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Pack your bags and book your flights because the next Fujifilm X Summit will be held in Sweden. In a YouTube video published on August 14th, Yuji Igarashi, General Manager of Fujifilm’s Electronic Imaging Division, announced the next X Summit will be held in Stockholm, Sweden on September 12th, followed by a Fujikina festival on September 13th, offering free hands-ons with the latest gear, seminars, and workshops with professional photographers and videographers.
It’s been just three months since Fujifilm’s last X Summit event, which took place in Bangkok, Thailand, and announcement of several new products, including the Fujifilm X-S20, the FUJINON XF8mm F3.5 R WR ultra-wide prime and the all-new XApp smartphone companion app. Fujifilm always has something new to unveil at these X Summit events, and while we don’t know what’s coming for the Stockholm event, we can’t help but speculate a little.
While we can look at Fujifilm’s product range and get an idea of what products haven’t been refreshed in a while, the X Summit’s location can also provide a clue. Fujifilm’s GFX series of medium-format cameras have been very successful and are a popular camera system for creators wanting medium format performance. And what other camera manufacturer competing in this same space calls Sweden home? Hasselblad. Again, we’re speculating here, but it’s interesting that Fujifilm is holding an X Summit event right in Hasselblad’s backyard.
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| The Hasselblad X2D 100C is the third generation of the Swedish company’s compact medium format mirrorless X series. One of the major updates to this model is an upgrade to a 100-megapixel BSI sensor, which is similar (if not identical) to the sensor in the Fujifilm GFX100-series cameras.
Image credit: Damien Demolder. |
Looking at the product timeline, the top-of-the-line GFX100 or GFX100S are the most likely candidates for an update at this upcoming X Summit. The first GFX100 debuted in 2019, and then we saw the smaller, lighter GFX100S hit the scene in 2021. Offering a more compact DSLR-like body than the big dual-gripped GFX100, the GFX100S is still an amazing 102-megapixel camera, but the imaging pipeline is essentially the same as the GFX100 from 2019. With Hasselblad coming out with its own compact 100MP medium-format mirrorless camera, the X2D 100C, in 2022, Fujifilm might have something up its sleeve to compete with this.
Whether it’s a new GFX camera or some GF-mount lenses, we can’t say for certain. Nonetheless, we’re excited to see what Fujifilm has in store for us at its upcoming X Summit Stockholm event in September.
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| The Fujifilm GFX100S debuted back in 2021, offering the same impressive imaging pipeline as the larger GFX100 yet with more powerful image stabilization, a more compact form factor and a lower price point.
Image credit: Dan Bracaglia. |
In addition to the X Summit and Fujikina news, Fujifilm also offers some additional news updates in its August video update, the first being a new firmware update to its midrange Fujifilm X-S20 mirrorless camera that debuted back in May. First released on July 13th, firmware version 1.11 for the X-S20 offers improvements to AF tracking performance thanks to an updated motion prediction algorithm.
The firmware update also fixes a handful of bugs, including a WRITE ERROR message that may appear when using slower memory cards, an EVF display bug that showed incorrect exposure when using a zoom-lens under certain conditions, and an issue with subject brightness appearing dark momentarily when shooting videos in shutter-priority mode. For the full details and to download the latest firmware, visit the Firmware Update page.
The video also discussed Fujifilm’s GFX Challenge Grant Program. The 15 winners from the 2022 GFX Challenge Grant are approaching the completion of their projects. These artists are scheduled to complete their creative projects in August, and the works will then be exhibited in Fujifilm Square in Tokyo from November 10-30, 2023. Additionally, the 2023 GFX Challenge Grant Program is now open for applications. As before, 15 grant winners will be selected, with five Global Winners getting $10,000 for their project budget and free loans of GFX gear as well as 10 Regional Grant winners getting $5,000 and free GFX loaner gear. The application period runs from August 14 to October 15, 2023.
Via YouTube
Author:
William Brawley
Source: Dpreview
