Fujifilm Managers Interview: About Internal Camera Memory, X Pan Aspect Ratio, ISO Button Gate on X-H2/s and More – FujiCast

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In the lastest Fujicast episode, Kevin and Neale have, among the others, a talk with Fujifilm UK manager Andreas Georghiades and they also go to the Fujifilm headquarter in Japan and talk to product planers.

Needless to say, the talk mostly gravitates around the Fujifilm X-T5. Down below is a summary as well as the podcast to listen.

Summary of Talk with Fujifilm UK Manager Andreas Georghiades

  • X-T5 has heart and brain of X-H2: 40MP and X Processor 5
  • more traditional body
  • less pronounced hand grip than X-H series
  • back to 3-way tilt screen, because there is the X-H series with vary angle screen for hybrid shooters now
  • X-T4 was still trying to hit both markets, photography and video. Now there is the X-H line for that
  • X-T5 is photography first type of camera
  • “H” stands for hybrid. the X-H2S is the speed hybrid and the X-H2r is the resolution hybrid
  • X-T5 3 way tilt screen is the one of the GFX100S, so a refined and redesigned for a smoother experience
  • everybody who uses X-T2 and didn’t upgrade to X-T3/X-T4 because there was not enough resolution jump, or X-T3 users who didn’t upgrade to X-T4 because of vary anlge sceen, now the X-T5 tick the boxes for them
  • X-T5 is slightly improved over X-T4, with a 0.8x magnification [admin note: and also an all new optical element inside, the one of the X-H2/s]
  • the challenge of engineers was to make it as small as possible, despite bigger battery and IBIS
  • same IBIS mechanism of X-T4, but slightly improved performance
  • sensor speed is the same of X-T4 and X-T5, but processor and algorithm are massively improved over X-T4 and that allows to drastically improve focus and tracking capabilities
  • X-T5 has no vertical battery grip and no cooling fan option. No 8K
  • people ask to remove video alltogether, but they forget that the reason why they can see live view on the EVF or LCD is exactly because of the video functionality
  • but X-T5 is definitely photography first
  • Kevin says he’d loved to have the photometry sub-dial instead of the video/stills switch, but other people told Kevin they don’t use it anyway and it just happens they accidentally switch that dial
  • the manager says he also just leaves it on spot metering and then turns on/off face detection, as face detection will change the metering and prioritize faces
  • Fujinon XF 30mmF2.8 macro also announced
  • it’s a 1:1 and close focusing down to 10cm (from the sensor)
  • this macro fits in the bag of people, as it is small, can be used as standard lens and has great close-up capability
  • it won’t need nor really work with the extension tubes, due to how close it can focus
  • Manager says X100V sells a lot, but he thinks that the Fujifilm X-T5 will become Fuji’s best selling X series camera of all time, closely followed by X100V and X-T3.
  • X100V appealed to all previous generation owners to upgrade, due to new sensor, new lens, new processor, weather resistance etc…
  • X-T5 ticks the same boxes the X100V ticked in this regard
  • there is no other camera on the market that puts photography first like the X-T5

Summary of talk with Japanese Fujifilm Product Planers

  • challenge was to develop new autofocus system
  • also the file transmitter grip was a big challenge to develop
  • Fujifilm is getting lots of questions for video performance and features
  • film simulations are developed on the newer processor platforms
  • currently there are no plans to bring newer film simulations to older cameras, but Fujifilm will listen to customer requests
  • pandemic and parts shortage had impact on production of products
  • Fujifilm says they are aware of the issue with jumpy exposure changes when shooting video and they will continue to improve performance and usability
  • the managers say they’d like to see more powerzoom lenses
  • 65×24 aspect ratio inspired by X Pan? With high resolution Fujifilm cameras this could be possible. Fujifilm will study the possibility to add more aspect ratio in future
  • ISO button issue on X-H2/s (where you can’t assign ISO control to command dial)? The Fujifilm manager says “they will study” it
  • Internal memory? Fujifilm offered cameras with internal memory, but they eliminated it to speed up the response time of the camera. But they acknowledge that it might be useful to have a large amount of internal memory, like on smartphones. At this point the UK manager says there is no harm in internal memory, but he would not want to rely on it as his only option and Kevin says he’d love both and use the internal memory as a backup
  • advantage of APS-C X series is smaller body and lenses, and Fujifilm will keep this advantage in the coming years [admin note: I guess he means that they will keep pushing their APS-C system in future]

X-T5 USA Pre-Orders*

X-T5 Other Countries

Fujinon XF30mmF2.8 Macro Pre-Orderrs

  1. USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama
  2. Worldwide: AmazonCA / Amazon of Your Country
  3. UK: AmazonUK / WexUK / ParkCameraUK
  4. EU: AmazonDE / AmazonIT / AmazonFR / AmazonES  / CalumetDE / FotoErhardt / Fotokoch / PCHstore
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