The Viltrox 33mm f/1.4 will start shipping on April 21, as we reported here.
Of course there are photographers testing the lens, and Viltrox has re-shared all their sample images on Chinese facebook equivalent weibo.
I will share first the (google translated) feedback the various photographer gave, then their images and of course all the links to weibo.
Bearsce says: he overall feeling is pretty good except that the aperture is fully open and the dispersion is a bit large …
Ares_chen says: this lens works really well, and the focusing speed is also very fast , Imaging sharpness and focus are not bad, there will be purple fringes under high light ratio
Last week Viltrox also shared some autofocus demo videos, which I share for your convenience also on my youtube channel.
The latest BCN ranking has just been published. It collects data of about 40% of the Japanese electronics and online stores. Here is what they see:
in March, camera sales were down 49.5% compared to March last year
Sony dropped to 44.5%, Olympus to 54.9%, and Canon to 32.3%
Only Fujifilm grew 115.6%. It has the fourth largest market share
They write:
In the rankings by series, Canon’s “EOS Kiss M” beat the Olympus “OLYMPUS PEN E-PL9” by a small margin to gain the top position. Sony ranks No. 1 by manufacturer and ranks No. 3 at “α6400”. As for Fujifilm’s soaring rise, “FUJIFILM X-A5” ranked 6th, and “FUJIFILM X-E3” ranked 9th. (Daisuke Okura, BCN)
Nice to see the Fujifilm X-E3 doing well. And hence even more disappointing that Fujifilm decided to axe it!
Also, keep in mind that in the last 6 months Fujifilm was extremely busy and launched lots of cameras, from the X-Pro3 to the X-T200, X100V and ultimately the X-T4 (the latter one not included in the raking, though). All this, while other manufacturer were not nearly as active.
And yet, nice to see this sales performance boost. It’s well deserved for a camera company, that makes some of the most inspiring photographic tools out there.
News is news, so I share it. But I wrote a very informative piece about these awards in the past. So, if you want to read how the business around (some of these) awards goes, check out this article.
Fujifilm wins the internationally prestigious Red Dot Design Award with 23 products
– In recognition of good design quality and functionality in products of various business fields – High precision lens film for inkjet printing is awarded the “Innovative Product Award,” given to products with outstanding innovation potential
10 days ago, the Japanese youtube channel カメラのキタムラ published two interviews with a Fujifilm manager talking about the Fujifilm X-T4.
Each video is 13 minutes long, and I didn’t understand a single word, so I had to rely on the automatic google translator tool, which also had its struggles.
But I went through it, and here are the things I think I could understand.
If some Japanese FR-reader has time, you can do a summary and share it in the comments below.
Iridient X-Transformer 1.6.4 is now available with support for the Fujifilm X-T4 and updates for other recently released models (X100V, X-Pro3, X-T200) to sync them up with the very latest Adobe DNG Converter 12.2 (and CC) versions for color profile and white balance calibration metadata.
This update also modifies the Lightroom plug-in so that normal (JPEG, TIFF, etc) images can be used for selection of images for conversion to DNG, as long as the associated RAF is present along side the standard image. This makes selection of images with old versions of Lightroom that may lack support for newer models RAF much easier, particularly if shooting JPEG+RAW mode as you can just import the JPEGs and use them for selects right from Lightroom.
BHphoto will host a Fujifilm Demo Zone Event on Wednesday, March 11, where you can touch and try the latest and greatest Fujifilm gear and chat with Fujifilm experts.
So, if you want to put your hands on the Fujifilm X-T4, X100V, X-Pro3 and more, you can register for the event here.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020 11:00 AM ET – 4:00 PM ET
Speakers: Fujifilm
Event Type: Photography
Skill Level: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced
Location: B&H Superstore – Second Floor Photo Department
Kevin Mullins and Neale James published episode 55 of the Fujicast. Once again, they host Fujifilm manager Andreas Georghiades.
Of course the main course of the meal is the Fujifilm X-T4, but they cover much more in a 1:23 hour podcast.
Here on FujiRumors we will highlight only what the Fujifilm manager said in regard to the Fujifilm X-T4. You can read it down below (in the podcast starts at min. 1:06:31)
Question: How many more cameras will Fujifilm launch this year?
If Fujifilm Japan will release more cameras this year, the marketing team will resign. Fujifilm marketing UK had the busiest 6 months he can remember. X-Pro3, X-Summit, House of Photography, X-T200, a few lenses, X100V, X-T4…
Question: What does the Fujifilm X-T4 bring, for those who might have been waiting for Fujifilm X-H2, that perhaps the X-H2 doesn’t bring
No comment on future no existent products
The X-T4 ticks all boxes people required when X-T3 was launched (IBIS, selfie screen, bigger battery)
Question: Sony is a strong among wedding photographers. Is the X-T4 a statement “look, there is Fuji now!”
He won’t dis on Sony, the manager used to work for Sony
Sony is a great electronic company
But for him Sony feels a bit soulless
on paper the specs add up, but they do not seem a well rounded package overall
The X-T4 is bashing the door down hard on Sony A7III users: the autofocus performance, the fast and quiet mechanical shutter, the 6.5 stops, it is the complete solution for everybody shooting stills and video
feedback from photographers and journalists is really positive so far
There was some confusion lately, as we saw Fujifilm X-T4 beta samples marked as “made in Japan” and also “made in China”.
