x100 New firmware update review

I've recently updated to the latest firmware for my x100.

Here is the link: FinePix X100 / X100Black Firmware Update Ver.1.21

The instructions to update is fairly easy to follow and I updated without any problems. Previously, the photos were easily overexposed in the day or simply too dark, but the update fixes the problem and Ver 1.20 firmware (which makes significant changes) is fantastic.

This is what it fixed.
1. Some functions, which can be set to "Fn" button and shown as "Fn BUTTON" in SET-UP menu, can be also set to RAW button. After pressing the command dial to right in the SET-UP menu of "Fn BUTTON", "Fn" and "RAW" are displayed and each of selectable them, Also, by holding down RAW button for more than 3 seconds, same type of selection menu for RAW button is displayed, just as short-cut procedure.
2.By selecting in "ISO" menu in the shooting menu, either ISO sensitivity value or "ISO AUTO CONTROL" can be selected.
3.When AF MODE is set to "AREA" in Single AF (AF-S) mode, active focus point is zoomed in (magnified to approx 5x) by pressing center of the command control.
4.When "ND FILTER" is set to "Fn" button or "RAW" button, setting between ON ("ND" is displayed) or OFF ("ND" is NOT displayed) can be changeable by pressing "Fn" button or "RAW" button, which is set for "ND FILTER".
5.When the image is shot with vertical angle of the camera and played back the shot in the LCD, the image is displayed with whole area of LCD even after pressing "playback zoom in" button.
6.When the human face is shot, the detected face is displayed during the playing back, and pressing the command dial to down, detected face is magnified during displaying.
7.AE control system and AF performance including AF speed has been improved for movie recording mode.

 The camera is more responsive and takes good photos in the day as well, and the night shots are still as impressive.
The x100 literally sucks light from all sources making the photos much richer than any other digital cameras I've used.
 The APS-C censor is as big as the DSLRs and the image quality is definitely comparable or better than probably all DSLRs with kit lens.
Here are some photos I took after the update.

The camera does not over-exposed or underexposed anymore.
I think Manual focus needs some work, and perhaps an update to allow ISO 25,600 next?

Looking forwards to more updates by Fuji.

-- Robin Low

Fuji x100 New Updated Firmware is out! Ver 1.20

FinePix X100 / X100Black Firmware Update Ver.1.20

This firmware is out just as I was complaining about mostly worthless metering in the day. The images will either be too dark or too overexposed. And worst of all, random colors will appear. Manual metering is not so bad, but even in raw, sometimes random colors gets absorbed into the camera.

The blue in the image is out of nowhere!

My previous version on my camera is 1.11, and it shoots perfectly indoors and at night, but when it is bright outside, it can't meter for nuts. With ND on or off, it plainly sucks.

With the new firmware, I took it out to shoot various things in situations where it previously sucks.

And yes, shooting at night, Macro, flash, just works fine as well.

I guessed they fixed it.

Here are some other updates.

1.Some functions, which can be set to "Fn" button and shown as "Fn BUTTON" in SET-UP menu, can be also set to RAW button. After pressing the command dial to right in the SET-UP menu of "Fn BUTTON", "Fn" and "RAW" are displayed and each of selectable them,
Also, by holding down RAW button for more than 3 seconds, same type of selection menu for RAW button is displayed, just as short-cut procedure.
2.By selecting in "ISO" menu in the shooting menu, either ISO sensitivity value or "ISO AUTO CONTROL" can be selected.
3.When AF MODE is set to "AREA" in Single AF (AF-S) mode, active focus point is zoomed in (magnified to approx 5x) by pressing center of the command control.
4.When "ND FILTER" is set to "Fn" button or "RAW" button, setting between ON ("ND" is displayed) or OFF ("ND" is NOT displayed) can be changeable by pressing "Fn" button or "RAW" button, which is set for "ND FILTER".
5.When the image is shot with vertical angle of the camera and played back the shot in the LCD, the image is displayed with whole area of LCD even after pressing "playback zoom in" button.
6.When the human face is shot, the detected face is displayed during the playing back, and pressing the command dial to down, detected face is magnified during displaying.
7.AE control system and AF performance including AF speed has been improved for movie recording mode.

Most of which are on my wishlist.

I would say, the x100 is much better now. The updating is also not difficult. just follow this link.

