Tokina ATX-M (and not ATX-I) Coming for Fujifilm… and are they Just Rebranded Viltrox Lenses?

Recently Tokina announced the launch of three Fujifilm X mount lenses:

  • Tokina atx-m 23mm f/1.4
  • Tokina atx-m 33mm f/1.4
  • Tokina atx-m 56mm f/1.4

There was some confusion also today, because Tokina just launched the Tokina 11-20mm f/2.8 ATX-I, but the site, reporting about it, says that the ATX-I is for Canon and Nikon only, and the ATX-M (the three above) are for Fujifilm.

So, no Tokina 11-20 for Fujifilm for now.

Now, let’s talk about the ATX-M lenses.

As many of you noticed, they looked like rebranded Viltrox lenses. The optical constructions seems identical, but the body seems build slightly different.

Ben Sullivan investigated this topic, comparing the Tokina 85mm f1.8 & Viltrox STM 85mm f1.8. Here is what says:

  • Upon comparing the optical design, Ben saw that the two lenses share a nearly identical composition.
  • The MTF results looks pretty similar too. Tokina says that they’ve used a “proprietary coating” on the 85mm ATX-M, which could account for the moderate resolution difference, along with normal deviation between each individual lens tested.
  • pretty noticeable physical similarities as well
  • Feature wise, there are also quite a few similarities between the two lenses. In fact, the only non-identical spec I found was Tokina’s 0.125x magnification versus the 0.12x magnification listed for the Viltrox. […] It may be that they are indeed identical and that one company simply rounded down from x0.125 and the other rounded up.
  • both Tokina and the Viltrox 85mm lenses currently display as the Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 in CaptureOne Pro
  • Ben reached out to Tokina Japan for an official response
  • Tokina answered “Tokina lenses does not have a relationship with Viltrox
  • Tokina and Viltrox apparently have no business relationship whatsoever.
  • Ben’s best guess would be that Tokina and Viltrox are both working with a well established 3rd party Chinese lens manufacturer that creates prototypes and allows other companies to customize and sell their lenses under their own brand names.
  • This makes oodles of sense if you think about how fantastically well Viltrox did with releasing their first ever lenses for Sony and Fujifilm last year.

You can read the full article at ayrn.io.

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Venus Optics Working on Autofocus Lenses and Laowa 9mm T/2.9 Zero-D Cine Lens Shipping Mid-June for $599

Venus Optics has disclosed further details about the upcoming Laowa 9mm T2.9 Zero-D cine lens, the cine version of the very popular Laowa 9mm F2.8 Zero-D.

  • Zero-D lens with close to zero distortion
  • 113° field of view
  • great for vlogging and gimbal shooting, also architecture and interior
  • 55 filter thread
  • weight: 247 grams
  • all metal build
  • 12cm close focus distance
  • 180° focus throw
  • focus breathing is still visible, but on wide angle lenses it is not as visible as on telephoto lenses
  • price $599
  • shipping mid June
  • comes with dedicated Pelican case

Also interesting, when Cinema5D (video below) asked Kevin from Venus Optics if there will be autofocus lenses at some point, Kevin answers:

We are working on it. Autofocus lenses is one of our targets, but it takes a little bit of time

Now that Fujifilm officially said they open their lens protocols, I hope Venus Optics will have access to them and give us a nice range of AF lenses.

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May Top 10 Posts: Fujifilm X-H2, The Telephoto Problem, GFX MK II, XF Lens Roadmap and New Firmware Rumors, BAYER vs X-TRANS

Here is our roundup of the top ten posts for May.

I hope you had a bit of fun reading all this, and I will work to try to keep the Fuji world fun and interesting also in June and beyond.

  1. Fujifilm Manager: Fujifilm X-H2, The Problem With Telephoto Primes, GFX MK II and IBIS, Fujifilm X80 vs Compact MILC, Fast Primes & More
  2. RUMOR: New Fujinon X Mount Lens Roadmap with One Prime and One Zoom Mark II Lens – Vote Your Favorite
  3. Fujifilm launches “FUJIFILM X Webcam” to Run Your Fujifilm X/GFX Cameras as a Webcam
  4. WARNING: Viltrox Lenses Can Damage Your Fujifilm X-Pro3 (Official Viltrox Statement)
  5. Fujifilm X-T4: About Overheating, X-T4 IBIS vs Olmypus EM-1 III, Comparison with Sony A7IV
  6. Fujifilm BAYER vs X-TRANS Blind Test: 88% of Preferences Go To…
  7. How to Use Your Fujifilm Camera as a Webcam for Free (No Need of Camlink 4K)
  8. Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 R with Aperture Ring Listed at Some Stores: A Dream Come True or a Sweet Illusion?
  9. FUJIFILM Firmware Updates Coming in June for X-T4, X-A7, GFX100 and More?
  10. I Don’t Get it: FUJIFILM X-T4 gets Highly Praised SONY ‘Real-Time Tracking” Feature, but (unlike with Sony) Nobody Talks About it – VIDEO

