I was thinking you could perhaps share some of the pics taken on the FB group “Astrophotography with Fujifilm” that you manage. Lots of awesome pictures there! We often hear you need an expensive full frame camera or big telescope, but that’s just wrong, as this group suggests.
That would be great to attract more Fuji shooters to this group, it’s a very nice community where we help each other and learn from our experiences.
Astro can be daunting for the newbie, but it shouldn’t. Also, there aren’t a lot of Fuji shooters in the astro community, so I’m sure it could spread the virus — the good one!
Oh well, here it is.
Have fun and may this post inspire you to try your luck with the stars, too :).
Fujifilm X webcam for Mac has now been released. This software allows to run all tethering capable Fujifilm cameras as a webcam (all except X-T1, as that one has too old hardware).
Fujifilm Japan has launched the first episode of their “Fujifilm X Channel” series.
Fujifilm X Channel will cover 3 subjects:
X Lab: Product planners/developers talk about the essence of the X series and the inside story of development
X Talk: A photographer who loves the X series, talks about his impressions of the X series
Impressive Photograph: Photographer Minoko Orisaku teaches you some tips on various scenes in everyday photography
The first episode went online today, and it belongs to the X-Lab section. More precisely, they talk about software development.
Sadly you’ll have to rely on google automatic translation tool, as the series is in Japanese only, and Google has a hard time to translate it, with some funny results like Fuji cameras make people “accidentally drink“, “it’s difficult to lick the film” and “I wonder if anyone wants to sharpen their needs“.
So, if any Japanese FR-reader out there has the time and will to make a summary for us of the 10 minutes video, it would be greatly appreciated. Just drop it in the comments.
What I understood (maybe…):
Translated by FR-reader Hiko (thanks!)
Mr. Ueno (Product Planner)
This is our first discussion with the development group of X Channel, X Lab, with our 3 development managers.
Cameras are hardware and software — today we will discuss the software side of things, specifically image quality design, AF/AE design, and firmware.
Announcer
Starting with the X100 in 2011, we will reflect on the past 10 years of the X series, as told by the members of the development team.
Mr. Ueno
10 years has allowed the X series to grow from nothing.
Perhaps there’s something that stands out to you, reflecting on the past.
Mr. Uchida (AF Dev)
Not so much from the X100, but it was the X-Pro1 that received numerous feedback which allowed us to improve, such as issues shooting moving subjects, why is there a macro button, etc.
Started out negative, but that allowed us to work through struggles and mature to the point we are at now.
Mr. Irie (IQ Design Dev)
Film sims represent the camera.
Starting in 2011, a new sim was released roughly every 2 years.
As of late, it’s been every year, and this has become a little tough.
Mr. Mizuta (Firmware Dev)
FW is necessary to manipulate the processor/sensor to allow desired AF, color, etc.
Pro1 had reports of the camera behaving oddly in certain situations.
I feel that the last 10 years have allowed us to finally reach the point where the FW is near completion from the start.
Mr. Ueno comment: Pro1 came out in 2012, but by 2013, 2014, it was a completely different camera. Hardware is the same, but there has been much improvement, which made me believe that the FW really completes the camera.
This is true, the camera here is not fully functional, and without the proper FW, this is just a decoration, a box.
I like to think FW breathes life into the system.
Mr. Ueno
I would like to hear about everyone’s best accomplishment.
Mr. Uchida
The start was rough — the Fuji colors and image quality are there, but couldn’t take anything that’s moving, which limited the scenes that could be captured.
Mr. Ueno comment: Yes many users commented on this a lot — even if the colors are there, if the focus failed, it’s all for nought.
AF was bad, but when I tried to take moving subjects, it was more than that, like EVF delay, blackout, button response, etc.
I realized that the overall experience needed improving, which led the basis of our kaizen.
This was realized in the X-T2.
Mr. Ueno comment: it’s clear AF has made the biggest leaps. The improvement was substantial, and many photographers today still use T2 as long as very fast AF is not needed.
That is why the X-T2 is my best accomplishment.
Mr. Irie
T2 wasn’t my best, but would like to comment that it was a huge leap and felt this could last for the next 10 years.
I wanted to buy it, but due to full pre-orders, employees were told not to buy it.
My best accomplishment was Classic Chrome with the X-30.
At the time, my process was to create a look that I wanted to convey, rather than recreating the look of a film.
Without the name of the film in the name of the simulation, I wanted something that just looks “cool.”
Many said Fujifilm was a Happy Color.
Mr. Ueno comment: During the film marketing days, photo developers commented that Velvia/Provia was nice, but when you take photos of Europe, it turns into Hawaii.
And thus I accepted the challenge to make something cool, the development of CC.
Mr. Ueno comment: it became popular with Europeans and some started to solely use CC.
Mr. Mizuta
In the beginning it was just trying to meet everyone’s needs, and how to best compile them together.
It was about 7 years later and with the X-T3 that I felt that I had come into my own, and receiving approval from some, I felt I could see what people desired.
