Fujifilm continues to interview those photographers, who snapped all those wonderful images with Fujifilm X and GFX cameras.
first interview – Alain Shroeder, winner of the World Press Photo overall stories category
second interview – Luca Locatelli, 1st Prize for environment story in 2020 Word Press Photo Contest
third interview – 2020 World Press Photo Winner Ricardo García Vilanova: “For my War Photography I use X-T3 and Only One Lens, the…”
In this episode, Fujifilm interviews Romain Laurendeau, winner of the overall World Press Photo Story of the Year award with his series of images taken in Algeria.
He took his images with X100 series cameras, and here is what he says:
As you might know, photographers using Fujifilm cameras creamed off all the top awards at the World Press Photo Awards 2020.
Fujifilm continues to interview those photographers, who snapped all those wonderful images with Fujifilm X and GFX cameras.
first interview – Alain Shroeder, winner of the World Press Photo overall stories category
second interview – Luca Locatelli, 1st Prize for environment story in 2020 Word Press Photo Contest
The third interview is with Ricardo García Vilanova, who won the 3rd Prize for General News Singles in 2020 Word Press Photo (in the same category, Fujifilm won also the 1st prize, with Yasuyoshi Chiba grabbing the top winning image with his Fujifilm X-H1).
You can see the video below as well as a summary of the talk.
As you might know, photographers using Fujifilm cameras creamed off all the top awards at the World Press Photo Awards 2020.
Fujifilm X/GFX shooters’ triumph put even the most hardcore Fujifilm APS-C mockers like Mr.”LOL Fuji” into an uncomfortable position.
In fact, after tons of videos celebrating the infinite virtues of full frame and the horrible shortcomings of APS-C, when commenting the World Press Photo Awards, suddenly Mr. LOL Fuji showed a momentary lapse of reason, and said that the camera does not matter, but the results matter.
Sure, he was not yet able to say “damn, also those APS-C Fujifilm cameras can deliver bloody awesome and professional award winning results. Maybe I was wrong all the time“. But he will eventually get there, one day.
Deconstructing wrong believes and notions that are calcified deep in our nerdy brains can take time. But Fujifilm X shooters are cool cats, and will hug Mr. LOL Fuji big time, when this happens.
Just one tip, read the manual first, Mr. LOL Fuji… and be creative. Creativity is like having a 8×10 digital sensor in your brain. Trust me, inspiration matters more than which image is sharper if seen at 500% magnification ;).
Anyway, Fujifilm is continuing to interview the photographers behind those Award Winning images.
The first interview was with Alain Shroeder (we reported here), winner of the World Press Photo overall stories category. It’s an interesting one, make sure to check it out here.
This time they interview Luca Locatelli, 1st Prize for environment story in 2020 Word Press Photo Contest.
Fellow Fujifilm shooter Luca used a Fujifilm GFX100, hence a camera with a sensor 70% bigger than full frame (that’s for the nerdy folks able to read until here ;)).
He is interviewed by one of the most popular Fujifilm managers, Makoto Oishi.
Now Fujifilm has interviewed Alain Shroeder, winner of the overall stories category (as well as a single category) at this years’ World Press Photo award.
It’s an enjoyable video that you can see below. For your convenience I have made a summary, in case you don’t have the 8 minutes time right now to watch the video.
The data is based on affiliate sales made via Amazon and BHphoto.
Sadly I don’t use the data of Adorama, as I have not found an easy way to display and rank the products. All I get is a list of numbers like “1236.5478.701164” and then I have to click on each number to see which product it is.
For the sake of my mental health, I can’t do that.
Finally the custom X hot shoe covers are widely available on Amazon, and it seems people love them (I own them too).
As for Nr.2 and Nr.5 on the list, these items definitely profited from the launch of the Fujifilm X-T5 and X-H2/s as for many of you, those cameras were also their first X series using the newer battery.
Interesting:
Most people went for the original battery as opposed to the third party options (just as I recommended in my article). I’ve even made the sum of the best selling third party NP-W235 battery options (Smallrig, Poweextra and Wasabi), but even in that case, the original battery has a distinct and safe advantage.
