The year is ending, the internet is flooded by “best and worst” articles and videos, and at some point of the ranking the Fujifilm GFX system always comes out on the very top positions.
Now, nobody can predict the future in the long term. So if the GFX system will keep up rising or not remains an open question whose outcome will depend on many things.
But if we look back on how it all started with the GFX system and where the system is now, then we can surely say that Fujifilm has set some solid fundaments on which they could potentially build up something very special.
So, in order to honor the big GFX year that we just had, we celebrate today with a dedicated GFX roundup that you can find below.
In Europe and other parts of the world, the brand new Samyang 12mm f/2 AF X autofocus lens for Fujifilm X mount is already shipping, and hence the first reviews now start to appear on the web.
And the misconception is that Fujifilm film simulations are something good only for pure JPEG shooters. But that’s far from true.
When I photographed the wedding of my friend I did shoot everything in RAW (I explained which gear I used here), but when it was time to edit everything in Capture One 21, I did not waste any time with color grading the images. I just scrolled over the various film simulation options in Capture One, saw in real time which color gives me the best mood, clicked on that film simulation and that’s it. Done that, I started to edit the images to taste (except for the colors).
I’ve explained in this article which film simulations I’ve used most in my wedding editing (curiously a film simulation that I’ve rarely used until I’ve shot the wedding).
So that’s how I see it: also hardcore RAW shooters can take huge profits from Fujifilm film simulations.
But it is also true, that in many cases the JPEG output of Fujifilm cameras is that good, that you can skip the RAW editing right away.
It happened to me recently when I was in Ferrara with my family. I took my images in RAW+JPEG and when we were going home by train, I just used the internal RAW converter to try out some film simulations on certain pictures, stored them directly on the SD-card, and once home all I did was to load them into my computer, and that was it, my holiday images look great without any editing effort.
And here comes the connection to the video we share today.
If you are like me, and about 80%* of the images you keep are simply JPEG images (*thanks to the amazing Fujifilm JEPGs, with my previous gear I mostly edited the RAW files), then it might be of interest to know which film simulation works best in which context.
And Chris from Pal2Tech (one of the must follow channels for Fujifilm shooters) tested which film simulation works best (and worst) for low light photography (if you shoot in JPEG).
Chris’ video has been cross posted to petapixel here, where the conclusions is:
Monochrome is much less noisy than ACROS at all higher ISO ranges. In going through my testing, it seems pretty conclusive that Fujifilm adds some additional grain and/or noise to ACROS to help give it that unique look. The problem is, at much higher ISO values, it can start to fall apart at bit. If you are planning on shooting with ACROS, I would not go above 3200 ISO. Also, I’d definitely make sure the grain setting on your camera is turned off.
PROVIA, VELVIA, ASTIA, ETERNA, Pro Negative High and Sepia all performed well and had roughly the same good performance at higher ISO values. Of this group, PROVIA was the overall winner when you start pixel peeping at 300% or above.
If you are shooting at ISO 3200 and above, I would avoid Bleach Bypass, ACROS, and Classic Negative. Once you go above ISO 6400, I would not use any of those three film sims if I wanted to keep my noise to a minimum.
Most interesting of all were the winners. And they were Pro Negative Standard and ETERNA. If you are planning on shooting in low light at very high ISO values, you may want to give them a try. Both Pro Negative Standard and ETERNA gave me the overall best and consistent results.
As we already reported here, DxO PhotoLab 5 now supports Fujifilm RAW files!
Some FR-readers already shared their enthusiastic feedback about it in the comments, a joy that seems to be shared by Reggie Ballesteros, who, in his latest video, checks the noise reduction performance of DxO for X-Trans files.
He concludes:
After trying it out, I’m convinced it is the best raw processor for demosaicing and noise reduction for Fujifilm RAW files. If you’re tired of the wormy effect or poor sharpening algorithm of Lightroom, but don’t like Capture One, the DxO PhotoLab 5 plugin for Lightroom is a great workaround with great results.
DPRTV has always loved the Fujifilm X-T30. But then the Fujifilm X-S10 came along with some significant upgrades (such as IBIS). Can the new X-T30II close the gap again? Here is what DPRTV has to say about it:
X-T30II very similar to X-T30 but also some important upgrades
outside of camera is identical
display on the back is better on X-T30II has higher resolution
X-T30II has better RAM, hence has better buffer. In fact, here is how many shots you can take before it starts to slow down: X-T30 lossless compressed RAW at 8fps: 18 shots before slowing down X-T30II lossless compressed RAW at 8fps: 23 shots before slowing down X-T30II lossless compressed RAW at 5fps: 23 shots before slowing down X-T30II lossless compressed RAW at 8fps: 46 shots before slowing down
X-T30II has new AF tracking of X-T4 with good hitrate. So better AF than X-T30
X-T30 has all the latest film simulations available for X series
X-T30II has F-Log assist (X-T30 has only F-Log)
X-T30II has 1080p at 240fps (but pretty soft and not great quality)
X-T30II brings lots of fairly small upgrades
Fujifilm X-S10 bold departure from classic design strategy
X-S10 and X-T30II are similar in size. X-S10 has a bigger grip, which lots of people like
X-T30II has better rear screen over X-S10, however, the X-S10 screen does fully articulate
max 8 fps for both cameras. X-T30II has better buffer hence can shoot longer bursts than X-S10 (which performs like X-T30)
X-T30 still has that old 2.5mm jack, which means you’ll need an adapter to attach your microphone. For headphones, you have to use the USB adapter
X-S10 has a 3.5mm mic jack (hence no adapter needed). For headphones still use USB adapter
Overheating at 4K/24p 200mbps: X-S10 overheats at 44:10 minutes X-T30II overheats at 28:18 minutes
Way longer video shooting with X-S10