I feel that T3 was the camera that really brought the developers together to solve issues, e.g., if the exposure was bad, was it the shutter, sensor, processor, mainboard, algorithm — we all worked together.
Mr. Irie comment: I agree, in the beginning, many of us just requested certain features that we wanted, and then left you to deal with it. T3 development brought all of us together for solving problems.
Mr. Ueno comment: The amount of FW is inundating, and I know a manufacturer should not be saying this, but a 100% perfect FW is probably not possible. Of course we strive for 100%, but certainly bugs can sometimes be present. The key is how quickly we can resolve the issue.
Mr. Ueno
Today was a discussion of software, but cameras cannot operate on software alone.
The common aspect of cameras for everyone is probably the lens, as color can change, AF speed can change.
Working together with the hardware is what finally allows the power of the camera to show 100%.
Knowing just software is not enough — everyone must know the hardware as well.
This is perhaps what makes creating cameras challenging, but also fun.
Announcer
Part 2 will come next week.
Again… if any Japanese speaking FR-reader could make a summary for us, would be awesome!
Available Now here – JYJZPB NP-W235 2250mAh Replacement Battery for Fujifilm, 2-Pack Camera Batteries with Battery Charger for Fujifilm X-T4
Fujfiilm X-T4
The Fujifilm X-T4 hit the market a few months ago, but overall passed a bit unnoticed, as, you know, the world was busy handling with other issues in the last few months.
But the X-T series is and remains the one camera line, that gives Fujifilm the biggest financial success, and as a consequence the camera line most X shooters own.
So, today we dedicate a roundup to the Fujifilm X-T4, a camera that is giving great satisfaction to owners (me included).
In today’s roundup, we have:
X-T4 feedback we received from FR-reader Tom
comparisons with Sony A7III and Panasonic S1H
a review from a Sony user perspective
a review of X-T4 for wildlife photography
and much more
Some of the videos come with handy FujiRumors-made summary ;).
Of course each of these 4 motors has its Pros and Cons, you can read about it here.
Today we want to focus only the DC coreless AF motors, which are the best option if you have to move fast and big glass elements without making the lens too big. Some lenses that employ the DC coreless AF motor are the glorious Fujinon XF56mm f/1.2 and the XF23mmF1.4. Of course it’s used also in not so fast lenses, such as one of my favorites mounted on my X-E3, the lovely XF27mmF2.8.
NOTE: FYI: 35/1.4 has a stepping motor
Why do we talk about it today?
Well, we recently shared a Fujinon XF video autofocus review by Philip Bloom, where he showed that the XF56mm F1.2 performs very bad.
What Fujifilm did not tell us, but luckily X guru Rico Pfirstinger told us, is that Fujifilm X-T4 firmware 1.02 also improved autofocus performance with lenses sporting a DC coreless AF motor.
It would be great if Philip Bloom could repeat his test with the XF56mmF1.2. He should notice a significant improvement.
Speaking of Rico…
Rico is offering online workshops (in German). They are usually sold out quickly, with long waiting lists on top of it. But it happens that there are a few last spots left for 2 of them.
Keep in mind, the workshops are in German language.
According to a chart published somewhere, you get 0.05% sharper images using lens x vs lens y
No, wait… that’s not that kind of post… today we fly high… and we fly far… we are going to meet the wonderful diversity on this world.
And who could introduce us better to post like this, than big tech vloggers Michel de Montaigne, my most loved author ever, who once said:
Travel is in my opinion a very profitable exercise; the soul is there continually employed in observing new and unknown things, and I do not know a better school wherein to model life than by incessantly exposing to it the diversity of so many other lives, fancies, and usances, and by making it relish a perpetual variety of forms of human nature. The body is, therein, neither idle nor overwrought; and that moderate agitation puts it in breath.
In the spirit of Montaigne’s quote above, I share a Fujifilm X travel images roundup that hopefully inspires you to go out, meet, embrace the wonderful diversity there is on this planet.
You want more of Montaigne? Then what about this one:
It is an absolute perfection and virtually divine to know how to enjoy our being rightfully. We seek other conditions because we do not understand the use of our own, and go outside of ourselves because we do not know what it is like inside. Yet there is no use our mounting on stilts, for on stilts we must still walk on our own legs. And even on the highest throne in the world we are still sitting only on our own ass.
But since it’s a really fat book (that I have read all), maybe you better start with the wonderful Michel de Montaigne biography by Sarah Backwell, “How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer“.
You might fall in love with Michel’s work, just as Friedrich Nietzsche did, since he said:
That such a man wrote has truly augmented the joy of living on this Earth.
And now, travel images… of course all taken with Fujifilm cameras.
I would like to send a big hug to those, who have come that far in reading the text. If there is a group of “rumor-readers” that can appreciate such articles, then it’s definitely Fujifilm X/GFX shooters. Thanks for the time you dedicated to this blog post.
It’s done, I made it. An unreal school year is over.
It was A LOT of work for me, to teach online, but I took it also as an opportunity to explore new creative ways of teaching.
