Check it every now and then, open up the page for your lens, and see if the firmware number has changed. If a new number is up, download the zip file, unpack it, open it and see what changes it brings. But beware: sometimes the details of the firmware change are written only in Chinese, so you better use machine translation to understand what the update brings.
Viltrox does not offer any way to be notified about changes, they do not write the date of firmware release on the page (except in rare cases, but also with completely wrong dates), nor do they list their firmware from newest to oldest.
Viltrox also won’t inform you on their social media about new firmware updates. At least not immediately. They might (if you are lucky) make a post on Instagram about new firmware at some point, but that post (if it comes) could be shared weeks if not months after the firmware had already been released.
That’s how things are right now. I hope they will improve the page and understand that good customer experience and service looks different.
Anyway, here are the firmware updates.
Viltrox 56mm f/1.7 ver. 1.0.2 – details here 1. Fixed the problem of lens deviating from the focus at close range at F1.7 aperture. (google translated)
Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 II ver. 1.1.0 – details here
1. Adapt to X-T5 X-H2 X-H2S
2. Optimize AF-C speed
Recently we published a bunch of gear/hardware related wishes we have received from the Fujifilm community.
Now it is time to share a bunch of firmware wishes.
by Oli
Here is a link to my blog post about my experiences with the X100Vi and the WCL as a “poor man’s Leica Q”.
I guess you might be able to read German: shashindo.de/fuqi/ (google translated).
There is actually ONE reason why the Leica Q3 is “better” than the Fujifilm X100VI: The handling of the metadata!
Leica writes the crop focal length and crop pixel size in the metadata!
It’s too bad that Fujifilm doesn’t also set the crop focal length in the metadata!
It would also be nice to find the name of the custom setting (aka film simulation) here in the EXIF data. Well, you can still have wishes…
Thought you might be interested ;-)
Or in case you do have access to Fuji Development department somehow, maybe you can drop this there… :-D
If you thought the film simulation dial of the Fujifilm X-T50 was a one-time experiment by Fujifilm, then forget about it.
Hate it or love it, it is here to stay and it will be used also on the upcoming Fujifilm X-M5.
Of course the question now is: will there be also other future Fujifilm cameras that will use that dial?
Well, we can safely assume that higher end cameras won’t use the film simulation dial. I simply can’t believe Fujifilm would put one on the Fujifilm X-Pro5 or Fujifilm X-T6 or Fujifilm X-H3 or Fujifilm X-H3S.
But as we can see on X-T50/X-M5, on mid-low end cameras Fujifilm might as well use that dial.
So now the question comes up: will maybe the Fujifilm X-E5 have a film simulation dial, too?
I do not have the answer to that question.
But what I can do until I find the answer, is to ask you which dial you’d like on the Fujifilm X-E5.
I guess the most realistic options are either a shutter speed dial or a film simulation dial.
Fujifilm must make sure the errors of the X-E4 are not repeated. The X-E5 must be produced in sufficient numbers. And that dial is just too cumbersome to make.
And yet, out of curiosity, I will give you also that dial option to vote on. Just to see if I am the only one who’s in love with that dial or if there are also others who’d pay a bit more for an X-E5 just to get that dial.
Nikkei has published the global sales number and market share of digital stills and video cameras sold in 2023. The numbers are based on data from CIPA and JEITA and have been reported by the Japanese website dclife.
Here are the numbers for 2023:
Canon … 3.34 million units (46.5%)
Sony … 2 million units (27.9%)
Nikon … 810,000 units (11.3%)
Fujifilm … 430,000 units (6.0%)
Panasonic … 260,000 units (3.6%)
OM Digital … 180,000 units (2.5%)
Ricoh Imaging … 60,000 units (0.8%)
Nikkei writes that the decline in the global market share of digital cameras is slower than before, and the demand for high-performance mirrorless cameras is increasing. Nikkei says “high-performance mirrorless is strong, and the market is recovering“.
Considering that Fujifilm has no dedicated video camera, nor DSLRs in offering, it is safe to assume that the vast majority of the 430,000 units are X and GFX camera sales. Not sure if the (almost dead) Fujifilm Finepix line is included in the list, but even if it would, it would be a negligable number.
X-E4 shipping debacle, discontinued in 2023 with harldy ever being in stock due to Fuji’s incompetence to produce what people actually ordered
The list could go on forever, but bare with me if I stop it here to avoid to turn this article into a rant.
All I’ll say is that the number, 430K, is way below of what Fujifilm could have shipped if only they figured out a proper way to produce more gear rather than relying on creative, flawed and no-cost solution like using blockchain to improve parts procurement.
They did not increase production (except now for the X100VI). They did not hire more workers. They did not expand factories. They just accepted things as they are and so we got to absurd situation like the one of the X-E4, which was launched in January 2021. I noticed the X-E4 in stock only once in October 2021 and then it was mainly out of stock everywhere until it got discontinued in 2023 while tons of people still had one on pre-order.
