Fuji SAB solution: spot the SN differences

otse

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Hey there,

Just realized I should have posted this here. My bad. Call me a noob. :(


So I don't know if this is old news or not, but after a conversation with a Fujifilm tech support specialist, I learned that while only 2% of X100s suffer from the SAB problem, the US repair center has yet to receive any affected cameras recently produced.

He gave me this serial number key to identify recent production models vs. older produced models:
SN that start with 21A are recent, Q1 productions.
SN that start with 14A are older production models.

While no official statement from Fujifilm, the newer 21A models have modified blade assembly that supposedly address the SAB problem.

Some food for thought..


O
 
I don't know if that 2% figure is legitimate (or if that's just what they're throwing out there), but if it is, I certainly feel a whole lot more comfortable. It's obviously too high of a number for Quality Control, but being a betting man I know 2% is, in fact, quite small.
 
Mine starts with 110 (curious what the "0" stands for) and is fine too.

EDIT: answering my own question, X100s from Japan have no letter in the serial number. So it's a "11x"
 
Mine starts with 110 (curious what the "0" stands for) and is fine too.

EDIT: answering my own question, X100s from Japan have no letter in the serial number. So it's a "11x"

It's also the year, quarter, in addition to where it was made. See this quote from @flysurfer in the Fuji X Forum:


IIRC, first letter is the year, second leter is the quarter, third letter is the market that the camera was destined to.

Of course, the camera also has an internal serial number which is different from the engraved one, and it also has its day of production stored in every pic. It's all accessible with ExifTool as part of the Fuji Maker Notes.

That way, it was always pretty easy to find out whether a X100 was produced before or after the cutoff date. IIRC, production with new lens assembly cameras startet someday in December 2011.

Also note that there can be a discrepancy between the engraved production quarter and the actual production date. It seems like the cameras receive their engraved serial numbers at a later date, possibly days or weeks after their actual production.
 
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