Earlier today Fujifilm has released firmware updates for six Fujifilm X and GFX cameras. You can read all details and access the download links here.

According to a survey we have launched recently, most of you guys prefer to use the good old-fashioned SD-Card way to update your gear.

Personally I’ve switched to updating via camera remote App. The reason is simple: it’s much faster, easier and convenient than updating via SD-Card.

So I definitely recommend to give it a try.

But how does it work?

Well, Fujifilm has given precise instruction on how to do it, but there is one thing that should be mentioned in addition to Fuji’s instruction to avoid updating via App becomes a frustrating experience.

Don’t make the error to connect your phone to the camera the same way you do it when you want to transfer images from your camera to your phone (hence connect via Wifi and fiddle around with the App and Camera to establish a connection).

Nothing of all that is needed.

You can simply leave your camera in live view. Just make sure that it has Bluetooth enabled. Everything will happen automatically and needs just few clicks once you have downloaded the firmware file on your phone.

So the process looks like this:

1. make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your camera and on your smartphone
2. download the firmware for your camera on your smartphone
3. once downloaded, click “update” on your phone first and then “OK” on your camera
4. you camera will ask you to connect via WiFi to your phone. Click “Connect” on your phone [in my video below you read “verbinden”, which is the German word for “connect”]
5. once connected via Wifi, your phone will start to transfer the firmware file to your camera
6. as soon as your camera has received the full file, it will automatically start with the firmware update [you don’t need your phone anymore once the firmware upgrade started on your camera]
7. switch off the camera when the camera tells you to do so

It’s very easy, and for your convenience I have made a short video that shows the process down below.

Many are afraid that there could be issues due to network instability or what not. But don’t worry about that. You only need Wifi connection to quickly transfer the firmware file from your phone to the camera. The firmware update itself is performed by your camera independently only once it has received and saved the full firmware file from your smartphone to its own memory. So don’t be afraid of losing connection with the phone during the firmware update itself. Your camera is doing its stuff by its own at that point and the smartphone is not needed anymore.

Remember:

• use a fully charged battery on your camera
• updates are cumulative, so no matter what firmware update you currently have on your camera, you can right away update to the latest version (hence skip intermediate firmware updates)

Here is a little story:

Samuel Ryde is taking an image every day at 12:34 since 10 years. In the video about this story posted at the BBC, you can see him with his Fujifilm X-T10, which certainly snapped many of the images he took during this project. Of course he uses also his smartphone to take images, but it’s nice to see a Fujifilm X series camera found its spot Samuel’s journey.

You can see the video below and check out also the BBC website.

Tony and Chelsea Norhtrup posted a video about the biggest error the various camera manufacturers do.

• they don’t offer full frame. You have to jump to medium format
• they need better autofocus
• Fujiiflm saw youtube channels comparing their APS-C cameras against FF cameras
• as a consequence, Fujifilm became too obsessed about sensor size and launched a medium format system
• but Fujifilm launched their MF system in a time when the whole camera market was going down due to the rise of smartphones
• by launching a new mount, they split all their R&D and marketing
• their mounts are not compatible
• they should have just stick with APS-C at this point and focus all their R&D for their APS-C system, giving us more X mount cameras and lenses
• Fuji wanted to become a big contender, but they ended up being a niche (a niche the Northrup’s appreciate)
• but to get work done, they pick a full frame Sony, Canon or Nikon
• he’d shoot Fuji if they’d offer an XF50-100mmF1.8, as he’d get similar results to a full frame 70-200mmF2.8
• he wants focusing speed of Sony and Canon, background blur, low light capability
• all that does not need a bigger sensor, just bigger and faster lenses
• Fujifilm misunderstood reviewers, and gave us medium format sensor instead of faster APS-C lenses
• instead of making huge lenses for medium format they should have made huge lenses for APS-C

My own two cents?

GFX – a Distraction?

Offering medium format was a brilliant long term move and I have elaborated why here.

But yeah, I can’t see the future. Nobody can. So Tony’s opinion is just as valid as mine. The future will tell.

Two System, Less Cameras and Lenses for APS-C due to limited R&D

Maybe I am not so much into other brands, but I don’t feel like Fujifilm is releasing less gear than other brands.

The real issue was more that so far not many third party brands released AF lenses for Fujifilm, but that has been solved in the meantime.

But in some way it is true. No GFX system could potentially mean more resources for X mount. But I think this is also why Fujifilm waited so long before offering a second sensor option. They did want to wait that their APS-C lineup is rich in lenses and once well covered, they can free up resources for other projects.

Lack of Fast Lenses

First off, let me say that there are many fast Fujinon XF lenses such as the XF200mmF2, XF8-16mmF2.8, XF50mmF1.0 as well as all the nice f/1.2 and f/1.4 primes.

But what about the f/1.8 zooms he’d wish for the X system? Well, that brings us to the next point.

High ISO

In the past, pushing your digital cameras to high ISO was something we absolutely wanted to avoid, as the performance was so bad. To avoid to go too high with ISO, we did indeed need fast glass for low light photography.

But that was the past. Today, ISO performance on digital cameras is vastly improved, which means you don’t need to try to desperately avoid high ISO with super fast and expensive glass. Nope, you can also push ISO up much higher than you ever could in the past.

What this means is that you can put smaller, lighter and more affordable lenses on your camera, as you can compensate the slower aperture with a higher ISO value.

Down below I will share a video of an extreme low light recovery I made of my wife overlooking the hills of Ronda in Andalusia, Spain (we made our honeymoon there). She basically went from almost invisible black to nicely visible in clean colors (thank you X-Trans for that high color fidelity) and in my eyes also very contained levels of noise, which make the image pleasing and usable.

But what about Bokeh? Let’s talk about it.

Bokeh

Not enough background blur? Well, this one is easy to answer. I’ll just share an image down below. And it’s not even the fastest lens Fujifilm has to offer (you can get even more radical with this one).

Autofocus (and Computational Photography)

True, Sony and Canon have better autofocus. But the point with autofocus is, that once it is near perfect, there is not much to improve anymore. Fujifilm just needs to catch up with Sony and Canon, and then the “autofocus war” will be basically over, since there will be little room for further enhancements.

Where there is much more room for improvement, is computational photography. And this is an area where smaller sensors simply are superior to bigger sensors. In fact, if done wisely, it could be even lead to a Renaissance of the M43 system (as the Panasonic GH6 shows with its terrific high res handheld mode). And certainly APS-C has a potential advantage here over full frame or medium format.

• Fujifilm X-H2 Coming 2022 with Huge Computational Photography Boost?
•  7 advantages of APS-C over Full frame
• Fujifilm manager: “If sensor and processor are very fast, then you can do lots of things with computational photography”

 

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Fuji_Rumors (@fuji_rumors)