Fujifilm Publicly Asks Which X and G Lenses to Make Next, Shows Video Demo of New Fujifilm X-T3 April Firmware, Modular Compact GFX Body and More – X Summit

February 8, 2019
News, Rumors
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Fujifilm X Summit

Fujifilm hold the first X summit at the GPP in Dubai, an event aimed to listen to customer feedback in the best Kaizen tradition and discuss about the Fujifilm future.

For example, Fujifilm asked people which X and GFX lenses they should make next and which firmware update should come next.

Sadly there was not much participation (hardly 50 comments), so let’s see what happens if I share the same polls here on FujiRumors, the only Fujifilm community that can collect several thousands of votes within a few hours ;).

You find Fujifilm’s future X and GF lens survey down below.

Big news: just as we rumored a few days ago, the Fujifilm X-T3 will get a major firmware update, centered on autofocus improvements. It will come in April. Fujifilm showed a video demo of the improvements, and it was fairly impressive. Better face and eye tracking.

Here is the entire 1 hour and 48 minutes video summed up in key points for you. You’re welcome :).

X and G Mount – starts 27:48

Why no Full Frame

All brands go to mirrorless, and to different mounts and sensor sizes
Medium Format makes it easier to design lenses for higher resolution. But also needs more power
Barney from DPReview says there is no perfect format. It depends on what the customers wants
Every format has Pros and Cons
Focus is APS-C size. Provides fast system and enough resolution
For higher resolution, go GFX
Fuji’s R&D challenge is to make APS-C quality better and GFX smaller

X mount

X-mount design: sensors are getting better and so sensitive, that they have to deliver light through the lens in a very precise way
More light, less digital correction
Value Angle: Long technical explanation. In short: the wider the value angle, the more precise and easier they can send light to the sensor
Fujifilm compares the value angle of X-mount to full frame, and they show that X-mount has much wider value angle (screenshot below)
Canon and Nikon full frame mirrorless have smaller value angle
The Value angle of Sony full frame is very narrow
Wider value angle gives more flexibility for lens design. Allows for more light and less digital correction

FUTURE CONCEPTS – starts 41:57

XF33mm f/1.0

XF35mmF1.4 vs XF33mmF1.0: the XF 33/1 needs to be twice as big, since it needs to let in and correct twice the light
XF33mmF1 has more than twice lens elements than the XF35/1.4
to correct aberration on the XF33mm f/1.0 you need around 7-10 glass front elements
the XF35mmF1.4 has only 7 elements overall
the backside of the XF33mm f/1.0 has about 8 to 10 glass elements
overall the XF33mm f/1.0 has more than twice the lens elements
the 7 to 10 glass elements on the front of the 33/1 weight about 200 gram
challange is to move heavy lens elements precisely during autofocus
Toshi was not satisfied with the size of the lens, but he understands the challenges of developing it. However, he invites engineers to make it still as small and light as possible

XF16mm f/2.8 and XF 16-80mm f/4 working protoypes

XF16mmf/2.8 announcement soon
XF16-80mmf/4 will follow. Launch later this year. Lens feels really light

Future X and GF lenses

Fujifilm asks people which lenses Fujifilm should develop next – FujiRumors added the polls down below
Tilt shift lens is very likely to come next for G mount system
Zack Arias agrees with FujiRumors and he does not want a 35/1.4 MK II because he does not want the 35/1.4 magic to go lost
development costs of new lenses are very high

FUTURE GFX CONCEPTS and GFX CAMERAS – starts 59:39

GFX Concepts

Mirrorless should be free from all legacy
Fujifilm shows design mock-ups of GFX
they show a very small cubic and modular GFX, where you can attach a grip unit and viewfinder unit. So you can build the GFX according to your style (full video here and original full video here)
the modular GFX is just a mockup, but Fujifilm hopes it won’t take long to create such a small device
Medium format size can be reduced a lot, but there are challenges, for example a smaller shutter unit and better battery efficiency
with global shutter Fujifilm can make it smaller

The clear message here is: don’t worry, we are going to make the GFX system a whole lot smaller. So invest into GFX, and we will deliver you also a super-compact body one day.

GFX 100

Fujifilm shows a working prototype of GFX100 and they take a sample on stage, including pixel peeping
at 100MP the benefits of medium format shine, because it’s easier to design lenses that resolve 100MP for MF than for full frame or APS-C
hand-holdable medium format camera thanks to IBIS
GFX100 will cost around $10,000, but final decision has not yet been made
Coming before June

COLORS and IMAGE QUALITY – starts 1:17:46

They explain their color science.
The steps are: signal, measure, calculate, tune, target color
there will be new film simulations and they asked people which should come next (FujiRumors has already expressed its opinion)

FIRMWARE – starts 1:27:25

250+ total firmware updates made since the original X100 has been introduced
They show upcoming firmware of X-T3 with significant autofocus improvement. Better face detection, better tracking, better eye AF. Coming in April. Check it out in the video embedded above or on youtube at 1:28:35
Fujifilm also said they will give us the opportunity to switch between faces with the new firmware
survey about which firmware should come next
they official mention Kaizen as their philosophy

Q&A

Fujifilm is studying the rating system
Adobe X-Trans support: Adobe says that for them to get good results with X-Trans is difficult, it’s a lot of work. Fujifilm will support Adobe for better processing
People ask for complete Camera Remote App redesign
Fujifilm is working on improved camera remote app

There will be more X summits, and you can interact at slido here, and of course you will be the first to know, if you follow FujiRumors on Facebook, Instagram, RSS-feed and Twitter.