I make a prediction: the Fujifilm X-T5 will be matched in terms of sales only by the Fujifilm X-T6. The only camera that has a chance to even come close to it, would be an eventual Fujifilm X100V successor (the Fujifilm X200, or X100Vs, or X100VI or however they are going to call it).
In a normal year, the X-H2 and X-H2s would have been celebrated as top sellers with respectable sales number.
But 2022 was not a normal year: it was the year of the Fujifilm X-T5!
The X-T5 came here to do what it has to do: demolish the internal competiton and establish itself one more time as the top tier in the Fujifilm lineup. In fact, it was responsible for 65.5% of total camera sales via FujiRumors.
A pity for the Fujifilm X100V, which is basically out of the ranking just because it hasn’t been available most of the time. If supply would have been normal, I think it would have made it into the top 4 positions.
Well, it has been beaten by the Fujifilm GFX50SII, but only by 1 camera. So it’s basically a head-to-head. That’s astonishing, considering that the GFX50SII was in offer basically for the entire year with several more or less massive rebates, whereas the Fujifilm GFX100S saw it’s first time ever rebate only very recently.
So, despite Fujifilm being much more agressive with the GFX50SII, the GFX100S stands its ground and is actually about to pass the GFX50SII thanks to this sweet deal.
The explaination is simple: the XF16-80mmF4 (as well as the XF18-55mmF2.8-4) enjoyed a substantial sales push because it was offered in bundle with Fujifilm X-T5.
But this alone would not be enough.
Fujifilm also initally shipped out way more X-T5 kits than body only, so if we wanted to wait less for our new camera, we had to grab the X-T5 kit. And this makes Fujifilm more money.
Cynical?
Probably, but Fujifilm is just a business as many others, and other companies are no different. And yet, I wish Fujifilm would have done differently.
Anyway, the good thing is that if you bought it with a bundle, you got the lens for a discounted price. That’s already nice. And you always have the option to sell it “like new” so you should get back most if not all of the money you’ve invested in the lens. Or simply use it and enjoy the lens :).
We have a rocksolid performance for the XF56mm f/1.2 MKII. No need for deals or bundles to push that one.
Excellent sales (and very close to grab the second spot) is the Fujinon XF150-600mm f/5.6-8. Looks like a wise decision by Fujifilm to make it smaller, lighter and more affordable thanks to its f/8 on the long end.
Oh… and I made the mistake to enter a photography store with my wife… here is what happened.
So, the lovely new 30mm Macro enjoyed great sales, too. I handled one in store myself, and if my wasn’t for my wife being in the store with me, I probably would have left the shop with one for myself. But my wife just asked “don’t you already own a Macro lens“? And since I had no brilliant answer to give, I passed. Please guys, advice me on what to say next time ;).
On Nr.7, an all time favorite for many of us, the lovely Fujinon XF27mm f/2.8 R WR.
In the GF world, the new GF 20-35mmF4 is selling strong.
A crazy good deal is also pushing the GF35-70mm to great sales. For 500 bucks you get a compact allrounder zoom lens capable of resolving 100+ megapixel. It would be too good to pass also for me, if I’d not already own the GF32-64mmF4.
And yes, I know there is an unwritten rule that every list should end with the Nr.10, but the sales of the lenses on the 11th position were so close to the XF16-55mmF2.8, that I felt I need to include them.
For Fujifilm, I guess the biggest disappointment are the sales of the video-centric Fujinon XF 18-120mm f/4 PZ. I guess it’s a niche lens within a niche brand, so one can not expect all too stellar sales.
There was a time, when the third party ranking was dominated by manual focus lenses. But those times are gone.
Since Fujifilm took the (long delayed) decision to open their mount, other companies like Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Viltrox, TTArtisan and Samyang started to offer X mount AF lenses. A decision rewarded by Fujifilm X shooters, who now prefer to grab third party autofocus lenses over the manual versions.
