Fujifilm has released seven official sample photographs shot using the new X20, a slick little retro-styled compact camera with a 12MP 2/3-inch X-Trans CMOS sensor. The X-Trans sensors in Fujifilm’s APS-C X-Series cameras (e.g. X-Pro1 and X-E1) are very highly regarded for their image quality and low light performance, so it’s interesting to see how the same tech performs on a much smaller sensor size (APS-C sensors are about 6.5 times larger than the X20′s 2/3 sensor).
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Back in 2010, we humorously reported that chickens have image stabilized heads. Some people took the idea further, turning chickens into organic Steadicams and doing further research into the subject.

Now Fujifilm has gone and turned that funny property of chickens (and certain other animals as well) into a humorous TV spot. The ad above is meant to promote the image stabilization powers of the Fujifilm X-S1 bridge camera. We delved deeper into the science behind this (called the “vestibulo-ocular reflex”) last year in this post.

Thanks for sending in the tip, Eddy!

Remember Richard, the Fuji Rumors reader who turned his Fujifilm X-E1 into a Leica M9 lookalike by slapping on four small decals? He didn’t stop there: once his camera was Leica-fied, he proceeded to give it a “Sniper configuration.”
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Fujifilm launched a number of new compact cameras this week. While most of them offer rather pedestrian improvements on older models, one of the models comes with a rather eye-catching claim: the new FinePix F900EXR is said to feature the world’s fastest autofocus system found in a digital camera.
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Last week, we pointed you to a piece by the New York Times on how Fujifilm is attempting to kill moiré without killing sharpness by designing its sensors in a way that eschews the traditional anti-aliasing filters used in digital cameras. Photographer Martin Doppelbauer disagrees with Fuji’s claims: he has published a piece arguing that, “digital cameras without aliasing filters are cameras with a built-in design flaw“:

To omit an alias filter in front of a digital image sensors is like building a sports car with no brakes. Of course, the car accelerates a little faster due to the lower weight and the cornering ability is also better due to the smaller unsprung weight – but ultimately it lacks an essential functional element.

For analog cameras, an alias filter is not required: ​​Film has no sharply defined limit of resolution. It loses contrast and resolution gradually with increasingly higher frequencies. You could say, the low-pass filter is already incorporated in the film itself.

[...] By omitting the alias filter, the recorded image information [...] does not increase! Even though images of cameras without aliasing filters may appear sharper and crisper: Images of cameras with a proper alias filter can easily be re-sharpened to achieve the same visual impression – without side effects.

So according to Doppelbauer, the recent fascination with removing anti-aliasing filters is more based in marketing rather than science.

Alias-filters: Yes or No? [Martin Doppelbauer]

Fujifilm’s new X-Trans sensors diverge from the traditional way CMOS sensors are designed by using an irregular pattern of red, green, and blue pixels. This allows the sensors to eschew the standard anti-aliasing filter, eliminating moiré patterns without putting an extra component in front of the sensor. Roy Furchgott over at The New York Times has an interesting piece on how the new tech is inspired by Fujifilm’s glory days in the film photography industry:

Old fashioned analog photographs didn’t get a moire pattern because the crystals in film and photo paper aren’t even in size and placement. That randomness breaks up the moire effect.

So Fuji built a new sensor employing what it knew from the film business. Instead of using the Bayer array, it created a pattern called the X-Trans sensor which lays out the red green and blue photo sensors in a way that simulates the randomness of analog film.

Furchgott does a good job of explaining the new sensor design (and its benefits) in an easy-to-understand way.

Old Technology Modernizes a Camera Sensor [NYTimes]

Goodbye old young friend. Let me give you all a piece of wisdom that I recently learned the hard way. If you go on a fishing trip called ‘Hit em’ Hard’ and the captain tells you that you should take your bag off and put it in the ‘dry container’, what he really means by ‘dry container’ is a place that will fill up with seawater after he accidently clogs the drainage pipe, soaking you and your friends cameras, bags, wallets and cellphones for over an hour in salty seawater.

Better yet, just never go on a fishing charter with a name like ‘Hit em’ Hard.’
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When Fujifilm announced the X100s last week, it made the bold claim that the camera had the world’s fastest autofocus system among cameras of the same class. Sluggish autofocus was one of the big complaints owners of the X100 had, so for this latest refresh the company focused its attention on making the camera faster.

Want to see how fast the new AF is? We captured the short video above during a brief hands-on time we had with the camera. It doesn’t show an in-depth test or much variety in subject matter, but should offer a taste of what “world’s fastest AF” looks like in the flesh.
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Here’s a quick demonstration of what Fujifilm’s new focus peaking looks like on the freshly-announced X100s and the X20. When manually focusing the lens, the feature uses white pixel highlights to indicate the high contrast areas of the scene. This is one of two new features — the other being split image focusing — designed to make manual focusing a much nicer experience on X-Series cameras.
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Fujifilm held its CES 2013 press conference yesterday, revealing some facts about the state of its camera business, sharing its vision moving forward, and offering a closer look at its two new fixed-lens cameras: the X100s and the X20.
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