DPRTV Fujinon GF30mm f/3.5 Review: “Impressively Sharp, Who Needs a Wildlife Lens Anymore ;). Totally Recommended, Except for One Thing…”

DPReview TV has now published their Fujinon GF30mm f/3.5 hands on review, which was filmed with a GF30mm F/3.5 mounted on a Fujifilm GFX100.

The lens is another winner, and can easily keep up with the 100 megapixel of the Fujinon GFX100.

At some point of the video, he took a video of the forest, with a deer far away in the distance, and then cropped in and says “who needs a wildlife lens anymore“. Of course he said it as a joke, and the GF30mmF3.5 can’t replace a proper wildlife lens, but it was also a statement made to underline that with the combination GFX100 and GF30mmF3.5 you are in photographic crop-heaven.

The biggest problem with the GF30mmF3.5? Well, there is the GF32-64mmF4 (compare both lenses specs & price here).

You can find the video above and summary of the video down below:

  • 24mm full frame equivalent
  • is surprises how compact it is: just over 500g
  • 58mm filter thread
  • very chunky aperture ring and two-step phase between aperture ring and focus ring means you are not going to confuse where your fingers are
  • a very nice tactile experience
  • basically no real chromatic aberration and longitudinal chromatic aberration
  • about 32 cm minimum focus distance, hence you can get fairly close to objects and with that 3.5 aperture get nice and soft background
  • flare is pretty average, lots of ghosting. Sometimes you see rainbow pattern, but that’s not the lens, it’s reflection coming from the sensor, which you can see on a lot of modern cameras
  • autofocus speed is fine, it is not super fast, but on medium format you don’t need ultra fast focussing lenses
  • bokeh is not Chris’ favorite, not the greatest out there, a little bit busy around the edges, and gets more busy if you stop down the lens, but that’s not the end of the world on a wide angle lens
  • it’s a very sharp lens, especially wide open Chris was quite impressed. Very impressive at f/3.5 from center to corner, and corners sharpen up more really nicely if you stop down
  • he took a shot of a deer from far away and cropped in and said “who needs a wildlife lens” (of course joking, but to underline how sharp this lens really is)
  • like the other GF lenses, also this one is optically excellent lens
  • it’s capable of supporting the 100 megapixel resolution of the GFX100
  • nice compact lens, balance nice on GFX50R
  • as for video, the GFX100 got a recent firmware update that supports ProRes Video
  • in video, the lens has very little breathing
  • the entire episode was shot on the GF30mm f3.5
  • compact, fairly wide aperture lens for your GFX system, Chris would totally recommend it, except for one thing: there is also the excellent GF32-64mmF4
  • the GF30mmF3.5 is a little bit better optically compared to the the GF32-64, but the IQ of the 32-64 is great, too
  • but if you like primes, or if you maybe have already the GF45-100mmF4, this could be your lens

The Fujinon GF30mm f/3.5 is now in stock.

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Fujifilm X-T4 vs Sony A7III vs Panasonic S1H, Fuji X-T4 from a Sony User Perspective, X-T4 for Wildlife Photography & Much More

Available Now here – JYJZPB NP-W235 2250mAh Replacement Battery for Fujifilm, 2-Pack Camera Batteries with Battery Charger for Fujifilm X-T4 

Fujfiilm X-T4

The Fujifilm X-T4 hit the market a few months ago, but overall passed a bit unnoticed, as, you know, the world was busy handling with other issues in the last few months.

But the X-T series is and remains the one camera line, that gives Fujifilm the biggest financial success, and as a consequence the camera line most X shooters own.

So, today we dedicate a roundup to the Fujifilm X-T4, a camera that is giving great satisfaction to owners (me included).

In today’s roundup, we have:

  • X-T4 feedback we received from FR-reader Tom
  • comparisons with Sony A7III and Panasonic S1H
  • a review from a Sony user perspective
  • a review of X-T4 for wildlife photography
  • and much more

Some of the videos come with handy FujiRumors-made summary ;).

