Earlier today Fujifilm has released firmware updates for six Fujifilm X and GFX cameras. You can read all details and access the download links here.

According to a survey we have launched recently, most of you guys prefer to use the good old-fashioned SD-Card way to update your gear.

Personally I’ve switched to updating via camera remote App. The reason is simple: it’s much faster, easier and convenient than updating via SD-Card.

So I definitely recommend to give it a try.

But how does it work?

Well, Fujifilm has given precise instruction on how to do it, but there is one thing that should be mentioned in addition to Fuji’s instruction to avoid updating via App becomes a frustrating experience.

Don’t make the error to connect your phone to the camera the same way you do it when you want to transfer images from your camera to your phone (hence connect via Wifi and fiddle around with the App and Camera to establish a connection).

Nothing of all that is needed.

You can simply leave your camera in live view. Just make sure that it has Bluetooth enabled. Everything will happen automatically and needs just few clicks once you have downloaded the firmware file on your phone.

So the process looks like this:

1. make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your camera and on your smartphone
2. download the firmware for your camera on your smartphone
3. once downloaded, click “update” on your phone first and then “OK” on your camera
4. you camera will ask you to connect via WiFi to your phone. Click “Connect” on your phone [in my video below you read “verbinden”, which is the German word for “connect”]
5. once connected via Wifi, your phone will start to transfer the firmware file to your camera
6. as soon as your camera has received the full file, it will automatically start with the firmware update [you don’t need your phone anymore once the firmware upgrade started on your camera]
7. switch off the camera when the camera tells you to do so

It’s very easy, and for your convenience I have made a short video that shows the process down below.

Many are afraid that there could be issues due to network instability or what not. But don’t worry about that. You only need Wifi connection to quickly transfer the firmware file from your phone to the camera. The firmware update itself is performed by your camera independently only once it has received and saved the full firmware file from your smartphone to its own memory. So don’t be afraid of losing connection with the phone during the firmware update itself. Your camera is doing its stuff by its own at that point and the smartphone is not needed anymore.

Remember:

• use a fully charged battery on your camera
• updates are cumulative, so no matter what firmware update you currently have on your camera, you can right away update to the latest version (hence skip intermediate firmware updates)

Fujifilm published its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2021 (April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022).

Great sales for the Instax products and a special mention also to the strong performance of digital cameras, especially the Fujifilm GFX100S. Down below all the details.

Fujifilm published a new episode of their secret development story.

This time they talk about Fujinon lenses, more precisely about AF motors, lens perfection vs lens character and also about optical image stabilization.

They also explain why they removed the OIS switch on some lenses, and that the notion that you should always turn it off when shooting on a tripod is no longer accurate.

This is something we already said in the past, but Fujifilm goes a bit more in depth about it today. However, this is all automatically Google translated by YouTube, so while I did my best to try to get it summarized for you guys (with my son trying to climb on me while I was reading and typing), if any FR-reader has some skills in Japanese and would like to sum it up better for us, feel free to do so and share your recap in the comments down below or via email at fujirumor@gmail.com.

• Red Badge lenses: great image quality and fast autofocus. Also weather resistant
• red badge lenses represent Fujifilm’s highest technical level, flagship lenses
• first red badge lenses where Fuji’s constant f/2.8 zooms
• then came the XF200mmF2, and extraordinarily amazing lens
• XF50mmF1.0 emphasis is on smooth bokeh rather than on ultimate resolution
• the new 18mmf/1.4, 23mmF1.4 and 33mmF1.4 focus on resolution
• Fujifilm tries to give lenses a different character, based on their purpose of use [and as the Sigma CEO said, making a perfect lens is way easier than making a lens with character. Which is why I LOVE my good old XF35mmF1.4 R – see it in action here in Barcelona]
• then Fujifilm explains what the various markings on the lens mean
• R for aperture ring, LM for linear motor, OIS for optical image stabilization and WR for weather resistance
• autofocus speed is getting faster and faster
• there are also other AF motors, like stepping motors, DC motors etc [Fuji Guy Billy elaborated them all very nicely here]
• you have to place the AF motor in a way that it won’t create shake in the lens
• linero motor is the smoothest and fastest AF motor option [and of course it has its downsides too, as Fuji Guy Billy explained here]
• some Fujinon lenses have lost the OIS switch (for example the XF70-300mmF4-5.6 and the the XF16-80mmF4)
• usually it is recommended to switch off OIS when shooting on a tripod
• but on some lenses Fujifilm now recommends to keep OIS turned ON when shooting on a tripod
• but honestly, the time when it’s better to keep OIS on or OFF when shooting on a tripod is not so easy to determinate and it’s actually quite complicated
• Fujifilm has developed a system where the camera will decide if it is better to keep optical image stabilization ON or OFF
• please let the camera decide how to deal with OIS
• Fujifilm did remove the physical OIS switch on the lens to make sure it is the camera to take the decisions [but you can always turn it off in the menu, if you want to have control over it]

You can see the full video down below.

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