Fujifilm Managers Interview: IBIS in Smaller X-T Body is Necessary, XF Video Lenses, Why No Full Frame, XF 33mm f/1.0 and More

Fujifilm Managers Interview

The French site Phototrend interviewed Fujifilm Managers Shinichiro Udono, Jun Watanabe and Takuya Noguchi at CP+ in Japan. Here are the key points of the interview. For the full interview check out phototrend (google translated).

Hybrid Market

  • hybrid market had already reached 48% of annual sales (in value)
  • in the second half of 2019, the hybrid market has already exceeded the 50% mark
  • the managers think in 2020 year it we will be around 55 or 60%
  • Fujifilm launched first hybrid in 2012
  • now Fuji has already has 31 XF lenses + 10 GF lenses (roadmap lenses included), so the Fuji system is well established in relation to new entrants, both in terms of lenses and a very wide range of products

Why many lenses close or same in focal length (for example XF35mmF1.4, XF35mmF2 and XF33mmF1.0)

  • we want to offer different options to photographers, not only in terms of focal length, but also according to the shooting style. That’s why we have many fixed focal lengths with different focal lengths and apertures. It’s our concept

XF Cine Lenses

  • when Fuji launched X-Pro1 seven years ago, focus was on still images, hence lenses for stills
  • Fujinon XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR and Fujinon XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR zoom lenses are very good lenses for video
  • maybe in the future Fujifilm will offer XF zoom and prime lenses with a mechanism optimized for video shooting
  • The current Fujinon MKX lenses cover alreary most of the needs of professional videographers
  • Fujifilm thinks of making XF lenses with better video performance, and not more MK lenses

Fujifilm X-H2, IBIS in Fujifilm X-T3

  • with the XH series, Fujifilm targets professional users, while with the XT series they focus on enthusiasts
  • IBIS: Fuji does not want to compromise on image quality so they need a bigger package for now to get excellent image quality and image stabilization
  • IBIS is currently not possible in cameras of size of Fujifilm X-T3
  • But in the future, Fujifilm believes that it is necessary to offer IBIS technology on more compact cameras (X-T line).
  • Fuji X-H1 size is not only due to IBIS, but because Fujifilm wanted to create larger body with better grip and ergonomics for Pros. Even without IBIS, the X-H1 would have the same size/style

Full Frame Fujifilm?

  • we do not really know what’s in our customers’ heads (laughs). But in our case, we also have the GFX medium format camera system
  • we believe that the combination of medium format and APS-C is the best option
  • Canon, Nikon or Sony offer great full format products
  • Fujifilm had an internal discussion on the sensor format they had to use
  • they did a lot of simulations with engineers. They decided not to go FF, because APS-C allows for a smaller system, also lenses are smaller and lighter
  • Fujifilm is a photography company and they really want customers to take more photos. If the camera is bigger and heavier, they will not necessarily want to take it all the time with them and we do not want that
  • we want our customers to take their camera everyday and enjoy photography. This is the concept of our APS-C system
  • but Fujifilm knows that some customers want a system with a higher resolution and a larger sensor. For them, we have a system with a larger sensor than the full format and it’s the GFX

Fujifilm X-T30

  • Fuji does not intend to stop X-T20 production. The X-T20 will be sold cheaper than the X-T30

Fujinon XF33mm f/1.0

  • the goal is to deliver a lens with the most beautiful bokeh effect
  • at f/1.0, the manual focus is very difficult and that’s why we made this lens with autofocus
  • we already had this idea in mind, but we needed the technology to integrate an autofocus system on such a bright lens

Fujifilm GFX 100 Megapixel and GFX50R

  • the GFX100 will have much faster autofocus than current GFX50S and GFX50R
  • it will have IBIS
  • Our development team is working very hard on IBIS, because the sensor is much larger and it is very difficult to control the movements of the sensor
  • 4K 30p without cropping
  • GFX100 target are professional photographers, especially in the world of fashion, advertising and portraiture. But since this camera is faster, we may be able to extend the audience
  • Fujifilm GFX 50R sales are bigger than expected. Many advanced amateur photographers are buying the GFX 50r, especially for landscape or street photography

Modular GFX (Report & Images & Videos Here)

  • The modular GFX body was of course only an idea, there was no technical research on how we could achieve this result
  • For the moment, we have no plan to develop a modular GFX. But once we have the right technology to produce this type of device, maybe we will consider that option
  • Fujifilm was surprised by the huge reaction there was about the modular GFX. Some customer misunderstood, and thought it’s an actual prototype and future product

