters, but go for it.

George Chen said:

I have a suggestion if they're open to changes in their firmware.
I'd love to see an option to save both the under- and over-exposed
images from the paired sensors to the xd card. Even though their
automatic image combination is handy, it can't be optimum for all
lighting situations and user applications. The ability to save both
images, so that the user can combine them with any algorithm they
choose, would be very powerful. I don't think such an option would
require changes in the hardware.

Chris Lukowski said:

I was talking to the Fuji rep on the online help and in addition to
confirming a "Early June as earliest, Early July as latest" release
of the F700, they said that if there are any review samples to be
shipped to reviewers (no date yet), DPReview would be the first to
get their hands on it! Keep us informed guys!

PS-I told the rep that I appreciated that Fuji is willing to take
the time to perfect their products and not release half @ssed
problematic products like Micro$oft does and he said that's EXACTLY
what this delay was trying to prevent. I'll miss out on having the
F700 for my Las Vegas trip but I feel better about the product
despite the delay. This thing is going to RULE!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Yeah right, an unknown Fuji Rep will "spill ALL the beans" to an unknown enquiry, IF HE even knows ALL the truth. Like life, the truth will be a twisted mix of several FACTS. My "educated" guess is -

FACT 1: There are huge shortages of components worldwide - The Iraq war has drained an unprecedented quantity of electronic components (remembering there was a BAD downturn before that, so many manufacturers had slashed levels) !!! This is the first war in history that's using mainframe-level processing on just about EVERY single ordinance !!

FACT 2: Everyone else is in the same boat. Minolta are holding with their Dimage 7i series, Sony on their F717 Series, Olympus on their C740 C750 series, Nikon's late start with the E5700 etc etc

FACT 3: The 4/3 system is several months away, mini DSLR's also months away .. both probably too expensive.
EDUCATED GUESS PART:

ALL current models are selling well, so lets use this time to "perfect" the next release and get a jump on R+D for after that.
Sure is a more plausible theory than "aliens stole my brain"
JKirk

George Chen said:

George Chen wrote:
Hhhaaa! So a Fuji rep has admitted that the problem is not
"material procurement". .

Click to expand...

I was counting on it for my san francisco trip in late may. :> ( Guess I'll have to double up on my prozac. The F 700 is clearly the outstanding camera in the small category. Nothing can touch it on paper (and I hope in reality). Guess I'm going to have to line up on some waiting list for it. Could anyone tell me who are the best reputation places on the web (return policy, etc) for digital camera purchases? Richard

Chris Lukowski said:

I was talking to the Fuji rep on the online help and in addition to
confirming a "Early June as earliest, Early July as latest" release
of the F700, they said that if there are any review samples to be
shipped to reviewers (no date yet), DPReview would be the first to
get their hands on it! Keep us informed guys!

PS-I told the rep that I appreciated that Fuji is willing to take
the time to perfect their products and not release half @ssed
problematic products like Micro$oft does and he said that's EXACTLY
what this delay was trying to prevent. I'll miss out on having the
F700 for my Las Vegas trip but I feel better about the product
despite the delay. This thing is going to RULE!

Click to expand...

I have a feeling that when the product is really ready to be released, most of the mainstream vendors like Amazon and Ritz Camera will have them in stock and ready to go. I did have an odd feeling when the only vendors claiming to have it recently were shady establishments with no return policies to speak of. I've found personally that Yahoo! Shopping is a good collection of vendors if you're looking to find a deal though. They're also rated by their customers so if people are getting shafted it reflects on them.

richard morrill said:

Chris Lukowski said:

I was talking to the Fuji rep on the online help and in addition to
confirming a "Early June as earliest, Early July as latest" release
of the F700, they said that if there are any review samples to be
shipped to reviewers (no date yet), DPReview would be the first to
get their hands on it! Keep us informed guys!

PS-I told the rep that I appreciated that Fuji is willing to take
the time to perfect their products and not release half @ssed
problematic products like Micro$oft does and he said that's EXACTLY
what this delay was trying to prevent. I'll miss out on having the
F700 for my Las Vegas trip but I feel better about the product
despite the delay. This thing is going to RULE!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

It's very interesting that Amazon had set the availability date of the F700 to July 15th a full month ago. Did they have inside information that the camera was going to be delayed???

Chris Lukowski said:

richard morrill said:

Chris Lukowski said:

I was talking to the Fuji rep on the online help and in addition to
confirming a "Early June as earliest, Early July as latest" release
of the F700, they said that if there are any review samples to be
shipped to reviewers (no date yet), DPReview would be the first to
get their hands on it! Keep us informed guys!

PS-I told the rep that I appreciated that Fuji is willing to take
the time to perfect their products and not release half @ssed
problematic products like Micro$oft does and he said that's EXACTLY
what this delay was trying to prevent. I'll miss out on having the
F700 for my Las Vegas trip but I feel better about the product
despite the delay. This thing is going to RULE!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...