And surely it came to my help, that I can use Final Cut Pro X, I have several tripods and cameras etc, as this allowed me to have the tools and skills to translate into video my creative ideas.
But in a part of Italy, where a German minority lives (video of my province). This is why I speak both languages, Italian and German, fluently.
Also, I am a primary school teacher, so I teach German to kids that belong to the Italian language group. Hence German is their second language.
And since my “customers” are kids, I’ve tried to always throw something fun into my lessons, just to put some lightness into a situation that was very hard for them.
For example, in one video, I triplicated myself and made up a fun conversation between three Patrick’s during Grammar lesson, as you can see from the screenshot here.
That’s something I could have never done in the classroom, and only the online teaching allowed me to do.
I started by filming everything with my X-E3, but once I got the X-T4, I switched to it as my main camera, and it has surely served me better than my X-E3, because:
the selfie screen was useful and practical
ETERNA was glorious
longer recording times
better video quality
more creative tools (like super-slow motion)
IBIS for when my wife had to film me handheld for stable footage
solid battery life
So, my first impact with the X-T4 was pure love! Everything I needed, it did it better than my X-E3.
But life is not only video…
X-T4 for my Passion
Last weekend I drove down to Tuscany with my wife (it’s a 4 hours drive only from my home), as a little reward for a frankly extremely busy time.
On that trip, I used the Fujifilm X-T4 only for photography.
Here is what I liked, and what not.
Loves
overall performance… it’s a beast
shutter sound is so buttery smooth
battery life: it just kept running, and running, and running… awesome!
I have my ISO dial back
oh… a D-Pad, how nice is that
Hates
no more one handed operation (on my X-E3 every button and dial is on the right side of the camera and can easily be operated with the right hand only)
bigger and heavier (although with some lenses this is actually better)
for reviewing images on LCD, I always have to flip screen out. On the other hand this helps to review images less, like with the hidden X-Pro3 LCD
And the Selfie Screen?
Well, the selfie screen deserves a special chapter.
I found some unexpected love for it, as well as one hate.
Loves
keep it tilt inwards protects the screen
keep it tilt inwards makes the camera look so wonderful vintage
keep it tilt inwards and you’ll review images way less, like on X-Pro3
keep it tilt inwards and you won’t accidentally activate the touch screen, which happens to me now and then on the X-E3 (I keep the touch LCD always deactivated on my X-E3, but it activates if I accidentally touch the upper right part of the screen)
for my video lessons, I just loved it
unlike the X-T100 screen, the X-T4 can tilt also in portrait mode
Hates
I use the Peak Design Leash camera strap, and when I tilted out the screen, sometimes the strap covered the screen, so I had to move the strap behind the screen. Hence, not only it takes a bit more time to tilt out the screen (as opposed to only flip it out on X-T3), but then also fiddle around with the strap. This was probably the most annoying aspect of the selfie screen. So much so, that I think I am considering to get Peak Design Cuff camera wrist strap and solve the “problem”
Conclusion?
Well, if it wasn’t for the selfie videos I had to do, I’d still consider the X-T3 and X-H1 screen design superior for my needs. But on the other hand the selfie screen has some advantages, that you can’t get with X-T3 screen, especially if you use mostly the EVF and want to keep the LCD tilted inwards.
Hence, I am happy with the X-T4 screen.
Images Anyone?
So, how was my Tuscany mini-trip?
Awesome!
And although we had only one day of good weather, and the other two were rainy and misty, I had lots of fun to be simply out and photograph again.
I shared one image on my Instagram page already, where I tested Classic Negative.
Classic Negative is great. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all, but when it works, it’s just awesome. In street photography it will surely shine, but also in landscape photography, as you can see below, it can give lovely results.
Now I have to get some paperwork done for the end of the school, and after that, I might share more images of my trip on Instagram… and bring you with me on my summer holidays, where so far I have planed nothing actually, except to climb my beloved Dolomites.
take care and have fun with your photography,
Patrick
In USA, you find them available branded as DIGIeye NP-W235 at AmazonUS here. For the same price of a Fujifilm original battery, you’ll also get the dual charger on top of it.
We will soon be flooded with third party options, but not all of them are really good.
Thanks to the NP-W235, battery life on the X-T4 has been substantially improved over X-T3.
On my first hike on the Dolomites I came through the day with one battery quite comfortably. Frankly, I don’t think I will ever need more than 2 of these batteries. And probably most of the time, the second battery won’t be even used and stay in my bag just to give peace to my mind.
Hence, I am not in the market for another battery, for now, and that’s good, as those nice NP-W235 batteries aren’t exactly what I would call “affordable”.
But if I’d get a third one, it would probably be a third party battery.
I know a much used (and appreciated) third party battery among Fuji shooters are the Wasabi branded Fujifilm batteries and we already reported here, that Wasabi is working on batteries for Fujifilm X-T4.
At the moment, the batteries seem to be available only in Europe at AmazonDE here. But it’s probably just a matter of short time now, until a wide variety of third party options will hit the market.