Kaizen Firmware

  • software technologies evolve on a daily basis, and new features are developed
  • we are always looking for the benefit for the consumer, it’s our way of thinking
  • when a new feature is developed for latest sensor/processor, it is very hard to bring it to cameras with older sensor/processor. It requires much more complex work. It’s not impossible, but it depends on situatuin and development resources

Market Trend

  • SLR market, each year this market will shrink, by 10 to 20%
  • Fujifilm is in the hybrid market for 6 to 7 years, it’s a good thing more manufacturers are coming up with more products because it creates a strong message for the hybrid with customers

A few product images from the interview below.

 

Czech Store Lists Fujifilm Fujinon XF33mm f/1.0 for $3,100 and XF16-80mm f/4 for $1,100

Fujinon Roadmap Lenses

The Czech store Oehling has already added to their database the Fujinon XF33mm f/1.0 and the XF 16-80mm f/4.

It is not unusual that stores add upcoming lenses into their database. For example, the Dutch store Cameranu has both lenses listed since August 2018, hence just 1 month after Fujifilm added them to the official roadmap.

But where Cameranu just says “price not known yet”, the Czech store Oehling hazards a guess on the price:

  • Fujinon XF33mm f/1.0 = $3,100 (converted from czech crown)
  • Fujinon XF16-80mm f/4 = $1,100 (converted from czech crown)

But before you freak out and panic, I must tell you that, when stores don’t know the final price but want to place an item up already for people to see and get interest, they can add a random pricing to them.

We have covered such “price-holders” in the past here on FujiRumors, such as the Fujifilm X-M1 for $9,999. Although in today’s case it does look more like a “guessed” price than a completely random one, since both lenses have a very different price tag.

So let’s hope this Czech store will keep up making terribly wrong guesses, like they did with the brand new Fujinon XF16mm f/2.8, which in their not yet updated product page has a price tag of $887 (19,990 czech crown), when in truth it costs $399.

For us, this is a welcome opportunity to discuss if $3,000 would be an acceptable price tag for a radical fast autofocus lens like the Fujinon XF33mm f/1.0 and at which point you would call the price a deal breaker.

JOIN US for Breaking News and Rumors on…

Check the Oehling store here for the 33/1 and here for the 16-80 and here for the 16/2.8

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Fujifilm Publicly Asks Which X and G Lenses to Make Next, Shows Video Demo of New Fujifilm X-T3 April Firmware, Modular Compact GFX Body and More – X Summit

Fujifilm X Summit

Fujifilm hold the first X summit at the GPP in Dubai, an event aimed to listen to customer feedback in the best Kaizen tradition and discuss about the Fujifilm future.

For example, Fujifilm asked people which X and GFX lenses they should make next and which firmware update should come next.

Sadly there was not much participation (hardly 50 comments), so let’s see what happens if I share the same polls here on FujiRumors, the only Fujifilm community that can collect several thousands of votes within a few hours ;).

You find Fujifilm’s future X and GF lens survey down below.

Big news: just as we rumored a few days ago, the Fujifilm X-T3 will get a major firmware update, centered on autofocus improvements. It will come in April. Fujifilm showed a video demo of the improvements, and it was fairly impressive. Better face and eye tracking.

Here is the entire 1 hour and 48 minutes video summed up in key points for you. You’re welcome :).

X and G Mount – starts 27:48

Why no Full Frame

  • All brands go to mirrorless, and to different mounts and sensor sizes
  • Medium Format makes it easier to design lenses for higher resolution. But also needs more power
  • Barney from DPReview says there is no perfect format. It depends on what the customers wants
  • Every format has Pros and Cons
  • Focus is APS-C size. Provides fast system and enough resolution
  • For higher resolution, go GFX
  • Fuji’s R&D challenge is to make APS-C quality better and GFX smaller

X mount

  • X-mount design: sensors are getting better and so sensitive, that they have to deliver light through the lens in a very precise way
  • More light, less digital correction
  • Value Angle: Long technical explanation. In short: the wider the value angle, the more precise and easier they can send light to the sensor
  • Fujifilm compares the value angle of X-mount to full frame, and they show that X-mount has much wider value angle (screenshot below)
  • Canon and Nikon full frame mirrorless have smaller value angle
  • The Value angle of Sony full frame is very narrow
  • Wider value angle gives more flexibility for lens design. Allows for more light and less digital correction

