image courtesy: grittymonkey
When the [shoplink 21553]Fujifilm X-T1[/shoplink] hit the market, back in February, the first batch of cameras had two problems: the light leak and the fiddly d-pad buttons. Fuji rapidly fixed the light leak, but not the buttons. To be clear: Fujifilm improved the buttons later on and now you have that nice “click” when you press them. But those who grabbed one of the very first cameras on the market, are still struggling with the fiddly buttons.
But back in May I told you that Fuji was working on a paid button upgrade for early production X-T1’s. Well, the rumor seems to be correct, at least in Japan. X-shooter Balbo42 got his X-T1 buttons fixed for about 8000¥ ~ 75$.
Read his experience at his blog grittymonkey.
X100T: USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / EUROPE: WexUK / WexDE / PCHstore / AUSTRALIA: CameraPro
Graphite Silver X-T1: USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / EUROPE: WexUK / WexDE / PCHstore / AUSTRALIA: CameraPro
XF 56mm f/1.2 APD: USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / EUROPE: WexUK / WexDE / PCHstore / AUSTRALIA: CameraPro
XF 50-140 f/2.8 WR: USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / EUROPE: WexUK / WexDE / PCHstore / AUSTRALIA: CameraPro
87 Responses
it’s spelled paid
Thanks, corrected… I should look for a good English teacher in my area 😉
no need, people who want to understand you always will 😉 i’m pretty sure that your readership comes from various countries and as most of them are foreigners, foreigners will always understand foreigners if they are keen to (foreigner here too)
the term foreigner doesn’t have much applicability on a website with mostly international readership, and no national ties. I certainly wouldn’t use the term foreigner to describe all non-native English speakers.
I agree with you, David.
Don’t bother; either is acceptable (unless you’re talking about a grain, of course). The Oxford English Dictionary gives both as valid in British English.
Roger
Roger, to clarify my jest was aimed dza (without malice) and not at Patrick.
In England we would say it’s spelt paid. Just saying. 🙂
75$ for wrong design?
It’s a scam!
I know, Olympus didn’t charge for their sticky buttons on the E-M5. Oh, wait, that’s because they never fixed it.
So, because Olympus didn’t fix their camera X-T1 owners should pay for Fuji’s own fault?
My point is, Fuji has done a pretty stellar job of being responsive to customer needs, and providing many free upgrades to their cameras. I can’t think of another photo company that does this. Their products aren’t perfect, OK, but again, I can’t think of any company’s products that are. The button issue was known from the beginning, and was in nearly every review I read. If you bought it with this knowledge (or tried it in the store, or bought it, tried it, and decided to keep it), then I don’t see that you can complain when Fuji offers an upgrade to the camera for a fee. If you decide not to upgrade the camera, it’s functionality is exactly the same as the day you decided it was worth the money you paid for it.
I think you’re totally missing the point. I am sure you would feel differently if it was your X-T1! And, I pre-ordered my X-T1 so I didn’t know about the issue. I am not sure why you’re defensive!! Do you work at Fuji? Because that’s what Fuji support guy told me! They ask for premium price for the camera, they need to provide premium support. People like you are annoying and let companies abuse consumers!
No, I do not work for Fuji, but I am defending them a bit. The reason is because while I do think customers should try to get the best customer service they can out of a company, I also think a company should be acknowledged when it does so many things right. And truly, I see this as a non-issue. You could always have returned your camera when you discovered you were dissatisfied with the buttons. That’s your choice as a consumer. But you decided you liked it enough to keep it at the price you paid. Fuji could never have fixed the buttons, and the camera still would have sold well. It wasn’t the best design, but it wasn’t broken design either. It worked exactly as designed. But they fixed it because enough people complained (which is a good thing). That doesn’t mean they owe you more than was bargained for in the original purchase.
btw,I don’t own an X-T1. I still shoot with an X-Pro1, a far from perfect camera. Sorry you find me annoying. I find it annoying when people expect companies to give them stuff for free.
