Dan Bailey’s X Journey is a Passionate Tribute to Fujifilm and Photography – Colors, Controls, X-Trans, Fun, Inspiration and More

Dan Bailey is an official Fujifilm X photographer as well as author of several books such as:

Well, in order to celebrate the 10 years of Fujifilm X mount, Dan started sharing his personal X series journey, which started with the Fujifilm X10.

It is a very passionate, honest and captivating tale about how he stumbled on the X series and how his love for this system grew over time.

  • Video 1: Getting the X10, enjoying its power, its colors (and enjoying shooting JPEG instead of RAW) and travel/work with it
  • Video 2: Falling in love with X-Trans, its advantages, getting in touch with Fujifilm, why APS-C and first experience with the Fujifilm X-E1
  • Video 3: not yet online, but all indicates that he is going to cover one of Fuji’s most important camera of all times which made him sell all his Nikon gear

I feel that the passion in telling his journey encapsulates nicely what it means and how it feels to be an X shooter.

the journey of my son starts early, too

 

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

 

Ein Beitrag geteilt von Fuji_Rumors (@fuji_rumors)

Top 10 Features of Modern Fujifilm X/GFX Cameras that Actually Have their DNA in Older Fujifilm Cameras

Did you ever wonder why Fujifilm cameras are so fun to use?

The short answer could be: because (unlike other brands – as SonyAlphaRumors itself admits) Fujifilm has a massive photographic culture that they cherish and honor also in their newest cameras.

Well, inspired by our recent article about the top 10 digital cameras since the launch of the X mount, FR-reader Patrik Roos decided to make a real all time top 10 list looking at the entire Fujifilm heritage.

With one important distinction, though.

He did not simply pick 10 cameras, but indentified 10 aspects of older Fujifilm cameras that form the basis for the current Fujifilm mirrorless offering.

So, what do our modern X and GFX cameras have in common with older Fujifilm cameras? Patrik will answer this for you down below.

Related Articles

guest post by Patrik Roos – Repair service Svensk Cykelservice – repairs mostly bikes but also cameras on demand

I have had a look at some of the features that make up the DNA of the current X and GFX lines and have tried to pinpoint the Fujifilm cameras that introduced those ideas into the Fuji realm. I decided on these 10 points that together form the basis of what the current Fujifilm mirrorless systems are:

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

Fujifilm X-Pro1 Retrospective – 10 years of Fujifilm X-mount: The Start of X-Trans, Vintage Fun, Film Simulations and More

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the X mount system, so DPRTV takes a fresh look at the Fujifilm X-Pro1, the system’s first camera, to see how it holds up a decade late.

NOTE: we are talking X Mount MILC cameras, not X series cameras in general. The X line started of course with the original Fujifilm X100.

Gosh, what memories came up to me, after all this time.

For example when Jordan highlights how bad the video quality of the X-Pro1 is. True, but when Fujifilm removed an X-Pro1 firmware because of a bug on the video side of things, 99,9999% of X shooters owning an X-Pro1 were like “what, this thing can shoot also video?”

Or all the the glory and struggles related to Fujifilm’s new X-Trans design. Lots of myths and fakes had to be debunked in this regard.

Look, I was always honest to look at the advantages of Bayer vs X-Trans and vice versa, but at the end I am very happy that the Fujifilm X-H2 will have an X-Trans sensor (at least one of the two). And I am not alone, as the vast majority of you guys is happy about this too.

And yes, Kaizen, that’s something the X-Pro1 got lots of. But on the contrary of what many think, still today Fujifilm leads the pack when it comes to updating their cameras. I elaborated it more in depth here.

But most importantly, the joy to use a Fujifilm camera is still the same, also after 10 years. In fact, Chris seems to have loved to shoot the X-Pro1 even more now as opposed to when it came out 10 years ago.

So, with all that said, here is are DPRTV’s impressions after shooting the X-Pro1 again 10 years later.

Little curiosity: I find it cool that Chris took all the pictures using the original XF lens trinity launched along with the X-Pro1.

