Thomas B. Jones and Andreas Jürgensen were in New York and had a press-meeting during the last X summit, where Fujifilm mentioned little tidbits that they did not touch on during the official X summit.
Luckily for us they made a video about it, which you can see in German down below or read summed up in English below.
Fujifilm has just released firmware updates for the Fujifilm X-H2S, X-H2, X-T4, X-T3 and X-S10 as well as the XF18-55mmF2.8-4 and XF56mmF1.2 R WR.
You’ll find all the details and download links below.
Rumors and Discussions
We already told you that major Japanese stores marked the X-T4, X-E4 and X-T30II as discontinued.
Now we have another puzzle piece to add to this: as you can see from the screenshot above, Fujifilm has removed the Fujifilm X-T4 and X-E4 from their Japanese product catalog.
The last available Google cached version of September 2021 still shows both items on the website.
What does this mean for Fujifilm X-T5, X-E4 and X-T30II? Well, I have tried to explain it as good as possible here.
via dclife
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Several major Japanese stores like MapCamera, BicCamera, and Yodobashi have now marked the Fujifilm X-T4, X-E4 and X-T30II as discontinued.
Map camera still has it in stock, but they won’t be receiving anymore units for sale after their stock is depleted. There’s a note on the pages that says “在庫限り(生産完了品)” which translates to “Limited stock (discontinued item)“.
So let’s talk about it.
Fujifilm X-T5:
In the past, especially when it comes to the X-T line, once a successor was released, the older model was still manufactured for a while, simply because they remained very popular. So discontinue the X-T4 even before the Fujifilm X-T5 arrives would be very unique.
But hey, we also live unique times with the massive parts shortage.
Since the Fujifilm X-T5 will be announced shortly, Fujifilm could have decided to stop Fujifilm X-T4 production in order to use some of the X-T4 components for the Fujifilm X-T5 production. A unique, drastic but maybe necessary move. But that’s just a mere speculation of mine, trying to make sense on why it is marked as discontinued at some Japanese stores.
Fujifilm X-E5:
It usually takes Fujifilm almost 4 years to update the X-E line. So a Fujifilm X-E5 coming so soon (X-E4 was announced in January 2021), would be extremely surprising.
If Fujifilm really discontinued the X-E4 as some Japanese stores write, then I believe the most likely reason is not because a Fujifilm X-E5 is about to drop, but because Fujifilm needs some of the parts to manufacture newer and more important cameras (in terms of revenue for Fujifilm) as the Fujifilm X-H2S, Fujifilm X-H2 and the imminent Fujifilm X-T5.
Fujifilm X-T40
Fujifilm needs about 2 years to update the X-T** line.
The Fujifilm X-T30 was released in February 2019. It’s successor, the Fujifilm X-T30II came in September 2021. So one might think we might have to wait late 2023 or early 2024 for an X-T40, but consider that the Fujifilm X-T30II is a last second emergency product of Fujifilm: they run out of parts and in order to keep the manufacturing process of the X-T30 alive, they needed to use new and slightly improved hardware parts (such as a better LCD screen).
Not even Fujifilm sees the X-T30II as a true successor to the X-T30. So I guess a Fujifilm X-T40 in not too distant future could be a possibility.
But the problem here is: I have zero rumors or ever so slight hint and whisper about it, which makes me believe that the Fujifilm X-T40 won’t come that soon.
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Fujifilm has shared a data sheet with a rough autofocus comparison between the Fujifilm X-H2, Fujifilm X-H2s and Fujifilm X-T4.
It does not really tell us much, but it is interesting to note that at its best, all cameras can focus at 0.02 sec. A limitation that is given by hardware (moving the lens elements etc). And of course the X-T4 of course lacks of subject and animal tracking features.
Other than that, whenever something is moving, the Fujifilm X-H2S has the upper hand due to its stacked sensor design.
However, there is one aspect, where the Fujifilm X-H2 beats the Fujifilm X-H2S, and that’s “high frequency subject“. The reason for that is simple and Fujifilm explains it below.
X-H2’s higher pixel count increases the number of phase detection pixels, which improves AF-S focusing accuracy on subjects including landscapes and portraits. The camera also incorporates an improved AF prediction algorithm, newly developed for the X-H2S, enabling stable focusing even when using AF-C. The X-H2S excels in moving object tracking utilizing the performance of the stacked sensor, while the X-H2 excels in accurate AF for static subjects.
So there is an advantage also in having many more phase detection pixels packed closer together into a higher megapixel camera.
DRPeview has added the Fujifilm X-H2S to their lab test comparison tool. Their findings:
You can read it all and play around with their comparison tool here.
Photons to Photos has published its data for the Photographic Dynamic Range of the Fujifilm X-H2S. You can see the results here.
| Camera Model | Maximum PDR |
Low Light ISO |
Low Light EV |
|---|
| FujiFilm X-H1 | 10.10 | 3586 | 10.16 |
| FujiFilm X-H2S | 10.04 | 2884 | 9.85 |
| FujiFilm X-T4 | 10.45 | 3298 | 10.04 |
Back in September 2021, Fujifilm quietly introduced the Fujifilm X-T3 WW. The Fujifilm X-T3 “worldwide” version is an X-T3 sold without battery charger!
It was the best deal on an X-T3 you can get, but now it is starting to run out of stock forever, as for example BHphoto has marked it as discontinued.
The X-T3 was a massive hit for Fujifilm, and even though it has been replaced by the Fujifilm X-T4 in February 2020, it was able to stay on the market until now.
It’s actually incredible how long it could “resist” and keep up selling on the market despite the X-T4 with IBIS being launched 2+ years ago.
However, now it’s time also for the Fujifilm X-T3 to retire. The Fujifilm X-T4 will keep the sales for the X-T series going, at least until we get the Fujifilm X-T5.
Fujifilm X-T5 Rumors & Hints
IN STOCK CHECK
When asked if the X-T4 and X-T3 will profit from the new autofocus algorithm of the Fujifilm X-H2, the service manager for Fujifilm Germany says:
First off we have to say clearly that the Fujifilm X-H2S uses a new stacked sensor and a new processor, who are largely responsible for the fast readout and autofocus speed and at the end allow the new algorithm to realize such an autofocus performance.
This means you can’t bring that kind of performance 1 to 1 to other models like the X-T3 and X-T4, who use an older sensor and processor.
But we are committed to bring new features as much as possible to older models via firmware update
This is not Google translated from German, but translated by myself for you in the most accurate way possible, in order to avoid misunderstandings.
Look, when my Fujifilm X-T4 sees faces in trees and branches, I am sure that this is not a limitation of the sensor and processor, but of the algorithm itself. And that’s true also for the real-time Sony alike autofocus tracking, which disappointed me a bit during the wedding I photographed and that could be significantly improved via firmware update also on older cameras.
That’s why I believe that the new algorithm alone would already give us a huge improvement on older cameras, at least for face and eye detection.
And if there would be also an improvement in zone/area tracking, I could also live without subject/animal tracking on my Fujifilm X-T4, which probably are more complex to implement and really require all the latest and greatest 5th gen stuff.
Fujifilm has released new firmware updates for ten Fujifilm cameras.
Down below all the details and download links.
Rumors and Discussions
