Back in July we told you that Fujifilm will launch an all-new camera. A camera never rumored before and that will be the first of its kind for Fujifilm.

And recently we told you that it will come with a sensor size that Fujifilm has so far never used before and it’s scheduled for release in 2025.

Well, after making all mandatory and multiple checks, I now feel I can give you a 100% rocksolid update on this camera.

According to our trusted sources, Fujifilm is working on a Half-Frame digital camera.

Recently Pentax announced the half frame Pentax 17 film camera, so I guess we can imagine the new Fujifilm camera to be sort of the digital version of that.

The Pentax 17 half frame film camera is enjoying huge sales. So much so that Ricoh had to suspended sales for a while, is considered to increase prices and is also working on increasing production.

If our sources are accurate (and they are), then Fujifilm is now joining the half-frame market, but with a digital offering.

Feel free to let me know if you are intrigued by this camera.

Fujifilm said they are aware of the “comments” of the Fujifilm community regarding the latest autofocus issues and they promised firmware updates to fix that.

The fix will come in November for their flagship Fujifilm X-H2s, X-H2 and GFX100 II cameras, but also other fifth generation cameras such as the X-T5, X-S20 and “more”  will get firmware updates this year, as Fujifilm officially said here.

Sure, it takes time. But to a certain degree I can understand that.

Fujifilm knows they have to get it right this time, so they’re likely testing the firmware more rigorously than ever, which is surely costing a lot of time and money.

But the big question is: how well will the autofocus firmware really work?

Well, maybe we might not have to wait until November to see these autofocus improvements in action.

In fact, we could get our answers as early as October 14 with the launch of the Fujifilm X-M5.

Why?

Well, Fujifilm has been aware of the autofocus issues for months now. They already began addressing them with a firmware update back in June. Since then, they’ve continued working on the improvements, so the firmware must have evolved significantly from the June version.

And I’d not be surprised if the first camera to actually incorporate the enhanced autofocus capabilities won’t be the X-H2s, X-H2 and GFX100II in November, but the Fujifilm X-M5 coming on October 14.

After all, why not equip the brand-new Fujifilm X-M5 with the most up-to-date firmware available, especially since it’s a fresh release that requires a new firmware anyway? And maybe that’s also  why Fujifilm has published a X-M5 teaser poster where they write big “fast autofocus“.

If that turns out to be the case, if the X-M5 is indeed the first camera to feature the new AF algorithm, then by October 14, we’ll already have a glimpse of how well the latest autofocus firmware performs.

I guess that’s one more excellent reason to follow the X Summit on October 14 at 9AM New York time.