Preparing for updates

1.Prepare the target digital camera.
FinePix X100 (Version 1.00 - 1.13)
FinePix X100Black (Version 1.12 - 1.13)
2.Prepare a formatted memory card.
The firmware updating procedure requires a formatted memory card. Refer to the Owner's Manual for information on using "FORMAT" in the SET-UP menu to format a media.
Note that formatting procedure will delete all data on the memory card, including protected files. Always copy any important files that you do not want to lose to your PC beforehand.
3.Prepare the power supply.

Use the fully-charged battery.
4.Prepare the USB cable.

Have the USB cable bundled with your camera ready.

I basically downloaded from below

Download
Firmware
FPUPDATE.DAT [32.2MB]

Placed it in my formatted SD card, and put it in the camera.
Follow the instructions here.

And note the version of my firmware before was 1.11 and my other friend had 1.10, and we updated the new .dat file and everything now works like a charm!

The camera works great now, but still, if you don't like photos like this.

Where the camera tries to be too intelligent and pulls in too much light out of no where, don't get the x100.


-- Robin Low

Fuji x100 - Review

The Fuji x100.

It is a compact camera with an SLR-size APS-C sensor and traditional analogue control dials, that hides ground-breaking technology inside a retro-styled body with looks to die for. It's Fuji's first camera with a large, APS-C sensor aimed at professionals and advanced amateurs for like 5 years.

There are a few things that attracted me to this camera. It’s a retro-styled camera that squeezes an SLR-size APS-C sensor into its compact body, and sports a fixed, fast F2 maximum aperture semi-wideangle lens with a classic 35mm-equivalent field of view.

I've always wanted a small camera with the following features:

Manual Focus
Shoots Raw
APS-C Sensor or Full Frame
Fast Lens (F2 or higher)

And once I saw the x100 and how it looks, I MUST GET IT.

For a start, the x100 is not hard to look at. Here are some photos.

There are so many accessories for the x100 and it has the world's first Hybrid View Finder.

So What is the HYBRID VIEW FINDER?

It combines a conventional direct-vision optical viewfinder with a high-resolution electronic viewfinder, offering the best of both worlds. The optical view finder can also digitally overlay gridlines and other important information, making it strangely fascinating. It can also change to a digital view finder is also very high resolution and it gives you a better view in dark conditions.

Styling

The styling of the x100 works. It looks like a 1970 camera, the aperture controls, shutter speed dials and other controls are in pretty good locations, making it easy to use. There is a place to even for the flash in the small body, the place you would find the viewfinder in the old rangefinders.

Key features

12.3 megapixel APS-C sized CMOS sensor
Fixed 23mm F2 lens (equivalent to a 35mm lens on full frame)
2.8" LCD screen, 4:3 aspect ratio, 460,000 dots
Hybrid optical / electronic viewfinder
OVF with 0.5x magnification, projected framelines indicate approx 90% of field of view
EVF with ca 0.5x magnification, 1,440,000 dots
Traditional-style control dials for shutter speed, aperture and exposure compensation
ISO 100 (L), 200-6400, 12800 (H)
Flash hot shoe and built-in flash
Built-in neutral density filter (3 stops)
1280x720 HD movie recording with stereo sound (24 fps) H.264 .MOV (max 10 mins)



Here is a sample of a video of the x100



It records very fast with the press of the button, and focuses continually even in low light.


Here are some sample photos.

Indoor photos.








Night Photos











Day photos











Portraits















I feel that the quality of the photos are pretty good, most of the shots are done at ISO 3200, or ISO 1600 at night and yet you do not see much noise. The color is very vivid, and images pretty sharp.

Pros:

APS-C sensor in a small body
Good noise reduction
Fast f/2 lens
Beautiful and simple to use
Incredible Hybrid viewfinder

Cons:

Slow focusing
Manual focus is hard to use (or just sucks)
Macro Range 10cm - 2m
Maximum shutter speed at f/2 is 1/1000s (max speed of 1/4000s only for f/8 or smaller)
Relatively expensive at US$1200

I feel that the x100 tries to be all smart to control the light and the camera actually does not allow you to do artistic overexposed or underexposed silhouette shots. Even with manual aperture controls and shutter speed, the camera still seems to process the data when it makes the shot.

Overall:

This is a great travel camera and it does street photography really well. It is small and light for something with an APS-C sensor and it is pretty to look at.

I would give it a 8/10