I went up high with family and friends to grab some fresh Alpin air and charge my batteries ahead of the Fujifilm X Summit on May 24.
And as you can see in the video, the view was just as epic as the upcoming Fujifilm event ;).
But despite the good company on the beautiful lake on a Sunday afternoon, the Fujifilm X Summit on May 24 at 5AM New York time is coming closer, so a wrap up urgently needed.
That’s why I “abandoned” friends and family for a while to talk to you and give you a recap of everything we will get for sure on May 24, but also talk about what could come based on official Fujifilm teasers as well as throw in also some of my hopes.
You will get it all in written format below, but if you want to see one of the most beautiful lakes in the Dolomites, then check out the video too (and see this image and this image on my Instagram).
FACT (actually rumors, but thanks to our sources rumors are basically facts ;))
Back in January, after launching the huge firmware 3.00 update for the Fujifilm X-H2S, Fujifilm promised major firmware updates also for the Fujifilm X-H2 and X-T5. I don’t have any rumors about it, but as an X-T5 owner myself, I can’t wait for that firmware to drop so I cross fingers it will happen on May 24.
WISHES (some based on RUMORS)
More Firmware: Since we just talked about firmware, I hope (not rumor, just hope) that also other cameras will get firmware updates that go beyond the “fix of minor bugs”.
new film simulation: usually with the introduction of new sensor and processors, Fujifilm also launched new film simulations. But this did not happen with the X-H2s, X-H2 and X-T5. Again, I have no rumors, but I hope Fujifilm will give us one on the X-S20
richer lens roadmaps: if you take a look at the latest X mount roadmap and GF mount roadmap, they are very poor on future lenses. And in fact, after the XF8mmF3.5 announcement, the X Roadmap will contain no more lenses. So I hope Fujifilm will release new roadmaps for both systems.
Mock-ups: what Fujifilm likes to do is to show mock-ups of upcoming lenses (and in some cases also lenses that were never on any roadmap). So I hope they will show us the some mock-ups of future lenses
Development or Surprise Announcement: Sometimes Fujifilm also makes development announcements during X summits (for example X-Pro3). Now, FR readers know Fujifilm is working on the Fujifilm GFX100 replacement. So I hope that that one will be announced on May 24 or at least there will be a development announcement
So that’s it. Let me know what your wishes are for the upcoming X Summit.
See you all here on FujiRumors on May 24 where I will live stream the event and cover everything.
When I shared my video (and partially rant) about the Fujifilm X-E4 being discontinued and what that could mean for the Fujifilm X-E line going forward, I quickly mentioned in that video that I believe one line Fujifilm will never drop is the Fujifilm X-Pro line.
Why?
Because the X-Pro line is a very prestigious line for Fujifilm. It was Fujifilm’s first mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and as such it is symbolically very important for Fujifilm.
Sure, Fujifilm won’t refresh it as often as they do with other lines, but it will continue (in my opinion).
But I said something else in the video.
I said that the Fujifilm X-Pro line will become a more “experimental” line for Fujifilm, and we can see that happening already now with the hidden LCD of the Fujifilm X-Pro3.
And you know what? I am good with it.
The Fujifilm X-Pro is a niche camera and I find it OK if the they try niche stuff with it.
So assuming Fujifilm will continue to experiment around with that line, what would you like to get with the Fujifilm X-Pro4?
An X-Pan X-Pro? Or maybe a monochrome X-Pro? Or why not get rid of the LCD entirely? Or keep the LCD, but put a stacked sensor in it and get rid of the mechanical shutter instead? Any other ideas?
Feel free to drop your wish in the comments. I might collect them in future and make a survey out it.
Full disclosure: Tim did not pay FujiRumors to publish this. He started to work on this concept using a Fujifilm X-T1 camera (you see the first prototype here). Feel free to give Tim your feedback in the comments.
There is no way around it: if you want to bring your photography to the next level, then at some point you have to leave the world of “full auto”.
But leaving the “auto” world to go partially or full manual can be intimidating and confusing, and that was the case also for Tim Helweg-Larsen.
When Tim’s son was born, he wanted to really understand his camera and get the most out of it.
In this process, Tim wanted to create a more intuitive way to control the camera.
What he ultimately came up with is Expodo, a new user interface with an exposure donut that is visible on the LCD and EVF of the camera itself.
Expodo takes the essential elements of any exposure (light, time, aperture, sensitivity) and visualizes them in form of an exposure donut, where the length of each coloured arc is proportionate to each of these values.
The exposure donut shows that these four elements all contribute the brightness of your image.
For us long time Fujifilm lovers, Fujifilm manager Toshihisa Iida (the manager who said Fujifilm will NEVER go Full Frame) was arguably the most representative face of the Fujiflm X/GFX series of the last 10 years.
Sadly for us (but congratulations to him), Toshi left the electronic imaging division once he got promoted to President and Managing Director at Fujifilm Europe back in 2020.
I must admit I was a bit worried when the Toshi left, as I felt that the Fujifilm X/GFX series was in safe hands as long as he was in charge.
He did run the business with huge dedication, passion and vision, as can also be seen in this in this brilliant documentary (MUST WATCH !!!), that gives an intimate look into his life and work as imaging director.
I honestly thought it would be hard to replace a manager like Toshihisa Iida.
But attention: while it is an X mount autofocus lens, it won’t work with all X series cameras.
Samyang says it is will work with X-Trans cameras, but not with Fuji’s Bayer cameras (X-T***, X-A*, X-A** lines).
But that’s not entirely correct, as not all X-Trans cameras are actually compatible. In fact, the X-Trans Fujifilm X-M1 is also not on the list of compatible cameras.
Maybe it would be more correct to say: all the cameras not made by Fujifilm (hence the ones outsourced to the Xacti Corporation), will not worked with the new Samyang.
