The Fuji X Series With Flash :: Part 2

What Is TTL?

I'll start part 2 (part 1 is HERE) by describing what TTL actually is. Feel free to skip this part if you already know this.

Back in the good old film days a lot of flash guns had a small calculator in the form of a chart or a small disk that rotated. These things basically calculated what setting worked for the Guide Number of the flash you were using. I had a Vivitar 283 back in the early 80's, which was one of the most popular and reliable guns of it's time. It had a dial built into the hinge of the bounce head (photo left). You set the dial to whatever ASA/Din number your film was (now called ISO) and the dial told you what distance you would cover with the varies apertures. The coloured sections corresponded to a dial on the front of the camera. It all goes a bit hazy after that...it was a long time ago. But I do remember having a cable that plugged into the front of the gun to use it off the camera.

Fast forward to today and we have much more sophisticated flashes that talk to the camera and vice versa. The camera takes it's exposure reading through the lens (TTL) and tells the flash the information it needs to know. The flash then works out how much power it needs to put out to achieve a good exposure. The flash gun can also let you know via it's display if the right exposure was obtained.

What TTL Cable Works With The X Series If you want to do off camera TTL photography with your X Series camera, you will need an EF-42, EF-20 or an EF-X20 and a TTL suitable for a Canon (usually called ETTL in Canon speak). The Canon hotshoe pins match the Fuji ones and allow TTL flash with a Fuji X camera. Nikon has a different pin arrangement and definitely won't work in TTL. Remember to turn off both camera and flash when attaching a TTL cord as the contacts are sliding into position and could short out. I've never been a Canon shooter so I don't have access to their flash guns and I can't say if an X camera and Canon flash can speak to each other and work in TTL harmony. Nikon guns do not work in TTL. Nikon flashguns will work on an X series camera in Manual or Automatic, but not in TTL. If used on an X camera's hotshoe or with a TTL cord, A Nikon flash is only being told by the camera to fire - exposure settings are up to you the photographer. The flash must be set to Manual (not TTL) or it won't fire.

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The Pixel FC-311/S TTL Flashgun CableCanon's own ETTL cords will be great for the job, but they do tend to be a bit spendy. I bought the Pixel FC-311/S 1.8m cable (for Canon) from Amazon UK for £17 and it works fine. A really nice feature with this cable is that it has both a tripod mount and a cold shoe for attaching it to a light stand. This could come in really handy (although a longer cable might be better for using on a light stand). I'm using an SB700 soft case to hold the Fuji EF-42 and the TTL cable and there's even space for a plastic foot too.

Hand Holding For Off Camera Flash Obviously if you are doing off camera flash without the use of a stand or tripod, you have to be careful of camera shake as you'll be holding the camera with one hand. Thankfully X cameras are great for hand holding due to their size, weight and the lack of a mirror popping up and down. But having a good solid grip and steadying technique is very important. In the photo below you will see the grip I use. By holding the flash in the left hand and crossing it over to the right, you can rest the camera on the left shoulder, the flash can be stretched out as far to the right as you like, as long as it's pointing in the right direction a bit of shake won't make any difference. If your TTL cord has a hotshoe or tripod mount at the flash end (Like the Pixel cord), you could easily use a handle. Lastolite do an extending Handle and a Brolly Bracket.

So that's off camera TTL, what you do with it after that is up to you. There are some interesting accessories available like the Rogue Flashbenders to spread or direct the light, or Rogue Gridto focus it exactly where you want without light spilling all over the place, which is a must if you have a coloured gel on the background. The possibilities are vast and a lot of fun.

The Fuji X Series With Flash :: Part 1 :: The Fujifilm EF-42 TTL FlashgunThe Fuji X Series With Flash :: Part 3 :: Using Multiple Flashes With Radio Triggers

The Fuji X Series With Flash :: Part 1

This is part one of a three part series on using flash the Fuji X Series. This part is a review of the EF-42 flash and this will be followed by Part 2 : TTL Off Camera TTL and then ending with Part 3 : Using Multiple Flashes With Radio Triggers.

