FUJIFILM – Firmware upgrades for the X-E2

The premium X-E2 has new firmware today, and it brings X-T1 performance to the viewfinder and an array of nice improvements to an already great camera. I wish all manufacturers paid this much attention to their older models (are you listening, Panasonic?)

Here is the official text from Fujifilm Canada

NEW FIRMWARE UPDATE BRINGS FUJIFILM X-T1 VIEWFINDER PERFORMANCE

AND MORE TO THE AWARD-WINNING X-E2

Firmware v.2.00 brings even more value to the premium X-E2 with

performance gains and new functions

Mississauga ON, April 30, 2014 – As a leader in advanced digital camera technology and outstanding image resolution, Fujifilm Canada today announced a significant new firmware update for the FUJIFILM X-E2 that gives customers improved performance, added functions and outstanding value.

With the release of the new firmware, the X-E2’s electronic viewfinder (EVF) is further improved and now has a lag time of just 0.005 seconds, considered by many to be close to a “Real Time Viewfinder.” The firmware also enhances the frame rate of the viewfinder and the highest frame rate is maintained even in low light conditions or nighttime photography, providing smooth live view images through the lens.

In addition to the performance improvements, the new firmware adds:

Selectable colours in Focus Peak Highlight

Users can now select Blue or Red in addition to the original White, to highlight areas of strong contrast. The strength of the colour display can be also adjusted between High and Low according to the type of your subject or personal preference.

Added options for Fn (Function) buttons and customizable AE/AF buttons

Users can now assign the "Face Detection" and "EVF/LCD Setting" selection options to two function buttons and two customizable AE/AF buttons in shooting mode. When set to "EVF/LCD Setting," the button is used to switch between four modes, including "Eye Sensor Mode" (automatically switches the EVF and LCD displays when the user's eye comes close to the viewfinder), "EVF Only," "LCD Only" and "EVF Only + Eye Sensor."

Suppressed Flash option

Once the firmware is updated, a Suppressed Flash mode (where the flash does not fire even when the subject is poorly lit) can be selected from the flash menu.

With the addition of the new firmware, the FUJIFILM X-E2 continues on its promise to deliver picture quality that rivals full-frame cameras with high definition image capture, Fujifilm’s legendary colour reproduction and category-leading speed.

The new X-E2 firmware is available now and can be downloaded at http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/software/.

About Fujifilm
FUJIFILM North America Corporation, a marketing subsidiary of FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation consists of four operating divisions and one subsidiary company. The Imaging Division provides consumer and commercial photographic products and services, including: photographic paper; digital printing equipment, along with service and support; personalized photo products; film; and one-time-use cameras; and also markets motion picture archival film and on-set color management solutions to the motion picture, broadcast and production industries. The Electronic Imaging Division markets consumer digital cameras, and the Graphic Systems Division supplies products and services to the graphic printing industry. The Optical Devices Division provides optical lenses for the broadcast, cinematography, closed circuit television, videography and industrial markets, and also markets binoculars. FUJIFILM Canada Inc. sells and markets a range of Fujifilm products and services in Canada. For more information, please visit www.fujifilmusa.com/northamerica, go to www.twitter.com/fujifilmus to follow Fujifilm on Twitter, or go to www.facebook.com/FujifilmNorthAmerica to Like Fujifilm on Facebook. To receive news and information direct from Fujifilm via RSS, subscribe at www.fujifilmusa.com/rss.

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, brings continuous innovation and leading-edge products to a broad spectrum of industries, including electronic imaging, digital printing equipment, medical systems, life sciences, graphic arts, flat panel display materials, and office products, based on a vast portfolio of digital, optical, fine chemical and thin film coating technologies. The company was among the top 10 companies around the world granted U.S. patents in 2012, and in the year ended March 31, 2013, had global revenues of $26.7 billion*. Fujifilm is committed to environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information, please visit www.fujifilmholdings.com.

* At an exchange rate of 83 yen to the dollar.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

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Why does my camera have so many features?

Quick answer: Because everyone does things differently.

I have seen this with photographers and I have seen this at the corporate level. I work for a company that builds (among many other things) software to help others build software. And what always amazes me is the variability with which each developer / team / division / corporation approaches software development. The saying goes that “there is more than one way to skin a cat” and this does not manage to capture the staggering amount of variation in the way people think and act.

