Night At The Shop - We Pack 'Em In

Do you remember that movie " Night At the Museum" ? I don't - never saw it or the sequels - because I spend my evenings attending product launches at Camera Electronic and I get to see everything I ever wanted to see...

Last night was the presentation of the new Fujifilm X-pr02, the X-70, the X-e2s, and the XF 100-400mm f:4.5-5.6 lens. Plus a talk by a professional photographer who has been using the new gear.

As usual, When Fujifilm wants to let people see the new products they send experts like Warwick to see us - information passes much better when a skilled person is responsible for telling us. He's got a very good line into the thinking of the company and has the opportunity to pass thoughts back to the designers and marketers as well. This open communication channel is part of what makes Fujifilm special as a photographic manufacturer.

The talk and picture show by Adam Ferguson was also a real eye-opener. Adam has followed recent wars and civil troubles from the very front lines - authorised and paid-for as well as just investigating things for his own sake. He's seen some harrowing sights and taken pictures while the bullets and bombs were flying. Some of the work was taken with the Fujifilm cameras in question, and I think we could all see the pictorial results advanced because of it. Certainly the work done in the Northern Territory that he showed was visually gorgeous - and had the advantage of not being quite so deadly as the other places he visited.

Is the new X-Pro2 camera a good deal? Yes. It incorporates a significantly improved sensor and processor  and pumps out finer, faster, more colourful work than the previous models. There are video and viewfinder improvements that make it easier to use. It focuses faster. It shoots more shots per battery charge. It has more film simulation settings  so you never need to move out of the JPEG space. If you got the money, Fujifilm got the camera. You can look the user of any other digital rangefinder camera, from anywhere, right in the eye - and spit in it...

Here's the staff testing out the stuff - or trying to catch each other in compromising positions...

 For my part I was charmed with the X-E2s and the X-70. Now the X-E2s is an improved version of the X-E2 I already use, and does things faster, clearer, etc. as these things always do. I've taken advantage of the Fujifilm company's policy of issuing firmware updates for the camera I own, so I don't need a new one, but I would unhesitatingly recommend the model to anyone wanting into the X-system. It is my go-to studio and dance show camera.

The one that really got my salivary glands going was the X-70. It has the feel of the X-100 I own, and the advantage for me of having a wider focal-length lens as standard. 18mm, as a matter of fact, so the view is equivalent to what we used to see on a 35mm camera with a 28mm lens. There's no optical or EVF but the excellent LCD screen has been hinged to face forward if you want it to. Sel Fie...

The camera will synch to the top if its speed range and you can even put on a slide-in optical viewfinder. There's a supp. lens as well, widening it out to the equivalent of 21mm in old film terms. That's wiiiide and sharp at the same time.

This would be the perfect camera to replace the damned mobile phone camera and to take  out landscape or car show shooting.

And last, but not least, were the cameras with the colourful covers:

The flag, and you can get them with British, New Zealand and presumably American markings.

The green lizard skin.

The strange little soft focus and cross filter lens that you can't get- -available only in Japan.

Like I said, it is as much fun as night in the Museum, but this time you get to see new stuff, not old.  

Here's Very Big News From Fujifilm

But the very big news is not in a very big package - in fact it is more compact than you'd think.

The Fujifilm company has just released their Fujifilm X-Pro2 camera - the newest component of their award-winning mirror-less camera system. It joins the other fine cameras and derives from the original Fujifilm X-Pro1.

People familiar with the Fujifilm X-Pro1 know that it has a unique X-Trans sensor that delivers extreme sharpness and very rich colours. The New Fujifilm X-Pro2 continues this performance and improves upon it with 24 Megapixels resolution. The new sensor is referred to in the literature as the Trans CMOS III. It is paired with the X-Processor Pro digital engine to put out even better images.

Looks as though the designers at Fujifilm have looked into the past of camera design to see what features people really need and appreciate, and they have placed some of the controls of the new camera right where we always wanted them to be.

For example: The ISO setting for many film cameras was found as a small window dial in the shutter speed control. Fujifilm (and I...) think this was a great idea to eliminate one more menu control. Here it is back in the right spot with great precision. Yay!

Fujifilm (and I...) thought that photographers needed more of a grip on the right hand side of the camera. They put on a bigger grip. Yay!

Then they thought whether the Fujifilm users would like a small front control wheel just under the right forefinger - and we would. Yay, again!

The shape of the X-Pro1 is there - perhaps a tad sleeker - but the functionality hasn't been compromised a bit. Full TTL hot shoe operation? PC socket on the side for studio flash? Thumb button to steer the AF points about? Don't mind if I do! And I'm guessing the battery will be the W 126 so we don't have to swap things over. Yay, indeed!

Now we'll be having a lecture/demonstration/hands-on by a very famous press and journal photographer to let us see what this new camera can do. Adam Ferguson has had numerous covers and editorial pictures accepted for Time,The National Geographic, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and many others. He's exhibited his work in Houston, Los Angeles, Sydney and numerous other places. He's been shooting the shooting where the shooting is going on and knows how to do the photo business. When he comes to talk to us it will be well worth looking and listening.

Our Facebook and email contacts will be able to tell you when thus will be - the small press release doesn't nail it down yet. Suffice it to say this will be red-letter day for street shooters, portrait shooters, press shooters, and one old hot rod shooter.

And the wonderful thing about the Fujifilm X-System...? We don't have to get rid of any of our old gear! It all fits together seamlessly! But come in and buy a new Fujifilm X-Pro2 anyway - because Camera Electronic can do that! Yay!

* Heading Image: Delightful profile of new body and new lens.
* Tailing Image: Does the X- Trans sensor deliver the colour? Have a look. Pontiac LeMans.