The Fujifilm CEO calls this a “normal” situation, but I have not seen other brands struggle as much with deliver as Fujifilm. Sure, it’s not all Fuji’s fault, as nobody could have thought that Fujifilm’s popularity would expload like this. But the years passed, and Fujifilm failed to adjust to the new high demand.
Anyway… it is what it is.
Fujifilm sold 430,000 cameras in 2023. But it could have been easily twice as much if they’d have been able to ship their gear properly worldwide.
It’s been a long time that I have not done a “famous X Shooter” roundup and a roundup of Fujifilm gear used in ads.
Today I am going to catch up with it by delivering a rather big one :).
Thanks to everybody who has passed what they’ve spotted around!
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga, a renowned American singer, recently starred in a T.V. commercial where she is seen using a Fujifilm X-T3 camera! The commercial is for Nurtec ODT, a migraine medicine. You can see the full ad on YouTube here (screenshot above)
I understand that this dial is polarizing, but ultimately I got quite some feedback from readers who did start to use film simulations more often due to the fact that they have such quick and intuitive access to them thanks to the dial. So for some this dial is definitely welcome.
And today we can tell you this: the film simulation dial won’t be a one-time only experiment and therefore unique to the Fujifilm X-T50.
In fact, I have been told that also the upcoming Fujifilm X-M5 will feature the film simulation dial.
Now, I do not know how it will be implemented. The original Fujifilm X-M1 had a PSAM dial and an unmarked dial, so maybe the film simulation dial will replace the unmarked dial? I have no answer to this but I will let you know as soon as I can.
What is sure according to our sources: the film simulation dial is there.
But as much as I find the film simulation a good idea (for certain cameras) my top hope is that the Fujifilm X-E5 (yep, there will be one ;)) will have this dial here.
It’s time to dedicate some space here on FujiRumors to your wishes and ideas as far as future Fujifilm cameras goes.
Hence, down below are a few emails with Fujifilm camera wishes I have received.
And yes, I have also received lots of non-camera wishes, which I will share in another future FR-reader wishlist roundup.
As for the rumors… guys, don’t worry… there will be plenty of them. ;)
Oh… and the Fujifilm X-E5, Fujifilm X-M5 and Fujifilm X50 you see above are all just renderings I made. But if somebody out there has the real images (of any upcoming camera or lens) and wants to share the joy with the FR-community, feel free to drop me a message.
Better late than never: Adobe has added Reala Ace support for X-H2S and X-S20 with their latest August 2024 update. You can check out details here.
We remind you that the Fujifilm X-H2S and the X-S20 (as well as other Fujifilm cameras) got Reala Ace film simulation in-camera via firmware update in June.
A firmware update was released, and after some users installed it, they noticed the firmware was flawed and the camera is now buggy. So far, nothing new. This just happens.
But when one of these photographers contacted customer service, the representatives acknowledged that the issue could have been potentially caused by the firmware update. Despite this, they are asking customers to send in their cameras for repairs, which will cost (at least) $700.
That’s a shame and should not happen.
And luckily it does not happen to Fujifilm shooters, because this is what happened to a Sony shooter, whose Sony FX3 got apparently broken by firmware 5.00 (see video below).
The video made by Camera Nerds Media runs you through this unreal experience (including recorded calls with customer service).
Camera Nerds Media also went on various Sony forums and he saw that many other FX3 users got the same issue with firmware 5.00. He ends up saying:
I don’t think users should be responsible for faulty firmware updates. That is crazy. […] Now my camera does not work and I lost lots of functionality and I am required to pay for that.
[…]
I posted about this on a bunch of Sony Forums, and the overall theme is that nobody updates the firmware on their Sony cameras because it is historically unreliable and a lot of problems can happen”
To be clear: Camera Nerds Media is a Sony shooter and not a secret agent paid by Fujifilm or Canon or whoever to trashtalk Sony.
Sh*t Happens
Why this intro?
Well, it’s simple: we are used to look at our own garden (the Fujifilm world) and we rightfully moan when something goes wrong there.
But here is the thing: we are so focused on our own world, that we don’t see what’s going on elsewhere.
The Sony issue we reported about today is just one of many. I saw posts with freezes on Sony camera and users have to remove the battery to make the camera work again.
So yes, it’s good to moan, when something goes wrong in the Fujifilm world. But we should be at least aware that modern cameras are high tech computers with lots of complicated coding inside, and that every brand stumbles on that. That’s just normal.
What really matters is how brands react to those issues.
Fujifilm releases free firmware updates to fix errors, whereas in the story we shared today, we can see that this is not always the case with Sony cameras.
Fujifilm Bug Reports
But let’s go back to our little Fujifilm garden.
When I posted the article about a rare bug that drives me nuts, other fellow Fujifilm X shooters wrote me with their own bug reports.
And because I pay full price for my gear and have no connections to Fujifilm, I can freely report about those bugs here on FujiRumors, in the hope Fujifilm Japan will read this (they will), and possibly even release a fix in the near future (of course for free ;) ).
If you have your own bugs to report about, feel free to drop it in the comments.
