Moreover, it is one of those cards that has no compromise in performance, meaning it unlocks the full potential of the Fujifilm X-H2 and X-H2S in terms of bursts shooting.
Fujifilm Equipment for Wildlife Imaging: An Evolving and Compelling Choice for Serious Photography
My photographic journey began many years ago with Fuji’s GX617 6x17cm panoramic and GSW690 6x9cm cameras, using ISO 50 medium format 120 Velvia film. I then moved on to Canon EOS equipment for several years. However, in 2016/17 I moved back to Fuji and have been using their equipment ever since the X-T1. You can find out more about me and my photography at www.marklucock.com
Up until recently my photographic life was very straightforward, I used Fuji gear for all my landscape photography of the natural and urban worlds, but fell back to my Canon equipment for wildlife photography. The Canon 300mm, 400mm and 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II lenses were my staple for birding.
Welcome swallow in flight; Fuji XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens, XH2, 600/900mm, f/9.0, 1/2500sec, ISO 1250, pre-shot mode at 13 FPS
Photographic life for me and many others has now changed thanks to Fujifilm’s new repertoire of high-end telephoto optics, and I’m really grateful to Patrick at FujiRumors for inviting me to write this Guest Post on how Fujifilm has adapted its equipment portfolio to arm nature and wildlife photographers with some truly remarkable glass.
From the inception of the Fuji-X system, the company has succeeded in producing some really high-quality, industry leading lenses. The acid test is always how good large prints are and while Fuji-X is only APS-C format, prints can be astoundingly good and are as good as you are ever likely to need. Add to this that the X system is a small and light weight set up, unobtrusive, and unashamedly retro, and you have a winning combination. BUT, while this kind of set up is ideal for lifestyle (portraits, weddings etc), landscape, macro and certain other genres, it is quite a departure to use this system for bird photography, a genre that is associated with huge, ridiculously expensive, heavy white lenses. True, the Fujifilm XF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR is a great lens for birding; however, it is also a big, fairly heavy lens, and 400mm (even on APS-C) can be limiting in terms of reach for smaller birds.
Superb fairy wren; Fuji XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens, XH2, 600/900mm, f/8.0, 1/100 sec, ISO 500White-faced heron; Fuji XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens, XH2, 600/900mm, f/8.0, 1/500 sec, ISO 500
Everything changed for Fujifilm users who have a passion for wildlife/bird photography with the release of the Fuji X-H2 and X-H2s bodies and the Fujifilm XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens followed more recently by the remarkable Fujifilm XF 500mm f/5.6 LM OIS WR lens. These four items are “manna from heaven” for serious wildlife photographers. Suddenly, Fujifilm was offering a true, fully fledged professional system that takes seriously good images. Most importantly, the pre-shot mode and electronic shutter (40 FPS) made Birds in Flight (BIF) photography reasonably simple. My aim with this article is therefore to show how these four items are a game changer for bird photographers and therefore through being a compelling choice for serious wildlife/bird photography, are in themselves a game changer for Fujifilm itself. You can read my individual reviews on the Fujifilm XF 500mm f/5.6 LM OIS WR lens and Fujifilm XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens on my website.
The 500mm lens clearly shows the exquisite detail on a red-browed finch; Fuji X-H2S, f/5.6, 1/500 sec, ISO 500, 500/750mmGreat cormorant portrait; Fuji X-H2S, f/5.6, 1/680 sec, ISO 500, 500/750mm
One of the main objectives of this article is to compare these two amazing Fujifilm optics- the XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR and XF 500mm f/5.6 LM OIS WR lenses. I can imagine many people will be scratching their heads trying to decide which one they need for their particular type of photography. I have now been using both for several months and hope that I can offer some useful advice. I have already done a direct field and technical comparison of the XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens with the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II lens for those that are interested, but I feel sure that the biggest appeal is likely to reside in a direct comparison of the two Fujifilm lenses.
Down below is the list for the UHS-II type memory cards validated by Fujifilm for the Fujifilm GFX100RF (as well as for GFX100II, GFX100SII, X-H2S and X-H2).
*1 Model name could be different depending on the market.
*2 Where xxxx is “JNJIP/GHJIN” in Japan, “ANCIN” in the U.S.A., “CNCIN” in Canada, “ZN4IN” in China, and “GN4IN” for Global.
