As you can see from the screenshot below, the official Fujifilm page writes:
The FUJIFILM GFX System and X Series Camera Body and Camera Kit Product Savings and Promotional Offers are effective from August 4 – September 28, 2019 or while dealer supplies last.
However, it seems that the Fujifilm summer deals last day is actually today, September 29. So you have a few more hours to grab the super discounted Fujifilm X-H1.
The X-H1 is currently back-ordered in many stores, but of course you can place your order now, and then get it shipped at the discounted price once Japan ships again fresh new samples from their factory.
The camera itself is currently back-ordered in many stores, but of course you can place your order now, and then get it shipped at the discounted price once Japan ships again fresh new samples from their factory.
Fujifilm Manager Toshihisa Iida has released an interview to the Japanese website newswitch, which you can read summed up and translated in its main points below.
But before we go ahead, I want to highlight one thing Toshihisa Iida said:
This means that Fujifilm plans to release an updated roadmap within this year, which fits with what we rumored a few days ago here.
But how many lenses can we expect to be announced in 2020? Toshihisa Iida said:
To date, we have announced an average of 5 or 6 new products each year. […] We are not going to slow that pace”
Also in this case, this fits with what we already told you back in 2017, when our sources told us that Fuji’s schedule is to release 2/3 GF lenses and 2/3 X lenses a year.
If you click the video above (which will start at 4:55), you will see it compared side by side to the IBIS on the Sony a7iii. The difference is hugely in favor of the Fujifilm X-H1. Actually it’s that bad on the Sony a7III, that one might think IBIS was disabled.
On the Sony IBIS side, things do not really get better with the smaller Sony A6600.
“in some cases tuning on IBIS on Sony A6600 almost gives as shaky results as with IBIS turned OFF“.
Don’t get me wrong, Sony is great and we are all lucky to have such a wonderful camera manufacturer on the market. They deserve all the success they have, and in some areas they lead the pack (eye-aufofocus).
But sometimes, like IBIS and weather sealing (as reported here), one could get the impression Sony wants to put those specs on paper as a selling point, but they don’t really put all the R&D necessary to make them work at their best.
Not sure if Fujifilm should do the same, meaning don’t care much about how well the IBIS on their smaller X-T prototypes currently works, and just release an X-T4 or X-T40 with IBIS as soon as possible.
At the end of the day it will show up on the specs sheets, and hence become a selling point, no matter how well or not it works.
Or maybe Fujifilm should remain obsessed by how well their stuff actually works, and just wait until their smaller IBIS unit works properly.
Fujifilm X-H1, Still Worth Buying?
So, is the Fujifilm X-H1 still worth buying?
Well, now that you can get it with vertical grip and 2 additional batteries for $999 only, there can be only 1 possible answer: I don’t know, it’s up to you! :)
But if your answer is “yes”, then you have on big problem: the Fujifilm X-H1 is back-ordered on many stores, so good luck finding one.
Sometimes I wonder, why do I stick with APS-C and plague myself into a world full of photographic shortcomings?
It’s frustrating, for example recently, when I edited an image of my wife watching a sunset.
I exposed for the highlights, and my wife turned out basically pitch black, you can’t even see her shiny yellow dress.
Now watch the image below (or link to the video) and see how impossible it was to recover her with my APS-C Fujifilm X-E3 file. I needed hours and hours of editing, but it turned out completely unusable anyway. A memory thrown away due to my underperforming APS-C camera.
But my case is just one of many that fall under the section #photosfujicanttake.
So, I will list a few more images exposing the terrible shortcomings of Fujifilm APS-C, all shared at our Fujifilm X-T User group, which is full of depressed photographers dreaming of full frame or even medium format.
Sure, some brave guys try to compensate for the immense APS-C limitations with creativity and skills, but that’s not going to work at the end. We all know true photography is all about specs, 500% magnification and 10+ stops push.
I know it’s hard to digest, but the images below show that APS-C simply can’t deliver. Luckily Apple gave us a Pro photographer iPhone 11 Max. I think I am going to try with that one.
Ideal focal length range for an “always on” and travel zoom lens
Excellent image quality over the entire focal length range
Low minimum focus distance (MFD)
Appealing Bokeh (my subjective opinion)
Solid build and weather-resistant
Constant aperture and marked aperture ring
Fast and silent autofocus
6-stop-OIS with automatic tripod and panning detection
No hotspots with infrared photography (R72, X-T3)
Cons
Slightly larger and heavier than the XF18-55mm kit zoom: ideal for cameras like the X-T3 and X-H1, but maybe a little too bulky for the X-T30, X-T100 or X-A7
The pronounced digital barrel distortion correction at 16mm results in a minor but visible sharpness reduction at the edges and in the corners
The Pinhole Pro X 18-36mm has raised over $300,000 already on kickstarter and people seem to be very interested in this lens. The current kickstarter campaign also pushed sales of the already available pinhole lenses for Fujifilm X