So … now imagine 4 people that buy the same camera. The camera has 200 features … and each person uses a dozen of those at most. So why 200 features?

That simplistic Venn diagram shows you the overlap in the way these 4 imaginary people use their imaginary cameras. The numbers represent features that each person uses that none of the others use. For example, I never use exposure bracketing in practical photography. Ever. So that means that others will have at least a “1” in that “used by me” section of the diagram when I am on it.

So now imagine this extrapolated to the human race.

And yes, everyone on the planet has theoretical access to every camera marketed by the big manufacturers. So yes, they can justify putting 200+ features in a camera to try to appeal as broadly as possible.

Atkins Bars – Changes to my favorites, but still edible …

One of the many secrets to dieting is to find a “go to” food that is tasty, nutritious, and not all that caloric – all at the same time. It does not hurt if the go to food is capable to staunching a craving as well … for me, the chocolate craving is something I need to kill off every single day.

What I have found is that a small few of the Meal Advantage and Advantage series of bars from Atkins fill the bill very well. I recently bought about a half dozen of the series that showed the most promise – by promise I mean high amounts of protein and fiber – and after living with them for several weeks, I have decided to go back to the two that I have settled on for the last 6 months – Double Chocolate Caramel Crunch and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

The problem, though, is that Atkins recently revamped the whole lineup and now claims “More Chocolate Chips” and “New Great Taste” and ever since the demise of Coke Classic :-) we are all rather skeptical of such claims. Coke stomped on their own genitals with that moronic play and they very quickly rushed a version of the classic flavour back into the market in order to staunch the bleeding. New Coke just plain sucked. This, of course, shows the value of ignoring “focus groups” …

So, back on point … the new flavours are nice, but they are a small step down from the previous flavours – for me.

The Caramel Crunch bar has a bit of an after taste now – maybe that’s the caramel asserting itself more strongly – but it is still a pleasant enough bar. The texture has remained the same although there is a tad more bite (a bit harder, which is good.) The nutrition remains the same at 160 cals, 3g net carbs, 11g fiber and 9g protein. A very decent light meal.

The Cookie Dough bar changed much more significantly. The old one was 240 cals and had a very chewy texture. Pretty amazing and a treat that I found very hard to resist :-) … but the new one has dropped 20 cals (a good thing) and adopted the texture of actual cookie dough. I like it well enough, but it feels more like eating a chocolate chip cookie than a rich brownie, and that’s a bit of a bummer. Still, it remains my favourite bar. The nutrition has also changed dramatically, with a large increase in fiber, which is terrific. It comes in at 220 cals, 3g net carbs, 14g fiber (up from 11) and 14g protein (down from 15) … all in all and excellent and filling meal.

Now, both bars have fairly high fat at 9 and 10 grams respectively, but this is fine within the framework of an Atkins or South Beach diet. And note that I do not subscribe to eating unlimited amounts of fat and protein, as some people seem to believe is the Atkins diet. Just limiting net carbs and sugars is all that matters when trying to control carb intake.

So, just thought I might pass this along for those who are looking for decent “go to” foods to staunch the chocolate craving and to support a weight control program …

Fuji XQ1 versus Panasonic GM1 Low Light Video

These two are so similar in size that I am tempted to compare them a lot. Of course, the reality is that the 4/3” sensor in the GM1 is very competitive with the APS-C class of cameras while the XQ1 has a 2/3” sensor that is pretty tiny by comparison.

However, the Fuji is a great camera to wander about with, even at shows indoors. The camera is responsive and gets very nice looking images, so I certainly do not consider it weak.

Unfortunately, when I set up this candlelight + filtered daylight (very little of the latter) contest, the images I shot were at entirely different settings.

The XQ1 image is very clean and free of noise, but only because I set it to 100 ISO and had it on the tripod. You can see my finger on the shutter in the mirror here …

The GM1 was set to auto, and it chose 6400 ISO, which tells you how dark it really was in the room. The shutter was of course much faster.

 

At 100%, there is a lot more grain in the GM1 shot, but it is very fine and the GM1 retains extremely high detail. This quite something with these two cameras being 6 stops apart with ISO …

Ok … what I was really doing was setting up a video where I would be able to show you how each shoots in this low light. Sadly, I was not pleased with the abilities of the XQ1 in such light … it really suffers. I had to hammer it in post in order to make it seem dreamy to mask the color noise. On its own, the image was dark enough to be mostly unusable.