A “rumor” surfaced, that Fujifilm will launch a new non-stacked X-Trans CMOS 5 sensor with 26 megapixel. That’s at least according to information that appeared first at the Chinese Weibo social media account of E8M.
In short:
there is a new X-Trans V 26MP sensor coming
it is an evolution of the current 26MP X-Trans IV sensor
it’s meant for mid-range camera like the X-S30
it is not the X-Trans V 26MP stacked sensor of X-H2S, but kind of a non-stacked version of it.
While I respect E8M because he is a great source when it comes to spotting camera registrations that are publicly available and visible for everybody online, I can tell to all fellow Fujifilm shooters that this rumor is 100% wrong.
I know you might question FujiRumors at this point. But I remind you just about when E8M leaked a very long list of Fujifilm rumors back in 2023.
I told you that the list of rumors he shared was wrong, even the ones he claimed were coming from super-reliable sources: for example he said the GFX100SII has retro controls, the X-Pro4 would come, the X100VI would have IBIS and OIS, the GFX25 megapixel camera is coming, the X-E5 coming is scheduled for summer 2024 and more.
I have no doubt E8M is not making up random rumors just to grab attention. I believe he shares them, because he trust somebody. But now I find myself in the uncomfortable situation to have to correct a person who I actually like to follow because it finds publicly available registrations in China often faster than others.
I will share the full rumor below, but I can tell you that it is wrong and it won’t happen.
Fuji may announce the X-Trans CMOS 5 image sensor for the next generation of mid-end video cameras (such as X-S), which is basically an evolved version of the speed and focus of X-Trans CMOS 4.
The PDAF density reaches the X-Trans CMOS 5th generation standard, and the video reading speed reaches 12bit full-pixel 60fps and 4K point-to-point 120fps, which can be regarded as a stackless version of 26M BSI stacked X-Trans 5 CMOS HS.
Compared with X-Trans CMOS 5 HR, it is more suitable for video shooting and continuous shooting.
Again, all of it is 100% wrong.
But I know this will spread around as if it was true (just as the wrong 2023 rumors did), because people don’t know the truth so they tend to believe whatever is published. But FujiRumors knows. So we stand alone, once again, trying to stop wrong information from spreading around without control.
If you want to know the truth, then better stay tuned. We have lots to talk about in 2025 ;).
Unless the rumor of the century drops today and leads to an unprecedented spike in traffic, then we are basically done with 2024 and we can look back at which were the most read articles in 2024.
I am surprised to see such a high interest for the Fujifilm X-M5.
A bit less surprising is to see film simulation content on the top of the ranking, especially with Classic Cuban Neg, which has quickly become a Fujifilm users favorite.
I hope you enjoyed checking out FujiRumors in 2024. And if you want, stick around also in 2025, because I have the feeling it could be a very interesting year.
Thierry Gibralta shared a follow up autofocus test video which you can see above. I will provide a quick summary, but seeing with your own eyes is always the best option.
VIDEO AUTOFOCUS
previously constantly pulsing and hunting. Now much less pulsing. Overall for static talking had the X-H2S video AF can be used now
walking away and towards the camera, the AF overall sticks to the person. When walking away, it can lose focus for a second or two, but that’s not relevant for his work, because he does not need to film people who walk away from the camera. Focus is not really smooth, there are some steps in the focus, but it is still for sure usable footage. A client would not really notice those AF steps.
when running towards the camera, the AF steps are more visible
when moving around with frequent turns, with eye AF, as long as the distance does not change too much it is good. If distance changes a lot and if you move out of the frame and then back, the focus can have a hard time. But with face detection he did not have this issue, so if you shoot people dancing, better use face detection
in the past, when people passed by in the background, the AF would jump to the person passing by. With new firmware, eye/face detection did not get distracted by people passing by. He tested it with people passing behind and in front of the camera, and it would occasionally lose him, especially if he placed himself on the very side of the frame. If he stays in the center, the camera usually picked him up. But if you are on the side of the frame, it can jump to a person more in the center of the frame
camera on the table with objects on the table and camera moved to focus on one object or the other. Multi Mode without subject detection. This gives the biggest problems. The camera did not detect the objects close to it on the table. Multi without subject detection is the worst performing
STILLS AUTOFOCUS
tracking is working very well and most pictures are in focus (people walking around and on bycicles)
success rate is pretty good
not perfect. he had instances like tracking a person on a bicycle but then the AF jumped to 2 kids walking by nearby
CONCLUSION
Autofocus is drastically improved over previous firmware
It is not perfect
for his work (wedding etc) and what he does, now he can use it for his work
he’d like smoother focus transitions and eliminate the times it jumps to another person. Also Multi mode with no subject detection should be improved
I have been testing the latest firmware on the XH 2 wide open on my bordie.