Again, you’re missing the point. If there’s nothing wrong with, they shouldn’t have changed and re-designed it after 1 month. Do you hear yourself? I also never said it was a deal breaker for me. I love the camera. But we need to make sure we hold companies to a high standard. For example. 3 days ago there was a tiny decolorization on my iPhone 5S display. Wouldn’t be an issue for lots of people! Went to Apple Store and 10 mins later, I left with a new iPhone with no charge at all ($0). And my warranty was expiring in 6 days! Now, that’s a service and that’s why I pre-ordered iPhone 6 before seeing or touching it! On the other hand, I will be very cautious when it comes to Fuji!
Maybe I am missing the point. I admit, that to me, your point seems to be that Fuji should cover under warranty not just production flaws, but design choices that customers do not like. When I say there was nothing wrong with the buttons, I do not mean that they were good buttons, or well designed buttons. I mean they function as they were designed to. They activate when pressed, and do not let water in. They function exactly as planned. But what was designed was not what people wanted, so Fuji went back and “fixed” it. But when you buy a camera, you buy it with all its inherent flaws (not malfunctions or mistakes, but intended operational choices that may result in things people don’t like). If something breaks that shouldn’t have, that is where the warranty is implicated. Fuji owes you that. If something works as planned, but not to your liking, that is not a warranty issue. Your Apple example explains this perfectly. A decolorization, or whatever you are describing, is a malfunction. Something is broken. An easily scratched aluminum case is a design choice and no matter how many customers requested a scratch proof case, Apple wouldn’t be on the hook to provide it, or provide it for free if they made it an option.
Indeed, we should expect, and accept, the mediocre. If Olympus didn’t fix it, Fujifilm shouldn’t. We shouldn’t expect better, we should expect a watering down of customer satisfaction since that is what the market/competition is doing.
What sticky buttons? You’re hallucinating. I preordered the E-M5 and never had that problem. Ridiculous.
Are they gold plated?
Not very kaizen… As much as I admire Fuji’s marketing strategy to provide FW updates and listen to customers, I think their approach to early adopters is a giant mess. So far I learned:
– don’t buy the newest lenses, they’ll be discounted or part of a promotion after 3-4 months (23mm comes to mind)
– don’t buy new cameras because you’ll need to pay for production faults (vide X-T1)
I was very keen to pick up the new X100t in November. Now I’m certain Iwon’t at least till early spring…
I can’t remember productions faluts on the X-Pro1, X-E1/2, XQ1, XF1, X20, X100/S, X-S1 and on the XF/XC lenses… I rember the just on the X10 and X-T1
On the other hand I remember biblical shipping times on the X100S, XF 55-200 and some more lenses…. So sometimes it’s better to pre-order soon.
It’s correct,though, that there are often deals, especially on the lenses. But maybe also this will change… Fuii desperately needed new customers one year ago, but now that sales are better, I think we will see less deals… I mean, the 56 was announced 8 months ago, and there still hasn’t been an official Fuji price drop on it.
you forgot aperture blades problem on the x100, which they fixed.
There are production missteps that weren’t exactly ‘faults’ per se, and others, that, because of a customer base with low expectations, never got noticed.
– inability of X Pro 1 to manually select maximum flash sync
– drive/meter wheels on X-T1 that turn too easily
– SD/HDMI card doors on X-T1 that open too easily or bulge out, rendering rifts in seals
– batteries that go in whichever way, and others, (X100) that aren’t held securely by holding tab
– fly-by-wire systems that do away with ergonomic/energy efficient designs
– fly-by-wire systems that act 100% like P&S cameras: moving in and out when powered on, when previewing an image, when stopping lenses down, when going from EVF to OVF…
– rear buttons that cannot be differentiated by feel
and much, much more.
But these were not ‘caught’ because by and large, mirrorless users are less careful. Many of us are techhies, that love new gadgets and upgrade often. We like new. We like wow. We don’t care for details.