FUTURE CONCEPTS – starts 41:57

XF33mm f/1.0

  • XF35mmF1.4 vs XF33mmF1.0: the XF 33/1 needs to be twice as big, since it needs to let in and correct twice the light
  • XF33mmF1 has more than twice lens elements than the XF35/1.4
  • to correct aberration on the XF33mm f/1.0 you need around 7-10 glass front elements
  • the XF35mmF1.4 has only 7 elements overall
  • the backside of the XF33mm f/1.0 has about 8 to 10 glass elements
  • overall the XF33mm f/1.0 has more than twice the lens elements
  • the 7 to 10 glass elements on the front of the 33/1 weight about 200 gram
  • challange is to move heavy lens elements precisely during autofocus
  • Toshi was not satisfied with the size of the lens, but he understands the challenges of developing it. However, he invites engineers to make it still as small and light as possible

XF16mm f/2.8 and XF 16-80mm f/4 working protoypes

  • XF16mmf/2.8 announcement soon
  • XF16-80mmf/4 will follow. Launch later this year. Lens feels really light

Future X and GF lenses

  • Fujifilm asks people which lenses Fujifilm should develop next – FujiRumors added the polls down below
  • Tilt shift lens is very likely to come next for G mount system
  • Zack Arias agrees with FujiRumors and he does not want a 35/1.4 MK II because he does not want the 35/1.4 magic to go lost
  • development costs of new lenses are very high

FUTURE GFX CONCEPTS and GFX CAMERAS – starts 59:39

GFX Concepts

  • Mirrorless should be free from all legacy
  • Fujifilm shows design mock-ups of GFX
  • they show a very small cubic and modular GFX, where you can attach a grip unit and viewfinder unit. So you can build the GFX according to your style (full video here and original full video here)
  • the modular GFX is just a mockup, but Fujifilm hopes it won’t take long to create such a small device
  • Medium format size can be reduced a lot, but there are challenges, for example a smaller shutter unit and better battery efficiency
  • with global shutter Fujifilm can make it smaller

The clear message here is: don’t worry, we are going to make the GFX system a whole lot smaller. So invest into GFX, and we will deliver you also a super-compact body one day.

GFX 100

  • Fujifilm shows a working prototype of GFX100 and they take a sample on stage, including pixel peeping
  • at 100MP the benefits of medium format shine, because it’s easier to design lenses that resolve 100MP for MF than for full frame or APS-C
  • hand-holdable medium format camera thanks to IBIS
  • GFX100 will cost around $10,000, but final decision has not yet been made
  • Coming before June

COLORS and IMAGE QUALITY – starts 1:17:46

  • They explain their color science.
  • The steps are: signal, measure, calculate, tune, target color
  • there will be new film simulations and they asked people which should come next (FujiRumors has already expressed its opinion)

FIRMWARE – starts 1:27:25

  • 250+ total firmware updates made since the original X100 has been introduced
  • They show upcoming firmware of X-T3 with significant autofocus improvement. Better face detection, better tracking, better eye AF. Coming in April. Check it out in the video embedded above or on youtube at 1:28:35
  • Fujifilm also said they will give us the opportunity to switch between faces with the new firmware
  • survey about which firmware should come next
  • they official mention Kaizen as their philosophy

Q&A

  • Fujifilm is studying the rating system
  • Adobe X-Trans support: Adobe says that for them to get good results with X-Trans is difficult, it’s a lot of work. Fujifilm will support Adobe for better processing
  • People ask for complete Camera Remote App redesign
  • Fujifilm is working on improved camera remote app

There will be more X summits, and you can interact at slido here, and of course you will be the first to know, if you follow FujiRumors on Facebook, Instagram, RSS-feed and Twitter.

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Fujifilm X-H1 with XF 33mm f/1.0 vs Panasonic S1 with Lumix S PRO 50mm f/1.4 Size Comparison

Fujinon XF 33mm f/1.0

Today I was curious to know how the Fujifilm X-H1 with Fujinon XF33mm f/1.0 would compare in terms of size to the brand new full frame Panasonic S1 with Lumix S PRO 50mm f/1.4.

So I grabbed one of the real life pictures of the XF33mm f/1.0 I took at Photokina 2018 and made an approximate comparison.

