Fujifilm Working on the Ultimate $5,000+ APS-C X-Trans X-series Camera (also for Video) ** Grain Of Salt

Hey guys,

You might remember how recently a Fujifilm Manager said “when we announce our new telephoto prime [in 2018] we also need a higher performance body”.

What did he mean with “higher performance body“? The X-T3? Or maybe something completely different?

I’m not sure now… but I can tell you what I’m recently hearing.

Keep in mind… these are the first steps into a potentially very exciting rumor journey, but it’s just a fragile whisper at this stage, so please do NOT take this as a fact. I could follow a wrong hint, or maybe there is some truth in it…

Here is the thing:

I got some hints that Fujifilm is working on the ultimate X-series camera. It should be a camera that will top everything we know from Fujifilm so far in the APS-C world and it could also have some more cinema-centric aspects, that would make it the perfect companion for the newly announced MK18-55mm T2.9 and MK50-135mm T2.9.

I don’t know if the Manager quote above was refering to this camera, or “simply” to the X-T3. I’m still working on this.

However, one anonymous source shared some more details, telling me it should cost “around $5k” (or even more) and be still an X-Trans camera. (thanks for sharing… and I will investigate further the other details you sent me).

So guys, just follow FR, and let’s see how deep the rabbit whole really goes :-)

And of course, in case someone out there could help, please contact me at fujirumor@gmail.com or using the rumor box (with nickname if possible).

cheers
Fuji X Forum, Facebook, RSS-feed and Twitter

The NP-W126S Battery is Here to Stay… and the llano Dual NP-W126S Charger is Now up to 50% Off

At the time of this post you can save up to 50% on the llano NP-W126S Dual Battery charger at Amazon US.

The amount of rebate depends on which color you chose, with the biggest rebate being on the green color.

There is also a 20% rebate on the llano NP-W235 Dual Battery charger.

Now, I know that many would like to have the NP-W235 battery on every Fujifilm camera. But fact is: the NP-W126S battery is here to stay, because it allowes certain cameras to have the smallest size possible.

Fujifilm 5th generation cameras with NP-W126S battery

Fujifilm 5th generation cameras with NP-W235 battery

Leaked Fujinon XC 13-33mm F3.5-6.3 – Surprising Specs and the First XC Lens to Truly Tempt Me!

We can now share the main specs of the upcoming Fujinon XC 13-33mm F3.5-6.3 OIS.

And we are going to compare them to the XC 15-45mm F3.5-5.6.

There are a couple of nice surprises: the XC13-33mm is more compact, lighter, yet has a more sophisticated lens design (hence likely a better image quality). It comes with 9 rounded aperture blades instead of 7 (better bokeh?). It also has a more powerful optical image stabilization and a mechanical zoom instead of a powerzoom. I also like that the minimum focus distance is fixed at 20cm through the entire range.

That’s quite a nice set of improvements!

Below you can see the specs comparison.

I guess for many this could be an ideal ultra-portable kit zoom lens for many X-M5, X-E5 and X-T30III or X-T50 owners.

This is actually the first XC lens that has truly caught my interest and I can’t wait to finally see it unveiled on October 23 at 1AM New York time.

If the image quality is good, it could be an ultra compact alternative to my XF10-24mmF4.

I feel like Fujifilm has made lots of correct choices when it comes to developing the XC13-33mmF3.5-6.3.

Don’t forget: we will have a nice live blog only on FujiRumors.com ;).

But just out of curiosity, I will also share the estimated specs that Fujifilm itself mentioned in what some (erroneously) consider the hidden Fujifilm X mount lens roadmap:

  • Affordable Wide Zoom Lens – XC Lineup
    – Size 40-50mm
    – 60-70mm diameter
    – weight 130-170g

We can see that Fujifilm made the final lens even smaller and lighter than they initially estimated.

