Fuji The X100s reveals Fuji's problem with its own pace of development

IF it's still working, yes. But circuit boards are remarkably fragile things, and cost far more to repair, then to buy new. In my experience, most of these cameras will struggle to have as long a life as their more-mechanical counterparts once did.

My 4 year old Samsung LCD TV just died due to a circuit board. It was 37" and would cost at least $400 to repair, and that was not gauranteed. New 51" plasma cost me $599.

IMO, Fuji's iterating it's bodies more slowly than some others.

Maybe. But I, not sure it's wise to generalize in either direction. I have a Canon Eos300D that is nearly 10 years old. Works perfectly.
 
Exactly.
And when do you expect the x100s to be released? :)
As with the x100 there will be a few lucky ones to get it early but I'd wager it will be a long & slow release for the masses - just as the x100 was :)
I wouldn't bet on this. This was a huge problem with the X100 largely because of the earthquake/tsunami in Japan in February or March of 2010, which messed up both production and distribution of the early batches of the cameras. And it was such an unknown quantity there was a lot of demand that they couldn't meet for quite a while in the aftermath of the quake. But when they rolled out the X-Pro last spring a lot of us were anticipating the same thing, but pretty much all pre-orders were filled within a couple of days of each other and cameras were basically available and in-stock right away. Same with the X10 in November of 2010 - it was widely available immediately, orbs and all. I'm not sure about the XE1 but I don't remember any weirdness other than the typical thing about certain markets getting them a week or so before others. But once they were available, they were AVAILABLE! I doubt the X100s will have the huge buzz associated with it that the X100 did and barring some other sort of catastrophic event, there's no reason to expect the X100s or X20 will be hard to get. People will get antsy in those last couple of weeks before they finally show up, but then they'll show up and folks will have them...

-Ray
 
I've got a 5D that is also pretty old, but then again I've had to repair 3 Oly bodies -- 2 under warranty, one without. I don't mean, though, that something won't last a long time, but a highly likely failure is the circuit board, and the repair cost of those makes repair mostly untenable. I've had a 17" and 20" white iMac -- in both cases, heat build up cause video board failures. Because the video board is part of the motherboard, it's a $900 repair. Neither got repaired. The circuit board opens up many marvels, but brings with it certain travails.
 
I wouldn't bet on this. This was a huge problem with the X100 largely because of the earthquake/tsunami in Japan in February or March of 2010, which messed up both production and distribution of the early batches of the cameras. And it was such an unknown quantity there was a lot of demand that they couldn't meet for quite a while in the aftermath of the quake. But when they rolled out the X-Pro last spring a lot of us were anticipating the same thing, but pretty much all pre-orders were filled within a couple of days of each other and cameras were basically available and in-stock right away. Same with the X10 in November of 2010 - it was widely available immediately, orbs and all. I'm not sure about the XE1 but I don't remember any weirdness other than the typical thing about certain markets getting them a week or so before others. But once they were available, they were AVAILABLE! I doubt the X100s will have the huge buzz associated with it that the X100 did and barring some other sort of catastrophic event, there's no reason to expect the X100s or X20 will be hard to get. People will get antsy in those last couple of weeks before they finally show up, but then they'll show up and folks will have them...

-Ray

Yeah - you're probably right....:)
 
Thanks to all for contributing to this lively discussion!

To be clear, I never suggested, nor intended to imply, that the introduction of the X100s rendered the X100 "useless" or "valueless" - and certainly has no bearing on the vast wealth of wonderful imagery created on the X100, by artists and amateurs alike. A camera is merely a tool for capturing light, a means to an end. I am into digital to get the electronic control it offers and hope to be as close to film as possible – at this point, digital has passed Velvia, for instance, in dynamic range, but is far far away from surpassing it in resolution.
This subject is dealt with quite succinctly by Ken Rockwell: Film Resolution: The Pixel Count of Film

So, rather than chasing technology for its own sake, I am always interested in “developments” that bring digital closer to film. Will the X100s not do that by incorporating the X-trans sensor? Isn’t the X100 “suddenly behind the times” - certainly not “useless”, but also not current (as of ~27 March)?

My motivation for the post was, on the one hand realizing that my daughter's 1Ds II had lost over 80% of its value in 6 years (though she still produces prize winning work with it) and, on the other, that the introduction of the X100s put the brakes on my intention to get an X-E1 - because the X100s has, more or less, all the features I would want in an X body. So, I just wanted to throw out the idea that if digital cameras had interchangeable sensors (something that Ricoh is doing, in its own way) we could extend the usable life of our tools past 1 or 2 product cycles.

Fuji has a good deal of respect for us as photographers. Respect for us as consumers, certainly less so - as exemplified by any company (hello Olympus!) with a practice of releasing its upper echelon products in "Limited Edition Black" version. So, I will not hold my breath waiting for interchangeable sensors anytime soon.
 
Technology moves quickly at times, but this is tied to the Photo Industry's hype machine that NEEDS you to buy the Next Greatest Thing, and they're no different from any other product marketer, it's how you stay in business.

I was working in retail camera stores in the early 90's when the first Kodak/Nikon DSLR's were released, retailing around 25 grand. They're worth nothing now.
This is the nature of the beast.

But as well, there's lots of guys who buy every new thing that comes out, trashing their barely used previous faves as 'obsolete'. Fashion buyers, if you will, and good for them.

I don't have to make a living with these things, so I can take a longer view. To me, there is no yearly 'revolution' (which somehow always coincides with CES and Photokina !). For me, the capabilities as well as the market direction just takes longer to come to fruition. Originally, 4/3 was the deal and Micro 4/3 would be for amateurs and enthusiasts. Whoops. It would be a long time before full-frame DSLR prices would descend from the stratosphere. Whoops. Why would anybody want a cell phone camera instead of a point+shoot? Whoops. And . . . . . who would ever buy a fixed lens retro camera with a bunch of knobs and a viewfinder for over a thousand bucks, have they lost their mind? Whoops.

So . . . . I have my X10 and X-S1 and they're not going anywhere anytime soon. I bought these to enjoy, and the Rat Race won't miss one rat. Three or four years from now, things will have changed quite a bit, then it will be time to look around at a much different landscape. Let's talk about this in a few more years . . . . . Really different comes along only every so often.
 
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