Judge for yourself …

So, the XQ1 is an excellent compact stills camera that fits in a shirt pocket. But don’t buy it for indoor video, else you will be very disappointed.

The GM1 is of course the best compact interchangeable on the market in my opinion. Superb stills and video in literally any light. What a joy it is to shoot.

A tale of three keyboards … *updated* …

Update Nov 2018: I have settled on two keyboards for my general work. I have 2 copies of the $50cad Logitech G105 -- a superb keyboard with relatively quiet semi-mechanical keys -- in my mini-man-cave (which I do my work-at-home), and in my office, where I asked for this keyboard on my first day of the new job on 1 Oct of this year. They are rather hard to find these days, but Best Buy seems to have them again in Canada for now. I also love the much more expensive Logitech G710 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, which has Cherry Blue switches in it. It is loud and clicky but fast and accurate. The lighting is blue, like the G105, and looks perfect. I would use the 710 for writing a long article over the G105. But for day to day work, the Logitech G105 wins every time. Note that I still have my Razer Black Widow Ultimate, the last one that uses Cherry Blue switches, and an even more expensive keyboard. It sits unused because they got neither the font nor the lighting right. Tragic, to be honest.

I have blogged some about keyboards in the past. This comes up frequently because I type for a living. I write documents, emails and software pretty much all day long. Between conference calls at least.

And because of that, I have experimented a lot with different keyboards. In general, I have settled on one requirement that is universal – backlighting. It is absolutely imperative that the keys always be legible. I am not a touch typist (although I can function surprisingly well between peeks at the keyboard) so I need the keyboard to be visible in all lighting conditions.

This led me to trying the Perixx PX-1000, an inexpensive backlit keyboard (I paid $24 on Amazon) that was surprisingly good ergonomically.

The red lighting is quite pleasant on the eyes, but what eventually caused me to switch was the fact that the keys were legible only from a 45 degree angle or less. When I leaned back, the keys became illegible. I also wanted to get a keyboard with macro capability.

My next attempt was the Logitech G105.

This keyboard has blue lighting and 3 banks of 6 macro keys. The program that comes with it is powerful and very good. All in all, this is an amazing keyboard for a very low price of around 50 bucks. I used a Future Shop gift card I had received so I perceived this as a $25 keyboard :-)

The Logitech’s blue lighting is tough on the eyes. It works better than the Perixx, but the blue is less pleasant and it turns out that the blue was simply not bright enough. They should have included a few more levels. Otherwise, the keyboard works just fine.

So why did I choose to switch again? Well, I have been craving a true mechanical keyboard like those old IBM selectric style keyboards (I have one at work actually) and I wanted to try better lighting. I have had my eye on the Razer Ultimate for well over a year and have been trying to catch a good sale. This keyboard sells at $184 at Future Shop but is considerably cheaper at places like NCIX.com and Newegg.ca … still, it’s usually around $149.

So I saw it the other day at $109 at NCIX for this weekend. So I went to Future Shop and found that they had one in stock. I also noticed that this model has been updated from the spectacular Cherry Blue switches – which are known as about the best typist switches available – to a custom designed “gamer” switch that Razer came up with. While I am sure that they make a decent switch for gamers, I wanted Cherry Blues quite specifically.

So since this is the last model year and this was the last one in stock at my local store, I asked them to price match NCIX and got the keyboard at $109. I also happened to have a Future Shop $50 gift card in my wallet, which really helped take the sting out :-)

 

Now this is one magnificent keyboard. I cannot easily show this, but the lighting is magnificent. There is individual lighting in green on each key, and it can go from just legible to blazingly bright. There is also a field of soft lighting under the keys, which helps in a dark room. The Cherry switches are of course magnificent. And the macro facility is quite functional. I can reassign any key I like and so far it works pretty much as well as the Logitech that way.

Update: The macro facility for the Ultimate relies on the Razer Synapse software, which controls everything that happens with Razer hardware. This dependency seems to mean that the macro keys are useless inside remote desktop sessions and inside vmware images. Coupled with what I find to be unreliable playback (loses its mind after a while) and I will say that Razer has ruined that facility for me. The Logitech is vastly superior in every way, shape or form where macro recording and playback is concerned. On the other hand, I am willing to give up the use of macros for the cherry blue switches and the superb lighting, but I have to say that I am very disappointed in Razer’s lack of capability. Shame on them for doing such a poor job of macros with such a great keyboard.