  • he enjoys using the optical viewfinder (the X-Pro1 has a hybrid viewfinder
  • great vintage look
  • aimed to work best with smaller primes
  • great for street shooters
  • compact camera with compact primes
  • the X-T1 opened the system to lots more people. The whole Fujifilm system grew from there
  • X-Pro1 was the first camera using an X-Trans sensor
  • thanks to X-Trans Fujifilm could get rid of the aliasing filter, which would have removed some sharpness to the images
  • now it is much easier to edit X-Trans files
  • X-Trans avoided a lot of the problems with moire for photos
  • but at that time, it was hard to work with X-Trans files. Adobe struggled with X-Trans files and 10 years later people still complain about this
  • Fujifilm started its reputation for great colors in JPEGs and great details
  • the X-Pro1 did not have many film simulations
  • in 10 years we have gained so many more film simulations. The latest Fujifilm cameras have even more vintage film simulations like Nostalgic Negative and Classic Chrome, etc
  • Chris is impressed but how accurate the optical overlay still is with its frame lines (compensating for parallax)
  • not great AF controls. Best solution: single AF with focus and recompose. It’s pretty snappy used this way
  • terrible camera for video
  • it’s incredible that just 10 years ago Fuji was so bad in video, but now for Jordan Fujifilm cameras are among his favorite cameras to shoot video
  • Chris had a lot of fun shooting the X-Pro1 again
  • even if it is 10 years old, it still felt quite current in a lot of ways
  • X-Pro1 got tons of Kaizen firmware updates
  • maybe Fujifilm does not do Kaizen so much anymore [admin note: I disagree, and I elaborated why here]
  • Fujifilm has come a long way and now dominates APS-C and MF market
  • Fujifilm still holds on on that vintage feel and heritage build up 10 years ago
  • Chris didn’t appreciate the X-Pro1 when it came out, but for some reason he now enjoyed it shooting again
  • X-Trans files of X-Pro1 still have very interesting character

X-Trans Related Articles

Celebrating Fujifilm…

Long live the glorious Fujifilm X-Pro line.

Top 10 Most Important Fujifilm Digital Cameras of All Time

How can I start this article.

Maybe like this.

I was solo hiking through Eastern Europe. In my bag, a tent, food, water, a few clothes. And my DSLR gear.

One morning I woke up very early at the top of the Popluks mountain in Albania, left my tent and enjoyed the sunrise all alone on the mountain peak. It should have been my last day on one of the best kept secrets in Europe, the Albanian Alps. Next stop: a 12 hours long hike all the way to Montenegro through lonely mountains and valleys of rare beatuy.

And I tell you this: when I arrived at my destination, the town of Gusinje in Montenegro, I was exhausted and I promised myself: I need to travel lighter. I need lighter gear.

So I went mirrorless.

Panasonic, Olympus, Sony, you name it, I tried them all. But it became soon clear to me that I was not only looking for lighter gear, but also for gear that I had fun to use.

And exactly in that moment of my photographic journey, 11+ years ago, Fujifilm launched the Fujifilm X series. Then, 10 years ago, the Fujifilm X-Pro1 was announced, introducing the X mount in the photography world.

And that was it. That was exactly what I was looking for.

The rest is history. I fell in love. I needed to share this love. I started FujiRumors.

So I wondered, how can we sum up this long Fujifilm X journey (which is basically just as long as my personal journey with Fujifilm) best?

Well, since Fujifilm is celebrating 10 years of X mount this year, I thought I could make a list of what I consider the top 10 cameras of this Fuji-decade. But, shall it be allowed to me, I will start with the X100, which is technically older than 10 years. But I think you’ll agree it makes sense to add to this list.

Attention: we are not (only) talking about the most successful cameras, but also about what I consider the most important ones, beyond the success they had (or not).