The Best Fujifilm Communities

XC 13-33mm F3.5-6.3 OIS

XC 15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS PZ

Size

Φ61.9mm x 37.5mm (Collapsed position)

Φ61.9mm x 55.6mm (Wide)

Φ61.9mm x 57.2mm (Telephoto)

Φ62.6mm x 44.2mm (Collapsed position)

Φ62.6mm x 65.2mm (Wide)

Φ62.6mm x 62.1mm (Telephoto)

Optical Design

10 Elements in 9 Groups
(4 aspherical, 3 ED elements)

10 Elements in 9 Groups
(3 aspherical, 2 ED elements)

Minimum Focus Distance

20cm – ∞ (Wide)

20cm – ∞ (Telephoto)

13cm – ∞ (Wide)

35cm – ∞ (Telephoto)

Zoom Mode

mechanical zoom

electornic powerzoom

Number of Apeture Blades

9

7

Weight

125g

135g

Filter Size

ø49mm

ø52mm

OIS

4 stops

3 stops

LEAKED: Fujinon XC13-33mmF3.5-6.3 Finally Fixes What (Most) Photographers Hated About the XC15-45

We told you Fujifilm will launch the Fujinon XC13-33mmF3.5-6.3 in 2025.

I don’t know if this is going to replace the Fujinon XC15-45mmF3.5-5.6 OIS PZ, but since it is coming in 2025, I would not be surprised if the Fujinon XC13-33mm would be the new kit lens for the upcoming Fujifilm X-T30 III.

With that said, was a new kit lens really needed?

Well, some might appreciate the wider end (13 instead of 15). But there is another difference that for me is even more important: the new Fujinon XC13-33mmF3.5-6.3 will get rid of the PZ (powerzoom) and have mechanical zoom.

For me this is a welcome change as I vastly prefer mechanical zooms. And if I read through the comments in the last few weeks, I have the impression that most of you also prefer it over the powerzoom.

The last powerzoom I owned was this one, but that is from the times before I went all-in with Fujifilm MILC and I was still trying to find the best mirrorless system for my needs. It was a fine lens, I certainly loved its compactness, but I never grew fond of the powerzoom function.

I’m glad to see that the XC13–33mmF3.5–6.3 features a mechanical zoom—this alone makes the lens feel much more practical and worthwhile to me.

But I am curious to read what you have to say about it in the comments.

Do you own the Fujinon XC15-45mmF3.5-5.6 OIS PZ. Do you love the powerzoom or did you often wish for a mechanical zoom on it?

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The Big Accessories Roundup: Kipon 0.62x GFX Focal Reducers, X100VI Protective Case, Batteries, Tilta Factory Tour and More

Flash / Accessories / eBooks

Today we have a major accessories roundup. It goes from batteries, the Fuji X Weekly Protective Case for Fujifilm X100VI / X100V / X100F, tripods and much more.

Also a very interesting Tilta Factory tour by CineD is linked below.

At the very bottom you can find the press release for the Kipon 0.62x focal reducers for GFX.

And since we also talk about batteries, we will refer also to a series of articles on FujiRumors, in which we talked about batteries:

Accessories Roundup

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

BHphoto and Adorama Launch Their Own 2 Days Only Deals

At FujiRumors, we always emphasize that competition is a positive force. The stronger Fujifilm’s competitors become, the more it drives Fujifilm to innovate and improve.

This concept also applies to major online retailers, who strive to outdo each other by offering better deals to attract customers.

And so it happens that exactly on the days when Amazon launched their massive Prime Deal days, also BHphoto here and Adorama here strike back with their own 2 days only deals.

So we do recommend you to compare prices among several stores to see who is offering the best deal on gear you might be interested in (including your local stores).

Top Picks

Amazon Prime Deals – 2 Days Only

BHphoto Fall Deals – 2 Days Only

Adorama Flash Franzy Sale – 2 Days Only

Selected Amazon Deals

Amazon Prime Deals Live Now

 

The Amazon Prime Deals are now live.

Top Picks

Selected Deals

Best-Selling Cameras at Mapcamera in FY2023

Mapcamera (one of the largest retailers in Japan) shared the list of the most sold 20 cameras during their fiscal year 2023 (April 1 2023 to March 31 2024).

Fujifilm is the second most represented brand with 4 cameras. First comes Sony with 6 cameras. Canon and Nikon have three cameras listed. Ricoh has two cameras and Leica and OM one only.

  1. Nikon Z8
  2. Nikon Z f
  3. Sony α7C II
  4. Canon EOS R6 Mark II
  5. Sony α7RV
  6. Sony α7IV
  7. Fujifilm X-T5
  8. Ricoh GR IIIx
  9. Sony α6700
  10. Canon EOS R8
  11. OM system OM-1
  12. Fujifilm X-H2
  13. Fujifilm X-T30 II
  14. Ricoh GR III
  15. Nikon Z fc
  16. Fujifilm X-S10
  17. Sony ZV-E10
  18. Leica Q3
  19. Canon EOS R10
  20. Sony ZV-E1

via Mapcamera

Welcome to the World of VELVIA Film Simulation

Tweaking Film Simulations

Today we talk Velvia, one of the most used and appreciated film simulations out there.

