Image Compression for Dummies or What Makes Fujifilm Unique

I’d like to show you a video. For different reasons than its title tells you to, though. 

The video in question is made by a YouTube channel called The Studio, which belongs to a well-known tech reviewer Marques Brownlee. It is not his main channel where he regularly publishes immaculately produced reviews shot on some serious gear like his famous 8K RED cameras, which even he states are an incredible overkill for YouTube. This is more of an adjacent channel for behind-the-scenes footage and other videos. In this particular piece, David, one of MKBHD’s employees talks about “the internet’s new favorite camera,” the Fujifilm X100VI. You must’ve heard about it by now. Ever since the official announcement on the 20th of February 2024, it has been everywhere. We even had a preview unit and wrote about it here in an article called The Premium Compact King Is Back

David talks about the camera in decent detail with a lot of excitement and rightfully so, but what I believe is the most interesting part of the video is his explanation of image compression. Nowadays, terms like raw data, JPEGs, HEIFs, and similar often get thrown around a lot with little to no explanation for the uninitiated. There are explanations out there but rarely so well put together and especially so well explained as in a video talking about a Fujifilm camera. The non-raw files coming out of Fujifilm cameras are, after all, one of the biggest draws to them for the masses. 

So if you want to see a simple, yet incredibly effective explanation of raw files, compression, bit depth, and color, watch David’s brilliant video.

Ondřej Vachek's picture

Ondřej Vachek is a Prague based independent documentary photographer and photojournalist with multiple journeys to war-torn Ukraine where he covered everything from the frontline in the Donbass to the civilian life adapting to the new normal. Avid street photographer with love for writing and storytelling.

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1 Comment

Completely disagree. You have all the necessary tools to make a picture how you like. Knowing the basics. Especially with Fuji.