If the final production XF 33mmF1.0 will have the same size of the mock-up I have seen at Photokina, then the Fujinon XF33mm f/1.0 will be smaller than the Lumix S PRO 50mm f/1.4.

Let’s hope it will also be cheaper, since the Panasonic Lumix S PRO 50mm f/1.4 comes with a hefty price tag.

When it comes to camera bodies, the Panasonic S1 is noticeably bigger than the Fujifilm X-T3, X-H1 and also other full frame cameras like the Sony A7III.

My guess is that the bigger body is needed for proper heat dissipation to allow 4K/60 and avoid overheating. This is probably also the reason why no Sony A7 camera currently offers 4K60p.

But despite the larger body, the Panasonic has still to do compromises in terms of 4K/60P compared for example to the Fujifilm X-T3.

  • Fujifilm X-T3: 4K/60 with only 1.18x crop without line skipping
  • Panasonic S1: 4K/60 with 1.5x crop (basically APS-C size)
  • Panasonic S1R: 4K/60 with line skipping

In our article about the several advantages of APS-C sensors over full frame, we explained how smaller sensors are faster to read out, hence generate less heat and allow for features like the blackout less EVF at 30fps continuous shooting, and, in this case, a better 4K/60 readout.

The Fujifilm X-H1 has no 4K/60, but this is a limitation that comes from the older and slower X Processor Pro.

So, every sensor size has its advantages. It’s now up to Fujifilm to fully take advantage of them. And I expect especially the Fujifilm X-H2 to raise new standards and be a clear step ahead of the competition.

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Fuji Guy Billy: Fujinon XF 33mm f/1.0 Development Challenge, XF 16-80mm f/4 very silent AF, X-H1 Market Misunderstanding and More

Fuji Guy Billy Interview

Fuji Guy Billy joined the Fujilove podcast. For those of you, who are right now on the road or at work and you can’t listen to it all at iTunes, Stitcher or on fujilove, here are the key points:

Fujinon X Mount Lenses

Fujifilm X100, X-E3, X-T20 and X-T3

  • Fujifilm X100 was the game changer and started the X series success
  • When developing the X100, Fujifilm wondered who is going to buy a fixed lens camera at this price point, but it turned out to be a success
  • Fujifilm X-T3 is balance of size, weight and quality in a good price point, but for Billy even the X-T3 is big
  • Billy’s go-to camera is the Fujifilm X-E3, paired with XF35mmF2, XF23mmF2 and occasionally the XF50mmF2 because of portability
  • Fujifilm X-T20 with no joystick is a dealbreaker for him

Fujifilm X-H1

  • Fujifilm X-H1 latest firmware introduced lots of improvements and the new lower price makes it very tempting
  • The Fujifilm X-H1 maybe has been misunderstood by the market. It had a lot of new video features, so people considered it more a video camera. But it is also a better and more robust camera, and facilitates handling of bigger lenses. For Professionals weight is sometimes not a problem, but more durability. That’s why Fujifilm launched the Fujifilm X-H1. It should also appeal to DSLR customers, who were on the fence of switching to mirrorless. IBIS is quite nice also for photography, especially in low light
  • Shutter has an S1 (half press) and S2 (full contact to release shutter) position. Regarding the Fujifilm X-H1, you can contact your Fujifilm service and see if they have an option to adjust the S1 and S2 position to your taste (low, medium or high). There might be a charge for that service, depending on your country

IBIS

  • Fujifilm wanted to make an excellent IBIS system, and it is one of the best on the market. But the size of the system was too big to put it into other X-series cameras. At this moment, it can’t fit in other cameras, but hopefully one day IBIS can be designed smaller and make it fit on other cameras

Fujinon G Mount Lenses

  • Fujinon GF 50mm f/3.5 coming in 2019 and Fujinon GF 45-100mm f/4 in 2020
  • Fujinon GF 100-200mm f/5.6 R LM OIS WR: If you look to move into medium format, you don’t have many lenses initially to choose from, so zoom lenses can cover various focal lengths. The GF100-200 is compatible with teleconverter. It’s a little bit heavier, but very sharp. At that focal length with medium format sensor, you can isolate your subject very well

External Battery Packs

Navigate Menu

  • Tips and Tricks: Best way to navigate the menu is using the front and rear command dial. Front dial jumps from page to page, and rear dial jumps from item to item

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