It's a good day to be a Fujifilm photographer. The company has announced multiple new cameras and lenses for both the GFX medium format series and popular X series. Check out what they have in store.
GFX50S II
The GFX50S II features the same 51.4-megapixel sensor as the original but brings with it improvements seen in the 100 bodies. Features include:
- 19 film simulations
- 5-axis in-body stabilization with up to 6.5 stops of compensation
- More accurate face and eye autofocus
- Compact body: 37.1 ounces (900 g) and 4.1 inches (104.2 mm) high and 3.4 inches (87.2 mm) deep
- Newly shaped grip for better ergonomics
- Magnesium alloy body with weather- and dust-resistance
- Six custom modes
- 1.8-inch sub-LCD
- Articulating rear LCD
- 200-megapixel Pixel Shift Multi-Shot mode
Expect the GFX50S II to ship in late October at a price of $3,999.
FUJINON GF35-70mm f/4.5-5.6 WR Lens
The GF35-70mm f/4.5-5.6 WR is an impressively affordable and portable medium format lens, making it a great walkaround option. It comes with the following features:
- 11 elements in nine groups
- One aspherical element and two extra-low dispersion elements
- 13.7 oz (390 g)
- Stepping motor quiet enough for video work
- Eye and face detection support
- Autofocus times as fast as 0.13 seconds
- Weather-resistant design
Expect the GF35-70mm f/4.5-5.6 WR to ship in late November at a price of $999.
XF23mm f/1.4 R LM WR Lens
X Series users have news to be excited about as well, with two new lenses. The first, the XF23mm f/1.4 R LM WR, brings the following features:
- 13 ounces (375 g)
- 15 elements in 10 groups
- Two aspherical elements and three extra-low dispersion elements
- Maximum magnification of 0.2x
- Linear autofocus motor with autofocus times as quick as 0.04 seconds
- Very low focus breathing, making it ideal for video work
- Improved focus ring
- Weather-resistant design
Expect the XF23mm f/1.4 R LM to ship in late November at a price of $899.
XF33mm f/1.4 R LM WR Lens
The XF33mm f/1.4 R LM WR is the second X Series lens announced today, and it brings with it the following features
- 15 elements in 10 groups
- Two aspherical elements and three extra-low dispersion elements
- Maximum magnification of 0.15x
- Linear autofocus motor with focus times as quick as 0.04 seconds
- Very low focus breathing, making it ideal for video work
- 13 ounces (360 g)
- Weather-resistant design
Expect the XF33mm f/1.4 R LM WR to ship in late October at a price of $999.
X-T30 II
The X-T30 II improves on the original in several ways, including better LCD resolution, -7 EV autofocus, and more. This camera will be available in late October at a price of $899, $999 with the XC15-45mm, and $1,299 with the XF18-55mm.
Future Lenses
GFX System
The GFX system has three new lenses on its roadmap. The first, the GF55mm f/1.7, will be a near-normal lens with a very wide maximum aperture, suitable for a lot of bokeh or low-light work. The second, the GF20-35mm, will serve as a wide angle zoom. And the third is a tilt-shift lens with an unspecified focal length, but that will help to better suit the GFX system to architecture and other genres.
X Series
Added to the X Series are two new lenses. The first, the XF18-120mm, will be designed specifically for video creators, with Fuji saying "it will be the first XF lens that provides a function to facilitate one-person shooting of full-scale video." The second, the XF150-600mm, will offer incredible zoom capabilities, with a 35mm-equivalent range of 229-914mm.
There is no word yet on when we can expect these five lenses to arrive.
4000 is not a bad price. I wonder if the auto focus system is any good compared to Sony A7Iii. Maybe it’s time to seriously consider GFX.
While the autofocus is accurate, it is not fast enough to compare with the full frame or APSC - even on the 100s.
Yes I watched DP reviews video, I am staying with full frame. Medium format is attractive still:)
Medium format AF will never be as fast as full frame AF. AF is not the end all or be all of photography. For over 100 years photographers manually focused their images and were very successful.
Well never say never, the big brother camera tot his might do the job well.
Manual focus is fine for some, others appreciate the luxury of a good af system:) I will stick to what I have:)
I am sure the AF performance on MF will catch up the today's FF in the next five years (global sensor, etc...). For now, the AF performance on the GFX is good enough for slow-moving objects (or people or animals). Except on few occasions, I never felt the need for faster AF performance on my GFX.
A little disappointed they did not mention about 56mm f1.2 MKII in future lens.
But I look forward to the bright future of Fujifilm X system entering 40mp BSI Stacked Sensor era with their new and faster prime lenses.
I suspect that the 50mm f1 is as close as we'll get to a 56m f1.2 II for quite some time.
50f1.0 is way too big and heavy, due to its nature, the AF is on the slower side too.