  1. Fujifilm X100 – the original
    That’s the camera that started it all. And it gave us a clear indication on which way Fujifilm would go: great looking cameras with manual controls and overall vintage feel.
  2. Fujifilm X-Pro1
    This was Fujifilm’s first mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses. Iconic. Beautiful. The start of X-mount.
  3. Fujifilm X-T1
    If you ask me, my heart, I’d say X-E1 (as I love the X-E series). But that line was never a huge seller. The real first big success for the Fujifilm X mount was the Fujifilm X-T1. It was the first camera that was able to go a bit more mainstream compared to X-Pro1 and X-E1.
  4. Fujifilm X-T10
    The X-T10 was a huge hit and helped Fujifilm to break through mid-range market in a way the X-E line could not. A very successful series for Fujifilm, started by X-T10.
  5. Fujifilm X-H1
    True, it was not a big success, but it set the base for a platform that will earn lots of success in future. That’s why I put it on the list. Guys, just wait to see what a beast the Fujifilm X-H2 will be, and then you’ll agree with me. Be patient, May isn’t that far anymore.
  6. Fujifilm X-T3
    A mega success for Fujifilm that not even the release of the Fujifilm X-T4 could stop. According to my knowledge, Fujifilm’s all time best seller.
  7. Fujifilm X100V
    Announced 8 years after the original X100, it was a terrific success for Fujifilm and it brings a much needed redesign of the lens as well as an “invisible” tilt screen. It’s my biggest GAS temptation along with these 2 more Fujifilm items. And please, don’t trigger my GAS further in the comments. I have a marriage to take care of ;)
  8. Fujifilm GFX50S
    Enter medium format: Fujifilm’s first digital medium format camera with a sensor about 70% fuller than full frame. Now that we arrived at the Fujifilm GFX100S, which is even smaller than some full frame mirrorless cameras out there, we can say that the GFX50S (hence skipping full frame) was an incredibly smart move by Fujifilm.
  9. Fujifilm GFX100S
    It has to be on the list, as it is such a terrific success for Fujifilm. Not even in their best dreams they’d have hoped for as many sales as the GFX100S generated. The only problem: Fujifilm has a hard time producing as many cameras as the market requests, yes, even now, 1 year after its announcement. And please, stop to say nonsense like “it should not have had IBIS” or stuff like that. This nonsense often comes from the same people praising OIS. So aren’t both, OIS and IBIS, serving the very same purpose. And more importantly, can’t you simply turn off both if you don’t like them?
  10. Fujifilm X-Pro3
    Arguably the most controversial on the list, as this camera is designed for the niche and therefore was never planed to make massive sales. But here is the thing: while Fujifilm has indeed released the X-S10 and GFX100S with more “mainstream” oriented ergonomics, the Fujifilm X-Pro3 shows that Fujifilm cares also about niche and does not run only after the mainstream. They still want to offer all sorts of different photographic experiences by changing the ergonomics among various camera lines. So don’t panic guys, Fujifilm ain’t dropping retro at all. Whoever creates panic about this, is just out for clickbait. The X-Pro3 is Fuji’s statement for their continuing commitment to retro and vintage controls.

So that’s my list. Feel free to change and modify it as you want in the comments.

  • Must Read for X100 Lovers – “Don’t Touch that Camera!” the Story About the Inspiration Behind the Fujifilm X100 Series Design

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

The Fastest Growing Fujifilm Group

Join Our Owners Groups

Join Our Facebook Pages

Happy Birthday: Fujifilm Turns 88 Years Old Today

January is a month full of celebrations;

Well, today, 20th of January, we have to celebrate another important milestone: Fujifilm turns 88 years old today.

Few companies had a more exciting journey with incredible heights and lows like Fujifilm. But even in the darkest hours, they always found a way out of it.

Fujifilm has proven to be a creative and innovative company also with the Fujifilm X series.

At the time Fujifilm started to offer mirrorless cameras, there were already lots of other MILC systems out there from Sony, Panasonic, Olympus etc.

Fujifilm did join more or less at the same time with Samsung. And while I remember the huge marketing effort Samsung did to become popular with their MILC system and some groundbreaking cameras like the Samsung NX1, Samsung failed, whereas Fujifilm succeeded.

As opposed to Samsung, Fujifilm did not deliver cameras with groundbreaking specs nor did they spend tons of money into marketing their cameras. What they focused on was to look for what was missing for us photographers, and that was reasonably priced cameras that looked great, had lots of dials for manual controls and were fun to use.

The whole system was designed for a niche that appreciated feel, form, function and fun over mere specs.

So, the Samsung NX1, which tried to compete with Sony & Co in terms of specs (and it did beat them at that time) failed, whereas Fujifilm carved out its niche. A niche that grew over the years, also thanks to more mainstream cameras like the X-S10 and GFX100S, so that it now became the third most sold mirrorless camera system.

Look, I run FujiRumors since 10 years now, and the X system had been called dead since ever by all possible influencers. Every time a new full frame camera came out, many influencers said sensor size matters and hence APS-C is dead. And when Fujifilm launched a system with a 70% fuller sensor than full frame, the same influencers rushed out to scream that suddenly sensor size does not matter, and GFX will die.

And despite all death predictions, here we are, alive, healthy and strong. Maybe too strong, as the only real problem Fujifilm has at the moment, is to deliver what people order.

