Fujifilm Designers Talk X-S20 Camera Body and User Interface (and AI Camera Future)

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On a recent visit to Japan, Johnnie had the chance to visit FUJIFILM’s new design center and talk to Aida-san, who designed the Fujifilm X-S20, other cameras as well as the legendary cooling fan, and Nagai-san, who was in charge of designing the camera User Interface.

Above the video (and below some excerpts from it). Check out also the article on CineD here.

  • When the planning for a new product starts, we list all the new features and requirements for improvements on existing features are advised
  • User interface (UI) designers design the UI to make the UI it easy to use
  • the challenge was to keep size small despite using a much larger battery
  • the cooling fan solution was appreciated by the users
  • designing the grip is always difficult. In prototype stage they let several people with different sized hands hold the camera to get to the best shape possible
  • Aida-san is proud of having designed a small camera that achieves a comfortable balance between size and comfort
  • her dream camera to design would be a film camera
  • when asked if it would be possible, thanks to AI, to talk to the camera and dictate the settings to it, Nagai-san said it would be possible. The X series supports 35 languages, so it might be hard to support them all
  • subject detection incorporates the learning effects of AI
  • more AI features will be added in future
  • it’s important to continue to explore the possibilities of AI for photography
  • Nagai-san is particularly proud of designing the menu for the new Vlog mode
  • Fujifilm wants to design a UI that satisfies everyone from first-time camera users to professional photographers

Fuji’s Fifth Generation Gear

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Voigtländer NOKTON 50mm F1.2 Coming in September

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Cosina will release the Voigtländer NOKTON 50mm f/1.2 X for Fujifilm X mount in September for a price of 110,000 yen including tax ($763 converted).

  • compact size with a total length of 49.0mm
  • external dimensions are φ63.9 x 49.0mm
  • weight of 290g
  • filter diameter of 58mm
  • Equipped with electronic contacts, Exif information, focus check, and shooting distance interlocking display are available
  • 9 elements in 8 groups
  • 12 aperture blades
  • minimum focus distance 0.39m

Voigtländer lenses for Fujifilm X mount with electronic contacts:

Press Release

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Fujifilm Financial Results for Q1 FY2023: Brisk Sales for X-T5, X-H2, X-H2S and Instax

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Fujifilm has announced the financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023 (April to June).

Good news for Instax (as to expect) and for the 5th generation X series gear.

  • Revenue from digital cameras increased significantly, mainly due to solid sales of X-H2, X-H2S and X-T5, which were released in FY2022.
  • We will continue to offer attractive products by achieving overwhelmingly high image quality with the large format in the GFX series and the best balance between image quality and size in the X series

The 5th Generation Goodness

Press Release

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Fringer EF-FX Pro III Released with Weather Sealing

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Fringer has now released the Fringer EF-FX Pro III.

Fringer EF-FX Pro III (FR-FX3) adapts Canon EF mount lenses to Fujifilm X mount cameras while keeping all the auto functions. Compared to the second version, the Mk III has added weather sealing. Now it can be used in more weather conditions.

Fringer adapters can be ordered at B&H Photo, AmazonUS and Adorama.

List of Smart Adapters

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Fujifilm Manager Interview (D.Etchells – PP): A Look into Fuji’s Deep Learning AF, Why X-T5 has No Battery Grip, Firmware Improvements and More

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image courtesy "imaging-resource" - We use this image because the article at PetaPixel was done by Dave Etchells, who previously worked for imaging-resource - check it out here
image courtesy “imaging-resource” – We use this image because the article at PetaPixel was done by Dave Etchells, who previously worked for imaging-resource – check it out here

Manager Interview

David Etchells, formerly at Imaging Resource, and always highly respected for his deep technical knowledge, has now shared his talk with Fujifilm managers at the CP+ earlier this year.

As usual, David knows how to dig deep into technical details and make the right questions.

Here on FujiRumors we will provide just a short summary in bullet points for those of you who are in a hurry and want to give it a quick glance. But for the full talk you have to check out the very interesting article at petapixel.

Deep-learning based AF tracking system

  • it’s an enormous task to develop it. Tens of thousands of photos of an intended subject must be manually processed by humans
  • Fujifilm has to constantly add new elements to the training database to improve AF tracking
  • X-H2S firmware 3.0 improved mainly
    – AF tracking with fast moving subjects
    – increased the AF frequency during continuous shooting by making the algorithm more efficient and processing faster (double the AF processing speed of previous firmware)
  • they talk how certain AF improvements might come to X-T5 and X-H2 at some point – which then happened on May 24
  • Fujifilm might be the first manufacturer, who, with their latest firmware, now tightly couples AI subject recognition with conventional phase-detect-based AF tracking. David says that this is significant because AI subject recognition and conventional AF tracking are two fundamentally different processes. Getting the two to work together in close coordination is a big breakthrough.

Fujifilm X-T5 – 3 millimeters too much ;)

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