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Every iteration of X100 retains its household look however there’s been fixed evolution all through the collection Picture: Richard Butler |
The phrase kaizen has more and more come into the vocabulary of digicam fans. It is usually been used along side Fujifilm however is more and more utilized to any firm that provides options throughout firmware. I believe this concentrate on firmware misses the purpose and dangers obscuring the actual that means of the phrase.
Kaizen is the identify of a Japanese manufacturing philosophy that basically says that the manufacturing course of at all times has room for enchancment. As far as I can inform, it was first utilized in relation to cameras by a blogger who noticed parallels with Fujifilm’s continued work on the firmware of the unique X100, even after it had been outdated.
Fujifilm’s dedication to the X100 was admirable and arguably helped relieve different producers’ considerations that firmware updates would sign that their merchandise had beforehand been by some means unfinished or imperfect.
Kaizen is not only about firmware
However whereas it is positively a welcome development throughout the trade, this concentrate on firmware does not actually signify the complete idea of kaizen.
Writing a historical past of the X100 collection and having to deal with whether or not the X100V customers ought to improve made me understand that it isn’t Fujifilm’s firmware updates that exemplify the kaizen idea: it is the collection as a complete.
The X100VI is healthier than the V in quite a lot of methods: a better decision sensor and in-body picture stabilization being the obvious, however there are a number of little modifications, too. Do these make it price upgrading from the earlier model? That is exhausting to say, as a result of the X100V was already an excellent digicam, however if you happen to do not personal the V, then the newer model is certainly the one to go for.
The small particulars are a giant deal
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It is a small element, however simply swapping the positions of AF-S and AF-C make the digicam a bit simpler to make use of. And these little modifications have occurred all through the digicam, throughout the collection, a few of them made in firmware however others requiring totally different {hardware}. Picture: Richard Butler |
Wanting again, this has at all times been the case. It is best seen within the small particulars: the way in which the X100S switched the order of Single and Steady AF on its focus choice slider, to make the extra helpful mode extra accessible. Or in the way in which the means of choosing the AF level has been always refined and up to date: button maintain and cardinal level of the rear dial, button press and cardinal level, assigning the four-way buttons to AF positioning and, lastly, a joystick and touchscreen. Every implementation higher than the final.
These incremental modifications made with each refresh of the digicam signify the kaizen idea each bit as a lot as firmware updates
Have a look at the smaller modifications made on the X100VI, as an example. Some redesign was essential to accommodate the IBIS unit, however past this, the hand grip was been reworked after a lot prototyping. It meant Fujifilm needed to create solely new tooling for the brand new mannequin but in addition means the digicam simply suits extra comfortably within the hand. Likewise the rear tilt display: it will have been simpler to make use of the present cradle, however the brand new model that pulls out a bit farther from the viewfinder is just a bit higher for waist-level capturing.
These little, incremental modifications which were made with each refresh of the digicam, signify the kaizen idea each bit as a lot as firmware updates and the retrospective addition of a movie simulation.
Typically kaizen improves your subsequent digicam
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From above, the modifications are a bit extra obvious: the simplified top-plate of the V and VI, the addition of an ISO dial, which initially wanted to be held within the up place as you have been rotating it however now clicks up and down, the third-stop increments on the aperture ring… Picture: Richard Butler |
From a sensible perspective, no firm has the R&D assets to proceed to help all its current fashions, and plenty of cameras are reaching a degree of polish and refinement which means further options would threat merely being semi-worthless litter (do not get me began on multi-shot excessive res modes).
As an proprietor of an X100 collection digicam, I’ve positively appreciated the sensation that Fujifilm needed to maintain supporting me, when firmware 2.0 was launched. However that help cannot final for all fashions, perpetually. So I recognize that the kaizen philosophy means I can purchase a digicam that is higher than my present one might probably be, when the time involves improve.
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