Stop Hating Film Simulations

When we posted the rumor about the Fujifilm X-M5 having the film simulation dial, there were again some who just snubbing the concept of using Fujifilm Film Simulation overall. For example here:

I’m the Maestro I shot RAW files and make art from them.

I get the point. Shooting RAW opens up lots of creative possibilities in post processing.

But here is the thing: Fujifilm Film Simulation are not necessarily intended to stop you from using RAW files, but they can be a helpful (and extremely time saving) starting point when editing your RAW files.

Here is a real life example from my own shooting experience.

When I shot my best friend’s wedding, I captured everything in RAW (+JPEG). Out of countless photos, I chose 129 to edit. My first step was setting the right vibe by adjusting the colors. Some images called for a vintage look (Classic Chrome), others needed vibrant colors with good skin tones (Astia), some looked best in black and white (Acros), and for tricky indoor lighting, ProNeg Standard or High worked perfectly.

Choosing the right Film Simulation in Capture One was quick and easy – just a few seconds per image – and then I could move on to other edits like cropping and sharpening. This made the color correction process fast and efficient, even with RAW files.

So, it’s a misconception that Film Simulations are only for JPEG shooters. They can speed up RAW editing significantly.

At the end of the day film simulations are just a tool that can be super helpful also for RAW shooters, if they want to save time editing. And of course they are a true blessing for JPEG shooters, as you get the best colors of any digital camera with just a click of a button… or a turn on the dial, if you use the X-T50 or the upcoming X-M5.

• Fujifilm Launches Dedicated Fujifilm Film Simulation Website
• Fujifilm X-E5 in 2025: The Perfect Dial is…? – VOTE

Viltrox has released firmware updates for a few X mount lenses.

But before I share the details, let me say this to Viltrox (who hopefully will read this, but probably not).

Dear Viltrox, your new firmware download page is a joke. It was already bad before, but you were able to make it even worst. Congratulations.

For fellow FR-readers: this is the Viltrox firmware page.

Check it every now and then, open up the page for your lens, and see if the firmware number has changed. If a new number is up, download the zip file, unpack it, open it and see what changes it brings. But beware: sometimes the details of the firmware change are written only in Chinese, so you better use machine translation to understand what the update brings.

Viltrox does not offer any way to be notified about changes, they do not write the date of firmware release on the page (except in rare cases, but also with completely wrong dates), nor do they list their firmware from newest to oldest.

Viltrox also won’t inform you on their social media about new firmware updates. At least not immediately. They might (if you are lucky) make a post on Instagram about new firmware at some point, but that post (if it comes) could be shared weeks if not months after the firmware had already been released.

That’s how things are right now. I hope they will improve the page and understand that good customer experience and service looks different.

Anyway, here are the firmware updates.

Viltrox 56mm f/1.7 ver. 1.0.2 – details here
1. Fixed the problem of lens deviating from the focus at close range at F1.7 aperture. (google translated)

Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 II ver. 1.1.0 – details here
1. Adapt to X-T5 X-H2 X-H2S
2. Optimize AF-C speed

FR-reader Wishlist Corner

Recently we published a bunch of gear/hardware related wishes we have received from the Fujifilm community.

Now it is time to share a bunch of firmware wishes.

by Oli

Here is a link to my blog post about my experiences with the X100Vi and the WCL as a “poor man’s Leica Q”.
I guess you might be able to read German: shashindo.de/fuqi/ (google translated).

There is actually ONE reason why the Leica Q3 is “better” than the Fujifilm X100VI: The handling of the metadata!

Leica writes the crop focal length and crop pixel size in the metadata!
It’s too bad that Fujifilm doesn’t also set the crop focal length in the metadata!
It would also be nice to find the name of the custom setting (aka film simulation) here in the EXIF data. Well, you can still have wishes…

Thought you might be interested ;-)
Or in case you do have access to Fuji Development department somehow, maybe you can drop this there… :-D

by Keith

Nikkei has published the global sales number and market share of digital stills and video cameras sold in 2023. The numbers are based on data from CIPA and JEITA and have been reported by the Japanese website dclife.

Here are the numbers for 2023:

1. Canon … 3.34 million units (46.5%)
2. Sony … 2 million units (27.9%)
3. Nikon … 810,000 units (11.3%)
4. Fujifilm … 430,000 units (6.0%)
5. Panasonic … 260,000 units (3.6%)
6. OM Digital … 180,000 units (2.5%)
7. Ricoh Imaging … 60,000 units (0.8%)

Nikkei writes that the decline in the global market share of digital cameras is slower than before, and the demand for high-performance mirrorless cameras is increasing. Nikkei says “high-performance mirrorless is strong, and the market is recovering“.

This is more in less in line with the market share given to us by Techno Research System, which is limited to mirrorless cameras, though.

• Canon 41,2%
• Sony 32.1%
• Nikon 13.2%
• Fujifilm 8%
• Other brands 5.5%

Considering that Fujifilm has no dedicated video camera, nor DSLRs in offering, it is safe to assume that the vast majority of the 430,000 units are X and GFX camera sales. Not sure if the (almost dead) Fujifilm Finepix line is included in the list, but even if it would, it would be a negligable number.

Let’s put context to these numbers.

In 2023, Fujifilm launched 2 cameras

• Fujifilm GFX100 II
• Fujifilm X-S20

Moreover, in 2023 Fujifilm kept struggling to produce and ship what they had announced in previous years.

• X-T5 sales suspension in Japan in 2023
• X-S20 sales suspension in Japan in 2023
• Chronic shipping struggles for X100V
• X-E4 shipping debacle, discontinued in 2023 with harldy ever being in stock due to Fuji’s incompetence to produce what people actually ordered

The list could go on forever, but bare with me if I stop it here to avoid to turn this article into a rant.

All I’ll say is that the number, 430K, is way below of what Fujifilm could have shipped if only they figured out a proper way to produce more gear rather than relying on creative, flawed and no-cost solution like using blockchain to improve parts procurement.

They did not increase production (except now for the X100VI). They did not hire more workers. They did not expand factories. They just accepted things as they are and so we got to absurd situation like the one of the X-E4, which was launched in January 2021. I noticed the X-E4 in stock only once in October 2021 and then it was mainly out of stock everywhere until it got discontinued in 2023 while tons of people still had one on pre-order.

The Fujifilm CEO calls this a “normal” situation, but I have not seen other brands struggle as much with deliver as Fujifilm. Sure, it’s not all Fuji’s fault, as nobody could have thought that Fujifilm’s popularity would expload like this. But the years passed, and Fujifilm failed to adjust to the new high demand.

Anyway… it is what it is.

Fujifilm sold 430,000 cameras in 2023. But it could have been easily twice as much if they’d have been able to ship their gear properly worldwide.