88 years of Fujifilm. 10 years of X mount. 5 years of Fujifilm GFX.

And trust me, Fujifilm intends to celebrate all this in a big way. Don’t miss the mega X summit in May 2022 and well before that all the rumors here on FujiRumors. We have something exciting to tell you.

The Fastest Growing Fujifilm Group

Join Our Owners Groups

Join Our Facebook Pages

 

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

 

Ein Beitrag geteilt von Fuji_Rumors (@fuji_rumors)

Fujifilm GFX100S vs Canon R6: Is Medium Format Worth It? This Guy Says “No” (and My Thoughts)

Alex Barrera wonders: is medium format worth it?

In an attempt to figure out the answer, he shared a blind test using the following gear:

In the blind test, all images marked with “A” belong to one camera and all images marked with “B” belong to the other camera.

I did my the test myself, and honestly, right at the very first image comparison (see image below) I thought “oh please let “A” be the the Fujifilm GFX100S“. And lucky me, camera “A” is indeed the Fujifilm GFX100S.

Megapixel had not much to do with my preference. It’s a compressed youtube video, how could that matter. Megapixel matter more when you work with the files in post, or when you print.

My preference had more to do with the output of the Fujinon GF80mmF1.7 lens itself, which is very similar in terms of shallow depth of field to the RF 50mm f/1.2 L, but the bokeh looked just more pleasing in my eyes. Then there are other subjective elements like the colors (Provia in this case) and so forth. Overall, I mostly picked A (GFX100S).

But what about Alex? Is medium format worth it?

No, it’s not worth it, and here is why:

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

BCN Ranking: Fujifilm Beats Sony and Becomes 2nd Best Selling Brand in Japan

Today you should be happy as a Fujifilm X and GFX shooter, and I tell you why.

The latest BCN data* shows that Fujifilm was able to pass Sony and hence placed itself on the second spot behind Canon in the Japanese digital camera market. It’s the first time since 19 years that Fujifilm was able to grab the second spot.

So what pushed Fujifilm suddenly so high?

Well, it’s not the X or GFX series, but mainly the Instax Mini EVO that boosted the market share for Fujifilm. Sure, those are technically speaking also digital cameras, but they belong to the Instax family.

Another homerun for Fujifilm, but not in the ranking as it is not a camera, is the Instax Wide Printer, which I also got for myself and truly enjoy (I’ve waited YEARS for this!)

So what, who cares? It’s just Instax?

Well, not really.

As you know FujiRumors is 10 years old already, so I have a long memory on what happened and what was said in the past.

And I remember how Fuji Guys said in the early days of the X series adventure, that the massive cash Fujifilm makes with Instax products is also partially used to fuel the development of their digital X series cameras.

So the tremendous success for Instax is a good news also for us Fujifilm X and GFX shooters, especially considering that also Instax struggled to sell back in 2019 and in 2020.

This sharp recovery of Instax, mainly thanks to the Instax Mini EVO (which is indeed Fuji’s best looking and most vintage operating Instax camera), but also thanks to the Instax Mini LiPlay and Instax Wide Printer and more, brings fresh money into Fujifilm’s camera segment, which ultimately can be used also for the X and GFX series development.

Money, that is much needed, as this year will be a fantastic Fujifilm year, with the Fujifilm X-H2 introducing the 5th generation X series cameras in May 2022, which hopefully will come not only with great new hardware, but also with a huge computational photography boost.

*BCN collects data of about 40% of the Japanese electronics and online stores.

via bcn via digicame-info

 

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

 

Ein Beitrag geteilt von Fuji_Rumors (@fuji_rumors)

Top 3 Fujifilm Gear I’d Love to Buy in 2022

I think I can say that in 2021 I’ve done a decent part in supporting Fujifilm with my hard earned money, as here is the Fujifilm gear I’ve purchased:

For as much as Fujifilm made medium format accessible to the masses, buying into the 100 Megapixel GFX system still requires a significant investment. It’s worth every penny, but it’s not cheap.

So in 2022 I will try to contain my GAS as much as possible and be cautious with my purchases (do I hear you guys laughing?? ;) )

And yet, there is some gear I’d love to buy in 2022. And I mean gear that is either already announced, available or at least on the Fujifilm roadmap for 2022. So this is not about rumored gear.