FujiRumors is on Patreon, Facebook, Instagram, RSS-feed, Youtube, Flipboard and Twitter

→ Top X-T Community: Fujifilm X-T facebook group
→ Top X-T Page: Fujifilm X-T Page

The Big Roundup

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Fujifilm USA Explains How You Can Become a Fujifilm Ambassador in 3 Steps and Announces X Photographers Program Changes

Fujifilm USA has just announced a change in their Fujifilm X Photographers program and they included a guide on how to become an official Fujifilm X Photographer.

You can read all the details below. In short:

  • Step 1: become a Fujifilm Collaborator
  • Step 2: become a Fujifilm Creator
  • Step 3: become a Fujifilm X Photographer

Fujifilm will launch a special “creator website” in August 2020, where you can learn more and start your journey to become a Fujifilm X photographer. From 2020 to 2024, you’ll have the opportunity to become a Fujifilm Collaborator first, and then a Fujifilm Creator.

Then, in 2024, Fujifilm Creators can apply to become a Fujifilm X photographer and Fujifilm will select some of them.

Also, the Fujifilm X photographers program will get a 4 years cycle, giving greater opportunities for new talents to have their turn.

But there is more!

Fujifilm will already select 10 new Fujifilm X photographers within October 2020 among the initial group of FUJIFILM Creators.

More details below.

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Press Release

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Pure Travel Photography in Sri Lanka with the Fujifilm X-Pro3 and No Display

guest post by Andy Gawlowski – worldwidewax.ch

Back than in 2016 it was FUJIFILM X-Pro2 which I was able to test for my travel photography in Morocco (Article FUJI RUMORS) . I was so impressed by the camera that I sold my entire Canon full frame system and switched to FUJIFILM. The camera was small and light, it looked damn good and took simply great pictures. Especially the compact form factor was an unbeatable argument for my travel photography. One of the pictures I took in the port of Essouira even made it into the Top 50 in the “Travel” category of the Sony World Photography Awards 2017.

In autumn 2019 FUJIFILM released its successor the X-Pro3. The announcement immediately caught my attention. Especially, when I heard about the unusual design concept. At first glance the camera doesn’t have a display on the back where you can review your photos. The X-Pro3 has a rear display that you first “cumbersomely” have to open to see and use it. The intention behind it is relatively clear. FUJIFILM wants to encourage photographers to focus more on the process of taking pictures rather than constantly looking at the display to review their images. This is very reminiscent of the days of analog film photography and is also a concept that was already been tried by Leica. By the way this constant checking of photos is called “chimping” and can lead to losing attention and reference to the scenery in the current photographic moment. It’s something I used to observe with myself for quite a while but was luckily able to turn off. With time you simply get more self-confidence in your abilities and therefore you have to look at the display less often.

FUJIFILM Switzerland was kind enough to lend me the X-Pro3 with the FUJINON 14mm f/2.8 lens for my two-week trip to Sri Lanka. I intentionally limited myself to only one lens in order to give my full attention to the camera itself.

First impression

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Camera GP Japan 2020 Awards: Sony Wins Big and Fujifilm GFX100 Grabs the Editors Award

The Fujifilm GFX100 won the Camera GP Japan 2020 Editors Award, said to be the most prestigious camera award in Japan.

Now, I don’t know much about this specific award, but overall I wrote an article in the past about the dubious meaningfulness of such awards. But hey, better to win something than not to win.

It is totally subjective, but personally I rejoice much more when other awards are won, for example when photographers using Fujifilm cameras win hands down at the 2020 Word Press Photo awards.

Think at this:

None of the Fujifilm X shooters creaming off all the top awards at the World Press Photo 2020 used the most powerful camera on the market: an X-Pro2, an X100F, an X-H1 and others. But each of these cameras has its character, its peculiar look and feel, build ergonomically around the different needs of different photographers, and hence the tool many chose, to go out and grab award winning images.

Personally I also prefer to use a camera that fits my shooting style, rather than one with the power of a playstation, as I know I will get better results out of the first one.

This is also the reason, why the Fujifilm GFX100 made me salivate on specs level, but personally (as a guy, who does not make a penny out of his photography) I would not buy one, at least not until it looks like this Fujifilm GFX concept.

