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SAMSUNG talks about ISOCELL Plus Next Sensor Generation in Cooperation with FUJIFILM

Fujifilm & Samsung

Back in 2018 Samsung and Fujifilm officially announced the development of a new CMOS image sensor technology for enhanced light sensitivity and color fidelity, called ISOCELL Plus sensor

The evolution of the first generation ISOCELL sensor was made possible by a special material developed by Fujifilm, which allowed it to remove the metal grid between single pixels, hence for more light to hit the sensor.

On July 1, 2019, Samsung published another article with additional details about ISOCELL Plus. You can read it summed up in practical bullet points below.

First you have to know about front-side illuminated (FSI) and back-side illuminated (BSI) sensors that:

  • FSI sensors block 20% to 70% of light from the photodiode
  • BSI sensors solved this problem, but there is the pixel crosstalk problem
  • Crosstalk happens when light ment for a specific pixel leaks into the neighboring photodiodes, causing noise in the final image

ISOCELL advantages over FSI and BSI sensors:

  • Thanks to a metal grid between pixels, ISOCELL sensors have 30% less pixel crosstalk compared to BSI sensors
  • increased full well capacity (FWC) by approximately 30%
  • higher color fidelity
  • tack-sharp images
  • greater dynamic range
  • wider chief ray angle (CRA) by capturing more oblique light, which ultimately allows for brighter lenses with wider aperture

ISOCELL Plus Advantages over ISOCELL

  • The metal grids in the ISOCELL sensors reduced crosstalk, but lead to some optical loss as they absorbed incoming light or reflected light to neighboring pixels
  • ISOCELL PLUS replaces the metal grid with an innovative Fujifilm material that minimizes optical loss and light reflection
  • ISOCELL Plus deliver higher color fidelity and up to a 15% enhancement in light sensitivity compared to first generation ISOCELL sensor
  • allows sensors to equip pixels of 0.8-micrometer (µm) or smaller without any performance loss, making it an optimal solution for developing high-resolution cameras
  • ISOCELL Plus will also bring performance enhancements for sensors with larger pixel designs

The technology is ment for smartphones, but it’s not forbidden for us to dream and hope that Fujifilm and Samsung will find agreements to make this sensor find its way into Fujifilm APS-C and MF cameras.

Especially the last sentence, where they say “ISOCELL Plus will also bring performance enhancements for sensors with larger pixel designs“, makes hope for that to happen one day.

Will there be a Samsung sensor in Fujifilm cameras?

If you want to know before anyone else, than just follow FujiRumors.

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Updated Fujifilm 2019/2020 Camera and Lens Release Timeline

Fujifilm Timeline

It’s high time to update our older Fujifilm 2019/2020 camera and lens release timeline.

This is just an approximate timeline and expect to see updates to this list over the next few weeks and months.

For now, this is mainly just an update to the list we shared back in January.

All rumors are as always exclusive FujiRumors.com information. When I just make some guess, I will highlight that for you in the notes.

  • IMPORTANT NOTE: We are talking about release timeline, not announcement timeline.

How Many Lenses a Year?

  • as we told you here, at the current pace and current resources, Fujifilm can release about 2/3 GF and 2/3 XF lenses a year
  • the list below contains 1 XF and 1 GF lens
  • hence we can expect to see 1/2 more XF and 1/2 more GF lenses to join the list
  • Fujifilm has given up options to vote which lenses should come next

Fall 2019

Coming 2020

Expect 1 or 2 more X as well as GF lenses. My guess:

  • GF 21mm F4 Tilt Shift
  • XF 10mm F2

Probably NOT Coming 2019/2020

* our sources say it will not be released in 2019, and probably not even in 2020. But Fujifilm managers confirmed here, that the X-H line will continue

Top Possible Bonus Gear in 2020

* based on this old rumor rumor
** wishful thinking based on XF10 disappointment
*** no rumors. but please, FUJI, PLEASE!!!
**** no rumor, just a mere wild guess

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Towerjazz Explains Why Sony’s Sensor Hegemony is a Problem, the 8K Downsides, the Dynamic Range Challenge and More

The Sensor Business

There was a time, when Fujifilm was making its own sensors.

However, at some point in time, Fujifilm sold its sensor business to Toshiba, which later on sold it to Sony.

As of today (and as far as I know) Fujifilm only makes the color filter array for sensors. Fujifilm also cooperates with Samsung on the ISOcell+ sensor development, which we reported about here.

In short: Sony dominates the sensor market, and most camera manufacturers buy all the sensors they need from Sony.

This gives Sony a huge advantage, as Fujifilm managers Toru Takahashi and Toshihisa Iida said back in 2016 here:

Sony has a big advantage, they make their own sensors. That is a very big advantage for them.

FujiRumors got information years ago, that Fujifilm had a contract with Sony, that allowed them to use the latest Sony sensor only 6 months after Sony used them on their own cameras, giving them a strategic time advantage (timing is crucial in business).

I don’t know if this contract has been changed in the meantime, but what I know is that Sony officially said once, that they will keep the best sensors for themselves, and not sell them to other camera manufacturers.

The Sony Problem

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BHphoto 4th of July Deals: SAVE BIG on Bags, Storage Media, X Mount Samyang 12mmF2, Instax and More

B&H Photo has officially launched their 4th of July deals.

