Fujifilm GFX Eterna Filmmaking Camera Development Announcement with Expected 2025 Release
Fujifilm has unveiled the development of its first filmmaking camera “FUJIFILM GFX ETERNA”.
Fujifilm CEO: Supply Issues Resolved, Production Increased – Now Able to Estimate Delivery Times
Fujifilm released its fiscal report for Q2 2024.
We noticed that once again the growth for the imaging division was very strong.
And it was very strong despite Fujifilm having had major supply problems since at least 2+ more years.
But things are slowly going better, at least according to the Fujifilm CEO, who in a Q&A for shareholders said this [google translated]:
The supply and demand issue that has been bothering us has been resolved, and we have increased production, so we are no longer in a situation where we don’t know when we will be able to get our hands on it.
We have now reached a point where we can roughly estimate when we will be able to deliver the product to our customers.
Let me say it is debatable whether the supply issue has been really “resolved”, considering that customers are still facing long wait times, like early X100VI buyers, who are still waiting months for their orders. But maybe there is a google translation issue with it. Maybe the CEO wanted to say they are “moving towards a solution”.
Not to talk about lenses such as the Fujinon XF27mmF2.8 R WR, which was announced in 2021, I saw in stock once in 2022, and then I could not find it anywhere up until today.
Besides that, here is what the CEO also said:
- Fujifilm will grow its imaging business mainly with instax and digital cameras
- currently there are 2 to 3 new Instax products a year and Fujifilm is looking to increase this trend
- more investments into marketing, but it seems he refers more about Instax in this case, as they see Instax growth potential in China and India
Fujifilm X-M5 Autofocus Test Tidbits
It’s still not easy to find proper autofocus test regarding the Fujifilm X-M5.
So all we have for now are little tidbits here and there, mainly coming from Asian countries, which are traditionally the main market for the X-M (or perviously the X-A) line.
I will share two videos below.
The first is (I think) a Chinese video. Click the play button below to start the video right at the AF section. Here is what we can notice and what the guy said:
- lens used: Fujinon XF 33mmF1.4
- cat tracking seems to work fine also when the cat moves in a busy space and behind some obstacles
- the guy runs towards the camera and says (if the translation is accurate), that the accuracy is 80-90%, with most of the images out of focus only when the subject was very close to the camera
- it seems that the entire episode is filmed on X-M5
The second video comes from Brazil. I share it because the reviewer covers half of his face with the hand, but the X-M5 does not get distracted and keeps focus on the eye. In fact, you can see the eye box jump to the left eye as soon as the right eye is covered by the hand. So at least this issue seems to be solved.
In a third video below we see the AF tracking in video, which does not look very convincing. Or, as the autor of the video, Matt, said: “Personally think [autofocus] it’s not as bad as some people were worried about, but definitely still not perfect.”
First conclusion: it’s better in tracking cats than humans :)
Of course I am kidding. We really do not have many elements in our hands to make a proper judgement. But the Fujifilm X-M5 should ship in about 10 days (November 21 according to stores), so I guess soon enough we will have a much better understanding of its AF performance.
And maybe we will get the promised autofocus firmware update before that, so that we can judge the new AF on our own 5th generation cameras.
LEAKED: Venus Optics Laowa 55mm F2.8 and 100mm F2.8 Tilt-Shift 1X Macro Lens for GFX
It seems that Venus Optics has a Laowa 55mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift 1X Macro Lens in GFX mount on the horizon. You can see the first images in this article.
Also coming, the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift 1X Macro.
And these are the specs:
Name 55mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift 1X Macro
Format Full Frame
Focal Length 55mm
Aperture Range F2.8 – 22
Angle of View 62.7°
Lens Structure 14 elements in 11 groups
Aperture Blades 15
Shift ±12mm
Tilt ±10°
Min. Focusing Distance 27cm
Max. Magnification 1X
Focusing System MF
Filter Thread Ø77mm
Dimensions Ø85mm x 168.5mm
Weight 1345g
Mounts Sony E / Nikon Z / Canon RF / L Mount / GFX / XCD
Name 100mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift 1X Macro
Format Full Frame
Focal Length 100mm
Aperture Range F2.8 – 22
Angle of View 37°
Lens Structure 13 elements in 10 groups
Aperture Blades 15
Shift ±12mm
Tilt ±10°
Min. Focusing Distance 32cm
Max. Magnification 1X
Focusing System MF
Filter Thread Ø77mm
Dimensions Ø85mm x 162mm
Weight 1215g
Mounts Sony E / Nikon Z / Canon RF / L Mount / GFX / XCD
Fujifilm Q2 FY2024 Financial Results: Revenue and Profits Soar also Thanks to Strong Digital Camera Sales
The Fujifilm Q2 Financial Results (July-September 2024) have just been shared.
It’s yet another great report for Fujifilm’s imaging division.
Imaging:
- Strong sales of instant photo systems and digital cameras boosted revenue by 11.0% year-over-year to JPY126.5 billion and operating income by 29.2% year-over-year to JPY33.7 billion.
- In the Consumer Imaging business, steady sales of the “instax™” instant photo systems drove revenue higher.
- In the Professional Imaging business, revenue rose due to the strong sales of the latest models in the GFX and X series of digital cameras, which were released in June 2024, as well as the models released in the previous year.
In the Imaging segment, consolidated revenue amounted to ¥257.2 billion (up 17.4% year-over-year). Consolidated operating income amounted to ¥66.2 billion (up 33.8% year-over-year).
In the consumer imaging business, steady sales of the instax instant photo systems drove revenue higher. In September 2024, we launched the smartphone printer instax mini Link 3, which can print smartphone images on card-sized instax film. We will continue to expand the world of the instax instant photo system that allows people to enjoy on-the-spot photo printing.
In the professional imaging business, strong sales of digital cameras contributed to higher revenue. In June 2024, we launched the latest mirrorless digital camera models, FUJIFILM GFX100S II of the GFX series and FUJIFILM X-T50 of the X series, and two new lenses. We will continue to deliver products that appeal to digital camera users and the film industry with the GFX series, which offers overwhelmingly high image quality in a large format, and the X series, which offers the best balance between image quality and size. In addition, in September 2024 we launched the FUJINON HZK14-100mm, the third lineup in the Duvo lens series and the first wide-zoom lens in the series, which produces cinematic looks with beautiful bokeh and offers broadcast lens operation.
via Fujifilm