When I picked up the Fujifilm GFX100 and tested it, it was the first Fujifilm camera I ever hold in my hands, that I had to spend time just to figure out how to operate it.

You know what I mean?

I mean, give me an X-Pro2, X100V or X-T4, and thanks to their intuitive layout and manual controls, I can shoot right away, without any need of a manual or even setting up anything at the menu.

Specs are nice and good. But esthetics, ergonomics, feel and usability are more inspiring for me than mere specs, and therefore help me to keep my passion, fun and inspiration for photography high and fresh.

With that said, here you get it: the list of Camera JP Japan 2020 winners.

The big winner is Sony.

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Fujifilm Press Release

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World Press Photo Camera Brand Statistics: Fujifilm Grabs the Top Awards, Canon Most Represented but DSLR Declining

We just reported, how Fujifilm X shooters just grabbed the top winning awards at the World Press Photo Award.

Now the Spanish site photolari made its usual World Press Photo statistic, where they sum up all the winners by brand.

Canon is still the most represented, but Fujifilm X shooters are those, who won the most prestigious awards.

FujiRumors has listed all winning cameras for each category in this post here.

Down below you can see all the stats, also compared to previous years. From 2017 to 2020, DSLR passed from 88.8% to 64.3%, and in the same period, mirrorless grew from 5.55% to 23.7%.

Overall there were 45 images awarded (1st, 2nd and 3rd place) for 8 categories. FujiRumors has listed them all here.

Again, the two most prestigious overall awards went to Fujifilm X Shooters ;).

Camera Brand Charts

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

It’s a Triumph: FUJIFILM Wins Top 2 World Press Photo Awards and Even More… Despite not Being Full Frame ;)

Forget TIPA… there are other awards that count!

And I must come back to talk about the World Press Photo Awards, because we missed to highlight something in our previous post here.

In fact, not only Yasuyoshi Chiba won the World Press Photo Award with an image he took with his Fujifilm X-H1.

But in the stories categories, it was Romain Laurendeau to win, with his Fujifilm X100 series cameras.

Hence, the top 2 World Press Photo awards go all to fellow Fujifilm X shooters!

  • World Press Photo of the Year – Yasuyoshi Chiba – Fujifilm X-H1
  • World Press Photo Story of the Year – Romain Laurendeau – Fujifilm X100, X100T, X100S

And if that’s not good enough, Fujifilm X shooters won the first, second and third prize also in other categories!

Hey Jared… are you really sure about that Fuji, LOL? ;)

General News

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Fujifilm X-H1 Snaps Top Winning Image at the World Press Photo Awards, but Canon is Still Top

Ok, this is a mandatory update to our previous post World Press Photo Award post here.

In our previous article, based on the statistics made by thephoblographer, we reported how most of this years’s award winners used Fujifilm and Nikon cameras. ThePhoBlographer writes:

The big winners are Fujifilm and Nikon in terms of camera manufacturers.

More specifically, these were the Fujifilm cameras used: Fujifilm X-H1, X-T3, X-Pro2, GFX100, X100F, X100T, X100S, X100, X-T10)

I was thrilled about it, and reported about it here. And I trusted the great guys over at thephoblographer, who keep delivering great content for the photography community. Honestly I didn’t check it by myself, as today its my birthday, and I have a day planed with my wife at home, cooking and (a bit) drinking ;).

But it turns out, as our fellow FR-readers noticed, the real statistics are a bit different than the one shared at the thephoblographer.

Fujifilm and Nikon are still strongly represented.

In fact, the most prestigious award for the best “General News” image was taken by Yasuyoshi Chiba with his Fujifilm X-H1.

But the most used camera brand overall, was still a Canon.

And yet, year after year, Fujifilm saw a constant rise in terms of awards at the World Press Photo contest. DSLR a constant decline. And yes, it really looks like APS-C is more than enough to take an image worth one of the most prestigious awards on the world.

Maybe, one day, even some popular vlogger like Mr. Jared will be able to take some decent shots with APS-C cameras ;).