I have never understood when people complain about discounts on lenses. Why is this a bad thing? I bought the 23mm at full price. It was worth it at the time of purchase. I love that lens. When it was discounted I didn’t think, damn, if only I had waited, I could have saved $200. The point was I didn’t want to wait. I used the hell out of that lens in the couple months I owned it before it was discounted. Consumer products usually get cheaper if you are willing to wait. No big deal. Of course, the resale value of the lens dropped, I’m sure, but I am trying to avoid the business of buying gear with the intent to sell. It has yet to turn a profit.
I think much depends on your financial circumstances. If you’re someone who really has to stretch your budget to get these lenses, where $200 is a significant amount of money, then I can completely understand. And I would draw a distinction between a gradual reduction in the price of a piece of gear—the 5D Mark III for example—as compared to an overnight 20% drop.
No company that looks _toward_ the future, rather than _at_ it, sets up a system whereby they allow their products to go on discount so early. Fujifilm will be forced to join the regular price-per-performance regime that reduces unique resonance within a company as per their recent actions.
Discount to gain customers. Then expect customers to expect discounts. Cut corners. Make cheaper. Ruin brand. Ruin future.
Done.
Ridiculous ! I modded mine with Sugru stuff, got the idea here http://thedigitaltrekker.com/2014/05/how-i-modified-my-x-t1-with-sugru/ and it cost less than 12$!
Modified mine the same way. Works great!
I was afraid it would come loose, but it sticks very well so far.
I’m tired of all those button upgrade rumors, to be honest. Every time you ask Fuji service if there was/is/will be a button fix/improvement on the X-T1 they agressively deny it. Some people say there is an improvement, some say there isn’t. Plus, I can’t feel a noticeable difference between “my” early production buttons and those from a newer model which I had in hands.
My guess is that any “improvement” is just imagination. But yeah, everyone should make up their own mind about that. I found peace in the Sugru solution. 🙂
Certainly not imagination.
Held the ‘new’ X-T1 in my hands at Photokina and the d-pad certainly felt very different from my black x-t1.
You could clearly hear a ‘clicking’ sound with this new camera, and you could really feel the push. That was no imagination at all!
Agree. Same here. Fuji support denied that fact. I am really disappointed in Fuji!
I also held a Graphite X-T1 at Photokina and the buttons where most definitely different to my first batch X-T1. Even the Fuji Rep said that my buttons felt very mushy. So there IS a difference. One thing though is to be said. I also do not find it good that we early buyers should have to pay for a fault that Fuji made.
“I also do not find it good that we early buyers should have to pay for a fault that Fuji made.”
+1 to that!
If you stopped biting your nails, you’d have no trouble with the controls as they are. 8=)
Roger
They weren’t mine Roger !
For $75 that D-pad should at least look upgraded. You know, gold plated, or Racing Red, maybe even Fuji Green…
Fuji Canada has the parts for the upgrade. The charge to do it will be $50CAD. Announced yesterday at an exhibit of product at Canadian head office.
$75 + shipping (I assume) for what should be covered by the warranty? Shameful.
Patrick, are you deleting my comments? oO
I must say that I’m not amused. I’m one of the first customers of the X-T1 and I had to send it back to Fuji for fixing the light leak problem. That means 14 days without my camera. Now I have to pay for fixing the second problem of the very same camera. Why didn’t Fuji fix that while my camera was at their service center? Sorry, thats not ok for me. Yes Fuji does a very good job with its firmware updates even for old cams. But the d-pad problem should be a problem for only a small amount of cams. Why not fixing this problem for free? Sorry Fuji, you have to think again!
I totally agree. I sent it twice and they refused to fox the keys. That was 5 weeks without my camera.
Say that to David below who thinks we’re not fair by asking Fuji to fix their faulted design.
