Fujifilm has announced the financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2024 (April 1st, 2024 to June 30, 2024).
In short we can say the professional imaging division is growing strong with revenue up +33.8% compared to last year.
Always in terms of revenue, the professional imaging division (+33,8%) grew even stronger than the Instax division (+17.8%). Now the revenue difference between Instax and professional photography gear is of 18.5 billions of Yen (74.6 for Instax and 56.1 for X, GFX and Fujinon lenses) compared to the gap of 21.2 in 2023.
No wonder that the Fujifilm CEO called their photography business their new goldmine.
With all these great numbers, Fujifilm increased their imaging division financial forecast for 2024:
+ 6.3% revenue (from 480 to 510 billions of Yen).
+12% operating income (from 100 to 112 billions of Yen).
Despite…
So all good and keep going like this, Fujifilm?
Well, not really. We will always find something to moan about. ;)
And particularly, it’s a pity to see that these wonderful data coming in despite Fujifilm having had much more trouble to ship their gear than any other brand.
I can only imagine how the numbers would have skyrocketed, if only Fujifilm would have been capable of matching the terrific demand there is for their cameras and lenses.
Dear Fujifilm:
you have to understand that meeting your sales targets is not enough. What you have to meet is the true demand for Fujifilm gear.
That’s why I can’t find huge joy in the numbers you’ve shared today: I keep thinking at the figures you could have achieved, if only you’d have been able to produce more gear with proper hard work and solid investments instead of trying out some creative solutions that brought no results.
A curiosity: anyone out there who has used both, Godox and Profoto speedlights? Because my impression is that the Godox gear is a no brainer, but maybe there are strong arguments in favor of Profoto gear.
One that comes to my mind is that it seems Fujifilm cooperates more closely with Profoto, because certain bugs happen only with Godox gear and not with Profoto gear.
While things have improved with the latest firmware, there are still some issues.
In a nutshell we could say: the older firmware of Fujifilm’s 5th generation gear is superior to the newer firmware.
Andrea Cimini for example explains how with firmware 1.00 in his X-H2S he got awesome results compared to the ones he is getting now with firmware 7.00.
Same goes for Thierry Gibralta, who compared X-H2S firmware 1.03 vs 7.00, and you can clearly see that, side by side, the 1.03 firmware is much more solid, with great tracking, little to no pulsing and definitely a very solid autofocus that can be easily trusted.
And it’s also this initially solid autofocus, that convinced Andrea Cimini to buy the Fujifilm X-H2S for his sports photography.
The Problem in Depth
Here is a summary:
in the last year, the firmware updates of Fujifilm were not reliable
when he tested the X-H2S with firmware 1.00, he was stunned and thought Fujifilm finally caught up with the best
he tried the X-H2S at several sport events and in one bicycle race with 400 people participating
he took 2,300 pictures and only 27 were out of focus (98.8% in focus)
over time, the more he updated the firmware, the more the autofocus got worst
with eye detection, some times the eye detection says the eye is in focus, but it is not
the hit rate at 10-15 fps drops a lot
in sports photography, when in 5 to 8 fps, the hit rate is between 80% to 95%
in sports photography, when in 10 to 15 fps, the hit rate is between 30% to 50%
if the situation in sports photography are particularly difficult (backlight, inside a forest, etc), the hit rate drops further
linear motor lenses don’t focus so “linear” in video. He compares the 16-55mm with LM vs the 18mm with LM and the 16-55 is smooth, but the 18mm is jerky
firmware 7.00 improved things and the hit rate went up. But it’s still not where it was with the initial firmware
So why does he still stick with Fujifilm?
best value for money ratio
he shares a chart where he compares a Sony and Fujifilm system, and a Sony system would cost him 5,000 Euro more than a Fujifilm system
moreover, he grabbed the flagship Fujifilm X-H2S vs the non-flagship Sony A7IV
The X-H2S has better EVF, better LCD, faster bursts, better video specs, etc.