Now the ranking:

Camera by brand:
Canon 31,37%
Fuji 17,65%
Nikon 15,69%
Sony 9,80%
DJI 3,92%
Leica 1,96%
Unknown 19,61%

Camera by sensors:
FullFrame 58,82%
APS-C 15,69%
Medium Format 1,96%
Unknown 23,53%

Camera by type:
SLR 43,14%
Mirrorless 33,33%
Drone 3,92%
Unknown 19,61%

Last year Fuji was 10.5%, now is 17.6%, mirrorless was 13% and now is 33%…

This year Fujifilm won the top award. But also in the past years, Fujifilm was well represented. Look at the awards won in the past few years:

And now, here are the most used cameras this year.

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Fujifilm X-T4 Press Release Leaked

Down below you can find the press release for the Fujifilm X-T4 leaked by nokishita. Some key points:

  • 30% more quiet shutter than X-T3
  • huge AF improvement
  • tracking success rate has been doubled compared to the X-T3
  • face/eye detection dramatically improved
  • 6.5 stops IBIS with 18 X mount lenses out of 29
  • IBIS has magnetic force rather than springs
  • X-T4 IBIS is 30% smaller and 20% lighter than X-H1’s IBIS
  • shutter durability with 300,000 actuations (double the X-T3)
  • 240 fps at Full HD
  • Video in the same format can be recorded on to two SD cards at the same time as backup
  • new battery with 500 shots in normal mode and 600 in economy mode (X-T3 has 390 shots in normal mode)
  • The “Fix movie crop magnification” function fixes the video crop rate to prevent changes in the angle of view when switching to a different video mode.
  • An “MIC jack setting” on the camera can be switched input level between MIC level and LINE level. The camera supports external microphones as well as LINE level input from external audio equipment.

THE TIME: Fujifilm X-T4 announcement at 9PM San Francisco time of February 25 – LIVE BLOGGING on FUJIRUMORS

Fujifilm X-T4: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / FocusCamera

→ Top X-T Community: Fujifilm X-T facebook group
→ Top X-T Page: Fujifilm X-T Page

Press Text

The X-T4 uses the back-illuminated 26.1MP X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor and a high-speed image processing engine, the X-Processor 4. Combined with FUJIFILM’s colour reproduction technology, the X-T4 delivers a wide variety of options so you can recreate a scene exactly as you remember it.

IBIS provides 5-axis 6.5 stop image stabilisation when used with 18 out of 29 XF / XC lenses. It offers many new components, including new materials to the base part, a refined layout of the shutter’s shock-absorbing structure and newly developed gyro sensors that boast approx. 8 times the detection accuracy of the IBIS unit in the X-H1. This particular mechanism assists night photography and sports photography, and also helps video recording in situations prone to camera shake. The new IBIS unit uses magnetic force rather than springs, which boosts functionality while making it approx. 30% smaller and 20% lighter than X-H1’s image stabilisation mechanism.

Thanks to newly developed high-torque coreless DC motor, the ultra-fast focal plane shutter has the capability to shoot up to world’s fastest 15fps in burst mode, and has advanced response performance with a shutter release lag of just 0.035 seconds. The shutter unit also boasts double the durability with 300,000 actuations and offers shutter noise approx. 30% quieter compared to the X-T3.

The 1.62 mil dots vari-angle monitor allows for more creative and versatile shooting styles.
The LCD/EVF can be boosted in three different ways, Low Light Priority – allowing users to see the subject clearly in low light, Resolution Priority – displaying even the fine details of your subject and Frame Rate Priority which minimises blur in the viewfinder when shooting a moving subject. The eyecup now has a locking mechanism to prevent tearing or dislodgement.
The Boost / Normal modes are now joined by the Economy mode, which saves the power to increase the battery life.

The X-T4 features “ETERNA Bleach Bypass” a new Film Simulation mode, that uses FUJIFILM’s unique technology to provide versatile colour tones. The new mode simulates “bleach bypass,” which is a traditional processing technique for silver halide films; creating images with low saturation and high contrast for a special atmosphere.
Highlight and shadow tones from -2 to +4 can now be adjusted by 1/2 stops, instead of 1 stop, allowing for finer tonality, and White Balance now has “White Priority” and “Ambience Priority” options in addition to “AUTO.” The “White Priority” mode reproduces a stronger white, while the “Ambience Priority” produces a warmer tone.
When “RAW” is selected, users now choose the non-reversible “Compressed” option in addition to the reversible “Lossless Compressed.”