  1. Fujinon GF 50mm f/3.5
    One of the main declared goals by Fujifilm is to make the GFX system smaller. A huge step in this direction was made with the Fujifilm GFX100S, which is already smaller than some full frame mirrorless cameras out there (see the Panasonic S1R) and about as big as the Canon R5. Sure, the GFX lenses are usually bigger, just as Full Frame lenses are usually bigger than APS-C lenses. Well, the Fujinon GF50mmF3.5 serves exactly the purpose to make the system smaller and mounted on my GFX100S, it could give me a very nice combo that I would probably end up carrying with me more often also for casual family stuff. And hey, I need 2 more GFX lenses to reach the average GFX shooters’ lens attachment rate* ;)
  2. Fujifilm X100V
    I mean, just look at it. It’s of a beauty matched maybe only by some Leica cameras. The only problem here is that I own the Fujifilm X-E3 with XF27mmF2.8 R WR, so the Fujifilm X100V would become a bit redundant in my lineup. And yet, it would not only be about its beauty. It also has the pull-up ISO dial from the X-Pro line that I totally love. Combined with WCL-100 II and TCL-100 II it would give me a compact and versatile leaf shutter mini-system. And just like the X-E4 it has that “invisible” tilt LCD screen that I could make good use of every now and then.
  3. Fujinon XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6
    You might know how much Iove my XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6, especially when mounted on my X-T4 (you can see the combo here on the Dolomites). But in 2022 I’d love to get a bit more into a photographic territory I haven’t explored much yet, wildlife photography. That’s why a bit more reach could come in handy then the one the 18-135 can offer me. There are some options here: from the XF200mmF2 to the XF100-400 to the XF150-600mm that is on the roadmap. And why not, also the Tamron 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 could be a nice option. But taking into account prize and size, I think the  XF70-300mm f/4-5.6 could be a reasonable choice to start with. And for even more reach I could couple it with the XF 1.4x TC WR Teleconverter.

Bonus

Related Article

The Gear

*From the Interview “Fujifilm Manager: GFX Triumph and Full Frame Attack Strategy, Shrinking IBIS, AI Future, Fuji X-H2 Needs Breakthrough, COVID and More”

  • 70-80% of GFX customers were coming from non-Fuji cameras. Most probably from full frame DSLR cameras
  • GFX sells 50% better than Fujifilm predicted
  • GFX lens attachment rate: about 3 lenses per 1 GFX camera
  • Fujifilm X system has a lower lens attachment rate than GFX system
  • read more in this article

Top 7 Critiques on Fujifilm that Are Absolutely Justified

I recently wrote an article, where I list 10 attacks on Fujifilm that do not make any sense.

In that article, I promised that I would also write an article about the exact opposite, meaning sharing a list of critiques on Fujifilm that I totally understand and I agree with.

You can find it down below.

And of course, feel free to add your own critiques on Fujifilm in the comments down below.

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

How I Learned To LOVE The Fujifilm X-Trans Sensor and Get the Most Out of It… and I Can’t Believe it’s Not Film [ X-Trans Roundup ]

 

X-Trans Roundup

In our photographic journey, we start, we struggle, we learn, we advance, we re-consider, we get frustrated when things don’t work out and excited when we make a leap forward.

And yes, for us Fujifilm shooters, X-Trans is one of those things we had to learn to handle in our photographic journey.

And since we know that X-Trans is here to stay (the Fujifilm X-H2 will feature an X-Trans sensor – or at least one of the two X-H2’s coming), we better learn to make the most out of its strengths and be aware of possible limitations and how to work around those.

Now, you know what I think about the X-Trans sensor. If not, check out:

So yes, I love it! I love the fact that Fujifilm will keep the X-Trans sensor in their APS-C cameras. And judging from this survey, the vast majority of you guys is happy about this, too.

One of the X shooters happy with the X-Trans sensor is Edward Thomas, who, in the video linked below, explains how he learned to love the Fujifilm X-Trans sensor and what he likes about it. The key points of his video and the video itself can be found down below.

I will also share two additional videos, one about how to make the most out X-Trans files and another one with a Fujifilm film simulation recipe.

Last is a short video of me editing a heavily underexposed image taken with my X-E3 of my wife during our honeymoon in Andalusia (here is Cordoba), while were enjoying the sunset from the wonderful town of Ronda. It’s one of those pictures that should not be possible according to some, as it is only APS-C ;).

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