Fujifilm X Summit Officially Announced for February 20

Fujifilm has officially announced the Fujifilm X Summit for February 20 at 5:30AM (GMT).

This is old news for FujiRumors readers, as thanks to our sources we gave you the date already last year (from yet another beautiful spot in the Dolomites btw).

In the video Fujifilm says this:

  • INTRO
    since GFX100 II was launched they see many professionals using this camera for stills and video
  • Fujifilm will continue to develop attractive cameras and lenses to help creators to express their vision
  • 90th Fujifilm anniversary
  • Fujifilm announces partnership with World Press Photo Foundation: workshops, seminars and exhibitions planed
  • FIRMWARE UPDATES:
  • smooth aperture operation during zooming, optimised for video shooting
    – 1 lens (XF16-55mmF2.8) and 7 cameras (X-H2, X-H2S, X-T5, X-T4, X-T3, X-S20, X-S10)
    – 2 lenses to get the update in firmware (XF16-80mm, XF18-120mm)
    peripheral luminance flickering and exposure fluctuation are suppressed
  • improved function of FT-XH file transmitter grip (shows 4 different split screens taken by 4 different cameras simultaneously on smartphone or tablet) and you can select clean image without any other information on display (already available in GFX100II and now also on X-H2 and X-H2S).
  • X-H2 and X-H2S can sync with ATOMOS AirGlue Accessory “UltraSync Blue“. Sync timecode up to maximum 6 different X-H2 and X-H2S cameras
  • Fujifilm is currently considering further enhancements
  • GFX Challenge Grand Program 2023 update
  • 15 winners have been selected
  • X SUMMIT
  • First X Summit of 2024 will be in Toyko on February 20
  • Fujifilm will participate to CP+

We asked you what’s on top of your wishlist for February 20 and you answered here.

The X Summit will be live streamed here on FujiRumors, where you’ll also get the live summary of the event plus a non stop live blog.

Just follow FujiRumors, and you won’t miss anything.

Fujifilm CEO Says Cameras Sell Well (if they Are Made), Increased R&D for More New Products and BLACK FRIDAY Sales Opportunity

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

Fujifilm Q&A here

Fujifilm BLACK FRIDAY Starts NOW with Massive Rebates on X and GFX Cameras and Lenses

Before we start with the black Friday Fujifilm deals, maybe some of you will remember Michal Krause.

He is the fellow FR-reader who wrote one of the most successful and appreciated guest posts here on FujiRumors (with LOTS of great images!)

Well, Michal has launched the English version of his book: Capture One Effectively – The Complete Guide to Capture One Pro 23.

You can read more details about the ebook at this page here.

Black Friday

Fujifilm has currently a huge black Friday sale running in USA.

You can check out the full list of deals at B&H here.

The deals include rebates on the X-H2 and X-H2S and lots of lenses.

Probably on their lowest price ever the XF50mmF1.0, the XF150-600mm, the XF200mmF2 as well as other lenses.

X Cameras

BONUS OFFER: Purchase a qualifying X Series body (X-H2, X-H2S, X-S10) or kit product along with a LEXAR 2000X 256GB SD Card and receive $100 off the combined purchase price!

X Lenses

GFX Gear

The Future of Fujifilm in Patents: Full Frame Lenses Coming, X100 with 20mmF2 lens, Foldable Fuji Smartphone and More

The Future of Fujifilm in Patents

Why Fujifilm?

Why?

Why are you doing this?

There is no need for one, totally wasted R&D.

These lenses make no sense!

That’s how some of the comments sounded on my various platforms after I have published the latest patents of the XF56mmF1.7 and re-designed XF18mmF1.4.

And these comments came after I warned you in the article that in 11+ years of blogging I have never seen a patent actually become a real product.

And despite my repeated warnings, some people keep taking those patents as an indication of what’s really coming next from Fujifilm.

But if it was really like this… I mean, if patents would really show us the way that Fujifilm is taking, then where are:

So, even though I feel a bit like Don Quixote fighting the windmills, I will give it another try today.

But I’ll take a different approach this time.

Because, well aware that a good number of people don’t go beyond the headline, I decided to create a headline that shows how absurd it is to put any trust in these patents. And hopefully, this will motivate people to look deeper into this subject.

And how do we look deeper into it?

Well, in this article we look at the 67 patents FujiRumors has shared starting from our first one posted back in 2012 until the latest one here.

Give them a look, and then make up your own mind if you should take patents as solid indications of future products.

All the Patents (Have Fun :))

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Oppenheimer Movie Photos Taken with Fujifilm X-H1 and These XF Lenses

Oppenheimer

Here is a little story for all those, who keep repeating the mantra that you need Full Frame cameras to get professional work done.