Eduardo Soteras has just been awarded with the UNICEF Photo of the Year 2022 for the image you can see above. The story is this one:
Although destroyed, the library in this elementary school in Ethiopia’s Tigray region is where two children have taken refuge in books. This little moment of happiness shows in their smiles. It is a rare moment. Because of the armed conflict with the central government, 5.2 million people in this region in northern Ethiopia are suffering from violence, displacement, malnutrition and a shortage of drinking water.
[…] The desire to discover and learn new things is often so great in children that it makes them forget the threat of a situation.
That is the message of the Unicef photo of the year 2022,” said Unicef patron Elke Büdenbender, wife of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
“The winning image challenges us to do everything we can to ensure that children can play and learn even under the most adverse circumstances.
Because this is the only way they can maintain their hope and confidence in times of war and other crises.
Given the importance of this image, little it matters that the EXIF data shows it has been taken with the Fujinon XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR.
Here on FujiRumors we just want to congratulate with fellow X shooter Eduardo Soteras for his important recognition and for making the best possible use of our beloved Fujifilm gear: encapsulating meaningful moments and important messages into a single powerful image.
You can read more about this image and Eduardo Soteras at the dedicated UNICEF page here.
Thanks to Daniel Stocker (instagram) for letting me know about it.
And in case you are being brainwashed by some YouTubers that you can only get real Pro work done with Full Frame gear, check out the articles below.
Our Spanish friends at Fujistas summed it up nicely:
24 winners were selected
only 8 of the 24 images were taken with mirrorless cameras
13 images were taken with DSLRs
Fujifilm takes represents 10% of the winning images share
it was not possible to look into the EXIF of all images
The gap between mirrorless and DSLR is getting smaller and smaller. Here is the comparison to the previous years:
2022: 54,1% DSLR – 33,3% MILC
2021: no data
2020: 64.3% DSLR – 23.7% MILC
2019: 71.1% DSLR – 4.4% MILC
2018: 83.5% DSLR – 11.3% Mirrorless
2017: 88.8% DSLR – 5.55% Mirrorles
And yet, there are still plenty of DSLR users out there. At some point they might switch to mirrorless, too. And hopefully the Fujifilm X and GFX systems will be able to attract many of them.
With that out of the way, let me say the most important thing: congratz to ALL the winners. I will share the awarded images taken with Fujifilm gear down below. But make sure to check them out all at the dedicated World Press Photo 2022 page.
distracted a French presidential candidate during his interview (story here)
One of the most recent entires in the awards list is the one of Fujifilm X shooter Magdalena Wasiczek, who won the International Garden Photographer of the Year Award (IGPOTY).
Magdalena has created this stunning, shimmering play on light, as she elevates this humble butterfly to the heavens. The magic of this capture is literally in the very air, with raindrops and macro lens used to great effect.
With this calibre of capture, it is easy to see why this will be her third overall IGPOTY win, and I offer her my congratulations for achieving this most amazing distinction.”
Congratz to Magdalena! You can check out all the details and see the image in full size at igpoty here.
But wait, there is more!
Also John Pettigrew made it among the finalists in the wildlife in the garden category with an image taken with X-T30 and XF55-200 (image below).
Do you remember when back in 2020, photographers using Fujifilm X and GFX gear creamed off tons of prestigious awards at the World Press Photo Awards, including the top spots for the two most prestigious categories, World Press Photo of the Year and World Press Photo Story of the Year?
Well, Yasuyoshi Chiba, the winner of the World Press Photo of the Year, who took this amazing image with his Fujifilm X-H1, has now been nominated “Agency Photographer of the Year” by The Guardian.
Congratulations again to Yasuyoshi Chiba and make sure to check out his instagram here, where all the images shared so far are taken with the Fujifilm X-H1 and Fujifilm GFX100.
Yasuyoshi Chiba is planning to do photo exhibition of the images of Tigray from Ethiopia (and Sudan for refugees) in February and March, both at Fuji’s imaging plaza (below is info, in japanese though). Pictures at the exhibition are all taken by GFX100+GF50mm.