This page was translated by AI. Please be forgiving of any mistakes.
‹ Photo Notes · 18 května, 2015
On Friday 15 May, at a small press conference in Prague, Japanese representatives of Fujifilm presented the company’s new products. The main item on the programme was the introduction of the new Fujifilm X-T10 camera and two new lenses, the Fujinon XF 90mm/F2.0 and the recently announced Fujinon XF 16mm/F1.4.
After a short introduction to the development and philosophy of Fujifilm, it was time for the products themselves.
Firmware 4.0 for the Fujifilm X-T1 (and X-T10)
I don’t know whether to call a camera’s firmware a new product, but as is usual with Fujifilm, thanks to new firmware the functionality of cameras sometimes changes so much that they behave like a completely new model.
It’s the same with firmware 4.0, which completely changes the properties of the autofocus. The sensitivity of phase-detect focusing in low light has improved, eye detection has been added to face detection, the 49-point focusing system was expanded to 77 points, and the options for selecting focus zones were expanded too. What matters most, and was demonstrated at the press conference, is that the X-T1 and X-T10 should finally have a usable continuous focusing mode. The firmware of course contains a number of other improvements, but it is sufficiently described on the Fujifilm website, so I won’t go into detail here; you are surely more interested in the new hardware.
Fujifilm X-T10
The internet is full of speculation about a new, revolutionary camera from Fujifilm that will one hundred percent appear during this year. They talk about 24-megapixel resolution and above all a full-frame sensor, about the X-Pro2, X-T2, X200 and the like.
Of course it is none of those. Put simply, it’s a cheaper little brother of the popular X-T1. I’d rather say low-cost than low-end, because the photo quality is of course not curtailed in any way (again a good Fuji habit). The Japanese hosts explained that the X-T1 was designed for professionals, the X-T10 rather for hobbyists and those who want to have a quality but somewhat smaller and lighter camera with them all the time.
The difference is in size, weight and partly in comfort of use. By that I don’t mean that the controls would be uncomfortable, they are nonetheless simplified. The viewfinder is again brilliant, though here too there is a slight difference compared with the X-T1. That’s understandable, a marked saving in price must show somewhere.
The price of the body was set at 699 EUR; the price in crowns hasn’t been announced yet, but it is already said that even with a quality kit lens you should pay less than for the X-T1 body alone.
Anyone who currently has some X camera from Fuji can stay calm. Anyone who doesn’t will find in the X-T10 another interesting option.
Fujinon XF 16/1.4 WR
Although I have no intention of buying more lenses, they were the main draw of the press conference for me. I wrote recently about the wide and fast XF 16mm/F1.4; this time I had the chance to try it for a few minutes.
I tried it and must confirm my words that if I didn’t have at home the two-millimetres-shorter but less fast XF 14mm/F2.8 R, this would certainly be a wide-angle that would interest me maximally. I can’t help it, Fuji lenses are simply sexy. When it’s on the market, try it. If you ever drooled (or shed a tear or both) looking through the XF 56/1.2, the same will happen to you with the 16/1.4.
Fujinon XF 90/2.0 R LM WR
And it will happen to you at least once more, in the case of the new Fujinon XF 90mm/F2.0. A shorter telephoto lens, corresponding after crop-factor conversion to the popular focal length of 135 mm. You know I never dwell here on listings of ED, aspherical and other elements, anti-reflective coatings etc.; those are rather uninteresting data for me, which you’ll read anywhere else in the end. What matters to me is the feeling, and of course that arrived again. Maybe at least some information for lovers of bokeh-monster lenses: the aperture has only 7 blades, but they have a rounded, circular shape. The minimum focusing distance is 60 cm, weight 550 grams.
The Fujinon XF 90/2.0 R LM WR will go on sale in July; for the impatient, pre-orders will soon be available at Fujifoto.
After the presentation of the products there was a short discussion concerning not only the newly presented products but also general questions about Fujifilm’s development. The answers were forthcoming, but of course often very diplomatic, which, given the secrecy of development at one of the world’s leading companies in the field, is no wonder. We too had to sign a non-disclosure document. For that reason I can’t write about several other interesting lenses that stood on the table either. I’ll only reveal that they were longer and even longer… 🙂
The obligatory question about „full-frame“ plans was asked by a practical detour, whether the X mount is capable of covering a full-frame sensor. The answer was „no, it’s too small“. My remark on the addition „we see no reason for full frame“, that Nikon claimed the same 10 years ago, was met only with a smile and a shrug.
Because I have rather fallen in love with the viewfinder placed on the left (like on a rangefinder), I couldn’t resist asking whether development continues in this direction and whether, after the X-T1 and X-T10, only viewfinders in the middle (SLR style) await us. I was assured that the company develops new models for fans of both systems.
That’s probably all from the press conference… not much, I think.