The official images of the blockbuster movie Oppenheimer have been taken with the following Fujifilm X series gear by the photographer Melinda Sue Gordon.

That’s according to Fujifilm Ukraine’s post on Instagram, which you can see down below.

And that’s not a surprise, as Melinda also took the backstage images of another Nolan blockbuster, Dunkirk, with Fujifilm X gear. In that case the camera used was the Fujifilm X-Pro2.

And keep in mind Melinda is doing this professional work with a camera, the X-H1, which according to the competent testing of photography master Jared Polin does not even allow you to move the focus point with the joystick. Yep, the same camera that snapped the top winning award at the World Press Photo.

So will this finally end the debate if you need Full Frame for professional work?

Certainly not. The internet world lives in a bubble created by influencers that not even reality is capable of bringing to reason.

And yet, the reality looks like this:

Not enough?

  • won the world wildlife photography award (story here)
  • made the cover of the TIME magazine (story here)
  • won the World Photography Arts&Culture Award 2015 (story here)
  • won the First Prize of the World Press Photo Category “Stories (stroy here)
  • made the front page of the Wall Street Journal (story here)
  • were good enough for God’s work (story here)
  • captured America’s most hated man (story here)
  • distracted a French presidential candidate during his interview (story here)

 

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

 

Ein Beitrag geteilt von FUJIFILM Ukraine (@fujifilm_ukraine)

Fujifilm Releases Significant Firmware Updates for Many XF/GF Lenses (plus X-A3, X-A10, XA20)

Fujifilm has released firmware updates for plenty of lenses that will make the autofocus more silent, the aperture operate smoother and also give better tracking performance while zooming.

That’s a very nice upgrade especially for video shooters.

Not all lenses will get all these three updates. You can find the full detailed list below.

Firmware Details & Download Links

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These Specs Make the Fujifilm X-T5 Great for Landscape Photography

Tips for Landscape Photography, Using the Fujifilm X-T5

 by Reza Malayeri 

Full disclosure: This article was brought to you by Adorama. Adorama did not pay FujiRumors to publish this article. But, as usual on FR, this article contains affiliate links.

The Fujifilm X-T5 is the culmination of five generations of evolution in Fuji’s X-Series lineup of mirrorless cameras. Released in November 2022 — nearly a decade after the release of the original X-T1 — the X-T5 features a revolutionary 40-megapixel X-Trans 5 HR sensor, X-Processor 5 AI image processing, and a more compact version of the beloved classic X-Series camera body. This makes it an optimal choice for landscape photography.

Weighing in at just 557 grams, the Fujifilm X-T5 is a lightweight powerhouse. The combination of the smaller size, weight, and high resolution 40-megapixel sensor is a joy to use and travel with. I’ve been enjoying the convenience of shooting landscape photography with such a compact setup. I can pack the X-T5 and several Fujifilm lenses into a small backpack to create stunning high-resolution images.

Fujifilm X-T5 for Landscape Photography

Higher Resolution and Increased Dynamic Range

Fujifilm has included several improvements to the X-T5 which make it an amazing camera for landscape photography. The all-new 5th generation X-Trans 5 HR CMOS sensor features an enhanced image processing algorithm that boosts resolution, without compromising signal to noise ratio. In addition to its enhanced image processing algorithm, the X-T5 also features an improved pixel structure, which allows light to be captured more efficiently. This also enables a lower base ISO value of 125. The combination of these two technologies offers increased dynamic range and higher resolution, both of which are highly desired features for landscape photographers. 

X-Trans Pixel Structure without an Optical Low-Pass Filter

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Dear FUJIFILM, We Decided: Make These 6 X-Mount Lenses Next!

It’s pure sadness.

I mean, if you look at the current X mount lens roadmap, it is just sadness, with only one X mount lens stoically standing all alone trying to keep up excited about the future.

So we decided to help Fujifilm in gathering some ideas, and you guys dropped hundreds of lens suggestions for the future here, which I then summed up in 40 options to vote on here.

Well, here are the results:

TOP 6 LENSES OVERALL:

  1. XF 23mm f/2 Pancake (fan made rendering here)
  2. XF 16-55mm f/2.8 MK II
  3. XF 18mm f/2 MK II
  4. XF 12mm f/1.4
  5. XF 16-35mm f/2
  6. XF 11-30mm f/2.8

There were really a lot of suggestions in the wide angle zoom range. So many, that I decided to give 2 options to vote on, the XF16-35mm f/2 and the XF 11-30mm f/2.8.

But if we were to merger even those two lenses into one single lens, we could get something like the XF 14-30mm f/2.0. In that case, we would have the following result.