I often get emails asking about using Flash with the Fuji X Series. Mostly the questions are about using TTL, Nikon or Canon Flashguns or the Nikon SU800 Commander with the X series. Another big question is - Can an off camera TTL cord be used and if so, which one? So I thought I'd take a fresh look at using Fuji X cameras with flash. My friend John a commercial photographer and he's really tempted by the X-Pro1, but he uses flash most of the time and isn't sure if the X system is up for it. I have a job at the end of this week that might need flash due to the time of day in January and a dark venue. There won't be time to use one of my Nikon guns in manual mode with a radio trigger, so TTL will be a must. This all added up to a good excuse to pick up a Fuji EF-42 TTL Flash and give it a blast.

FUJIFILM EF-42 TTL FLASH The EF-42 is basically a Sunpak PZ42X with a jacket on (the EF-20 is also a Sunpak model). It's not as well made as a Nikon or Canon flash gun, but at half the price, it's good enough. When you mount the flash on the camera and switch it on, autofocus won't work until the flash charges and the Test/Charge light is iluminated and like a kettle boiling, it seems to take a long time when you're watching it. But when it's lit there's no problem and everything works as it should after that. But I would rather take a shot without the flash firing than miss the shot as it could maybe be recovered in Lightroom with a bit of exposure and a possible conversion to black and white.

The back panel on the EF-42 is minimalist compared to a Nikon or Canon unit, with buttons for Mode, Select, On/Off and Test. It’s certinly easy to understand how the controls work, which is a breath of fresh air if you have ever used an SB800 at any point. But it would be nice to have dedicated a couple of buttons for -EV & +EV, as there's too many button presses to move up and then down EV. TTL works well and the handy pop-out wide angle lens is usefull. I think it's a bit mean not to include a dome diffuser or a foot/stand, but I picked up a diffuser from eBay and I had a spare Nikon foot. A Nikon SB600 Dome Diffuser will fit, but it's very tight and once attached it would be a good idea to leave it in place. A soft case would also have been a welcome addition, but I have a solution for that in Part 2. The hotshoe mount at the bottom of the flash is plastic and looks cheap, plus a switch style lock would have been preferred over a screw down plate.

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I would recommend buying a Dome diffuser as the bare flash can be a bit harsh. With the diffuser attached and the flash head tilted up you will get great soft and even light that can fill a small room without any problem. You can find a suitable diffuser on Ebay for very little money. There are even packs of three available (one white and two coloured) that allow balancing the colour of the light from the flash with the room (I prefer gels).

In conclusion, the EF-42 does the job well, but could be a bit better on the built quality front. I think if Fujifilm had made this flash from the ground up, it would have been a much higher quality unit. Now that the X Series lenses are plentiful (almost), it would be nice if Fuji could dedicate a little time to develop a flash system on a par with Nikon's CLS system, but with built in radio instead of infrared and a dedicated commander unit that allows the user to set the power on multiple flashes without moving from camera position. A dedicated flash system is about the only thing the X Series is lacking now.

So that's the EF-42. Stick it on the camera, set it to TTL and you'll get a pretty decent job. But a flash on a camera hot shoe is not the best look for your pictures. The shots look flat, lifeless and can make ugly shadows in the background. So in Part 2 we will look at getting the flash off the camera using a TTL cord and what cord will work with the Fuji X range.

The EF-42 is available on Amazon UK for £155

The Fuji X Series With Flash :: Part 2 :: Off Camera TTL The Fuji X Series With Flash :: Part 3 :: Using Multiple Flashes With Radio Triggers

Two Great Photography Ebooks

Now that the Xmas mayhem has subsided and the new socks, DVD's and Aftershave / Perfume are sitting neatly in the cupboard, you might be on the prowl for something to inspire you photographically in the new year? Well here's two great ebooks from a couple of top guys that will do just that? Patrick LaRoque and David Cleland (also known as Flixelpix) are both Fujifilm X-Photographers and gifted lensmen. They are also very generous when it comes to sharing their knowledge about photography. So for less than the price of a DVD, you can kick back with your favourite tablet or laptop and treat your eyes and mind to some great photography and knowledge. I'll start with Patricks as his was released first. Disclaimer: I'm friends with both of these guys. I shot the Freedom Through Photography campaign for Fujifilm UK and Millican Bags with David (and Andrew James) and Patrick is a friend and colleague from The Kage Collective. That said, I wouldn't write a blog post about these ebooks if I didn't feel they would be a great resource for the readers of this blog.

