Focus on Imaging

[Mike Farley]

The UK's main annual photographic trade show is coming up at the beginning of March and I am wondering if anyone wants to make a day of it and go up as a group as we did last year. I propose travelling on Monday, 4 March when we can catch the 10:43 from Euston to Birmingham International and return on the 19:20. The fares will be £7-50 each way - a total of £15 - if we book early enough. I am happy to make a group booking so that everyone can be seated together. We can meet up at East Croydon just before 9:30 to take advantage of either cheap day return rates or Freedom Pass travel.

Registration for Focus is £8 in advance or £10 on the door.

http://www.focus-on-imaging.co.uk/

[davidc]

I've never been to one of these before (never even heard of it truth be told) and looking at the website it seems to be a trade fair (something else I've never been to).

This is probably a silly question but what is there to actually DO there? My impression, probably a bit misguided, was that trade fairs were producers advertising/selling kit to businesses and for journalists to get previews of new gear? What is there for punters like us to do there?

Do we get freebies - that alone might be enough to swing it for me

[Mike Farley]

This is probably a silly question but what is there to actually DO there?

Like look at camera and other photographic gear, you mean? Most of the major companies are usually there, so if you are after some kit or merely interested to see what is new it is one place to do it. Last year, it was where a a number of new cameras such as the Olympus OM-D and the Fuji X-Pro 1 were first shown in the UK. There are also demonstrations and talks, which can be useful. It is where I got the shoot at night ISO 800, f/4 @ 30 seconds tip which I posted on the forum, for example.

Well known togs often frequent the show, so you can get the chance to talk to them. Charlie Waite, whom I had never previously met, enthusiastically greeted me like an old friend one year. Which was nice of him, in front of my camera club mates. Of course, it was a case of mistaken identity. I thought he was David Ward.

Last year I also met Elizabeth Roberts, editor of Black and White magazine, but sadly on that occasion I had to introduce myself.

Do we get freebies - that alone might be enough to swing it for me

Probably not, but you can get some good bargains. I bought my 450D there a couple of years ago from Jacobs and later converted it to infrared. It was "grade b" stock, but came with a year long warranty, had a free remote and was more than £100 cheaper than a second hand one which CameraWorld was flogging at the show. There are also special show prices for new cameras and other items of equipment, magazine subscriptions etc. This year I'll probably stock up on my supply of printer ink from Premier Ink. I usually come away with something and it has been the source of quite a bit of my kit.

So yes, it is a trade show, albeit one to which the public is warmly welcomed and is a good day out.

[davidc]

Cool OK, definitely interested then - will double check the date.

Wouldn't mind having a play with the X100S announced yesterday, if possible.

[Mike Farley]

Wouldn't mind having a play with the X100S announced yesterday, if possible.

It will be interesting to see if Fuji has fixed the foibles which many users reported it making the original camera so irritating to use. It was the anti-marmite camera, as people tended to love and hate all at the same time.

Chances are that Fuji still has not got its AF sorted out, which is a pity as it could otherwise be be useful for street. Prefocussed manual will probably continue to rule the roost.

[davidc]

Well the AF is one of the things Fuji are claiming is most improved, allegedly. AF times of 0.07 secs (in good light) down from 0.22
MF still needed for lower light situations almost certainly, but now they've improved that aspect and ironed out the firmware issues it's looking a lot more appealing to me.

Question is, X100S or a 100-400 lens... I can only save for one this year :/

[Mike Farley]

Well the AF is one of the things Fuji are claiming is most improved, allegedly. AF times of 0.07 secs (in good light) down from 0.22

Fuji's claims and reality seem to be at odds. I cannot find it, but from memory I recall that DPReview's test shows the speed dropping from around 0.9 sec to 0.8 on the X-Pro 1 after the firmware update. So it was a bit improved, but still quite leisurely.

[Mike Farley]

Yesterday I got my grubby mitts on both a Fuji XE-1 and X-Pro 1 with the updated firmware at the trade show held in conjunction with The Societies Convention. Testing the AF speed on the XE-1, it was much quicker than I had expected based on the reports which I seen and would be useable in most circumstances. The X-Pro-1 seemed that bit slower, so I queried it with the Fuji rep. Apparently, some lenses focus more quickly than others. The 18 on the XE-1 is pretty fast, but the 35 on the X-Pro 1 is slower. The speed king is the new zoom, as that has a linear motor which is not present in the other lenses.

The other question I raised is the smearing which some users are seeing when converting Raw files, whether with the Silkypix software supplied with the camera or ACR. This is undoubtedly caused by the pattern of red, green and blue pixels in the X-Trans sensor, which is different to the traditional Bayer colour filter array that most other sensors use. The Fuji rep claimed that not everyone experiences it and that the company is working closely with Adobe on a solution. As the new X100s also uses the same X-Trans sensor as the X-Pro 1 and XE-1, it is something which needs to be resolved soon.

Rightly or wrongly, I get the feeling that Fuji rushed the system to market and has not thought everything through, fixing issues on the fly where it can although short of a recall, hardware related problems are less easily sorted. If I were in the market for a new camera, I would like to see the technology mature more before investing.

[davidc]

I thought the x100s was using a different, 2nd gen sensor? And that the X-Pro1 sensor was different to both the x100 and x100s? Will double check my facts

But I remember seeing the horrific blooming on highlights in night photos early in the X-Pro1's life so if the same is still true I think I'll be avoiding it for now at least.

[Mike Farley]

According to DPReview, the X100s sensor is essentially the same as the one used for the X-Pro 1 and EX-1, but with the addition of of on chip phase detection focusing which is claimed to improve AF speed. Together with a new processor, Fuji is promising better image quality, but it does not look as though the sensor addresses the Raw demosaicing issues. Resolution of that might be down to improved Raw conversion software, it might be a hardware issue or a combination of both.

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/fujifilm-x100s