How 3 Dollar Saved my Fujifilm X-T5 and Re-Discovering Classic Negative in Vietnam

$3 that Saved my X-T5

If it wasn’t for this ultra cheap accessory, my first travel with my new Fujifilm X-T5 could have been ruined (from a photographic point of view).

Here is what happened.

Destination: visiting my wife’s family in Hanoi, Vietnam, during Christmas Holidays.

While waiting for our bags at the Hanoi airport (after a humble 25 hours travel in the cheapest economy class seats), I took out my X-T5 and started to take some images. Then I asked my wife to hold the X-T5 while I handle the bags and bring them to the taxi.

Once we were in the taxi, rather exhausted from the long flight, my wife put the X-T5 on her lap. Arrived at her parents home, she totally forgot she had the camera on her legs, opened the door, got out of the car and the X-T5 tumbled down on the street.

  • first thought: luckily I did not travel with the Fujifilm GFX100S
  • second thought: remember there are worst things in life
  • third thought: f***

When we collected the X-T5, we noticed major cracks on the screen.

But luckily I followed my own advice and did immediately apply a $3 touch sensitive screen protector on my X-T5 when I bought it.

This saved my X-T5 and once back home in Italy, I simply removed the broken screen protector using a dental floss and replaced it with a new one.

The X-T5 itself is still in perfect conditions and works like a champ. It’s a tough beast ;).

Lesson learned: don’t save on the wrong things. If you don’t have a self protecting fully articulating screen, then a screen protector is a must buy.

Re-Discovering Classic Negative

Now to the more pleasing part of the tale ;).

I didn’t get around a lot in Vietnam, as of course our main goal was to spend as much time as possible with her family and friends. So lots of the images I took are casual images capturing our daily life at home. Nothing of huge interest to share on FujiRumors, but for me personally the images that matter most.

But we did manage to squeeze in a 3 day trip to the nearby Ninh Binh province (to visit Tam Coc and Tràng An, where the movie “Kong: Skull Island” was filmed).

I traveled with the Fujifilm X-T5, the XF23mmF1.4 and my favorite travel zoom, the XF 18-135mmF3.5-5-6.

And I did put a little “challenge” on me: exit out of my film simulation “comfort zone” (mainly Classic Chrome and Astia) and try to use film simulations I haven’t used in a while.

This time around, I mostly used Classic Negative, mainly for street photography and cityscape, but also for some landscape images.

And I must say I really love the results and as a consequence I started to use it more often also once I got back home in Italy.

The lesson learned?

Well, I guess we all have film simulations we particularly love. And maybe in the past we used some film simulations that did not convince us and as a consequence started to ignore them.

But my tip would be to give that hardy used film simulation another try. You might find out you love it more than you initially thought.

Fujifilm X100V Stock in Fall 2023? The Bad (X100V, X-E4, X-Pro3), the Good (X-T5, X-H2S, GFX) and the Struggling (X-H2)

It’s true, the Fujifilm X100V is hard to find these days.

But it’s actually much worst than that.

I took a look at all Fujifilm camera lines (the ones that survived, not the ones axed by Fujifilm), and we can see that the X100V enjoys great company when it comes to long waiting times.

What’s easy to find in stock are the higher end high profit margin top tier mainstream cameras.

This gives us two options on what is going on:

  1. Fujifilm gear has suddenly become terribly popular, except for the X-T5 and X-H2s which don’t sell and hence are easy to find in stock
  2. Fujifilm is struggling with parts procurement and is prioritizing high profit margin cameras that sell well and are crucial for Fujifilm’s future

I don’t know you, but I’d go for Nr.2.

Now let’s look at the situation today.

The Bad

X100V silver is expected to be in stock in fall 2023 at BHphoto. No time indication for the black X100V. You find only overpriced marketplace X100V cameras on Amazon. Out of stock pretty much everywhere.

X-Pro3 dura silver is expected in 2 to 4 weeks. No time indication for all other colors. Given that the X-Pro3 is slowly being discontinued, I am not very opmtistic about its future stock status.

X-E4 black is expected to ship in 6 to 10 weeks at BHphoto. No time indication for the other colors and kit combinations. We remind you the X-E4 was launched in January 2021 and the last time I’ve noticed the X-E4 in stock was back in October 2021. Not even the X100V has such a bad shipping record as the X-E4.

The Good

The Fujifilm X-T5 (both colors) is expected in 7 to 14 days at BHphoto. You can find it in stock at Amazon US and Adorama. There is 1 to 2 weeks waiting at Moment only for the black version.

The Fujifilm X-H2s is easy to find in stock. And you even get Capture One 23 for free if you buy it at Adorama.

The Fujifilm X-S10 is easy to find in stock.

The Fujifilm X-T30II is in stock in silver and the black one is expected in 7 to 14 days at BHphoto. It is in stock in both colors at Adorama here. You can find it in stock also via third party sellers at Amazon, and if you buy sold by Amazon it will ship in late February.

The Struggling

The Fujifilm X-H2 is expected in 7 to 14 days at BHphoto. Out of stock with no time indication given at AmazonUS, Adorama and Moment. I guess the huge chunk of 40MP sensors Fujifilm has available are used for the Fujifilm X-T5, so this inevitably means that it prolongs the waiting for the Fujifilm X-H2.

The GFX

All good on the GFX front, with all cameras being easily available.

X Summit in April :: Fuji’s Next X Camera :: Kaizen X-T5/X-H2 Promises :: Firmware Updates :: & More – Top 10 for January

Here are the top 10 articles for January.

This time we will have two categories: the most clicked and the most commented articles. In the second category, only those articles will by linked, that were not already in the first list.