With Sony A7IV he would make an upgrade in terms of Autofocus, but a downgrade on pretty much all the rest
He ends up saying that Fujifilm Italy contacted him asking all the details about the problems he is encountering, the settings etc, and that they would forward everything to Fujifilm Japan.
He still believes in the brand, there are lots of reasons he wants to stay with it (which he quickly lists in the video). So please Fujifilm, do something about the autofocus.
The Easy Solution
So, Andrea Cimini and Thierry Gibralta have shown that the first iterations of Fujifilm’s 5th generation autofocus was solid and significantly superior to what we have now.
Solid tracking, incredibly high hit rates at fast fps, smooth focus transitions with little to no pulsing and so forth.
So the solution could be actually a pretty easy one: Fujifilm should take that older AF algorithm and just put it back into their 5th generation cameras.
But as of now, the choice users have is: should I upgrade to the latest firmware to get all the other goodness that Fujifilm has generously given us for free (Reala Ace, red frame indicator, etc), or downgrade at my own risk, give up on Reala Ace & Co, but have again the great autofocus of almost 2 years ago?
I made the choice for myself already. I upgraded. But I don’t really shoot critical sports photography. And for my use, the latest X-T5 June firmware has fixed the issues that arose with the April firmware. In fact, I used it for a family travel in Rome and Tuscany and it worked just great for me. So I rather keep Reala & Co, as the autofocus is good for my type of use.
And honestly, I do not recommend anyone to make DIY downgrades. If anything goes wrong, you won’t be covered by warranty.
The way to go is to ask Fujifilm to give us the autofocus solidity they once already had. Take that older algorithm and give it to us. And then, build up even better from there.
Anyway, the Fujifilm X-T50 bug we reported here has now been fixed. Happy download!
Firmware Details
Fujifilm X-T50 ver. 1.02 – download here The firmware update Ver.1.02 from Ver.1.01 incorporates the following issues:
The firmware bug is fixed that the error message, “THIS FIRMWARE IS NOT FOR THIS MODEL TURN OFF THE CAMERA” is displayed on the LCD during the firmware update from Ver.1.00 to Ver.1.01 for specific serial numbers and the firmware update cannot be performed.
Note-1: Refer to the “Notice and apology to FUJIFILM X-T50 users” for the details.
Note-2: Although there are no differences of features and performance of the camera itself between Ver.1.01 and Ver.1.02, all X-T50 users can update this firmware (ver.1.02) even who had already completed the update to Ver.1.01.
Fujifilm has updated the X App software to version 2.1.2 for iOS. Down below are all the details.
Btw, what’s you experience with App? For me it is working quite well so far. Definitely a more pleasing experience than the old app. I actually also used it to update the firmware on my X-T5 the other day.
What’s New
The following software bugs are fixed.
(1) Live View is not displayed in the correct aspect ratio depending on the smartphone settings.
(2) The “Number of lifetime shots” is not displayed correctly in “Equipment Status” When using X100VI.
The item name is revised as follows. (1) The item name, “MECHANICAL SHUTTER (current module)” displayed in the “Equipment Status” is changed to match the “Number of shutter movements” used in some camera menus.
There are updates also for Fujifilm X RAW Studio and also a brand new software has been launched, the Fujifilm Tether App.
So let’s look at what happened.
Fujifilm X RAW Studio
Fujifilm has released an update for the Fujifilm X RAW Studio software.
Fujifilm X RAW Studio Ver.1.24.0 – download here The software update Ver.1.24.0 incorporates the following issues:
“REALA ACE” RAW development is now supported.
A software bug is fixed that the “COLOR TEMPERATURE” of “WHITE BALANCE” set in “Profile” is not reflected to the preview and recorded image correctly with macOS 14.
Fujifilm Tether App
We told you something new would happen also on the software front, and here it is: the brand new “Fujifilm Tether App”.
”FUJIFILM TETHER APP” provides functions to utilize digital cameras (GFX/X series) by connecting them to a computer. Even if your camera does not support the tethered shooting function, you can use the function to save/load camera settings.
You can read all the details below and download it here.