Threa are a few Fujifilm fanboys who are here to disown, play down, belittle and even make ridiculous of any complain about Fujifilm product.
Nope. Please do complain about the issue: sticky or mushy buttons. Some companies would ignore it. Fuji, I would expect, would fix the issue on the next model. But they did one better and are offering an upgrade to the camera for a fee. I just think it’s unreasonable to complain about that.
If you have a fault, you should fix it, not release another model to ‘fix’ the problems with an early product.
where I slightly disagree with you is this: the dpad IS working, albeit being “mushy” it is a design decision you may well disagree with. The light leak was a definite fault and was fixed for free. You seem to consider that Fuji had an alternative at the time, that may well not be the case. Now that Fuji has a practical solution, for those who want it they have the option for a modest sum to have it improved. Consider the cost to Fuji and you’ll see that they are charging at cost or very near that. For something that works, albeit in a way you (and other, it is not an personnal attack! :)) dislike; offering an solution at cost or near cost i pretty decent. Make a parallel with the automotive industry for a laugh ….
I’d never buy a camera when it’s first released, there seems to be too many problems although I’d have to say Nikon is far worse, and in hindsight I wouldn’t have bought the x-e1 either, should have waited for the x-e2. As others have said, the X-E1 was more of a pre-release camera when it first came out. Great that they had firmware updates I guess. Wait 6 months before buying I think, is the motto here.
Some customers have to buy the new product. Otherwise the manufacturer will not bring an updated product to market. So it has no logic to suggest to buy the product after 6 month.
yes, I agree, if we all waited 6 months to buy something it would be very odd, and camera makers like Fuji may well go out of business. The camera did look so good. If I’d had the money I would have been tempted to buy it too. I’m surprised that the pro’s who Fuji use to test their stuff before bringing it to market didn’t comment on this, or did they.
This post proves that your logic is broken!
my logic may well be broken,but to Fuji the question is whether this is a design issue or a fault and the two are not necessarily the same, but they can be, this is from my very narrow pov, I can only dream of living with a much broader pov. It doesn’t stop the camera from being used and therefore Fuji have decided it’s a design issue, and they rectified it for future users. I guess your pain is others gain.
With so many great cameras available and online reviews at thier fingertips. Why people buy something , take it home, and then complain about it, i`ll never understand .The early “mushy buttons” are no secret. If people would take the time to hold the camera in their hands before investing thier money, they could then decide weather or not it is something they can live with or work around. As far as people who preordered it (myself included), thats just the risk anyone takes when preordering anything. I think we are lucky fuji addressed the problem at all and should be great full .
I would have to drive 4 hours to handle one in person.
Some people like Dave and Lance think of the issue from their narrow pov.
Lance, you’re just another Dave. See my posts to him below if you care!
i dont
If you didn’t care you wouldn’t have replied. You’re probably reading them now!
wrong again kid
Dave has a decent point. Folks who are concerned about everything being flawless out of the gate are better off waiting. This is different than what Lance is suggesting, which seems to be that we should all shut up and happily ignore any glitches or flaws in the first units.
Arnold, I think he meant me, not “Dave” below. It’s a common name. But like you, I agree that customers should complain and provide feedback when something isn’t as good as it could be. Where I disagree with some is that I do not think Fuji is obligated to fix problems for free if those problems aren’t the result of a design or manufacturing defect, or where something breaks under normal use. But I love that Fuji fixes these things anyway.
I hear you, David, and I have to admit that I’m conflicted over the issue of paying for this fix. Only Fuji knows if the mushy buttons were designed to be that way or not and if it was just a certain percentage of the original batch that were affected. Certainly the mushy buttons do work, if not optimally. Paying $50 or $75 to obtain the fix doesn’t seem outrageous to me—especially given the fact that most manufacturers would like just ignore the issue—but I’m sympathetic to those who view this as a manufacturing defect.
