John W

This is working for me... thanks.

Hi, Proud new owner of an X Pro 2 here... As I'm getting to know the camera one of my first tasks is to learn the various Film Simulation modes. I have figured out both how to change the film "stock" and also to bracket film simulation modes (great feature!). However, when I bring the jpegs into the latest version of Lightroom CC there is no field that says which film mode the photo was taken in, so there goes my learning process. Is there any way to display this information in Lightroom, or if not, in perhaps some other software? Worst case scenario I will have to write down the name of a film stock and walk around taking photos with the sign in the frame -- talk about old school... Another related question: I feel I read somewhere that Lightroom can do its own post-processing using simulacra of Fuji film stocks. Is this a pug-in I need to download and install, or Presets that need to be downloaded. Thanks for any help.

"Everybody knows the dice are loaded." -- Leonard Cohen

I never suggested that retailers were colluding, which would be flagrantly illegal. The question is whether retailers can agree with *manufacturers* on a minimum price. The linked article doesn't say that minimum retail price agreements are legal... just that they *can* be legal in certain circumstances. E.g., it might be legal for Fujifilm to have minimum retail price agreements (because they do not have a dominant marketshare) while being illegal for Canon or Nikon to (as the converse is true). Of more practical consideration, the fact that, according to that article, some states like California continue to outlaw minimum retail price agreements of all kinds would inevitably result in online retailers in only those states selling large quantities of such items at lower prices -- which would in turn harm the retailers located in states that allowed minimum retail prices. In my experience, you can regularly purchase products below the (legal everywhere in the U.S., it appears) Minimum Advertised Price if you are inclined to negotiate or shop around. Therefore, I suspect most manufacturers are using MAP agreements, not MRP agreements, in the U.S. Here is another article addressing the issue of MAP vs. actual sale price. As the article points out, in some instances in online shops you will see the following in place of a selling price: "Add item to cart to see price." Upon adding the item to your cart you will then see it at a price lower than the MAP. This would be a contractual violation of a MRP but not of an MAP since the shopping cart is not "advertising". https://www.sba.gov/blogs/how-minimum-advertised-pricing-impacts-your-retail-or-online-stores-marketing-efforts

Ha! That's the most specific inquiry about a lens I have ever seen... love it!

I've been debating whether to upgrade my Lightroom 5 via the boxed version, or to subscribe to the Creative Cloud photography plan. One of the advantages of Creative Cloud is the Adobe Portfolio service, where you can quickly throw together a website of your photography. I was just messing around with it and it was really, really slow and unresponsive when building and viewing a portfolio. It could be on account of using it in a sort of demo mode without subscribing, or maybe it's always like that? Does anyone here use it and do you find it unresponsive when building a website? How about when you (or others) just visit your portfolio website? Is it also extremely slow when navigating it? If it's as slow as I just experienced you would not want to send anyone there to look at it because it would be just plain embarrasing. My internet speed is pretty snappy so I don't think that's the problem...

I think strictly speaking U.S. companies are also forbidden to agree to a "price", but they are allowed to agree to an "advertised price". A semantic distinction that in most cases amounts of an agreed-upon price, the difference being the manufacturer can't prevent (or probably even monitor) the actual selling price. I have had a few occasions where to get warranty support I had to send a copy of a receipt on items I had bought below MAP and was nervous that either I or the retailer would catch flack over the low price on the receipt but I have never heard feedback on it. Nevertheless it's an interesting thing that some manufacturers, in demanding a copy of the receipt, are able to spy on what certain retailers are selling their products for.

All of the prices for bodies and lenses are identical in the U.S. as well. Local shops, Amazon, B&H, Adorama -- every price is exactly the same. I believe the manufacturer is allowed to contractually oblige retailers to agree to a "Minimum Advertised Price" (MAP) in the U.S., but can't actually prevent a shop from selling to you at below that if you were to find one willing to negotiate. Some retailers get around this by offering freebies included with the product (i.e. a lens filter, or an inexpensive tripod with a camera) -- this doesn't violate the MAP agreement but in essence lowers the profit margin on the camera for the retailer in order to move more units.

Thanks for the info guys. Yes, I'm in the US, sorry to forget we are an international community and not to include that information. I imagine Doug is correct, that I happened to write down the prices during an earlier sale. I called a retailer today and was told the current sale prices are good through December 24. The U.S. sale prices are very appealing, certainly compared to Nikon lens prices (what I currently shoot).

Hi, I've been thinking about building a Fuji kit with an X-Pro2 and two or three prime lenses. A couple of months ago I wrote down the prices of some lenses that were of interest to me. Today I got an email from a retailer saying the X-Pro2 and Fuji lenses were on sale for Cyber Monday. But when I compared the sale prices of the lenses, they were the exact same as I had written down a couple of months ago. (i.e., $649 for the 23mm f/1.4; $799 for the 56mm f/1.2). So my question is whether these are really "Cyber Monday" prices, or if the lenses are always or frequently sold at these discounted prices. What's the deal with that, and is this an especially good time to buy X series lenses?