Topaz has just launched their best deals of the year for Black Friday.
There are a couple of bundles available and the savings go up to 60%. All bundle details here.
You can check out the offers they have at their dedicated Black Friday page here.
It’s their best offer of the year and it ends November 27.
Recently we shared the second quarter financial results of Fujifilm (in Japan the fiscal year starts in April and ends in March)
The numbers were actually good:
Imaging achievements. The sales of instant photo systems and digital cameras were strong, with revenue up 19.5% YoY to JPY219.2 billion and operating income up 85.5% to JPY49.4 billion.
But despite that, the growth was not as strong as Fujifilm hoped for.
Hence, in a Q&A session discussing the financial results, the Fujifilm CEO (Mr. Goto) and the Vice President (Mr. Higuchi) were asked about the reasons for that.
Shibano [Q]: I would like to ask President Goto about Imaging. Since President Goto took office, I believe you have often expressed your strong belief in the potentials of Imaging. In fact, the strong performance of H1 of the fiscal year indicates this, but the operating income for H1 was JPY49.4 billion, and even though Q4 is usually weak, there is Q3, so H2 of the fiscal year, which includes the sales season, is expected to see a 387% decrease, or even a 17% decrease YoY, which is a little questionable. I would like to ask again if there is any specific reason for such a decline, worse than the previous year, in H2. This is the point what I would like to reconfirm.
Higuchi [A]: Regarding H2 of last year, we closed our U.S. plant in H2 of last year, and there was a one-time profit. One reason is that we don’t have it in this term. Another is that we have increased development costs for new products in H2 in order to continue to introduce new products without interruption, and we have also increased marketing expenses and marketing investment.
Goto [A]: I will continue with my answer. Now, we are looking at Black Friday toward December, the biggest sales season in the U.S. at the end of November, and the purchasing situation, or rather the movement, is on par with the previous year, but the voice from the person in charge is that inflation in the U.S. is high. We have heard that it is not clear whether it will be as good as the previous year. However, in fact, given the tight demand for INSTAX film and the fact that cameras are selling well if they are made, I believe that there is room for a bounce upward, although we are taking a firm stance now. Is that all right?
Good thing first: one reason why the profit was not as strong as hoped, was that Fujifilm has allocated lots of resources to increase development and marketing expenses in order to assure “to continue to introduce new products without interruption“.
Of course the managers talk about R&D money for Instax as well as digital cameras. But it’s great to hear that overall they keep investing more money to push development.
Also worth to note is the comment of Fujifilm CEO Mr. Goto, who says that “cameras are selling well if they are made“. And this is probably Fujifilm’s biggest issue so far, with lots of cameras out of stock and in many cases even a complete suspension of camera sales in certain countries until who knows when.
The CEO says the hope is to “bounce back” thanks to Black Friday sales, although inflation is still high and it is not sure if the holiday season will run as good as last year.
And in this regard, here are the current deals you find on X/GFX gear that should help Fujifilm to show up with better figures by the end of the fiscal year.
GFX Gear
X Cameras
X Lenses
RAW File Converter EX3.0 adds Fujifilm GFX100II support.
RAW FILE CONVERTER EX 3.0 powered by SILKYPIX Ver.8.1.14.0 – download here
The software update Ver.8.1.14.0 incorporates the following issue:
Latest GFX Gear
GFX Deals
We have just covered the talk about the the new sensor of the Fujifilm GFX100II and the up to twice readout speed.
At the end of that article, when I listed the reasons why to get the GFX100II instead of the GFX100S, I wrote the GFX100II has 30% (or 1/3rd of a stop) better dynamic range.
And since I noticed this is another thing that some people struggled with, I decided to elaborate now more in depth.
After testing the dynamic range, Jim Kasson (linked below) agreed that yes, dynamic range is increased, but not by 30%. Jim says:
At ISO 80 those folks at Fujifilm have dropped all the data below the nominal black point, slicing off the left half of the histogram, and cutting the measured read noise in half of what it would normally be. […] You’ll still get slightly improved FWC — but I don’t measure the claimed 30% improvement — and decently low read noise. So it’s an improvement, but not a huge one.
Now, whatever Fujifilm does in terms of software, that has been measured by Jim and I won’t argue that. And it is true that this does make ISO80 dynamic range look crazy good.
But what Fujifilm at the end of the day said, is that there is a 30% dynamic range increase.
What does this mean?
Well, 30% expressed in stops means about 1/3rd of a stop improvement. As a reference, 1 stop increase means doubling the amount of light you let in on the sensor.
So the misunderstand is simple: if the GFX100S has let’s say 14 stops DR, it does not mean that Fujifilm claimed the GFX100II has 18 stops dynamic range (+30%), but 14,3 stops of DR (+1/3). And moreoever, in the X summit the 30% increase is mentioned in the video section of the summit, and Fujifilm has not been clear if it applies also to stills.
What I can say, is that 1/3 DR increase for stills what a Fujifilm rep told me personally during a Fujifilm event. He told me Fujifilm Italy made its own measurements once they got the camera from Japan, and at base ISO they noticed a 1/3 to 2/3 of a stop DR increase.
Now, why did Fujifilm say 30% instead of 1/3rd of a stop, even though they mean the same?
Well, I guess it just sounds better saying 30% rather than 1/3rd of a stop, but of course it can create confusion.
So yes, at base ISO the new Fujifilm GFX100II will give you the better dynamic range over the GFX100S. Also Jim confirms this. But not by a very large margin. Fujifilm says it is 1/3rd of a stop for video, and Fujifilm Italy told me they measured that too for stills.
Jim Kasson Articles:
Over the past few weeks, many have contacted me asking why I don’t talk about the reports that claim:
The answer is simple:
When Fujifilm published their first Fujifilm GFX100II development story episodes, they said they would talk about the GFX100II sensor in future episodes.
This is why I decided to wait, hear Fujifilm’s position, and then write an article that is as comprehensive and complete as possible.
And I am happy I waited, because in the 5th X Lab episode dedicated to the GFX100II, we get some helpful insights in the inner workings of the sensor (full episode with summary below)..
But before we dive into it, let me express my admiration for Jim Kasson’s brilliant work in analyzing the inner workings of the GFX100II and to Petapixel for bringing his findings to the attention of the larger public.
I decided to wait for more details coming from Fujifilm before reporting about it, but maybe they would not have disclosed those in such detail, if Jim would not have done his great work, and Petapixel made a huge buzz out of it.