Most Clicked Articles for January

  1. The Terrific Potential of X Processor 5 and Non-Stacked 26MP Combo (FR-Readers Wish, not Rumor)
  2. Fujifilm Firmware Updates for X-T5, X-T4, X-T3, X-T30, X-T30II and X-S10
  3. Notice and Apology to Customers using Fujifilm X-T5, X-T4, X-T3, X-S10, X-T30II and X-T30 – Do NOT Use APP to Update Firmware!
  4. RUMOR: This Will be Fujifilm’s Next X Series Camera
  5. Fujifilm X-Pro Line Discontinued? Let’s Clarify it in View of a Possible Fujifilm X-Pro4
  6. Fujifilm Announces X Summit in April 2023, Massive New Firmware for X-H2S and Promises More Firmware for other Cameras in 2023
  7. Fujifilm Promises Major Firmware Updates also for X-T5 and X-H2: New AF System of X-H2s? (and Where the Catch is)
  8. Fujifilm X-H2s New Autofocus Firmware Tested (Huge Improvement)
  9. Tricky Numbers, or How 61% AF Accuracy on Fujifilm X-H2s are Better than 85% Accuracy on Sony A9
  10. Fujifilm X Summit in April: What’s Coming? Drop Your Guess!

Most Commented Articles for January

  1. The Terrific Potential of X Processor 5 and Non-Stacked 26MP Combo (FR-Readers Wish, not Rumor)
  2. RUMOR: This Will be Fujifilm’s Next X Series Camera
  3. Fujifilm X Summit in April: What’s Coming? Drop Your Guess!
  4. Fujinon XF 500mmF8 OIS Patent Found
  5. Fujifilm X-Pro Line Discontinued? Let’s Clarify it in View of a Possible Fujifilm X-Pro4
  6. Tracking Birds with Fujifilm X-H2S vs Sony Stacked Cameras (Best Test I Have Seen so Far)
  7. Fujifilm Promises Major Firmware Updates also for X-T5 and X-H2: New AF System of X-H2s? (and Where the Catch is)
  8. EXPLAINED: How the Fujifilm X-H2S Predictive Autofocus Works and Why 20fps Will Give You Higher Accuracy than 40fps
  9. Watch Out, Sony: Fujifilm X-H2s Firmware 3.0 Tracking Tests Show 95% Hit Rate in Tough Condition
  10. Tricky Numbers, or How 61% AF Accuracy on Fujifilm X-H2s are Better than 85% Accuracy on Sony A9

The Fujifilm X-T5/X-H2/X-H2s: 100 X-Pert Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Camera


FR-readers asked me if I know if Rico Pfirstinger is going to publish a book about the Fujifilm X-T5. Well, the answer is definitely yes, and in fact it is available for pre-order already at Amazon US here. According to Amazon, it will be released on July 11. RockNook also says it will come in July 2023.

He is also working on the equivalent Fujifilm X-H2 and X-H2s book. That one will come in August.

Fujifilm X-T5: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / Moment

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Fujifilm Promises Major Firmware Updates also for X-T5 and X-H2: New AF System of X-H2s? (and Where the Catch is)

The Promise

Fujifilm has released a major firmware update for the Fujifilm X-H2s.

From the tests we could see so far, we can now say that the autofocus tracking is about at the same level of the very best (but much more expensive) full frame cameras out there. Not perfect, like nothing, so improve it further, Fuji!

The question I now get TONS of times via email is: will my Fujifilm camera “xy” also get the same firmware of the Fujifilm X-H2s?

So here is what I can say about it.

During the recent new years greetings, right after launching the new X-H2s firmware, Fujifilm also promised major firmware updates will come for other 5th generation cameras, too.

5th generation cameras are all those cameras featuring the new 5th generation processor, which at the moment are:

So, while Fujifilm did not specifically mention the new AF system, it is easy to assume that major firmware coming in 2023 for X-T5 and X-H2 might include also the vastly improved AF algorithm.

But again, that’s not a rumor, but an educated guess based on what managers officially said here.

Where is the Catch?

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Notice and Apology to Customers using Fujifilm X-T5, X-T4, X-T3, X-S10, X-T30II and X-T30 – Do NOT Use APP to Update Firmware!

Press Release

To our valued customers

Thank you for your loyalty to Fujifilm products.

We found that the following models of the cameras rarely froze right after the completion of the firmware update with the latest version using a smartphone (tablet) in which Camera Remote application software was installed.

FUJIFILM X-T5 was released on Mid November 2022 and the latest firmware for other five models below were released on Nov. 29, 2022 on our firmware download site for digital cameras.

【Applicable models and firmware versions】

  • FUJIFILM X-T5: Ver.1.00 and Ver.1.01
  • FUJIFILM X-T4: Ver.1.70
  • FUJIFILM X-T3: Ver.4.50
  • FUJIFILM X-S10: Ver.2.60 and Ver.2.61
  • FUJIFILM X-T30 II: Ver.1.20
  • FUJIFILM X-T30: Ver.1.50

In response to the above issue, we will release the revised firmware on the firmware download page on Jan. 19, 2023.

Therefore, we apologize for the inconvenience, but we would like to ask you to update the revised firmware.

When updating the firmware with the revised version, please be sure to update the firmware using an SD card according to steps below.
(This phenomenon does not occur when updating firmware using an SD card.)
Detail of firmware update steps

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Rumors and Discussions

Fujifilm X-Lab X-T5 Edition – Making the Fujifilm X-T5

Fujifilm managers and engineers sat down together to give us insights on the Fujifilm X-T5 development.

Nothing revolutionary is said, but I grab the occasion to make a recommendation to Fujifilm: please give us an English translated version of your X lab episodes, as using the automatic live google translation is a real pain.

It should not break your bank to do that, dear Fujifilm.

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