My dog is a good and difficult subject to test focus performance.In the past quite some miss focus on the nostrils , black-white high contrast transition zones.
Even when eyes almost closed and the eyes being surrounded by black fur, the AF performance is now very good! Using the XF 50/1 wide open here with good results, is quite an achievement!
My Nikon Z8 cannot manage this!!
Andrea Cimini
Andrea Cimini was very critical about the mess with Fujifilm’s AF. Now he tested the new version, especially for stills photography tracking mountain-bikers jumping and racing around, side by side with an X-H2S with older firmware.
old firmware 93% hit rate (perfectly super sharp images)
new firwmare 98% hit rate (perfectly super sharp images)
with subject detection
old firmware 95% hit rate (the ones not in focus are totally out of focus, NOTHING was in focus at all)
new firwmare 99% to 100% hit rate (the totally out of focus does not happen anymore. It can focus on something else)
with car/bike detection
old firmware: 87% in focus
new firmware: 93% in focus
NOTE: the new firwmare started tracking the subject from more far away compared to the new firmware
using wide tracking (not subject detection, but you put the focus box on anything and it will keep tracking it)
condition: biker suddenly appearing in the frame
old firmware: 85% in focus
new firmware: 96% in focus
Conclusions so far
it’s not at level of competition, but the autofocus is usable again
now he feels a bit safer and he can go shooting an assignement without fear
electronic shutter gives better results. With mechanical shutter the percentage drops by 10% (at 20fps)
To make it clear: while there was an improvement, for his type of (very challenging) sports shooting conditions (bikers racing inside forests), he thinks Fujifilm must improve even further. But it is workable again.
Petapixel reviewed the Fujifilm X-M5. Regarding Autofocus they say:
comparing to Canon EOS R10, because that’s one of their favorite cameras as far as autofocus on APS-C goes at the same price
not quite the same hit rate of the Canon, but actually surprisingly close
in this price range there is nothing out there that gives you 10 bit, Log recording with 6.2K open gate
pre-production X-M5 had issue with focusing on the background. Production sample is much better but it can still be an issue
overheating: impressing performance for such a small camera body. And you can even use the Fan accessory for even better performance. Extremely impressive
probably the most capable video camera at that price
More reviews below.
AF Better than What YouTube is Talking About?
The first of Pav SZ looks actually very good in terms of Autofocus.
You can see the X-M5 keeps tracking the subject even when other people enter the frame. It had a few occasions in which the person turned around and it focused on the shoulder instead of the back of the head.
Godwin Isaac (video below), was a bit worried about the X-M5 autofocus, given all the autofocus sh*tstorm YouTube is throwing on Fujifilm autofocus. But he says “autofocus is way better than what YouTube is talking about“.
So why is that? Why are so many people happy with the autofocus?
Pav SZ says that if you use it in real life shooting conditions, it will work just fine. But if you set it up for failure in rather tricky and unrealistic test conditions, it might struggle more than in real life use. So that’s his theory.
I Remain Utterly Disappointed ;)
My position remains unchanged: even in the most ridiculous never to happen absurd and unrealistic test conditions, I want Fujifilm cameras to never fail once. I will always be utterly disappointed if in a nonsense test Fujifilm cameras hunt for a fraction of a second. ;)
Of course I am exaggerating. But the truth is I believe there is still room for improvement, and Fujifilm has to work on it. And I am not kidding here: it’s paramount that they keep working on it. Clean up your code, get the algorithm right. And we have actually shared an article which shows in which areas Fujifilm needs to improve (and can improve, since they got it right with other cameras already):
Here are the top 10 articles for November. Interestingly, the rumor about the Ricoh GR IV and GR IV M is by far the most read article, which proves my point even further: we need a monochrome Fujifilm as soon as possible and we need a Fujifilm X70 successor. There is a huge interest for such cameras, and Fujifilm should grab a piece of that market share before it is too late.