  1. XF 14-30mm f/2.0
  2. XF 23mm f/2 Pancake (fan made rendering here)
  3. XF 16-55mm f/2.8 MK II
  4. XF 18mm f/2 MK II
  5. XF 12mm f/1.4
  6. XF 70mm f/2 (fan made rendering here)

TOP 6 PRIMES:

  1. XF 23mm f/2 Pancake
  2. XF 18mm f/2 MK II
  3. XF 12mm f/1.4
  4. XF 70mm f/2
  5. XF 10mm f/2
  6. XF 35mm f/1.2

TOP 6 ZOOMS:

  1. XF 16-55mm f/2.8 MK II
  2. XF 16-35mm f/2
  3. XF 11-30mm f/2.8
  4. XF 16-70mm f/2.8-4
  5. XF 16-135mm f/4
  6. XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 MK II

And if we were to merge the two lenses as we did above, we would get:

  1. XF 14-30mm f/2.0
  2. XF 16-55mm f/2.8 MK II
  3. XF 16-70mm f/2.8-4
  4. XF 16-135mm f/4
  5. XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 MK II
  6. XF 23-55mm f/2

CONCLUSIONS
Wide Angle Reality vs Telephoto Dreams

When you go around in forums, you’ll often see people complaining about Fujifilm not offering enough long lenses.

And to a certain degree I agree with you: long primes especially are needed!

But then there is the reality.

And the reality is that the vast majority of Fujifilm shooters simply do not see long lenses as a priority. What they really want is the total opposite: more wide angle zooms and primes.

We have to be clear about this: any of the lenses that made it to the top of the list in our survey would outsell by a large margin any long prime or zoom lens Fuji would launch.

That’s something Fujifilm knows (and has openly declared here).

And yet, there is at least one lens I feel Fujifilm must give us: the (already patented) Fujinon XF 400mm f/4, which made it in the top 15 of our list and fellow FR-readers already made mock-ups of and it is consistently your top wished telephoto lens.

So, even though it did not make the list, I strongly advice Fujifilm to give us a long prime lens.

Fujifilm X-T5

SIMPLY the BEST: Messi and Ronaldo Meet the Fujifilm GFX100S of Annie Leibovitz

Apparently Annie Leibovitz is not really following the photography forums and certain gear youtubers, otherwise she would know that the Fujifilm GFX100S is a completely useless tool because:

Limited by her gear, Annie stucks with minor gigs like photographing the two most iconic soccer players of the last 15 years, Ronaldo and Messi, for an insignificant company like Louis Vuitton in the context of a negligable event like the FIFA World Cup.

If only she would listen to certain big YouTubers, she would get rid of her GFX gear and finally be able to shine artistically by recording selfie videos in a basement.

The day will come, when wisdom will finally illumiate her. Until then, you can see a video of her working with GFX, Messi and Ronaldo as well as the final image below.

And btw… the gear Annie uses, is now heavily discounted.

NOTE: this is a satirical post… we don’t take life too seriously on weekends, right? ;) And thanks to our Greek friends at pttl.gr who spotted the news and shared it with us.

USA DEALS

 

Important Note Added by Fujifilm Regarding XF Lenses Supporting 40MP Sensor on X-H2 (and Fujifilm X-T5)

When Fujifilm launched the 40MP Fujifilm X-H2, they also published a list of lenses that get the maximum benefit from the new high resolution sensor.

This led quite some folks (also here on FujiRumors) to believe that the lenses not on the list will not profit at all from the increased resolution.

Some even said that because of this, they won’t upgrade to the 40MP Fujifilm X-H2 (and also the upcoming 40MP Fujifilm X-T5)

I did try to explain that you have to see in other terms: the new sensor will finally let all XF lenses express at their best in terms of resolution. it’s just those not on the list won’t go quite up all the way to 40MP.

Finally Fujifilm understood that the message they put out was potentially confusing and now added a note on their official Fujifilm X-H2 page:

*The list specifies our selection of lenses that have high resolution performance from edge to edge at maximum aperture, allowing you to fully experience all that the 40MP sensor has to offer. Lenses not listed will also allow you to experience the improved resolution performance of the 40MP sensor.”

So if you want 40MP resolution from edge to edge at maximum aperture, then only the lenses on the list will deliver (see list below). But Fujifilm now clearly says that lenses not listed will also deliver improved resolution performance when used on the 40MP sensor.

Hence, if you want more resolution, buying a Fujifilm X-H2 or the Fujifilm X-T5 will give you that also by using lenses that are not on the list.

And from how I read it, some might even resolve all the 40MP when stopped down at least in the center of the frame. Would be nice if Fujifilm would be even more specific on that.

List of Lenses with 40MP resolving power edge to edge wide open:

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