That is more or less how I feel. I think, for the most part, Fuji should be commended for not acting like every other camera manufacturer, and have its feet held to the fire for bad ergonomic decisions. I don’t feel it’s a warranty issue, but I don’t feel as strongly about it as some of my comments may suggest. I just get defensive when someone like Fly Moon calls me “annoying,” or that I want the company to abuse customers (of which I am one) or says I must work for Fuji.
Thats not what i was trying to say. There is a difference between discussing what could be better with a new unit and threatening to switch brands because of something that can be fixed
I can agree with that, Lance.
Completely disagree. Like Rich, I would have to drive four hours to handle an X-T1. And while I’m sure manufacturers love your we-should-just-be grateful-that-they’ll-take-our-$1300 attitude and not bring up any issues, if those issues were not loudly raised the problem would likely never have been addressed and a fix never presented. More than that, it is the expression of likes and dislikes that is allowing Fuji to act on customer feedback to continually improve their products.
Kudos to Fuji for listening and acting. This fix is a great example.
“kudos to Fuji for listening and acting” is more of my point. My comment was more directed to people who bash fuji for this camera not being the camera of all cameras. I can’t think of any camera that doesn’t have its unique quarks .
I disagree for this reason: most reviewers, especially those reviewing X products, are all glib about how X changes things for the good and almost NEVER write about the problems/issues the cameras face.
The SD card door, the HDMI card door, the easily switched drive/metering modes, the mushy buttons, etc., are glossed over. There are NO reviews that honestly assess the problems of the system in the X world that get any reading time. Only the opposite do: how X is better, why you don’t need a dSLR, why APS-C is the best ever… and no one EVER grills Fujifilm for mistakes.
So, reviews are pointless.
Once again, Ohm, this is spot on it. But the X-series are an enthusiast market as you stated before and I’m afraid this kind of ‘Fuji can’t do wrong’ behavior is fully understandable… Though, some dare to write about the false notes (Ming Thein). I don’t find the X-series well shaped for a more rugged, daily workflow, neither in materials and handling (buttons, menus), neither in a RAW-oriented workflow. Almost every review about Fuji RAF & convertor tools steps easily over the true problems proclaiming these are just a pixel peeper comments. The only possible conclusion is that many don’t care about these RAWs – just shoot in jpg – again for most enthusiasts fair enough. Just mentioning this usually generates a lot of reactions. While I’m seeing the competences and benefits in Fuji for some particular purposes, I find the right criticism important. In particular, we expect premium products to have a premium quality without compromises, near is not good enough.
off-topic: I have no idea why your comments landed in the Disqus Spam. Approved them now
It was totally weird. Just posted, then wham! – it disappeared. Tried again, 2 hours later – same story, as if you’ve been monitoring them in real time and deliberately deleting. Third comment, asking you what happened… Wham. I’ve got all sorts of conspiracy theories going after that!
I own the X-T1, the early version with “mushy” buttons and a very easy to open memory card door. Sent it to Fuji, complained about d-pad buttons and the door and they fixed this. No money! By warranty. I just called the support hotline, didn’t even pay for shipping. And they were very friendly. Got it back and believe me, there is a difference. In the buttons and the door. Btw it’s a great camera, even with mushy buttons.
Do you know when will the U.S. get the button fix?
now we need the same thing for that really bad sd card slot….
Hope they will have an ISO dial replacement modification “upgrade” to remove the locking mechanism. I would pay for that
While Fuji Canada were fixing my light leak issue I contacted them twice about fixing the mushy buttons. Twice they denied the issue and specifically advised that all of the buttons in production are the same. They stated that no change in production or design had occurred.
So now Fuji is confirming that there was a change in production / design and the early buyers can have it for $50-$75? Well thats a huge incentive for me to want to buy into their products. While I appreciate Fuji’s ongoing commitment to improving their product and issuing firmware, I cannot respect a company that has lied to me. I do not see me buying any Fuji products until WELL into their product cycle anymore.
