Olympus—er, I mean OM System—just released a new camera simply called PEN. I’ve had a few requests to talk about it, and give my opinion. I wasn’t going to, but I had the opportunity to see the new PEN in-person while I was at the FocusPoint Expo in Denver, and got a brief demo from the OM System staff at the event. I was surprised by something, so I thought maybe I should discuss it.
First of all, I think a lot of the excitement around this release is because there are so few Micro-Four-Thirds cameras announced each year. Between Panasonic and Olympus, there are usually only two or three new M43 models annually. Last year saw two, and, so far in 2026, this is it. The last camera before this one was the OM-5 Mark II, released 14 months ago. If you are in that system, this must feel like Christmas morning. From the outside looking in, M43 seems to be barely holding on, nearly on the brink of extinction. I’m not even sure if Panasonic is actually still in this market, as it’s been approaching two years since their last M43 camera, but maybe they’ll continue to trickle out new models every few years. The PEN at least proves that Micro-Four-Thirds still exists, and I think that explains much of the hype.
The camera is paradoxical. On one hand, it’s got decent spec sheet stats: IBIS, some level of weather-sealing, computational photography. I don’t think there’s anything especially revolutionary about this camera compared to prior releases, but it seems pretty solid overall for M43. On the other hand, it feels really plasticky and cheap. It’s very lightweight, which is especially good for travel, but I doubt it will survive a hard fall. Build-quality wise, the Fujifilm camera that it seems most comparable to is the X-A series, like the X-A5 or X-A7, which have been long discontinued; the X half is the closest of the currently available models.
In my opinion, I think it was smart for Olympus to offer mid-tier features in a low-tier body. First, it keeps the camera affordable. If it costs too much, people are less likely to buy it. Fujifilm is selling a whole lot of X-M5 and X-T30 III cameras because the price makes it more accessible. In my opinion, there’s a shortage of affordable cameras for those just starting out in photography. Second, there’s something to be said for a lightweight camera, especially for travel photography. That’s one reason why I think the X-E4 was special: it was the smallest and lightest of all Fujifilm interchangeable-lens X-Trans models with an EVF. In a sense, for Olympus that’s what the PEN is, except that it’s more plasticky than the X-E4, but has IBIS and some weather-sealing.
I’ve seen some people compare the PEN to the Fujifilm X-E5, but that’s apples-to-oranges. Aside from a general rangefinder shape, the two models have very little in common: APS-C vs M43; 40mp vs 20mp; traditional tactile controls vs PASM; metal vs plastic; $1,700 vs $1,000. It’s kind of like comparing the Audi A7 to the Hyundai Sonata—they may look somewhat similar, but they are very different.
Most likely OM System will sell a whole lot of these, and they need to—when you release so few models, it’s important that the ones you do offer are commercially successful. I hope they make gobs of money from the PEN, for no other reason than they need to buy the rights to the Olympus name. OM System is probably the best they could do with what they had, but it’s not nearly as good as Olympus, which is strong and iconic and has a whole lot of history behind it. OM System sounds like some forgotten computer program found on a floppy disk in a dusty old box back in the dark corner of a supply closet that nobody uses anymore. They really need to go back to being Olympus, and if this camera is a big success, perhaps it will provide them with the means to achieve that.
The PEN will sell almost exclusively to those already in the M43 system, or those new to photography. I don’t see anyone from the larger brands abandoning their system to jump into M43, that seems like a silly thing to do at this point, especially with so much uncertainty around its future. I could see someone in the market for their very first camera to take a close look at the PEN, as it offers a lot at an affordable price point. In order to step back from the brink, that’s probably who Olympus needs to attract, and this camera might be the best one for that. If I were them, I’d also put a lot of energy into a fixed-lens model, something they’ve never done in the digital age, maybe using the Trip 35 as inspiration. Call it the OM System Trip 17, and it would be a colossal success. Right now, they could really use some back-to-back colossal successes, or else they risk becoming the next Pentax (but at least Pentax has Ricoh…).
I remember when Fujifilm announced the Instax Pal three years ago, and I thought it was perhaps the most uninteresting camera ever made. It looked like a digipet or tiny one-eyed robot. It was an Instax camera that only took digital photos (that were intended to be printed later on a Mini Link later). There wasn’t much to get excited about, so I didn’t even report on it.
Now Fujifilm just announced the Instax Pal 2, and this one seems much more interesting. First of all, it’s in the same category as the extremely popular Kodak Charmera keychain cameras. This is definitely bigger and heavier, but it’s close enough that it will be seen as similar. The size of the Pal 2 is actually not that far off from the old Pentax Auto 110, coming in just a little smaller. Fujifilm calls it palm-top. Its tiny size and retro styling are the selling points.
