Your Firmware Wish List – Tell Fujifilm!

I recently wrote an article where I basically run through the entire history of Fujifilm Kaizen firmware updates.

I ended up inviting Fujifilm to keep up their Kaizen spirit.

Now, I have no idea how things will develop in future.

But I have wishes and hopes. And I thought that, after a long time, it might be high time to share again our firmware wishes.

I certainly hope for the fully automatic subject detection mode to come to all 5th generation cameras (and I showed Fujifilm how easy that could be implemented).  I am not a video guy, but why no waveform monitor, vectorscopes and anamorphic mode on all 5th generation cameras? I want more cameras with touch-to-track autofocus in video. And please, panoramic mode on 40MP cameras would be nice too.

And why shouldn’t the Fujifilm X-T50 and X-M5 also be able to store custom recipes on their FS1/FS3 positions? And what about direct to Instax print option?

Also, it never hurts to get some autofocus boost. I mean, for what I do, it’s already amazing. But being 85% as good as other brands is not good enough these days. It’s time to match other brands in terms of AF performance.

INSTRUCTIONS:

You’re welcome to share your wishes in the comments below.

Just in case later I decide to turn them into a survey, it would be helpful if you upvote existing comments that already include your wish, and post a new comment only if your idea hasn’t been mentioned yet.

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Spooky Fujifilm 🧟‍♂️ Cameras Brought Back to Life via Firmware Update — And Let’s Talk Kaizen

Spooky Halloween is here… 🎃

It’s the night when ghosts rise from their crypts — and it reminded me that Fujifilm, too, has (or had?) a rather unnatural power: the power to bring its cameras back from the dead with a little bit of firmware Kaizen magic.

Cameras that refused to die.

Or better yet: cameras that Fujifilm simply did not allow to die — resurrected again and again through firmware updates that breathed new life into them.

Scary times in which those who wrote excellent Fujifilm camera manuals were doomed to rewrite them over and over again — slowly driven to madness by Fujifilm’s relentless Kaizen spirit, as they struggled to keep up with all the new features added to cameras that refused to stay dead.

So let’s talk about those times.

And let’s talk about where we are now and what has changed (if anything).

🧟 So it Began – The First Resurrection

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What We Lost When Cameras Got Better — and How Fujifilm Is Trying to Give It Back

What We Have Lost

I remember…

I remember when at the age of 16 I bought my first Fujifilm Quicksnap camera.

We were going on a 4-day trip with my classmates to Siena.

And I remember how I cherished those 27 shots — how intentional I tried to make every single one of them. Every frame mattered so much to me.

The photos might have been flawed — soft, overexposed, touched by grain and blur. But the moments were flawless. I waited for them, guarded each frame, and only pressed the shutter when I felt that it truly mattered.

But somehow all of that went lost with the arrival of digital.

That sense of loss — of meaning, of connection — is exactly what YouTuber Gerald explores in his video “What We Lost When Cameras Got Better”. He looks back at what we unknowingly traded away when photography became effortless, and how we might get those things back.

We thought we were upgrading to digital.
But we weren’t — we were trading.
And this is what we lost in the exchange, according to Gerald.

Intentionality –

Film forced us to think before shooting because every frame was limited and costly.
Digital made shooting cheap and endless, which made each photo mean less.

Presence –

With film, you stayed in the moment.
With digital, we’re constantly checking screens, pulled out of the experience.

Anticipation –

Waiting to see developed photos made us value them more.
Instant previews make us forget instantly — memories don’t have time to form.

Imperfection –

Film had character: grain, light leaks, and “happy accidents.”
Digital and AI perfection removed uniqueness; everything looks the same.

Mindfulness –

Shooting film is a tactile, focused ritual.
You set ISO once, advance manually, and truly participate in the process.
Digital gives results; film teaches discipline.

Conclusion

Technology didn’t just upgrade photography — it also caused a trade-off.
We gained convenience but lost meaning.
Unlimited shots led to unlimited forgetting, while limitations gave us value.

How to Get It Back

You don’t need to abandon digital. Instead, adopt the film mindset.

By slowing down and paying attention, you’ll remember your photos — and the moments — again.

So What has Fujifilm to Do with This?

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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

Fujifilm X-T30 III Performs a Miracle: FujiRumors Comment Section Turns Positive!

It looks like the brand new Fujifilm X-T30 III just did something I thought was almost impossible: it made people happy, even on the comments here on FujiRumors 😊

Because, let’s face it — over the last few months (or even years), there’s been a lot of critiques in the comments on FujiRumors every time Fujifilm launched something new (often I feel rightful critiques, but often I think also not).