You can save big on hundreds of products. I will include a few down below, as well as provide you the full list of Fujiflm related deals, excluding the official Fujifilm camera/lens deals, which you can see here.

Full list of 4th of July deals here.

Bag Deals

SD-Card Deals

External Storage Media Deals

Apple Deals

Strap Deals

TV Deals

Fujifilm Related Deals

Instax Products

Fujifilm X-T30 Firmware 1.10 Released

The Fujifilm X-T30 firmware 1.1o has been released, just as promised to us back in April.

The firmware update Ver.1.10  – download here

  1. Improvement of Q (quick menu) button operability
    To avoid accidentally pressing the Q (quick) menu, the button has changed to one of Fn(function) buttons. This will allow customers to disable the Q button function and also to allocate the Q (quick) menu to a different Fn button.
  2. Fix of slight defects.

Also, as reported here, Fujifilm has updated all its Fujinon GF lenses to support phase detection AF on Fujifilm GFX100.

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Hasselblad X1D II 50C Announced for $5,750

The Hasselblad X1D II 50C has been announced and it will cost you $5,750. They also announced the XCD 35-75mm f/3,5-4,5.

Product Highlights

  • 50MP 43.8 x 32.9mm CMOS Sensor
  • 16-Bit Color, 14-Stop Dynamic Range
  • Hasselblad Natural Color Solution
  • 0.87x 3.69m-Dot Electronic Viewfinder – original X1D had 2.36MP EVF
  • 3.6″ 2.36m-Dot Touchscreen LCD – original X1D had 3.0″ 920k-Dot monitor
  • Leaf Shutter System, 1/2000 sec Sync
  • ISO 100-25600, Up to 2.7 fps Shooting – original X1D shot at 2.3 fp
  • Dual SD UHS-II Memory Card Slots
  • Built-In Wi-Fi, USB 3.0 Type-C
  • New Processor
  • build-in GPS

Definitely a good price, but still more expensive than th Fujifilm GFX50R (currently $4,000) and Fujifilm GFX50S ($5,500).

This is a fantastic news for Fujifilm GFX lovers, since the more competition there is in the medium format segment, the more companies will fight for customers and offer more features for less price.

Hasselblad X1D II 50C: B&H Photo, AmazonUS, Adorama
Fujifilm GFX 100: B&H Photo, AmazonUS, Adorama, Focuscamera

The GFX Community

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Hasselblad X1D II 50C

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Fujifilm USA Deals Continue and Mega Fujifilm X-T2 Price Drop Now also In Europe

Fujifilm Summer Deals

Last week USA dropped the price of the Fujifilm X-T2 down to $799 (50% off).

Now Europe followed, for example you can find the the Fujifilm X-T2 for £799 in UK. For other EU countries, check out the Fujifilm EU Promo page.

You can see all USA Fujifilm Summer deals here.

Fujifilm X-T2 – Lowest Price Ever

Fujifilm GFX Deals

X Cameras

X mount Prime lenses – save up to $250

X mount Zoom lenses – save up to $200

All Fujifilm Deals

Used Fujifilm Gear

Official Fujifilm Recommended Accessories

SD-Cards

Power Banks

Software

Value Angle of Mirrorless Cameras Explained and Compared

At the last Fujifilm X summit (which we covered and sumed up for you here), Fujifilm talked to us about the “value angle”.

The value angle is not a weird concept invented by Fujifilm, but a factor that influences the whole design and development of a camera system, as well as image quality.

In short: the wider the value angle, the more precise and easier a lens can send light to the sensor. A wider value angle gives more flexibility for lens design and allows for more light and less digital correction.

As you can see below, Fujifilm X has a huge value angle and Sony Full Frame an extremely small value angle, which is why Sigma said that it is a challenge to develop full frame lenses for Sony, especially high quality ones.

Chart below provided by the German site docma.

In German we refer to Full Frame as "Kleinbild" (small format)
In German we refer to Full Frame as “Kleinbild” (small format)

If you want to get an anology with a soccer player hitting the ball, in order to understand it better, we can get the help of an article appeared at the German site docma many months ago.

Google translated version down below.

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Fujifilm X-T2 Drops to $799 – Lowest Price Ever!

The Fujifilm X-T2 just dropped to its lowest price ever, down to $799 (50% off)

BHphoto and Adorama offer various freebies in addition to the massive rebate. So make sure to compare both options and grab the bundle that you like more.

These deals come in addition to the current XF lens summer deals, hence you can save additional money.

X mount Prime lenses – save up to $250

X mount Zoom lenses – save up to $200

X Cameras

Fujifilm GFX Deals

 

Fujifilm Summer Deals, and Don’t Forget to Claim your Free Luminar 3 Copy

Fujifilm Summer Deals

Fujifilm has extended its previous deals. There is no difference to the ones that run in spring, only that now they are called “summer” deals.

You can see all USA Fujifilm Summer deals here.

And in case you bought an XF, XC or MK lens do not forget to download your free copy of Luminar 3. You can find all details at the skylum page here.

Fujifilm GFX Deals

X Cameras

X mount Prime lenses – save up to $250

X mount Zoom lenses – save up to $200

All Fujifilm Deals

Used Fujifilm Gear

Official Fujifilm Recommended Accessories

SD-Cards

Power Banks

Software