Patrick sent me a copy of his ebook a couple of weeks before it went on sale (for some feedback), and although I know his style pretty well, I was really excited to see 1EYE Roaming open up on my iPad. I love the minimalist look of the layout and the way Patrick lets both the photographs and the words breathe. If you're not a reader of Patrick La Roque's blog, you really are missing out. You'll never find a better match of great photography and well crafted words. 1EYE Roaming is all about Patricks trip to France and is split into two with the first part dedicated to the photos and the second to Case Studies. Each section of the first part has a page of text followed by all the photos from that area or subject (Paris, Trains, Port Leucate etc). The photos are given either a full page or almost a full page (Landscape) to themselves. Case Studies take up the second half and are a gold-mine of information on how Patrick sees and edits his photos.

This is David's second ebook. His first was the brilliant Long Exposure and if you haven't read it, David has a discounted price on his website if you buy both his ebooks. This latest offering is called Shooting Shallow and as the name suggests, is all about the art of shallow depth of field, wide open apertures and how to get that beautiful Bokeh (the creamy out of focus part of a photo). David has written an ebook that will be interesting to any photographer, but for the beginner this is an absolute must. Getting that shallow depth of field look is a big mystery to a lot of people that have just started taking pictures with a DSLR or Mirrorless camera. This ebook is packed full of information that strips away the big mystery for the newbee photographer, but still very interesting to the more advanced.

Both of these works are the kind of books that you can go back to again and again and I recommend keeping them on your favorite reader. Both Patrick and David have done a stellar job! Lets hope they do more.

Fujifilm 56mm f1.2 & Black X100s

Fuji have announced a lot of new products today at CES, but the two most important ones IMO are the Fujinon XF 56mm f1.2 R and the Black X100s.

The 56mm f1.2 is now the fastest lens available for the X Series and one that portrait photographers will be excited about. With a full frame equivalent to 85mm and a wide aperture of f1.2, this looks like it could be one of the finest lenses available for your X-Pro1, X-E1, X-E2 or even the M or A range. I was a bit surprised that the aperture ring is not the push/pull type (to select manual focus) found on the 23mm or 14mm. It could have made a nice trilogy of lenses with the same design and function. Check out the full spec on the Fujifilm website HERE

There's not much to say about the black X100s, other than it's black. It's the same amazing camera as the silver version, but it's..eh..black. I'm not sure which I would choose when I finally upgrade from my X100? The black looks great, but I still think the silver looks great too. The black case and lens hood for the original X100 Black also fit the S model, so no problem there. Take a look at the black X100s page HERE

There's an updated Lens Roadmap for the X Series too, with great news on the fast zoom front. There's the 16-55mm f2.8 (24-82mm in FF) and the 50-140mm f2.8 (75-210mm in FF), both lenses are OIS (Fuji's image stabilization). I'm sure this will mean a lot more photographers leaving DSLR's behind.

BlackRapid Yeti

I have an RS4 and RS5 strap from BlackRapid and a couple of straps to convert them into a double harness. This setup was great when I shot with two identical Nikon DSLR's. But These days I'm either shooting with a single Fuji X camera, a pair of X cameras or an X camera and a DSLR together. If I'm forced to shoot with a DSLR, it's usually because I need a fast 70-200mm (according to Rumors, Fuji is working on one). My double RS4, RS5 setup is great as long as both cameras are of a similar weight, but otherwise the heavier camera pulls the strap to one side and the full thing feels awkward and counterproductive. Enter The BlackRapid Yeti.

The Yeti has just become my favorite BlackRapid product and will make life so much easier in 2014. I'm a two camera shooter when I'm on a job, usually with one prime on each camera, but sometimes with a prime and zoom combination. The yeti has a similar design to the RS-Sport where the strap goes over the left shoulder using a comfortable pad with a rubber grip, then crosses over the back and chest and attaches to the cameras tripod mount via a FastenR (included). BlackRapid have redesigned both the FastenR, by making it more stelth, and the ConnectR (the clip that attaches to the FastenR), by making it smother. The new smother ConnectR allows you to clip it to the FasternR much easier (the older nobly version was awkward and scratched the FastenR).

