Fujifilm Japan announce S3 Pro buffer upgrade

Fujifilm Japan has today announced that it will make available an upgrade for the S3 Pro digital SLR which will increase the camera's internal buffer from 128 MB to 256 MB. This increase in buffer space means up to 8/16 RAW/JPEG frames (Wide dynamic range) or 17/33 RAW/JPEG frames (Standard dynamic range) in a single burst. This addresses at least one of our complaints about the S3 Pro. This upgrade will initially cost ¥21,000 ($190) in Japan. This increase in buffer will also make its way into the normal retail camera. It's not clear at this stage when/if this upgrade will be available in the rest of the world.

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro, 256 MB upgrade
Below is a table summarizing the increase in continuous shooting buffer space of the original S3 Pro and the upgraded model. Note this memory upgrade does not increase shooting speed. The newer retail S3 Pro with 256 MB of buffer memory will carry a blue 'S3 Pro' logo.

Dynamic range  Quality Previously Upgraded
Wide RAW            3 8
JPEG (Fine/Normal)  6 16
Standard RAW        7 17
JPEG (Fine/Normal)  12 33

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0509/05092001s3pro256.asp