But keep in mind: the Velvia we have today, is not the Velvia we had when Fujifilm started its X series journey.

Especially the red tones did tend to get super-saturated, which why when I originally used Velvia on the first generation Fujifilm X series cameras, whenever I had red colors in the frame, I actually decreased the color saturation in-camera.

But that one got fixed with the arrival of the Fujifilm X-Pro2.

Fujifilm did try to get Velvia to work also on X-Pro1 and X-T1, but the processor could not handle the too complex algorithm.

If you want to read the full “Velvia-development” story, check out this article here.

And not only Velvia: pretty much all film simulations get tweaked overtime, when the new processors allow for even more sophisticated color tuning.

The Power of Velvia

And now let’s look at the awesome results one can achieve with Velvia, but not only for landscape photography.

And we’ll do that by sharing the latest video Fuji Guy Francis did, where he brings you into the wonderful Canadian countryside and uses Velvia only to take his images, and also, we will share a stunning series of images that fellow Fujifilm X Simulation group member Antonio has shared at our massive (78,000 members) group here.

1) Fuji Guy Francis

Fuji Guy Francis dedicated this months Film Simulation to Velvia, and it’s a very nice one as he will bring you out in the stunning Canadian countryside to capture its beauty in Velvia.

And I think he is making the best use of Velvia: when a grey day is robbing nature of its wonderful colors and Velvia restores some of that beauty.

2) Antonio

Once a year, the Mexican town of Tultepec becomes the hell on earth and home to the lords of fire and pyrotechnics.

Antonio was present with his Fujifilm X-T3 and XF18-55mm and captured the event.

Here on FujiRumors I will only share three images, but you can check out the full set of images at this film simulation Facebook post and also read an article about it at magazine.exposuresop here.

3) Bonus

You might remember the “World of Film Simulation” series of articles that Fujifilm made back in 2015.

We will share the full Velvia episode again down below. Check it out if you are interested in the Velvia development story.

The World of Film Simulation – Velvia

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

Don’t be XF Obsessed: Let’s Look Beyond Fujinon Glass

Third party lenses are fantastic!

I have manual focus X and G mount lenses and one day I’ll also get some third party AF lenses (especially this upcoming one sounds sweet to me).

But truth be spoken: I almost exclusively use XF/GF lenses, so much so that one could call me almost an “XF obsessed” or “Fujinon purist” if you want.

And there is one main reason for me using almost exclusively Fujinon lenses.

What I am most addicted to on my Fujifilm systems are:

  • retro look/controls (love aperture ring on the lens and dials on the camera)
  • Fujifilm colors (the film simulations)

And while I own some wonderfully vintage looking third party glass, what is really hard to emulate and to perfectly match for third party lenses, is the color rendition of my Fujinon lenses!

And as a film simulation lover myself, this is a big deal!

In practical terms this means that for example an image taken in Velvia on my Samyang 12mmF2 just does not look like the Velvia I am used to get with my Fujinon lenses.

But don’t get me wrong.

I like Samyang and shot some of my most loved images with it. And I can always tweak the colors in post to get closer to the look I want.

But in my experience XF/GF lenses are just incredibly consistent in terms of colors and I know they will deliver the best results in terms “film simulation rendering” over any third party lens (this also helps my editing workflow).

With that said, I am also convinced that third party lenses massively enrich the Fujifilm X and GFX system.

And I’d dare to say that third party glass is even vital and essential for the Fujifilm system.

Third party lenses can be much more affordable, offer interesting focal range not covered by Fujifilm glass (like this lens), have different design choices that some might prefer (like clickless aperture ring) and have their own lens character that might appeal to some (like the lovely sunstars of this lens).

And because I am convinced about how important third party lenses are for the Fujifilm X/GFX system, I am going to do two things now:

  1. next week I am going to take picture only using my third party X and G mount glass
  2. I will share this roundup dedicated only to third party lenses

So let’s rock it now :)

Third Party Lens Roundup

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