In short: Fujifilm has faced its fair share of criticism with almost every recent release.

So, when the X-T30 III dropped, I braced myself before opening the comment section — expecting yet another wave of disappointment.

But much to my surprise… that didn’t happen.

In fact, the more I scrolled, the more positive reactions I found (with some negatives here and there).

Let’s quote a few:

OreganoSpliff: Well, I’m finding it hard to talk s**t given what you get for the money

Marcio K: xactly what I tought to be – the X-M5 in the X-T30 body. For the price, very interesting.

Stefan: £829 in the uk is super cheap. Just £30 more than the XT30ii was at launch

italianbreadman: This is the best thing they’ve done in years

If I were to judge only from the comments, I’d say Fujifilm did a lot of things right with the X-T30 III — mainly by holding the price around that magical 1K mark.

As I said before, the X-T30 III finally closes a huge gap in Fujifilm’s lineup — and it seems that most people appreciate exactly that.

Will it be a best-seller?
Only time will tell.
But honestly — it has all the potential to become a big hit.

I’ll leave you with a bunch of new hands-on reviews and podcasts below.

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.

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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

Fujifilm X-T30 III vs X-T30 II – Here are the Main Differences

According to our sources, the upcoming Fujifilm X-T30 III will have lots in common with the Fujifilm X-T30 II: same body, so much so that at a first glance one might not see any difference at all.

However, there is one exterior and one internal difference.

On the outside, instead of the drive dial, you’ll get the film simulation dial with the FS1 to FS3 position, in which you can also store your personal film simulation recipes.

On the inside, you’ll still find the trusted X-Trans IV 26MP sensor, but this time coupled with the new X Processor 5.

Of course this means a certain performance boost for the X-T30 III, such as 6K 4:2:2 10bit recording (X-T30II shoots 4K max), the better autofocus algorithm with all sorts of subject detection modes, more film simulations (all 20 currently available) and more.

I guess those are the main differences: not many, but relevant ones.

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VOTE: Fujifilm X-T30 III vs XC 13-33mm F3.5-6.3 – What Are You More Interested In?

→ My Vote: I am most interested in this

Very soon Fujifilm will announce the Fujifilm X-T30 III and the Fujinon XC13-33mmF3.5-6.3.

I was just curious which of the two announcements is more interesting to you (if any).

Hence, here is a little survey.

VOTE

I am more interested in the...

View Results

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RUMOR: New Firmware Might Finally Bring the Fujifilm Feature I’ve Been Begging For

Now, usually I’m not the kind of website that publishes unconfirmed rumors… or worse, makes them up just to drive traffic.

And while I’ll never start inventing rumors, I’ll make a small exception today when it comes to publishing an unconfirmed one.

Why?

Well, with a rumor accuracy close to 100%, I think I’ve earned the right to take a tiny risk once in a while.

Now, I really, really hope this rumor turns out to be true — it’s one of the features I’ve been vigorously requesting from Fujifilm for quite some time (see video above).

So, here’s the rumor:

According to an anonymous source, Fujifilm is working on a firmware update that will bring the wide panorama mode also to 40MP cameras!

Now, I truly hope this source is accurate — and not just playing with my feelings 😉.

But if it is true, then a huge thank you to the anonymous tipster! Sadly, I won’t be able to recognize you next time (no nickname given), but if you’re reading this, feel free to reach out again anytime you’ve got something exciting to share with the Fujifilm community.

Ricoh GR IV Monochrome Camera Development Announced

Ricoh GR Goes Monochrome

Back in 2024 I told you that Ricoh would announce the Ricoh GR IV monochrome in 2025.

The rumor was instantly declared a fake clickbait by the “rest of the internet” (as you pointed out). But it looks like it was not a fake – so huge thanks to our source for sharing, once again, accurate information with us.

In fact, Ricoh just announced the Ricoh GRIV monochrome development, with shipping possibly still in 2025, just as our sources told us.

Also the Ricoh GR IV HDF (high diffusion filter) has been announced, but unlike the Monochrome version, which is a first for the Ricoh GR series, the Ricoh GR HDF version already existed in previous iterations of this line.

Here on FujiRumors wer are very strong supporters of a monochrome Fujifilm camera.

I’m confident the new Ricoh GR IV Monochrome will be a huge success. It’s a pity that Fujifilm doesn’t seem to recognize the enormous potential a monochrome Fujifilm camera could have.

Press Releases

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