As I said, the Yeti strap goes across the chest, but the magical part is that the second part of the strap connects to the shoulder pad front and back and hangs on the left side of the body with camera number two attached. Because the two cameras are hung from a single pad on the left shoulder, both cameras don't need to be the same weight. The downside of this is that the left shoulder is taking all the weight, but this should only be a problem with two DSLR's, but I don't think this strap is designed for that. It's more at home with a single DSLR (on the right) and a mirrorless camera (on the left). But where this strap really shines is with two Mirrorless cameras. I've been using it with the Fuji X-Pro1 (right) and the X-E1 (left) and it's absolutely perfect. It doesn't feel like you have to cameras on and the pad is very comfortable on the shoulder. The rubber grip on the underside of the shoulder pad does the job of keeping it in place and the adjustable sliders restrict the glide of the camera on the straps any way you like it.

The Yeti comes in two versions, the Yeti is the standard version and the Yeti Slim is..you guessed it, is a slimmer one. I went for the Slim as it will be used mostly for the Fuji X System and I wanted to get away from the bulk of the RS4/RS5 setup. Both Yeti versions come as a full kit with the main strap, the second strap, two optional stabilizer straps and two FastenR tripod mount connecters.

[embed title="BlackRapid Yeti & Yeti Slim Straps - How To Instructions"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz84LiBJaMU[/embed]

I'm really impressed with the Yeti. As soon as I put it on with two of my X cameras I knew it was a winner. BlackRapid's usual way of connecting strap to camera via the tripod mount is very secure, but as I'm using Gariz half cases on both my X cameras and the FastenR's will be connected to the bottom of the cases which are then connected to the cameras, I'm wondering if I should play it safe. I was thinking of adding a wrist strap to each camera for times when I'm not using the Yeti. These wrist straps could be used as a tether to the BlackRapid ConnectR for a bit of piece of mind. I wouldn't bother with this if the FastenR's were going directly into the camera tripod mount, but with the half cases between them, I'd maybe prefer to play it safe. I'll give it some thought. BlackRapid also have a dedicated tether kit available which do a similar job (although I haven't tried them). The Yeti is available in the UK from WEX for £79 or from B&H in the US for $100.

Street - Fuji 23mm f1.4 - Colour or B&W?

This is a cross post with 35mmStreet for the following reason. When it comes to street photography I've always had my feet planted in the black and white side of the fence as it just looks more interesting to me. It strips away the distraction of colour and narrows the photograph down to composition and content. It also gives street shots a timeless quality. 35mmStreet has had only three colour pictures (I think), which were on the earliest posts. Since then it's been B&W all the way and even the post processing has been the exact same home made recipe that I cooked up in Silver Efex Pro way back. But lately I've noticed that some colour street photography has been catching my eye and that's unusual for me. I tend to think colour street shots look a little too bland, but never say never!

So here's the thing. All the shots on this post are in colour, but you will find the same ones in black and white over at 35mmStreet HERE. They were all shot with the amazing new Fujifilm 23mm f1.4 on the X-Pro1, a pair that hasn't been separated since the lens was released. Have a look at both blog posts and see what you prefer. I'd love to here what you think. Do they all look better in colour? Do they all look better in B&W? Or does it depend on the individual photo?

Leave a comment & use the poll on the post at 35mmStreet HERE.

Asia 2013 Part 7 :: All That Glitters Is Not Gold

Sometimes life takes us by the hand and helps us to see what otherwise might be missed. It shows you one thing to allow you to see another. You might not realise it at the time, you might not realise it until after it happens, but the aha moment shows it's face and makes you wonder just how the universe nudges us one way or another as we stumble through life.  The divide between rich and poor was projected on the walls of  shops and houses, but first I would be taken on an unexpected journey with the Chinese workers of Taipa and Macau.

I woke early and slipped out of the hotel room with my shoes in my hand and my camera bag over my shoulder. This was fast becoming my MO, up early and out either before, or as the sun comes up, leaving the others to sleep. I slipped my shoes on and stepped into the elevator and hit G. The lobby was empty, nobody on the desk and nobody on the door. I stepped outside and felt the Asian heat hanging from the night before. The sun had just came up, but was nothing more than a bright spot in the thick fog. I was in Taipa, but  I has heading to Macau, the Chinese gambling capital. The Taipa Bridge wasn't far from the hotel and would take around ten to fifteen minutes to walk across (it's long), but I felt like commuting with the local workers that were just starting to surface from their grey hi-rise flats.

