Fujifilm has released new firmware updates for the Fujifilm X-T5, X-H2, X-H2S, X-E4 and X-S10.
You can find all details and download links down below.
So I was hiking on the gorgeous Dolomites the other day.
If you want to know where exactly (and how it looks like) check out these two videos:
I was with my Fujifilm X-T5 and the XF18-135mm because I wanted to take landscape images, but also images of the marmots who just came out from their hibernation (as you can also see in this video).
So I set my X-T5 to animal tracking because of the marmots.
But then I notice an alpine chough on a rock nearby ready to jump into flight.
I wanted to track the “take-off”, but first I had to press an FN button, then scroll down to bird detection, press to confirm, go back in live view and then… the bird had already taken off.
My first thought?
“If only I’d have had the smartness of the (more affordable) Fujifilm X-S20, I would not have missed this shot“
Why?
Because the Fujifilm X-S20 recognizes and tracks all sorts of subjects automatically, without any need to press a single button and go into the menu and tell the camera what it has to track.
That’s a level of smartness my X-T5, but not even the X-H2 or X-H2S has.
I can hear some say: “but it’s just a few presses on the buttons to change subject“. And that’s true. In most cases, you will have enough time to change the settings. But in my case, it all happened quickly, faster than I could react.
If you couldn’t care less about this feature, that’s great.
We are all different, and you are probably just seeing and reacting to things faster than I do.
But the point is that Fujifilm has this technology available. It’s there on the X-S20 and it works very well according to those who tested it such as Gordon from Cameralabs, who says:
Auto Subject Detection does a great job to automatically recognize subjects. You don’t need to manually select the type of subject anymore.
Although there is a limitation, which would be completely avoidable if Fujifilm would provide a firmware update for it. In fact, Gordon rightfully remarks*:
*the full review of Gordon can be found down below
Sadly Auto subject detect does not work, unless you are in the full AUTO mode, which is a missed opportunity. Workaround: switch quickly to AUTO if you want the camera to track automatically (but then you’ll also get Auto Dynamic Range, which can work well but sometimes give a too HDR like look.
This is a limitation that Fujifilm could fix with a quick firmware update by not linking auto detection to the full Auto mode.
Also, I do hope that Fujifilm will bring this feature (not the full AUTO feature, but the automatic subject tracking feature) also to the more expensive 5th generation Fujifilm X-T5, X-H2 and X-H2s.
And here on FujiRumors we have already suggested how Fujifilm could implement this feature on current 5th generation Fujifilm cameras.
But hey, maybe it’s only Gordon and me who find this feature nice to have.
Let’s see what you think about it, so feel free to vote the survey down below.
Loading ...The 5th Generation Fujifilm Gear
My Personal Gear
Pretty much exactly one year ago, Fujifilm introduced their 5th generation platform (X-Processor 5 and X-Trans V) with the Fujifilm X-H2S.
The launch of the X-H2S was followed by even more 5th generation goodness with the Fujifilm X-T5 and Fujifilm X-H2.
And very soon we will also get the Fujifilm X-S20.
And given all those major releases, I was wondering how successful they have been among the FujiRumors community.
That’s why today I will launch an updated survey where you can tell us which camera you own.
Let’s see if there was a breakthrough in terms of 5th generation gear here on FujiRumors or if many of you did not update to the latest and greatest and stick with their older gear.
As a reference, here are the top 5 cameras we had in our last survey:
My Gear
Fujifilm’s X-H2S product planers and Autofocus developers meet in the latest X-Lab episode to talk about the improvements Fujifilm made with firmware 3.00 on the X-H2S.
Now, it’s again available only in Japanese so we have to rely on the automatic YouTube translation tool, which is far from ideal.
But don’t worry, you don’t have to do that. I went through this at 6:30 AM while drinking my coffee and I will sum it up for you below.
But if any Japanese speaking reader would like suggest corrections/additions to my summary, feel free to do so by writing me at fujirumor@gmail.com or drop it down below in the comments.
So, I told you here that the Fujifilm X-S20 will have an improved automatic subject detection tracking feature.
In short: no matter what’s in your frame, bird, car, person, animal, train, insect or whatever is part of Fujifilm’s trackable subjects (list here), the Fujifilm X-S20 will automatically recognize it and track it.
That’s not possible on higher end models Fujifilm X-H2, X-H2 and X-T5, where you have to always tell the camera in the menu what you would like to track and change it every time you want to track something differently.
In that article, I also expressed my wish for this AUTO mode to come to other 5th generation cameras via firmware update.
And I also have an idea how Fujifilm implement it on our cameras, but first I have to clarify something.
The AUTO feature on the X-S10 (and X-S20) will do much more than just recognizing the subjects to track.
It will also recognize if it’s sunset, night, tripod, landscape, macro etc and adjust all the settings accordingly (even pick the film simulation it thinks works best).
So it’s a full fledged auto mode like on a smartphone, and to me it makes totally sense that a base model like the X-S20 offers it, because it’s a camera that’s also aimed to people who want to upgrade from smartphones, and having that option can help to make the switch less intimidating.
And here comes the misunderstanding:
Some of you wrote me and told me it makes no sense to have such a full AUTO mode also on high end Fujifilm cameras.
And guys, I agree with you. I also want to pick my film simulation, my aperture and so forth by myself.
What I was referring to was only the AUTO scene detection mode. So the option to let the camera recognize by itself what’s the subject to track in my frame, without me needing to go all the time to go into the menu and switch subjects.
And I also have a solution on how this could work on Fujifilm X-T5, X-H2 and X-H2S.
Fujifilm could add the option AUTO in the “Subject Detection Settings” menu and that’s it. Above you can see a rendering I made of how this would look like.
Once set on AUTO, the camera will automatically pick which subject to track (people included).
And of course, it would not affect your film simulation, aperture, ISO or other values, like the AUTO on the X-S10 and X-S20 mode dial does.
Fujifilm, you have the software capable to do that (as the X-S20 will show). Now it’s just a matter of will to bring it to us higher end Fujifilm camera users.
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