Yuji Igarashi, Divisional Manager of Fujifilm’s Professional Imaging Group, made an announcement today on their FUJIFILM X Series YouTube channel about three upcoming events:
- GFX Challenge Grant Program 2024
- Subject Tracking and Face/Eye Detection Firmware Update for the X-H2S, X-H2 and GFX 100II
- 3rd X Summit on October 14, 2024
The GFX Challenge Grant Program 2024 closed on September 15th and 15 winners will be selected. The images of the 15 winners from last years’s GFX Challenge Grant Program 2023 will be exhibited in a Photo Exhibition to be held at the FUJIFILM SQUARE in Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan from November 8-28, 2024.
Fujifilm is trying to catch up to the competition in Subject Tracking and Face/Eye Detection, especially when filming videos. It announced that it is bringing AF improvements to enhance subject tracking stability when shooting video for the X-H2S, X-H2 and GFX 100II. The new firmware update will also include two new video functions: F-Log2 C wide color gamut and Timecode Synchronization to support Ambient Lockit devices through wired connections. A November launch is planned.
There has been a lot of complaints about the AF issues that the X-T5 has been experiencing after a recent firmware update, and the patience of some Fujifilm fans seems to be at a breaking point. That issue was surprisingly and disappointingly not addressed in this announcement. Fujifilm seems to be losing some focus (pun intended) in how important resolving this issue is. They have to do a much better job in quickly addressing this issue if they do not want to damage their hard-earned reputation and risk losing the dedicated loyalty of many Fujifilm fans.
A 3rd X Summit (1st one was in February in Tokyo, the 2nd one was in May in Sydney) is planned for October 14, 2024 at 1PM GMT (9AM EDT) at their CLAY STUDIO design center in Tokyo. The theme is DESIGN – Product Design, Production Engineering Design, and Quality Design.
“You won’t be disappointed with the X Summit,” Igorashi tantalizingly promised. New camera products are usually announced during their X Summits, so we may have some exciting news to look forward to?