I asked the driver of the first bus if it went to Macau and he nodded and gestured me inside, looking a bit annoyed that I wasn't speaking Chinese. I had a good idea he didn't have a clue what I was saying, but I got on, sat on a single seat and felt the laser-like stares of thirty-odd pairs of eyes. The bus headed off in the opposite direction from Macau and the Taipa Bridge, but hey, it's a bus route and it will get there eventually right...wrong. I sat there hoping the bus wouldn't cross over some Chinese border with this dumb Gweilo (white ghost) with no passport. Eventually I asked a collage student (guessing they would have a better chance of knowing some English) if the bus went to Macau. He shook his head and spoke to the driver briefly. The bus pulled into the station and the driver looked back at me and  pointed out the door. As I left the bus he used his right index finger to tap each of the five fingers on his left hand, which he repeated and then pointed to the departure area. As the bus pulled away, I thought "did he mean 5 or 10?". Number 5 bus came first, so I jump on, but it was the wrong bus. Another wrong direction, then a third bus and I was travelling toward Macau.

I had gone miles off the reservation, but I was back on track and heading into Macau. In a way, I felt there was a point to my journey through the streets of Taipa and Macau. I was looking at the average Chinese person in an average working class area, both on and off the buss. This was no tourist tour!

As soon as I spotted the unmistakable shape of the Grand Lisboa casino in the distance, I knew where I was and got of the bus at the next stop (in case it changed direction). I had got off way to early, but I was happy to be walking in an area that I recognised. As I turned the corner, it hit me like a slap in the face, and it was as though I had been guided here at just the right time. I would have missed it if I hadn't made the unplanned extended journey first. The sun shone on the facade of the the Grand Lisboa and bathed the run down buildings behind it in the most amazing ocean of gold. I stopped in my tracks and stared. It seemed to shimmer and the words literally popped into my head 'All That Glitters Is Not Gold'. The physical gap between these two buildings was nothing more than a narrow street, but the real gap was vast. One of the most iconic casino buildings stood there proudly showing off it's gold and rubbing the little guys face in it.

Ghandi once wrote "There is enough in the world for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed!". You see it in every country.  Rich man,  poor man, beggar man, politician. It's Robin Hood in reverse!

Looking from Taipa towards Macau. The Grand Lisboa can be seen at the end of the bridge with its exploding firework design.

All photos shot using the Fujifilm X-E1 & 18-55mm lens, except image number 2, which was shot with the X100 (obviously).

Kage Collective :: Call For Submissions

So we (The Kage Collective) are one year old and feel that it's time to expand a little. We're looking for one or two, male of female documentary photographers to join our close knit group. We're an international collective, so there are no restrictions to location or nationality. we're looking for photographers with their own vision who are shooting with Fujifilm X cameras. For more information and to apply, please click HERE

X-Pro1 v3.10 : Satisfaction & Hopes

One of the most important firmware updates for the Fujifilm X-Pro1 is released on Dec 5th 19th and it looks like the camera is finally complete. Although v3.0 was a very welcome update recently that gave us quicker focus and focus peaking (amongst others), this new firmware v3:10 gives us some great new features, one of which should have been in the camera from day one. Here’s a list of what's new. I've included a list of four things I would like to see in a future firmware at the bottom of this post.

1. We can now edit file names in the camera. So instead of your files being named DSCF*** you can now choose your own letters. Four letters if you shoot in the sRGB colour space and three if you shoot in Adobe RGB. This is great if like me, you have two X cameras that have shot a similar amount of frames. Files from both cameras can now live in one folder.
2. Improved RAW file conversion. After converting a RAW file in camera, instead of being left at the JPEG, it now goes back to the original RAW file
3. See the exposure setting in live view and histogram.
4. Change of numbering for images shot using continuous shooting mode. Before the upgrade, only the first image was displayed full screen and the others were shown smaller at the bottom right of the screen and the file number was set to S+7-digit number. With the new firmware, all shots are shown in full screen and the number sequence is the same as if they were shot in standard single shot mode.
5. Aperture and shutter speed can now be changed once AE Lock has been selected.
6. Minimum shutter speed in Auto ISO. This is the best feature of this upgrade and one that should have been in the camera from day one (as it was in the X100). When selecting Auto ISO, we can now set Standard ISO, Maximum ISO and Minimum Shutter Speed.
7. Improved cover range and accuracy of the bright frame in the OVF. The position of the bright frame with parallax compensation during AF Lock, the shooting area can be checked, even after letting go of the shutter button (not available in EVF only cameras like the X-E1 and X-E2.

