Top Articles for June: Unloved Fujifilm X-H1, Tilting Fujifilm X-Pro3, Lovely Fujifilm Colors Vs Sony, Future Proof GFX and More

These are the top 10 most read articles on FujiRumors for June. In case you missed them, catch up now and (hopefully) enjoy them.

  1. Fujifilm X-H1: an Unloved Child, FujiRumors’ New Temptation… and WOW!
  2. Fujifilm X-Pro3 Registered Online and Coming Fall 2019
  3. Fujifilm X-Pro3 Coming with Tilt Screen
  4. Fujifilm X-T30 Charcoal In Stock and AmazonUS honoring Their Crazy Mistake X-T30 Deal
  5. Fujifilm X-Pro3 Announcement Within October
  6. FUJIFILM vs SONY Colors Compared: “If You don’t Want to Spent Time Color Grading, Fujifilm is Great”
  7. Why Fujifilm GFX Medium Format System is Future Proof and Tony Northrup’s GFX Pessimism is Unjustified
  8. Japanese Camera Market Share: The Rise of Sony, The Decline of All Others and Fujifilm Saved by Instax
  9. Fujifilm X100V/X200 Coming in… The Answer in This FujiRumors Article!
  10. Value Angle of Mirrorless Cameras Explained and Compared

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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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Updated Fujifilm 2019/2020 Camera and Lens Release Timeline

Fujifilm Timeline

It’s high time to update our older Fujifilm 2019/2020 camera and lens release timeline.

This is just an approximate timeline and expect to see updates to this list over the next few weeks and months.

For now, this is mainly just an update to the list we shared back in January.

All rumors are as always exclusive FujiRumors.com information. When I just make some guess, I will highlight that for you in the notes.

  • IMPORTANT NOTE: We are talking about release timeline, not announcement timeline.

How Many Lenses a Year?

  • as we told you here, at the current pace and current resources, Fujifilm can release about 2/3 GF and 2/3 XF lenses a year
  • the list below contains 1 XF and 1 GF lens
  • hence we can expect to see 1/2 more XF and 1/2 more GF lenses to join the list
  • Fujifilm has given up options to vote which lenses should come next

Fall 2019

Coming 2020

Expect 1 or 2 more X as well as GF lenses. My guess:

  • GF 21mm F4 Tilt Shift
  • XF 10mm F2

Probably NOT Coming 2019/2020

* our sources say it will not be released in 2019, and probably not even in 2020. But Fujifilm managers confirmed here, that the X-H line will continue

Top Possible Bonus Gear in 2020

* based on this old rumor rumor
** wishful thinking based on XF10 disappointment
*** no rumors. but please, FUJI, PLEASE!!!
**** no rumor, just a mere wild guess

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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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Kai Wong Fujifilm GFX100 Hands On Review: “You Do Get Quite a Bit for Your Money”

Fujifilm GFX100

Kai Wong went hands on with the Fujifilm GFX100. Here is what he thinks about it:

  • medium format is ment for tripod still subject shooting, but not with a body like the Fujifilm GFX100
  • feels good in the hands
  • like a Canon 1DXII in terms of size and weight, but the GFX100 has a much bigger sensor inside [and I’d also IBIS]
  • it functions like an oversized Fujifilm X, at least almost. No D-Pad, no retro dials
  • skin smoothing effect smooths out ever imperfection. Works only for the JPEGs
  • autofocus is pretty damn good. Same AF algorithm of X-T3, but lenses have bigger glass to shift, hence not as fast AF as X-T3
  • Fujifilm X-T3 and X-T30 eye-AF is right up there with Sony
  • Kai’s GFX100 struggled to detect faces, but on other GFX100 samples face and eye detection worked well
  • Eye AF is accurate and fast enough, although feels a little bit slower than on Fujifilm X-T3
  • the GFX100 sensor is 4 times bigger than the sensor on the X-T3
  • tracking mostly does a good job, although, understandably, sometimes it doesn’t shift the glass in time when the subject is moving at decent pace towards you
  • EVF is sooo good
  • shutter really well dampened (shock absorber), and you need it, with medium format 102 MP
  • nice soft shutter button, like on Fujifilm X-H1
  • using IBIS, works easily down to 1/125
  • no fancy dials, and Kai missed them, since turning a dial is easier and quicker than pressing a button and looking at the LCD
  • not too many negatives
  • electronic shutter means bad rolling shutter, but no surprise with a big sensor like that, and probably you are not going to use electronic shutter on the GFX100
  • works well enough on the streets, but not the obvious choice for street photography
  • a camera for landscapers, who need more resolution and more details
  • you can push it 4 stops and still get nice clean, crisp images
  • nobody buys the GFX100 for video, but it deserves credit since Fujifilm has done video well on the GFX100
  • uses 4K with no crop. Footage looks great. AF works great. Rolling shutter contained and video is still usable
  • IBIS works superbly to shoot stable video
  • You do get quite a bit for your money
  • Props to Fujifilm and well done to all those lucky buggers that can afford one

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

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