The Rise of Chinese Lenses and Top 7 Chinese Fujifilm X Mount Lenses

The Rise of Chinese Lenses

In the last few weeks, we covered a couple of new Chinese Fujifilm X mount lenses here on FujiRumors, such as the brand new 7Artisans 60mm F2.8 1:1 Macro and the Kamlan 50mm f/1.1 MK II.

In 2019, a lot of buzz has been created also by the first third-party reverse-engineered autofocus X mount lens, the Chinese Viltrox 85mmF1.8, whereas in 2018 the Lawoa 9mm f/2.8 was the very best seller here on FujiRumors (yep, it sold better than ANY Fujinon XF lens amongst FR-readers).

Chinese lenses: the price is (mostly) low, the quality goes up and the sales explode!

Here are the best selling ones.

  1. Meike 35mm f/1.7
  2. Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 AF
  3. Neewer 25mm f/1.8
  4. 7Artisans 35mm f/1.2
  5. Mitakon 35mm f/0.95 MKII
  6. Meike MK 25mm F1.8
  7. Meike MK-35mm F/1.4

It looks like the lable “made in China” is no longer something photographers are too skeptical of.

Today I’d like to ask you if you own any of these lenses, and if you want, you can share your feedback in the comments down below. Your feedback might be helpful for the rest of the Fujifilm community.

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Fujifilm X100V is the Name of the X100F Successor

Fujifilm X100V

Rumor Flash:

The Fujifilm X100F successor will be called Fujifilm X100V.

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Fujinon XF 33mm f/1.0 Listed for $2,350 at Romanian Store

XF33mm f/1.0

A Romanian store has the Fujinon XF 33mm f/1.0 R WR listed at their store for $2,350. That’s definitely a better price than the $3,100 listed at the Czech store a few months ago here.

Now, I think that this is just a price holder and not based on real information they have. But it’s a good opportunity for us to talk about the XF 33mm f/1.0 pricing.

UPDATE: Mistral75 said in the comments:

The ROn 9,899.99 price includes the Romanian VAT (19%). You have to subtract the VAT amount to compute a USD price. The result is $1,976.84, say $1,999 when rounded.

The Right Price

In my opinion, Fujifilm must price the Fujinon XF33mm f/1.0 very aggressively, and as our Fujifilm XF 33m f/1.0 recommended price poll showed, already a $2,000 price tag would be a deal breaker for many.

The brand new full frame Panasonic Lumix S PRO 50mm f/1.4, which is an XF33mm f/1.0 equivalent, costs $2,300.

So Fujifilm can, under no circumstances, sell it higher than $2,300. But also, they should show the advantage of APS-C by pricing it lower than the Panasonic 50mm f/1.4.

And if Fujifilm thinks to set a higher price at the beginning, for later on offering some deals on it, then I allow myself to tell Fujifilm (who reads this blog and even adds those lenses to their roadmap, that the FujiRumors community recommended them to make), that this is a bad idea.

Just set a great price right from the start, and don’t launch any deals on it for a long time. You will start making money with this lens immediatly, instead of having to wait several months for finally selling it.

Considering the Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 sells for $1,000, anything between $1,200 and $1,500 would be a good price for the Fujinon XF 33mm f/1.0.

Dear Fujifilm, many credit cards (mine included) are ready to suffer right at announcement day. So don’t let this surely marvellous piece of lens engineering sit in warehouses unsold by setting a too high price tag.

  • read here – 2020: A Fuji Odyssey Ends with the Fujinon XF33mm f/1.0, but Do We Really Need it?

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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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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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Fujifilm Updates X RAW Studio, X Acquire, H Mount Adapter G, Tether Plugin PRO and RAW File Converter EX 3.0

Fujifilm has released a bunch of firmware and software updates, mostly for Fujifilm GFX100 support but not only. The H Mount Adapter G got a bug fix and X RAW Studio a couple of improvements.

Let’s look at the updates one by one.

H MOUNT ADAPTER G Firmware Update

The firmware update Ver.1.20 from Ver.1.10 incorporates the following issue:

1. The phenomenon is fixed that it doesn’t work with HC lenses with some of the firmware versions.

FUJIFILM X RAW Studio

The software update Ver.1.7.0 incorporates the following issues:

  1. Applicable model for the “FUJIFILM X RAW STUDIO” is added.
    Applicable Model：FUJIFILM GFX100
  2. “★” mark can be pasted to a favorite image. (Addition of the rating function)
  3. Improvement of operability.
    ・By referring to a list in a previous referred folder, you can access to another folder.
    ・You can delete an image from a list of thumbnail images.
    ・You can open an image file by putting it on the icon of the application software.
    ・You can open an selected image file by other application software.
  4. Other improvements and fix of slight defect.

FUJIFILM X Acquire

The software update Ver.1.14.0 incorporates the following issue:

  1. The compatibility of tethered shooting with “FUJIFILM GFX100” is added.
    The additional function below can be used.
    ・Backup/restore of camera setting for tethered shooting.
    ・Tethered shooting via USB or Wi-Fi.

“FUJIFILM Tether Plugin PRO for GFX” for Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® Classic CC / 6

The software update Ver.1.14.0 incorporates the following issues:

  1. The compatibility of tethered shooting with “FUJIFILM GFX100” is added.
  2. Addition of function and improvement of operability.
    ・Addition of the buttons for zoom-in, zoom-out and hand tool.
    ・Functions of shortcut keys are available.
    ・Addition of the Focus reset function.

NOTE: *After May 31, 2019, Fujifilm will no longer provide camera compatibility upgrade or OS support for HS-V5 and related software including the Plug-in.

RAW FILE CONVERTER EX 3.0 powered by SILKYPIX Software Update

The software update Ver.8.1.1.0 incorporates the following issue:

  1. Applicable model for the “RAW FILE CONVERTER EX 3.0 powered by SILKYPIX” is added.
    Applicable Model : FUJIFILM GFX100

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Fujifilm GFX 100: B&H Photo, AmazonUS, Adorama, Focuscamera

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TESTED: Capture One Pro 12 Improved Fujifilm X Trans Support

Capture One Pro 12.1 has promised us improved Fujifilm X Trans support. But how well does it really work?

Thomas Fitzgerald tested it and has written about it on his blog here. His conclusion:

The changes are very, very subtle to the naked eye.

The update fixes some issues that can occur when there is very fine repetitive detail such as tree branches, leaves, foliage and things like that.

It’s as if they have improved the anti-aliasing algorithms ever so slightly.

It’s something most people probably won’t notice, and they didn’t have to do this, but it pretty much eliminates most rendering artefacts from X-Trans files.

Capture One Pro 12 – save 50%

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Fujifilm Patent Shows Tilting Top LCD Screen

Fujifilm has patented a tilting top LCD screen.

Of course these are patents (hence concepts), that may or may not see the light of the day in future cameras.

But I thought it would be interesting to discuss this concept here on FujiRumors, and maybe give Fujifilm some feedback about what we think about it, if they should continue to develop this concept, or if we se no practical use for something like that.

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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

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Hasselblad X1D II 50C

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