Fanboys flame away and defend Fuji but this is bad corporate policy.
don’t blame the hole company for one dick in fuji canada..
You said dick and hole.
Well, it’s not only Canada. I’m afraid Fuji is such a dwarf in the camera world, they don’t have a very solid organized after sales/service org in most countries. Also in mine (in the middle of Europe) they have proven to me to be a complete disaster. I’ve had the problem with a number of initial X-Pro1 issue, a while after that, with a broken lens. It were the first false notes in my X-series experience, not only regarding reliability. It was not even a bad service, there was no service at all! Precisely this is one part of the whole package. Why buy a camera that is not perfectly conceived, with no third party support in the market, with a limited RAW-workflow potential, with also a non-existing service org… isn’t this quite a bit of a challenge? I waked up one morning with the conclusion I had become some kind of MLIC-adventurer, taking risks in event shooting I didn’t before. There I landed back in the (almost) full DSLR-mode, it was a major relief, really. Contrary to what I thought first, it will take another few years before MLIC is really capable to play for 100% in the same league, and we can only hope – with their FF-aversity – that Fuji will still be there.
Same here. Sent the camera twice. And people defend Fuji’s unfair policies!!!!
Kaizen is just a marketing tool. They are as reluctant and greedy as any other brands. Why would they fix it if they don’t admit the problem? And if they fix it why don’t they admit the problem? and if the problem is effectively admitted by offering a fix, why do they charge $$$ for fixing it?
Where do you live, North Korea? Of course Kaizen is a marketing tool! Everything is.
Just like every single brand is out there to make a profit. And that is a healthy status quo.
Exactly. Vincent, if you think Fuji is bad, and I don’t think they are, take a look at Nikon and the disastrous D600/D610 handling by that company. (Not to mention the way they handled the launch of the D800 with focusing issues.)
You’re very right, Nikon is bad. How about a company which released back in 2012 a camera that had hardly left the prototype status, with the poorest AF behavior in the market, completely out of order in low light, sick of dozens of functional quirks, with a terrible shutter lag? A camera that got no RAW conversion support in the mainstream software market, not even half a year later and even now still suffering from artifacts? A dozen updates later, this is still not a perfect camera, let me keep it to a ‘mediocre performer’. If Nikon would have done one model release like this they would have gone bankrupt.
I remember back when people were calling us early adopters liars when we said our replaced X-T1s (due to light leak) had better d-pad buttons with a distinct click compared to the mushy original buttons 😉
If they are charging for it, then it’s an upgrade. A FIX would be FREE under warranty.
I’m bummed that Fuji denied the mushy buttons being an issue when I sent my camera in for the light leak repair. However, it’s $75 I’m willing to spend considering how many thousands of times I’ll be pushing those buttons.
It’s kind of like car suspension: some people like plush while others prefer firm. Oh well.
Well I see both side and personally don’t care I’ve dumped all my Canon gear and invested in Fuji and don’t regret it one bit. I love what’s coming down the pipeline from them and at the lightning speed there releasing it (except for the X-pro2 give it to me already lol) The mushy buttons don’t make the camera unusable so I can see their side even though I think they should fix it. But either way just give me the sticking option now to pay for the upgrade, called Fuji USA today still no word on the upgrade.
Received the following email from Fujifilm Canada:
Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting FUJIFILM Canada. Please allow us to assist you.
The keypad on the X-T1 is not defective, it functions as it was designed to. Fujifilm Tokyo will be releasing an optional upgrade to the keypad. This will be a chargeable upgrade. If you would like to proceed with this upgrade, kindly let us know and we will provide more details on this.
We sincerely hope this information has been beneficial to you. If you should have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us in the future.
Thank you for your interest in FUJIFILM products and services.
Sincerely,
X-Series Technical Support
FUJIFILM Canada Inc.
600 Suffolk Court
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
L5R 4G4
Toll free 800-461-0416
Email: fcanxprosupport@fujifilm.com