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Fujifilm Manager: Fujifilm X-H2, The Problem With Telephoto Primes, GFX MK II and IBIS, Fujifilm X80 vs Compact MILC, Fast Primes & More

Fujifilm UK manger Andreas Georghiades returns to the Fujicast postcast.

It’s an almost 1 hour podcast, and if you are in a hurry and can’t listen it all, I provide a summary of everything the manager says, so you can get it all in under 5 minutes.

The Interview Summed Up

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FUJIFILM Fiscal Year 2020: Imaging Division Suffers COVID-19, Operating Income Down 51%, Revenue Down 14%, Strong GFX100/X100V/X-Pro3 Sales

Fujifilm has now published its fiscal report for the fiscal year 2020 (1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020).

Fellow FR-reader Mistral has summarized it in French over at the French forum chassimages. In short:

Fujifilm as a whole is still doing well even if it has not reached the expected goals given the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on its last quarter.

Imaging Solutions is the division with the lowest performance.

Fujifilm records a loss in the last quarter. The decline in sales of digital cameras and their lenses has accelerated throughout the year.

The only positive note: the Fujifilm GFX100 keeps up selling strong, as well as the Fujifilm X100V and Fujifilm X-Pro3 are mentioned positively in the various reports.

Fujifilm Report (Imaging Solution)

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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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Fujifilm EU Deals: Save up to €600/£500 and Fujifilm GFX 50R Gets New Lower Retail Price

Fujifilm USA is offering a bunch of great rebates on Fujifilm X and GFX gear. Full list here.

But also here in good old Europe we have some serious deals going on, that can vary on the country.

The main course of the meal is a €600/£500 rebate on lenses if you purchase a Fujifilm X-T3 or Fujifilm X-T4 (check if available in your country, too).

And, instead offering deals on the Fujifilm GFX50R, like in USA, Fujifilm EU decided to give it a new, permanent lower retail price of €3,499!

 

Fujifilm X-Pro3 Owners Can Return Their Viltrox Lenses and No Problems with Fujifilm X-T4, X-T3 and Other Cameras

Yesterday on FujiRumors we reported how all Viltrox autofocus lenses can damage Fujifilm X-Pro3 cameras. To see an image of the damage, check out this article.

Well, now Viltrox is letting customers know, that Fujifilm X-Pro3 users can return their Viltrox lens. They also say that there is no problem with other cameras, such as the Fujifilm X-T4 and Fujifilm X-T3.

The screenshot above is from an email a FR-reader got from Viltrox.

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WARNING: Viltrox Lenses Can Damage Your Fujifilm X-Pro3 (Official Viltrox Statement)

image from our Fujifilm X-Pro facebook group - damaged X-Pro3 when used with Viltrox 85mm
image from our Fujifilm X-Pro facebook group – damaged X-Pro3 when used with Viltrox 85mm

Viltrox has just issued an official statement, where they say that the Viltrox 23mm f/1.4, Viltrox 33mm f/1.4 and Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 can damage your Fujifilm X-Pro3.

The reason, so I have been told, is that the location of the lens release button on the Fujifilm X-Pro3 is too close to the bayonet.

Here is what Viltrox writes.

1) Kind Reminder for Fujifilm X-Pro3 Users:

For the sake of your camera, it would be better not use Viltrox 23mm, 33mm or 85mm X mount lens onto Fujifilm X-PRO3 model in case it will damage your camera. Due to the structural conflict, they will scratch a little bit against each other. We apologize for any inconvenience caused!

2) Lens Profiles of Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 STM(E) Lens

For your convenience of lens corrections on Photoshop or Lightroom, we have uploaded Lens Profiles of Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 STM(E) Lens on Vitlrox website www.viltrox.com (Home – Download – Firmware – Upgrading

Let’s hope the upcoming Tokina equivalent X mount lenses won’t have this problem.

Down below you can see the original statement document shared by Viltrox.

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Official Statement

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