Panasonic GH4 meets Fujinon Digipower XA55

I decided to try my Fujinon XA55 Digipower lens with a Panasonic GH4. It worked surprisingly well. Everything is shot in UHD, 25p. All camera settings is set to default. Standard gamma and color settings. Since I couldn't use ND-filters, I had to use shutter speeds around 1/200 in the sunlight.

Incredible video showing both the zoom range and optical quality of Fujifilm's awesome Fujinon Digipower XA55.

My thanks go out to Thomas Tsai Photography for this link.

Yes PhaseOne

Speaking of Phase One's new IQ3 backs and modular system, Thom Hogan agrees that the IQ system is a cut above the rest:

“- Openness to discussing technology. Unlike the Japanese companies, PhaseOne (and to a large degree Leica, as well) seems to be more than willing to let dealers, reporters, and even some users talk directly to engineers, and to let the engineers actually discuss the technologies in the camera and why certain decisions were made.

I can vouch for the fact that every question I’ve had about PhaseOne’s products in the past few years has been met with a direct and complete answer from an appropriate person within the organization.

- Modularity. To a large degree, most medium format cameras have always been modular, but the return of the waist level viewfinder with matrix metering and the way this new body, finders, and digital backs communicate seems to indicate that PhaseOne has upped their game in terms of building a system that will better handle future upgrades. The whole system seems to have the more modern approach I’ve been advocating in camera design for some time now. ”

Source: Yes PhaseOne

Just how good are Fuji x @iso6400?

The only answer to the question posed by DPReview forum member, labe, is excellent; although The Davinator's reply is pretty much spot on:

“The D610 is going to be a solid two stops better at high iso. That said, I’ve used the X-Pro1 at 6400 iso during wedding receptions and produced wonderful 8x10 and 11x14 prints for album work. As good as the Nikon for noise....nope. But the Fuji WB and color spanks the Nikon.”

X-T1 firmware 4.00 brings zone/wide focus tracking

Why Fujifilm released the X-T1 without proper zone and wide-focus tracking is a mystery to me. Why Fujifilm fans pardoned them for it is a further mystery. Anyway, finally. 

Full press release at DPReview.

“1. A new auto focus system with Zone and Wide/Tracking modes for effortless capture of moving subjects - The auto focus system complements the fast and accurate single-point auto focus system with new Zone and Wide/Tracking modes, which use 77 autofocus points across a wider area to substantially improve the camera’s ability to track and capture moving subjects.

The Zone mode allows users to choose a 3x3, 3x5 or 5x5 zone from the 77-point auto focus area. When combined with the AF-C continuous focusing mode, the camera continues tracking a subject in the selected zone. The 3x3 and 3x5 zones at the center, in particular, offer extra-fast focusing with the use of the built-in phase detection pixels.

In the Wide/Tracking mode, the camera displays the area in focus, identified automatically out of the 77-point auto focus area (Wide in the AF-S mode) and tracks the focus area’s subject across the entire 77-point AF area (Tracking in the AF-C mode). This makes it possible to maintain focus on a subject that moves vertically, horizontally, and back and forth. ”

On the leaked Fujifilm X-T10

Firstly, hats off to Patrick of Fujirumors for staying on the ball re: the X-T10. The above image, which leaked at Fujirumors several hours ago, shows key ergonomic/haptic differences to the X-T1. Most of them are positive:

1. a small pressure grip replaces the half-assed miniature finger grip, which should make the X-T10 more comfortable for medium to large hands.
2. The weak interface door on the right appears to be replaced with a plastic slide-in flap (evidenced by the fingernail pressure indentation). If properly implemented, ala the D800 card door, it should be more sturdy and less prone to flex.
3. The unlabelled body-side aperture dial on the front of the camera is now located several millimetres farther from the shutter release and is no longer incorporated into the grip. This could make it less prone to accidental engagement. 
4. The AF lamp now lines up with the body-side aperture dial and the X-T10 logo. Small details like this make the X-T10 appear less randomly thrown together than the X-T1.
5. PASM and shutter speed dials sit on top drive/meter dials with narrower bases and larger indexing sliders. They should be less easy to accidentally engage or disengage, which is one of the X-T1's worst design blunders, and one about which I went on and on in my review of the X-T1 after taking it hiking. 
6. The threaded shutter button returns. NOTE: the shutter release also sits higher in its mount than does the X-T1's. Here's to hoping that it can be twisted without turning the camera on (which is a poor design blunder that plagues the X-Pro 1).
7. The exposure compensation dial sits in a recessed niche, also hearkening back to the X-Pro 1. 
8. The lines of the faux prism housing line up with the top of the case, which not only more closely resembles that of the Fujica ST901, but also looks cleaner.
9. The hard-to-reach front-facing function button has been removed.

Patrick swears that this is the to-be-released X-T10. Assuming this picture is 100% accurate, it is fair to say that the angular X-T10, while not slavishly retro, is more classically designed. It also employs a cleaner interface based around utility rather than features proliferation. That it doesn't appear to be a simple dumbed-down X-T1 means that Fujifilm have taken criticism of the X-T1 to heart.