Here are the top articles for January. And because it was a rumor-intese month, I extend the list to the top 15 articles, as opposed to the usual top 10.
Back in April 2023, I made a list of which sensor I’d like in which future Fujifilm camera.
And I am happy to hear from trusted and new sources (THANKS!!!), that Fujifilm fulfilled my wish in terms of sensor for the Fujifilm X100VI.
So which one is it?
Well, according to trusted as well as new sources, Fujifilm will put the lovely 40MP X-Trans V sensor into the Fujifilm X100VI.
The additional resolution will allow you to crop in more into the files, which can be useful at times and just a bit more of flexibility to the fixed lens concept of the X100.
Of course provided that the lens is actually capable of resolving all those 40MP, which I have no doubts about, because it is a fairly new lens (refreshed with the X100V) and because I doubt Fujifilm would have used the 40MP sensor on the Fujifilm X100VI, if the lens would not have been capable to take advantage of it.
And since the lens on the X100VI is the same of the X100V, you’ll also be able to use the Fujifilm WCL-X100 and TCL-X100 conversion lenses on the Fujifilm X100VI.
So, more crop capability plus conversion lenses give a little bit extra flexibility to the Fujifilm X100VI.
It’s mainly (but not only) a video centric update and more lenses will get the same update in February (XF16-80mmF4 and XF18-120mmF4).
Moreover, in their recent official X Summit announcement, Fujifilm said they are “currently considering further enhancements“, which I hope will translate also on firmware love for those, who mainly use Fujifilm cameras for stills.
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
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.
Japanese stores are usually the first to mark items as discontinued or in general giving us indications on what’s happening with certain gear.
The X-T4, X-E4, GFX100, XF56/F1.2 and much more gear got first marked as discontinued in Japan before anywhere else on the world.
And today we get another significant hint: many stores in Japan have now completely delisted the Fujifilm X100V from their stores, such as Map Camera, Bic Camera, and Yodobashi Camera. Some stores mark it as “we finished sale“.
It looks like Fujifilm has at this point just given up delivering all those Fujifilm X100V people have still on order, at least in Japan.
But I guess it won’t take long at this point that also US stores will mark the Fujifilm X100V as discontinued.
A Bad Move?
The X100V is huge missed opportunity for Fujifilm. They could have made tons of money with it, but just were incapable of manufacturing enough sample to meet even a small fraction of its massive demand.
To me it looks like Fujifilm just gave up on shipping the X100V at this point.
My guess (not rumor) is that they decided to use all the parts they have still available for X100V and re-use whatever they can of those pieces for the manufacturing of the Fujifilm X100VI (for example the lens, which is the same on both cameras).
I am not sure this is a smart move: I mean, give up on lots of money you can make right now in the hope to make money with another model in future. The best solution would have been to just finally solve that chronic parts issue, which other manufacturers seem to have fixed but Fujifilm still struggles a lot with.
Well the same thing is happening at Kakaku, which is a pretty popular shopping aggregator in Japan.
At Kakaku, the Fujifilm X-T5 has climbed the ranking up to the second spot, beaten only by the Nikon Zf.
I own the Fujifilm X-T5 myself and it is a camera I can blindly recommend to everyone. It’s Fujifilm at the next level and a huge upgrade over my Fujifilm X-T4 (which I have sold)!
And quite frankly in my opinion the X-T5 is still vastly the better pick over the Nikon Zf for the reasons I’ve explained here.
The success of the Nikon Zf and Fujifilm X-T5 shows that it pays off for companies to make vintage-styled high performing modern cameras.
Which is why I don’t understand why Fujifilm is no longer offering a retro-styled GFX camera. I am sure such a camera would become an instant best seller.
Oh well, let’s hope in the Fujifilm GFX100SII, which should come pretty soon according to our sources.
Cosina has just announced the Voigtlander COLOR-SKOPAR 18mm F2.8 Aspherical lens, which will be released in February exclusively for Fujifilm X mount. It comes with electronic contacts (but no AF). Full product page below.
Fujifilm colors are loved by many. And it looks like they can be useful also when you try to apply a certain look to your AI created images. Andrea, from SonyAlphaRumors, used Film Simulation names for his AI images and you can see the results in the video above (and also here).
Blog Posts & Info
keithwee – Luminar Neo review – my baby steps in embracing AI-enabled editing software.
petapixel – Photomator and Pixelmator Now Support Fujifilm Compressed RAW
FR-Readers that use the focus bracket feature for focus bracketing may be interested that Helicon version 8. A FR-reader has used it with GFX 50r files and Capture One. The transfer of file from C1 to Helicon still takes a while but the stacking process in Helicon appears to run a bit quicker.
RAW Power
RAW Power added support for Fujifilm GFX100 II.RAW Power is an App that brings Aperture style interface and functions to Mac Photos (it can also run as standalone). Above you can see an image I took and that I tweaked using RAW Power directly in my Photos App. You can open RAW power and edit within the Photos App by clicking “edit” in the Photos App, then click the three little dots and select RAW Power (image instruction here)