The Fujifilm X Summit 2024 Clay Studio has now finished – and the company unleashed some big announcements:
• Fujifilm X-M5
• Fujifilm XF 500mm f/5.6
• Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR II
You can watch the whole event as it unfolded, via the video embedded below – along with my live commentary on each announcement as it happened.
We're less than an hour away from showtime and, as always, the comments section of the livestream page doesn't disappoint.
"Digital Super Fujica Six. You heard it here first" says OliJoe.
I mean, I won't lie – if that was announced, I'd be all over it. (It's this camera, in case you're curious.)
I forgot to note that this X Summit has a design focus, whatever that means. Well, according to Fujifilm, it means:
This time the theme of the X Summit is the "Design", focusing "Product Design", "Production Engineering Design", and "Quality Design".
Ah, there we go. Much clearer.
Well, at least one user is engaging with the design-oriented theme.
"In your future design considerations, could you provide an on-camera system to protect the sensor from dust during lens change operations and redesign the UI making it more modern like Hasselblad did?" asks Commers_it.
That's fair. I rather like the protective shutter on cameras like the Canon EOS R5, which drops so that you can change lenses without endangering your sensor.
And I've always said that Hasselblad (followed by Leica) has the best menus in the business. Anything more along that visual design would be a win in my book.
"Please, fix the AF-C for photos too"
"Fix Eye AF in X-T5 please"
"Fix autofocus please."
"Premiere autofocus fix"
"Hi Fujifilm, when should we expect firmware from you to solve problems with autofocus on still-photography on the X-H2s???!!! It is completely impossible to work with what is now on fw 7.0! FIX IT!"
Yeah, no surprise that customers are keen for that AF fix.
Aaaaaaaaaaaand WE ARE LIVE!
Hey, it's Yuji Igarashi! He's very excited to reveal three new products:
• XF 500 f/5.6
• XF 16-55mm version II
• Fujifilm X-M5
Blimey, no messing around with breadcrumbs and teasers here… straight down to business!
Now we're meeting designer Kazuhisa Horiki san – the man who "has designed more film cameras than anyone else in the world", including the Fuji Tiara
Apparently Clay Studios was named after the fact that designers like Horikiri using clay, to create ever-evolving designs. Everything from the manhole covers to the coffee cups and signage are custom-designed.
Importantly, though, are some unchanging foundations of design principles – hence the X Series' timeless "unchanged goodness".
Alright, down to brass tacks…
A brief recap of the reason for the X-M series birth (though not the reason Fujifilm abandoned it for so many years), followed by the reveal of the new Fujifilm X-M5.
The smallest X Series camera you can buy!
(Should I be reading anything into the fact that it's being depicted as a women's camera?)
Yukari Aida shows us that it weighs only 355g and measures just
66.6 x 111.9mm.
It has symmetrically designed top dials – including a dedicated Film Simulation dial, with Reala Ace.
It also has Vlog mode on the mode dial, introduced on the X-S20, and a fully articulating screen with 3.5mm mic jack
VLog mode has a new UI (which I think is a bit messy), including an option for 9:16 vertical video.
Now we head over to creators Kyler Steele and Chisom Okoye for some shilling.
Using the X-M5 is "as simple as baking a pound cake", apparently.
Well there's a sentence I didn't have on my bingo card.
Hmm, using the X-M5 has just been likened to "taking a screenshot" of your daily life.
26.1MP sensor
"Advanced Algorithm & Subject Detection"
6.2K 30p open gate
4K 60 FullHD 240p
3 microphones with Mic Direction setting (for three-dimensional sound and noise reduction)
You can also reduce the bitrate to 8Mbps or 25Mbps for fast transfer on mobile devices.
No in-body stabilization, but there's digital stabilization for video.
Aha, NOW they mention the 11-year hiatus of the X-M series! Better late than never, eh.
Okay, Takashi Soga is here at the Taiwa site lens factory to talk about the new Red Badge lenses.
(That's like Canon's red-ring L series, if you didn't know)
Let's all welcome the 44th X Series lens, "the pinnacle" of the range, the new XF 500mm f/5.6 super telephoto prime lens.
Blows away the range of the XF 200mm f/2; the new lens is a full frame equivalent 762mm f/5.6 – pretty impressive!
It only weighs 1,335g, too.
It delivers "the highest resolution in the XF lens lineup", with 21 elements in 14 groups, and boasts 0.33 sec linear AF speed. Optical stabilization offers 5.5 stops of compensation.
Okay, superlatives aside, this lens is going to be a game-changer for wildlife shooters using X Series cameras – and that fast AF speed is going to be amazing on cameras like the X-H2 / S
Comparisons are being drawn to the GF 500mm f/5.6 lens, which was a similar game-changer for wildlife shooting on GFX Series cameras.
Fujifilm is serious about not just filling gaps in its lineups, but expanding the remit of what its cameras are capable of.
Yowzers, some of these lens elements are so thin that just touching a finger on them will warp them and change their shape! That's some serious engineering precision.
(Bit cheeky claiming a "stable production system" capable of meeting mass demand, though, given how bad Fujifilm has been at fulfilling orders for many of its products.)
Now we're over to the new XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR II – replacing the original model, launched in 2015.
This is the very lens used to film today's X Summit! What a tie-in.
The new model is 37% lighter, weighing just 410g, and is considerably smaller at 95mm in length (vs 110mm on the original)
16 elements in 11 groups
Min focus distance of 0.3m
Linear motor for fast AF
Weather resistance
And, for the first time, an aperture click switch to de-click the aperture ring. YES! PLEASE DO THIS FOR EVERY LENS FROM NOW ON!
"Almost no focus breathing" too
Another mention of stable manufacturing – apparently thanks to the Fujifilm Philippines factory. Let's hope so 🤞
US pricing:
X-M5 body = $799
XF 500mm = $2,999
XF 16-55 = $1,199
Now, back to Igarashi to wrap things up… and ONE MORE THING!
Fujifilm is currently developing new cameras… but they're hidden under covers, and we should wait for exciting news coming next year. BOO, what a heel.
No mention of the promised firmware to address autofocus issues, either, which is disappointing.
Still, the X-M5 looks very cool. It's light on a lot of features, such as stabilization, but at least Fujifilm is trying to offer interchangeable lens cameras with compact bodies – as clearly there's demand, given how crazy the world has gone over fixed lens compacts.
The new XF 500mm is going to be huge for wildlife shooters – though again, the X-H2 user at whom it's aimed would probably have enjoyed an update on when their autofocus issues might be addressed.
And I'm all for an update of the XF 16-55mm trinity lens – that looks like a very worthy and welcome update to the original lens, especially with the de-clickable aperture ring. Though honestly, that needs to become the industry standard from here on out!
Thanks for joining me. Signing off for now… see you at the neXt Summit!
