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Fujifilm X Summit Launch Blog
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First Looks

  • BH Explora – FUJIFILM Announces Creator-Friendly X-M5 Camera and X Series Lenses
  • gizguide – X-M5 introduction
  • thephoblographer – Fujfilm launches X-M5 and new lenses

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↓ Launch Videos ↓

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The Perfect Dials for Future X-Tx Cameras? – Concept

In response to my article The perfect dial is…?, FR-reader Luigi replied to me with an idea: what if Fujifilm would still use the dial, but instead of printed markings they would consist in ink-displays?

So how would it work?

Well, you can read more about below.

Guest Post by Luigi – LuicaPhoto Flickr

My Fujifilm history began 2012 with X-E1, 2, 3 and X-T1, 2, 5 and I belong to the group of enthusiast photographers. And I started already in the film era of the 70-90-ties. Therefore I like the Fujifilm vintage design with dedicated dials. But I am also aware of PASM design advantages.

Here I propose a dial design which could combine the advantages of both design worlds:

Dedicated rotating mechanical dials, same size and with central lock button as known from the X-T series. But instead of the small engraved numbers for shutter speed or ISO – which looks crowded and have poor readability – the dial top plate should become a circle shaped ink display. And each dial would always display two assigned settings (at 12 and 6 o’clock), but now in much larger figures.

Circle shaped displays can show their their settings when rotating the dial as we are used.

The dial itself consists therefore of an outside ring, rotating around the circle shaped display inside .The existing levers of the X-T could be transformed into push levers: when pressed, the upper or bottom halve of the display becomes the active section.

The Dials Explained

You can see the PDF below or download the PDF at my Dropbox here.

Before the PDF, I will share it also in JPEG format as gallery for you to quickly scroll through.

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7Artisans AF 27mm F2.8 Review (Sony E Mount)

image courtesy – nikolaus-burgard.de

A fellow FR-reader (thanks for sharing) stumbled on a review made half a year ago of the upcoming 7Artisans 27mm F2.8 which we reported about here.

The review, for the Sony E mount version, is in both languages, German and English (the red text is in English) and you can read it at nikolaus-burgard.

His summary:

7Artisans has also achieved a very good “autofocus debut” in the APS-C-Sensor camera-range with the AF 27mm f2.8.

I will briefly summarize the objective test results again:
Very good sharpness in the center of the image from open aperture, excellent from f4.
The edges are sharp from an open aperture of f2.8, but for perfectly sharp corners you have to stop down to f4. The slight midzone dip has also completely disappeared at f5.6.
The microcontrasts are always very good.
The vignette is clear at wide open aperture, but completely negligible from f5.6.
Unfortunately, the distortion is clearly barrel-shaped with a mustache, but hopefully there will be a correction profile from the manufacturer soon.
When it comes to color errors, lateral chromatic aberrations are not a problem at all,
the longitudinal chromatic aberrations can appear in the form of slight green bokeh fringing, but are never problematic.
The lens isn’t bad in backlight, but if you overdo it you’ll get flares and reflections here, too.
The autofocus was “unremarkably good” in my test. The eye autofocus for portraits was also very snappy and fast.

Subjectively speaking, the technically clean, “modernly rendered” images without any annoyances such as outlining or bokeh bubbles really appeal to me; that’s what I expected from a modern “40mm” (fullframe-equivalent). Of course, with these technical parameters of a slight wide angle at “only” f2.8, you shouldn’t expect any shallow depth-of-field miracles.
I particularly like taking photos of people with the 7Artisans AF 27mm f2.8 – and they are easy to achieve because of the good eye autofocus.

Given the price of €149 / $129, 7Artisans can be said to have made a really successful debut in the autofocus world of APS-C sensor cameras – because the performance speaks for itself and the price is sensationally cheap in relation to this.

It might not be a bad lens optically, but sadly the fact that it lacks of an aperture ring is a dealbreaker for me.

Fujifilm X-T50 Review by DPR (Silver Award) and More Reviews

DPReview has published its review of the the Fujifilm X-T50.

They have lots of great things to say about this camera, and also about the new kit lens, the XF16-50mmF2.8-4.8.

From the great JPEG and RAW image quality and the color profiles, the size and weight, the control dials (they appreciate the film simulation dial) and so forth.

In fact, it would be right on track to snap the Gold Award, if it wasn’t for two issues: the price and the autofocus performance.

One more reason to stress Fujifilm again to finally give us that super easy autofocus fix we suggested.

Dear Fujifilm,

Summer holidays are basically over. Call back your engineering team, let them read this article, and it should take them 5 minutes of hard work to get the AF fixed.

PROS

  • Good image quality in JPEG and Raw
  • Great selection of color profiles and a good dial to control them with
  • Quick-access Auto lever is a fun touch
  • Size and weight make it very portable
  • Wide variety of inexpensive, relatively fast primes available
  • Built-in flash is a nice-to-have
  • Robust video features
  • Has enough dials to give you control without being overwhelming

CONS

  • The price
  • Autofocus tracking performance is noticeably a step below peers
  • Switching between face and subject detection is a two-step process
  • Joystick and Q-menu button can be a little hard to reach
  • Tiny viewfinder
  • Relatively short battery life

You can read the full review at dpreview here.

And since we are talking X-T50, down below are more reviews.

Photographing the Belgian National Day with Fujifilm Gear – Guest Post by Olivier Polet

guest post by Olivier Polet – website

I am 57 years old and I have been a press photographer in Belgium for over 30 years.

Like every year, I reported on the parade of July 21, 2024 for the Belgian national holiday in Brussels. This annual report is often an opportunity to renew my archives of the royal families by taking beautiful portraits of them.

When Fujifilm asked me to become their ambassador, I didn’t hesitate for a second. I exchanged my old guns for lighter Fujifilm equipment.
My Fuji equipment: two X-H2S bodies, the traditional optics and also the famous XF 150-600 mm

This fabulous optic allows me to take portraits of members of the royal family with beautiful ambient light.

I placed the 1.4X multiplier on the optics which allows me to work at 1260mm!

I must first of all say that the autofocus, which was sometimes a little hesitant, seems very efficient to me since the latest firmware version. There is no more hesitation, the focus is direct.  Small drawback, the aperture… at 1360 mm I have to work at a diaphragm of f:11 at 1250 iso. For a speed of 1/100. I use a lightweight monopod. The subject does not move and this speed is enough.  I often run the reports through the Topaz software which increases the sharpness and allows for higher sensitivity subjects to remove slight noise. Although the noise is less and less present at high sensitivity with the XH2 S, the Topaz software allows you to work at high sensitivity without any fear.

Another positive point is the lightness of this lens and its stabilization which brings a lot of comfort to shooting.

In addition, the optical unit moves internally which provides additional comfort when shooting!

If we publish the aperture, this optic in 24/36 conversion allows us to cover focal lengths from 225 mm (without the 1.4X) to 1260mm with the 1.4X. With the multiplier. An absolute weapon in many situations which allows me to compete with my colleagues and produce often different images.

It is without hesitation that I take this lens as soon as I can, which remains light for its focal length and which brings me different images.

I work in RAW and develop them with Capture One software.

You can see more picture on my web site: www.photographe-polet.com

All this pictures are done front of the king’s palace in Brussels during the national parade.
The distance between the photographers and the royal family is approximately of 70 meters.