WHAT I'D LIKE TO SEE IN FUTURE FIRMWARE UPDATES

Exposure Compensation in Manual Mode with Auto ISO. Sounds strange, but I'd like to be able to use Auto ISO but be able to manually choose aperture and shutter speed. Yes you can do that right now, but auto ISO kicks in and makes Manual Mode act pore like Full Automatic. Meanwhile the EV Comp dial is doing nothing.

Loose the Basic setting in the Custom Settings Menu (1st position in Q). This serves no purpose and is a source of confusion. No matter what Custom Setting is selected (C1-C7), Basic will always be displayed the next time the Q menu or Custom Setting menu is accessed. Kill it Fuji!

I'd still like to be able to select Macro from the Fn button or the Q Menu and free up the four way pad on the back so it can always be live for selecting focus points (like on Nikon DSLR's), no need to activate the function, just move one of the four switches

On the X-Pro1 and X-E1, make the AF Button on the bottom left side a second Fn Button. Allow this to be used for Macro (see above), AF-L, AE-L and all the other functions attached to the original Fn Button.

The Death & Life Of The Fujifilm X100

The release of firmware 2.0 for the X100 was a very welcome present from Fuji that a lot of people thought wouldn't happen. They've replaced the X100 for the X100s, so why would they update an older model and give it a bit of what entices people to upgrade. Because they're Fuji, that's why.

So on the morning v2.0 was released, I got ready for the upgrade by playing around with the focus so that I could compare the difference after upgrading. I got my Fuji branded 4gb card that I keep just for firmware updates and reformatted it in the camera. I put an original Fuji battery, fresh from a full overnight charge, into the camera. I then put the downloaded file on the SD card (checking that the file size matched the download page) and placed it into the camera. After the ritual was complete and I started the update. I placed the camera on the desk to avoid pressing anything and watched the progress bar on the LCD move from right to left. But just after about quarter of the way through, the LCD went dark. It had never done this before, but I left it for a few minutes incase it was a new way updates worked. Nothing, Nada, Wala. I picked my X100 up and lightly half pressed the shutter button, expecting to see the camera coming out of sleep mode. The write lamp on the back blinked red and I knew something was wrong. I turned it off and then back on, but the same thing, nothing but the blink of a light on half pressing the shutter. My X100 was dead. This was an ex-X100

A couple of shots of Hong Kong International Airport from the X100. No hassle from security with this camera.

After sending a tweet to Fujifilm UK, I got a phone call from a nice man from the Service Department, who said it would have to go in to be looked at. After the weekend a box arrived from Fuji. I packed up my X100 and waved it goodbye. In my mind, I imagined the full town lining the street and throwing flowers on the Royal Mail van as it moved slowly through a prearranged route, but people have no respect these days!

My trusty X100 returned a few days later when major brain surgery had been performed and v2.0 firmware had been installed. It was back, but it wasn't the same (I did say major brain surgery for Fuji's sake). My X100 meter was way off and everything was over exposed by two stops. The preview image in the viewfinder was also very blue. I dragged the beast outside and chained it to the barn. Slowly I raised the shotgun up and took aim, my finger trembling on the trigger. The X100 flickered it's EVF screen at me and I could see the glint in it's lens. I went to the shed and bent the barrels of the shotgun in a vice, so that I could never be tempted again.

Luckily, Fuji had some sort of glitch in firmware 2.0 and they released v2.01 a few days later. Although the problems I was experiencing had nothing to do with the glitch in v2.0, the update to v2.01 gave it a reset and the meter and EVF were back to normal. But like The Six Million Dollar man, the X100 would never be the same. Start-up is quicker, Auto Focus is quicker in all situations, it now has Focus Peaking and Manual Focus has gone from the worst of my three Fuji cameras to probably the best. The main reason being that the focus ring only needs to travel a short distance, rather than the multiple rotations it did before the update.

A big thanks to Fujifilm UK for their first class customer service. It's second to none. Customer support is also amazing, with updates that take our cameras from great to amazing! Not many companies produce updates for legacy products.

This is the camera that I shot the photo above with, and won Professional Photographer of The Year in 2012 (News category), but I don't think I would enter any competitions with it after the v2 firmware. It probably wouldn't pass a drugs test...too many steroids in that little X100 now!