A new algorithm and phase detection AF’s processing capability has led to autofocus performance as fast as 0.02 seconds. This ensures that users can capture and track a subject moving at high speed, especially when combined with the continuous shooting performance of 15fps in post view and 8fps in live view.
Tracking AF performance has also undergone serious enhancement. The tracking success rate has been doubled compared to the X-T3. The Face / Eye AF performance has also been dramatically improved. This enhanced tracking ability has made focusing and taking portraits even easier than ever before.

The X-T4 is capable of recording Full HD high-speed video at 240P, producing up to 10x slow-motion effect. IBIS is effective when combined with the electronic image stabilization function (DIS) for use in the video mode, and brings even more image stabilisation, which is essential for users shooting video whilst walking.
The “IS (Image Stabilisation) Boost” mode mitigates gentle camera shakes, enabling stabilised fixed-point video recording without a tripod.

The stills and video modes now have separate menus and the video-only Quick Menu (Q Menu) button has enhanced the camera’s simplicity while recording video. A ”Movie optimised control” function has been introduced; users can adjust exposure with the command dial as well as the touchscreen panel. With this function, user can switch the STILL / MOVIE mode dial on the top panel to swiftly shift into video recording with stored video settings.

Video in the same format can be recorded on to two SD cards at the same time as backup. And the F-Log View Assist function has been added to correct low-saturation / low-contrast video while recording F-Log. Video is converted equivalent to BT.709 for display to make it easier to attain correct exposure in video recording.

The “Fix movie crop magnification” function fixes the video crop rate to prevent changes in the angle of view when switching to a different video mode. An “MIC jack setting” on the camera can be switched input level between MIC level and LINE level. The camera supports external microphones as well as LINE level input from external audio equipment.

– via nokishita

Photokina 2020: Nikon, Leica and Olympus Drop Out! And Where is Fujifilm?

As you know, I have been to photokina two times (2016 report here – 2018 report here).

Both times it was fantastic, just for the sheer magnitude of the event.

But then, in my opinion, Photokina did an error: they dropped their 2 years cycle and decided to take place every year in May.

I immediately disagreed with decision, and when I said on FujiRumors, that Photokina will now become a smaller, regional show, many in the comments critiqued my idea, saying that Photokina is Photokina, and will always remain the go to place for all manufacturers (and camera vloggers/bloggers).

But at some point I remember even Fujifilm US manager Steve saying that Fujifilm organized big product launches in conjunction with Photokina, but that will be no longer be the case.

Well, turns out I was right… and actually seems to be even worse than I thought.

In fact, Photokina writes:

“We look forward to strong demand and applications from both the new and the classic segments of companies like Canon, CEWE, GoPro, Sony, Panasonic, Kodak Alaris, Sigma, Tamron, Carl Zeiss, Hasselblad, Hahnemühle, Arri, Rode Mikrophones, DJI and Insta360”, says Christoph Werner, Vice President of Koelnmesse. These are contrasted by cancellations, including from Leica, Nikon and Olympus.“

Leica, Nikon and Olympus dropped out of the show. That’s a huge loss for Photokina. Especially Leica and Nikon always had massive booths.

Still on board are Sony, Sigma, Panasonic, Canon and others.

And Fujifilm?

Well, the official Photokina press release does not yet mention Fujifilm, neither in the list of companies, who will be present, nor in the list of those, who dropped out. Whatever that means.

FujiRumors at Photokina 2020?

While going to photokina was always a huge fun, I very likely won’t go there in 2020.

In fact, a visit to photokina always comes during my teaching work job, and it has always been cumbersome to change the lesson schedule to be replaced for several days (and once back from photokina, I had to work A LOT to give back the extra hours my colleagues had to work to replace me).

Photokina is no longer Photokina, and I think it’s not worth anymore all the hassle it brings to me and my colleagues at work.

But you know what?

At least I can say, I was still there, when Photokina was still the epicenter of the photography world.

via SonyAlphaRumors via Photokina

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