All in all, I find this keyboard the fastest of the bunch, and that makes a huge difference when I am typing all day. The keys are more sure than the non-mechanical (but still very good) keys on the Logitech. All in all, the Razer is an incredible keyboard.

If you type for a living, you could do a lot worse than the Razer Ultimate 2013 model. And NCIX has them cheap right now …

Pinpoint Focus on a Panasonic GM1 (How do you re-center the crosshair?)

There was a recent thread on DPReview where the pinpoint focus on the GM1 was being discussed. I read it with interest, since I was finding the same annoyances in the GM1’s firmware. That being that the techniques that work on other Panasonic bodies like the GF3 are still specified in the manual for the GM1 but do not work … so people were doing all sorts of strange things to get back to the center. The obvious choice is to simply press the LCD in the center, but it is surprisingly difficult to get anywhere near center with that technique.

In testing it more thoroughly, it turns out that there is much more to this than meets the eye. I made a video on the re-centering technique that is used for thr GF3 and the GM1, do if that is all you want to see, then just watch this:

Pinpoint Focus has been rethought as a feature, though. While the obvious part of the user interface – the crosshair – appears the same, how it actually works is very different.

First, let’s explore the GF3’s interface and then see where things have changed.

To start off, you simply click where you want to focus. This works well enough and you get a magnified view while it focuses … like this:

The room is somewhat dark, so you end up seeing some noise in the image on this screen (which is also magnified) … not to worry. The images look fine.

Note the arrows. You can drag the entire image around and it will show you when you bump into the edges. The inset also shows you where you are in the overall image. This works very well, although the pressure sensitive screen is not as responsive as you might be used to on a smart phone or a newer camera.

Resetting it to center is a trivial matter … you just press the screen to make sure you are in magnify mode as above, then press the “disp” button. And you can see by the inset that the pinpoint has centered itself on main screen.

And there you have it.

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The GM1 does not really work like this. Many little things have changed. I have written in the DPReview thread and indeed commented in the video above that I thought this was some kind of brain fart on Panasonic’s part. But using it for a while leads me to believe that they have simply changed how it works. It is different enough that it makes no sense at first, but once you get used to how it works you start to see the value of the new methods.

The basic interface is the same. Touch where you want to focus. The background here is less blurry because I am shooting the kit lens at 32mm instead of the Sigma 30mm 2.8.

You can see that I have touched the same point but because this camera is a bit shorter, the crosshair is not in the same place, but rather is more centered. Still, it is off dead center and that’s what we want.

The real difference here is in how things work when you go into magnify mode.

As you can see, I have made a slight change to the pinpoint setting where I have chosen PIP (picture in picture) mode here, but this is trivial to change so it makes no real difference. Note that the inset is smaller, but still shows where we are overall. Note also that the arrows on screen are now clustered around the crosshair and not on the edges. This is because dragging the screen no longer works. Now you drag the pinpoint within the magnified area.

This is actually very useful as it is much more responsive than dragging the entire image, especially on the lovely capacitance screen (assuming that you are not trying to work with gloves on) … and the arros show you when you hit the edge of the allowable focus area. They disappear as you touch the edge, obviously indicating which edge you touch.

Since you can change the magnification from 1x to 10x in increments, this can lead to some seriously precise work. So I think that this is a reasonable change.

But the tricky part comes when you want to recenter the crosshair. The disp button still works, but it only recenters within the currently set PIP area. So you can move around all you like in magnified mode, but recentering does not work here.

So what do we do instead? Well, you click the left side of the ring dial, which is focus mode. That puts you here:

Now you touch AF Area there at bottom right and you see this:

Now you are being shown a new look … the 4 way arrows showing the magnified area within the overall screen. This is where you touch Disp. Reset at bottom left or click the Disp button on the body (button at bottom right corner.) This immediately recenters the pinpoint …

And touching the shutter button (half press) or touching Set at bottom right puts you here …

This is a bit ugly when compared with the GF3’s very quick way of resetting. But it really is just one more click. And for that price you get a much more responsive pinpoint interface.

I think they could have just left it the old way, with disp in magnify mode just recentering the point on the main screen as with the GF3, but one supposes they have use cases that made this seem like a better choice. I know that you can hand a user interface problem to ten developers and receive ten solutions, of which 9 or 10 will suck … so this is actually a decent result :-)