Now, I don’t know if this clarifies or further confuses things, but Fujifilm Japan updated its official “made in” pages, and the Fujifilm X-T4 is listed as made in China only.
On the other hand, Fujifilm X100V and Fujifilm X-Pro3 are listed as made in Japan.
This is the official list of Fujifilm Japan at their Q&A page.
I would like to thank all FujiRumors sources, as we were able to share 80% of the specs ahead of launch, and awesome nokishita kindly provided us with the 20% remaining specs later on.
So, our sources just topped themselves this time! Thanks for helping me to create excitement around this fantastic camera, and feel free to keep it up in future.
With that said, there are things, that no specs sheet showed, and hence might have passed unnoticed.
So I went through all the Fujiflm X-T4 first looks we have shared in our massive X-T4 live blogging (I have never seen youtubers so happy with a Fujifilm camera ;) ), and picked out 24 points you might have missed about the Fujifilm X-T4.
Ready?
24 Things You Missed about the Fujifilm X-T4
X-T4 much better rolling shutter than X-T3, probably because of the IBIS, says Cinema5D. I guess this means it has the same rolling shutter, but less visible due to IBIS
there are 3 IBIS mode: IBIS only, IBIS + OIS and IS Boost Mode, that mimics a tripod, hence very steady shot. Better don’t use this last option when panning
Jonas Rask writes: “That stabiliser is one amazing piece of tech! I cannot get over how I could handhold my XF35mm f/1.4 at 1 sec and still get a sharp picture!” This falls right in the middle of what people experienced, so it’s a realistic data
4K60p still has a very slight 1.18x crop. 240fps Full-HD has always a 1.29x crop.
Digital image stabilization has always crop: 1.1x at 4K30 and 1080p and 1.29x at 4K60 and 240fps full hd.
You can lock the 1.29 crop in all video modes if you want
EVF is the same, but Fujifilm says they have tweaked the optics in there (says DPRTV)
F-Log also has a F-Log assist function, that gives you a film simulation preview
‘Focus Check Lock’ option maintains the magnified ‘Focus Check’ view when you start recording, so that it doesn’t immediately jump back out to the whole-image view
dual video recording on separated SD-Cards for back-up
Movie Silent mode has now been renamed “Movie Optimized Control”. Movie Optimized Control because it takes the exposure settings away from the dedicated dials, meaning that you can maintain separate settings for movie and stills shooting.
Battery Charging: if you use the vertical grip, you can charge all three batteries through the USB-C connection on the camera (down below you can see the charging times). Jonas writes: “When using the DC adapter via the USB-C and charging the batteries in camera, you will have a high-speed charging mode. I charged a flat battery from 0%-100% in 24 minutes!”
the mount is reinforced to handle bigger lenses (source – Adorama)
the menu has been updated so you can check the age of the battery (see image below)
new compressed RAW option that makes files even smaller, but it’s a lossy option (not lossless compressed). But saves lots of space. Fujifilm says the quality is ‘about the same as uncompressed’ but there may rarely be a quality difference in the shadow regions of the image
expanded multi exposure modes that allows you to shoot up to 9 frames
below you see a chart on how effective the X-T4 IBIS is on the various lenses
dedicated HDR mode on the sub-dial. Takes 3 shots and creates a RAW file for you with expanded dynamic range
there is “reset” option that is independent for photo and for video. Also, video and stills menu are independent
Gordon from Cameralabs confirms that Fujifilm told him the Fujifilm X-H line will continue and there will be a Fujifilm X-H2 in future. As you know, FujiRumors always told you this, and we also told you back in 2019 that the X-H2 won’t come in 2020… so it’s still a long wait.
And to be precise I quote Gordon:
“it would be easy to assume the X-T4 is simply a merger between X-T and X-H line. But Fujifilm is keen to point out that the X-T4 is very much an evolution of the X-T series and that the X-H series will continue.”
We saw samples of the X-T4 is made in China as well as Japan, which suggest it is made in both countries. Like some XF lenses, that are made in China and also Philippines
you still can not navigate the menu with touch interface
the front dial is still clickable (it’s no longer on the X-Pro3 for example)
White Balance – Jonas writes ““White Priority” and “Ambience Priority” options in addition to “AUTO” White Balance. The new modes have different ways of processing the pure white. The “White Priority” mode reproduces a stronger white, while the “Ambience Priority” produces a warmer tone. I found the “White Priority” to be really well balanced outside in harsh sunlight, while the “Ambience Priority” worked wonders round the dinner table in more subdued indoor lighting.
Still no AF Tracking option in video – it’s all area, specified area or face-detection
lockable and 40% more rigid eye-cup
BONUS from the comments: the dual charger is an extra, and the little flash is no longer included in the box
BONUS: tone curves adjustements in half stops (no longer full stops)
BONUS: you can select the autofocus box size in video (previously you had to deal with a fixed size)
BONUS: new video file format MP4/H.264 AAC. Better video format for uploading to the internet
BONUS: when used with vertical grip, the X-T4 is actually about the same size of X-H1 with vertical grip
