2017 was another exciting Fuji X year, and in order to cover it properly, I have shared almost 1,000 blog posts.
A lot of things happened, and maybe some of you might have missed something. So I have checked back all articles and selected some highlights for you. No FujiRumors rumors are included in this list.
It was not easy to pick out a few highlights… but below you can find the list month by month. Let us know what you consider the highlight of 2017.
Also FocusCamera has a special promotion on Fujifilm gear. In addition to the regular Fujifilm deals, they add a $100 gift card to all cameras and lenses listed below. You will get a $200 gift card if you purchase the X-T2 with 18-55 and vertical grip.
Now they also added the Fujifilm X-E3 and X-A3 to the deals :)
All camera offers also include a SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB 95MB/s UHS-1 SD Card.
X Camera Series
Fujifilm X-E3 – $899 + $100 Gift Card + SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB
FocusCamera has a special promotion on Fujifilm gear. In addition to the regular Fujifilm deals, they add a $100 gift card to all cameras and lenses listed below. You will get a $200 gift card if you purchase the X-T2 with 18-55 and vertical grip.
All camera offers also include a SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB 95MB/s UHS-1 SD Card.
After almost a month’s research and development, Fringer EF-FX smart adapter prototype’s PDAF performance has been further improved.
Unlike Sony E mount cameras, Fujifilm X mount is quite complex in PDAF support. More than two years ago, when A7r2 introduced phase detection AF (PDAF) for adapted lenses for the first time, I spent a night to find out the key mechanism and in very short time let my Contax N-E adapter become world’s first third party smart adapter supporting PDAF on mirrorless. Now I finally find the way to make X cameras do the same when adapting EF lenses. All the PDAF points on CMOS, not only the central one, but also the others around it, are all working properly, whatever the lens is wide or tele, zoom or prime and whatever the aperture is set wide open or stopping down.
Although the firmware of smart adapter for GFX50s can be easily modified to support X mount as what some other smart adapter manufacturer probably is doing , it doesn’t support PDAF. Compared with CDAF (contrast detection AF), PDAF is a performance leap. Thus, I developed the new version specifically for X mount. I made a short video to demo the AF-C zone focusing performance when PDAF is enabled. The lens is Sigma 30/1.4 art (for EF mount) and the camera is X-T2. Remember that S30/1.4A has a bad reputation for its slow AF speed.
In addition to that, I also did some real field tests. Using a EFs 55-250/4.0-5.6 IS STM lens and X-T2 camera, I tried continuous shooting on a moving vehicle towards the camera. I set the AF mode to zone and AF-C, continuous shooting mode to CH, and shutter mode to electronic only. The lens was at 250mm/F5.6.
I shot 34 photos in less than 4 seconds with a rough speed of 10 frames per second.
As you can see, it’s not perfect. several of them were out of focus. But most, i.e. about 80%, of them were OK. I guess that’s a not bad performance for zone AF/AF-C with speed of 10 frames per second.
The Fringer EF-FX smart adapter (production version) is expected to be released on early 2018.
Fujifilm X-shooters have a few ultra fast X-mount third party lens options, such as the Mitakon 35/0.95 and the Ibelux 40/0.85. But how do they perform?
Well, there are many reports already shared on FujiRumors, such as Jonas Rasks’ Mitakon 35/0.95 review. And today I want to add a few more reports, also about the second generation Ibelux 40mm/0.85, the currently fastest lens you can buy in Fuji X mount, and which is no longer a “HandeVision” but a “Kipon” product, as reported by dc.watch here
Third Party X-mount Lenses
Kipon Ibelux 40mm f0.85 MkII Review in German at qimago (translation)
Fringer just uploaded a video, demonstrating the autofocus speed of the Sigma 18-35mmF1.8 on the Fujifilm X-T2, using the Fringer EF-FX smart adapter prototype, which will be available in several months.
To see how the Canon EF 50mm performs on the Fujifilm X-T2 with the same adapter, check out this article.
Also Steelsring is offering a smart adapter for Canon EF to Fuji X… and they plan to make also Nikon F to Fuji X and GFX smart adapters.
Here is a list of smart adapters available or to come soon.
According to a new source, the Fujinon XF 8-16mm F2.8 WR will be available mid 2018. Take it with a grain of salt for now. We have already shared the first images of the XF 8-16, XF 200mmF2 and GF 250mmF4 in this Fujirumors article.
And which one should be the next X mount zoom lens after the XF 8-16mm F2.8 WR?
In our gigantic X mount lens poll request to Fujifilm, where over 14,000 of you guys voted, dropping a total of 34,431 preferences, a lens like an XF 16-80mm F4 became the most wanted zoom lens after the XF 8-16mm F2.8.
So, dear Fujifilm, the FujiRumors community worked very hard to collect for you free market investigation data, and we decided for something like a Fujinon XF 16-80… thank you very much for listening :) .
