Cinema5D interviewed top Fujifilm manager Toshi Iida.
It’s a 20 minutes interview I urge you to watch, but if you are in a hurry, here is what the manager says in a quick and practical summary. You can find the full video below.
DPReview published a list of 5 reason, why Fujifilm won’t make a full frame X100 camera.
A larger sensor would add size and weight, mitigating a major X100 selling point
Such a product would cost a lot to develop and manufacture
The result would be a very expensive camera – reducing its potential audience
A move to full-frame would annoy and worry existing loyal Fujifilm APS-C customers. Also, if Fujifilm announces any full frame camera, could look like a massive vote of no confidence in APS-C
The risk of cannibalization within existing lineups is too great
And what about a medium format X100 then? DPR writes:
So might Fujifilm build a medium-format X100? There’s an argument to be made that it makes sense in a way that full-frame just doesn’t. Medium format would offer an increase in potential image quality over full-frame (albeit relatively modest – about 2/3EV), a significant leap in image quality over APS-C, it’s a major part of Fujifilm’s brand identity, and the larger format is a key differentiator for Fujifilm compared to competitive manufacturers.
Well, I won’t enter the argument about the “relatively modest” advantage of the Fujifilm GFX over full frame. This is a thesis DPR started pushing back in 2017, and FujiRumors comprehensively answered it in the article “DPReview Recommends 3 Full Frame Cameras Combined over 1 Fujifilm GFX“. Also, in the meantime something called Fujifilm GFX100 hit the market, with the newest sensor technology.
For the rest, the whole 5 reason list makes sense. Check out the full in-depth article at dpreview.
And one could also add one more ;)
full frame offers a “relatively modest” advantage over APS-C, and also has a couple of disadvantages over APS-C, that you can read here
Popular photography industry insiders, claimed that APS-C is the actual sensor size sweet spot. Keep in mind, they said “sweet spot“, not “automatically the best tool for everybody“.
Venus Optics will soon launch the Laowa 15mm f/4.5 W-Dreamer shift lens for full frame cameras.
Now we have some sample images and we can give a few more details about how this full frame lens works on the Fujifilm GFX medium format system.
According to a beta tester, the Laowa 15mm f/4.5 W-Dreamer shift lens can be used on Fujifilm GFX, but the ability to shift is limited to ± 7.
Here is his the feedback the Chinese beta tester gave so far:
Although the image field of the shift lens is much larger than the ordinary 135 format lens, if the offset is too large (± 7 or more) on the 44×33 format, it will still have a dark angle
@ 老 frog lens 15-axis image field perfectly covers the 4433 sensor, visually there is 5mm up and down, and 3mm left and right shift amount
@ 老 frog lens 15-axis transfer to Fuji GFX 50R, the picture quality looks pretty good, even if it is an ordinary ultra-wide-angle lens, the perspective is very strong.Blessed 4433 users
Back in October 2018, I told you the Fujifilm GFX100 will have pixel shift multishot. However, in March 2019 here, I got an update from a source, that pixel shift multishot won’t be ready for launch.
Some readers were worried, that this could all just be plain wrong rumors, and so I asked trusted sources again, and in July 2019 they confirmed: pixel shift multishot will come for sure, “it’s just a matter of time“.
Finally, Fujifilm officially disclosed plans for Pixel Shift multishot on Fujifilm GFX100 at the latest Fujifilm X summit.
They also showed a sample image during the X Summit live streaming (go to minute 40:20), but those are taken with GFX100 in normal mode (and it’s already impressive).
I thought this deserves to be highlighted in a dedicated article, as this is certainly a significant improvement the Fujifilm GFX100 will get via firmware update.
Lok brings you inside the Fujifilm factory in Sendai, Japan.
The first thing he shows, is part of the assembly of the Fujifilm GFX100. Lok is surprised to see that so much of the assembly is done by hand.
You also see how meticulously every smallest dust particle is removed from the sensor and the lenses.
Lok then tries to apply the rubber texture to a Fujifilm X-H1, but what looks easy in skilled hands, turns out to much more difficult to do if you are not trained for it.
And if you wonder, why a Fujifilm X-H1, well, I believe the tour dates back to May/June 2019, when we already shared a couple of similar Fujifilm Sendai factory tour videos.
At that time, Fujifilm only stopped selling Fujifilm X-H1 body only, but they where still producing it, since it had a big revival pushed by the Fujifilm X-H1 + vertical grip combo deals.
Here on FujiRumors, the Fujifilm X-H1 even beat the Fujifilm X-T3 in terms of overall 2019 sales, thanks to this deal.
The production of Fujifilm X-H1 probably only ended in the second half of 2019.