Fujifilm X-H3/S Design Concept: The Manual Dial Film Camera?
guest post by Francisco
Hey Patrick,
Fujis video capabilities are getting better and better. And since Fuji is the “manual-Dial brand”, I think Fuji should try a dedicated video-body with manual dials. We see the hybrid bodies getting the PASM Dial, which is fine, because it is usable for stills and videos. But a videocentric could be cool, and having no dials (like the Sony FX3, Nikon ZR or Canon C50) would just not be Fujis DNA.
Maybe there are videographers who like to adjust some settings on haptic dials. Something special, that only some nerds would appreciate. Not the ones that do professional video work, but the ones that like to get into video. I don’t have Photoshop anymore, but I wanted to create something to help visualize the Idea. I took the X-H1 as a starting point and adjusted the dials how i would imagine it. The X-H1 has a display, many manual dials and great ergonomics. Since this was only done with Paint and GIMP, it has his flaws and the Idea has some issues, but let me present it and tell you what I changed:
– Of course, the record buttons are red, like on a true cinema camera
– flash sync is a red record button, because every cine-cam has record buttons everywhere !! Also Flash Sync has no value
– the AF isn’t needed for video, because it’s always AF-C, so it’s a Shutter Dial. Options are Auto, Manual and of course, 180°, which would be the default. if you need 90 or 270, you could use the M and Dial it in.
– I removed the strap things. I would like these integrated ones, but my Gimp skills aren’t as advanced
– ISO still there, I marked the 200 and 3200 to have a visual where the second base ISO is to have anything done there
– The Command Dial is my favorite Part.. since the shutter speeds are in the front, we have this dial free for us.
– It has C1-C6 for custom stuff and some recipes (it’s still a Fuji)
– Eterna gets a special place with orange color to be the default
– There is a special LOG part with 3 dedicated custom settings. only difference, they are based on FLOG settings (see screen with FLOG 2c as the “film sim”)
– theoretically your should be able to set more FLOG custom settings on C1-C6, but these should be dedicated for it without remembering which C has FLOG. Also it looks nice, doesn’t it?
– HLG for fun. It’s part of Fujis menu, so I think it deserves a spot.
– and of course one setting for stills. In that case the 180° degree shutter should act as Automatic. And maybe there would be options to get more still custom settings on C1-C6, but that shouldn’t be the focus here. Stills may be useful for checking the framing or exposure.
– the WB button is now a custom button, since most filmmaking will be in manual mode.
– No more on / off, only a zoom lever for Video lenses.. How to turn the camera on? Don’t know yet.
– The screen has T-Stops, Shutter Angle and some more videospecific feature.. Not sure how the X-H2 bodies have it, but codecs, bitrate and compression should be also useful to see.
– well, more red Buttons to record (or use it as a FN button for anything)
– Q moved to the AE-on, which is useless.. not sure what about Af-on, but could maybe be useful for prefocusing before the recording
– The screen is ripped from the X-T100 or 200, can’t remember .. it’s huuuge, I love it. swivvels, but there is no room for a D pad, so Fujirumors will hate me for it.
– The sub-dials .. on the left resolution. on the right the framerate with time-lapse and high-speed
While designing it, I encountered some conflicts. Not everything works.
1. not all frame rates are possible on highest resolution, so it could be annoying getting hints on the screen because 6k High Speed isn’t possible.. you should decide what overrides what.. like HS overrides resolution when recording. Or get a hint on the screen.
2. Dials don’t do well with cages. so when mounts are necessary, it could get in the way of the dials.. solution would be a FX3 styled body frame with mounting points and an overall bigger body. Bigger body would also make a D-pad possible again
3. not as many FN buttons like the others. even when reprogramming the red recording buttons to something else, others have more.. But with the dials you probably need less. D-Pad maybe better than a bigger screen!
4. That design wouldn’t translate well with smaller bodies like the X-S20 with less dials. It somehow only makes sense with all dials.
5. If I had one Dial more, I would use it for the built in ND filter, but realistically it wouldn’t fit in this body, so i left it out.
6. There needs to be a built in fan, which I am unable to add to it in GIMP
7. looking at the FX3, Nikon ZR and Canon C50, none of them have EVF. So alternatively this could be designed on a bigger X-M5 body with 2 sub dials added and a better grip
There might be some more bad design choices here, but I would enjoy something like this. I am not on any forum or anything else to share this idea, so I wanted to ask you for your opinion.
best regards,
Francisco