I have the GFX 100S II and it happened to me it froze too a couple of times in the past month and yesterday I found when it happens:
Using the camera in portrait mode, but turning it 90 clockwise, not counter clockwise (as natural it is)
I know it happened in other models like the GFX 100 II, do you know if that bug has been resolved?
UPDATE: I took the camera to the store where I bought it and the seller said he would contact the Fuji rep about that. Then he sent the camera to be repaired. It Looks like there is an electronic problem, that is what he said to me a few days later. Hopefully the camera will be back soon.
by Cipulot – The Disappearing Indicators
I am sharing with you a pretty interesting thing that is happening with my X100VI with the latest 1.11 fw.
In particular, out of nowhere, in the OVF mode, the indicators stopped being shown even if I had them selected in the settings (video below).
Funnily enough, though, if I enable large indicators, they still do not show up, but if I half-press the shutter, they pop up and then go away as soon as I take a shot/release it.
I tried disabling them, re-enabling, power cycle, and even removing the battery, but the issue persists.
I forgot to mention that even when pressing the DISP BACK button multiple times, the issue persists, even tho that should fix it usually.
UPDATE: As a last effort I reinitialized the camera and it went back to working order. [if you encounter this issue too, reset your camera]
by Alan – the Silent Focus Priority Override in AF-MF
Your July 10, 2024 post entitled “This (Rare) Fujifilm Bug Drives Me Nuts…” got me thinking about the one Fujifilm bug that most bothers me. Actually, mine is more than a bug… because mine interacts with a known Fujifilm autofocus issue that can produce more out-of-focus images than expected. Combined, the bug and issue have the potential to badly effect the AF experience of users and, I expect, reviewers.
The Bug: With AF+MF* enabled, the camera will, without warning, override FOCUS/RELEASE PRIORITY** if it has been set to FOCUS.
Potential Bug Remedy: At the very least, Fuji should grey-out the RELEASE/FOCUS PRIORITY menu option when AF+MF is enabled.
The Issue and its Importance: The potential advantage of AF+MF* is paradoxically counterbalanced by the potential disadvantage of RELEASE PRIORITY**.
Fujifilm’s competitors allow their users to manually fine tune autofocus (with focus aids such as peaking and magnification), while maintaining control of when the shutter will release in AF-C or AF-S modes (ie, with or without autofocus confirmation/acquisition).
For example, if AF-C loses a bird amongst leaves, manual override will be necessary to regain focus. The rest of the time, when manual override isn’t necessary, the camera should be allowed to acquire focus before releasing shutter, should the user so desire.
Please feel free to post my note on FujiRumors if you think that it would be of interest.
* XT-5: MENU > AF/MF SETTINGS > AF+MF = “OFF
** XT-5: MENU > AF/MF SETTINGS > RELEASE/FOCUS PRIORITY
When yesterday we published the comments of Fujifilm CEO, who said that it is very difficult to mass-produce Fujifilm cameras with retro dials, there were some who said that making a retro dial is just as quick and easy as making a PSAM dial.
Is it true?
Well, the CEO was referring to the production struggles of the Fujifilm X100VI, which uses the combined ISO/Shutter dial first introduced on the Fujifilm X-Pro2.
So let’s look at that dial. Is it really as easy as making a PSAM dial? Here is what Fujifilm writes about it:
Realizing the [dial] mechanism and manufacturing process were not easy.
Firstly, […] there are 22 positions in total, quite a lot of number for an internal dial. […]
Secondly, the dial is electronically linked. The analog dial operation is converted digitally to know exactly what the setting is.
And Lastly, this mechanism has to be weather-resistant.
In order to meet the requirement, the Shutter speed / ISO dial required 38 parts for its composition. This number is the fourth largest after the finder, shutter unit, and mount.
This is not only about number of pieces, some parts required highly tech solution to manufacture the piece.
For example, in order to achieve the accurate 22 positions, the piece needed to be very precise and durable regardless of its complicated form. This piece is realized by a method called Metal Injection Molding (MIM). It is not cost friendly, but the this method realizes the metal part to be durable even in its complicated form.
Why do we spend so much time on this one dial?
Unfortunately there is no economic and rational answer to that question. But it was something that the developing team of X-Pro camera had always dreamed of achieving. And it was also something that the passionate X-Pro users strongly wished for.
So please, don’t go around saying that making a dial like the one on the Fujifilm X100VI is just the same as making one for any PSAM dialed camera.
There is no other digital vintage-looking camera out there that uses that dial. And the reason why is explained above: it’s complicated, it’s expensive, and it makes no sense from a manufacturing efficiency point of view.
But we are lucky that Fujifilm thinks differently.
Fujifilm does not think that niche products with niche ergonomic solutions are just a waste of R&D. Fujifilm has such a massive photographic culture that they understand that cultivating a niche means cultivating the true passion for photography.
And speaking of Fujifilm X-E5, personally I hope it will have such a dial too, although I have little hopes since it is so expensive to make, and I guess Fujifilm does not want that camera to become too expensive.
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