Thursday, May 01, 2014

Fuijifilm X-E2 firmware upgrade 2.00 is major for me

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.4, 1/55
The firmware update Ver. 2.00 from Ver. 1.20 has made a huge difference for my experience when it comes to focusing. While no where in the information about the changes is the focusing improvement mentioned—I noticed a quite considerable better performance.


Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.8, 1/150
Frankly I was getting quite frustrated with the camera when it came to focusing, which was then screwing up my ability to capture "the moment." I was able last night at my daughter's Spring Orchestra concert to grab consistently moments like the peak when the conductor had their arms up and where I could capture what reads much easier than where you cannot see her arms.


Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/5, 1/200
The upgraded information said:
The firmware will shorten the display lag** for X-E2’s Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) to less than 1/10 compared to that of the current firmware to the world’s fastest 0.005 seconds for ultimate performance which has been invented as Real Time Viewfinder, featured in X-T1. Also it enhances the frame rate of the viewfinder and the highest frame rate is maintained even in low light conditions or night-time photography, providing smooth live view images through the lens.
My experience prior to the firmware upgrade was a great deal of the focus hunting to lock in on a focus point.

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.8, 1/550
The camera would take the photo and then when I would just press the shutter again, with keeping the same composition and just wanting a second photo, the camera would hunt again for locking in on the focus point. Now the camera was no longer hunting and the moments were much easier to obtain.

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.7, 1/180
The framerate was impacting my focus before and I didn't know this was the problem. Now I cannot see a good reason to buy the X-T1 since the reason I purchased it was to have something smaller profile and this meets that standard.

Fuji is doing what other manufacturers are afraid to do because the other manufacturers fear loss in sales. For the most part the firmware upgrade makes the differences between the X-T1 and X-E2 minor and makes me want another X-E2.