From what I could find, I believe that it has a tiny 1/3″ 10.7mp sensor, probably the same sensor found in the selfie camera of some smartphones. The lens is a 3.4mm (28mm full-frame-equivalent) f/2.2. You’re not going to get amazing image quality, but it’s going to be much better than the Charmera, and it’s going to be plenty good enough for Instax printing or sharing on social media. This might have the best image quality of all the Instax digital cameras, better than any of the EVO models.
What’s more interesting are the 30 effects, which seem to get inspiration from the Instax EVO line, especially the EVO Cinema camera. There are five themes—Modern, Y2K, Vintage, Chromatic, Fantasy—and within each theme are six effects. You can only have six loaded onto the camera at any one time, either one theme or six favorites chosen from the full list. You use an app to load the effects into the camera.
The Pal 2 seems like a fun little camera, smaller and much cheaper than the Fujifilm X half, but kind of similarly enjoyable. The X half obviously has better image quality and offers a different overall experience, but simply from a fun carry-everywhere perspective, it is similar enough that somebody might consider one over the other. I see this as a fun Christmas or birthday gift for your kids or any photographers you know. At $170, it’s definitely much more expensive than a Charmera, but it’s also much better.
An all-digital Instax camera is a little weird, but the intention is to print the images using an Instax Link printer, like the Mini 3 or the brand-new Wide 2. So if you don’t have an Instax printer, that would be an essential accessory you’d want to purchase in addition to the camera. You don’t have to print them, but that’s half the fun. The Pal 2 comes in two colors—black/silver and white—and will ship on September 29th.
This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.
Fujifilm Instax Pal 2: in black/silver: B&H Fujifilm Instax Pal 2: in bwhite: B&H
Film Simulation Recipes for Fujifilm cameras are extremely popular right now. I’ve been making them for over nine years, but it was around four years ago that they really began to take off. Back in 2017—months before I even started the Fuji X Weekly website, which first came online on August 21, 2017—I published my first two Film Simulation Recipes on a previous website that I used to run (which I closed down weeks before starting this one). Fuji X Weekly was originally intended as a long-term review of the Fujifilm X100F, and Recipes were only a small part of it at first. I called it Fuji X Weekly because I initially intended to publish one article per week, but I’ve exceeded that almost every week since giving it that name.
Early on I published two Fujifilm Recipes, one color using Classic Chrome and one B&W using Acros. These were modeled after two presets I commonly used in a software called Alien Skin Exposure, which I was really into at the time. I was shooting RAW+JPEG, and I had noticed that my edited RAWs didn’t look much different than the straight-out-of-camera JPEGs. I wondered if I made some adjustments to the in-camera settings, could I get them even closer? Sure enough, I could. With that I made my first two Recipes, which I dubbed Film Simulation Recipes.
Red Leaves In The Forest – Wasatch Mountain SP, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 – Velvia Recipe
I wasn’t the first to make Fujifilm Recipes. An early example dates back to October 2016, when Fujifilm published an article by Derek Clark called X-Pro2 in Barcelona (the article is no longer available), which, in a section discussing the limitations of Film Simulation Bracket, he wished for “our own recipe of Highlights, Shadows, NR, Colour and Sharpness baked in” for each of the three film simulations (instead of the same settings applied to all). In a different section of the same article, he provided the Color, Highlight, Shadow, Noise Reduction, and Sharpness that he used with Classic Chrome and Acros. While some settings were left out (for example, Dynamic Range, White Balance, WB Shift, and Grain), the basic framework for a Fujifilm Recipe was included, and (in the article) the word “recipe” was used to describe a set of settings, although he opted for “my settings” (instead of explicitly calling them Recipes) when it came to the actual parameters.
I discovered a bunch more who were making Fujifilm Recipes (although not by name) even earlier: Fredrik Averpil, Mathieu Gasquet, Marco Secchi, Marco Larousse, Thomas Benezeth, Eivind Rohne, Patrick La Roque, Kevin Bjorke, Kevin Mullins, Thomas Fitzgerald, and Bryan Gateb. There were probably others, too. These were the Fujifilm Recipe pioneers, paving the way with custom profiles, setting combinations, custom settings, favorite settings, programs, film emulsions, ready to go colour, film looks, picture profiles, and go-to settings for their Fujifilm cameras, publishing them online for the community—they deserve recognition for starting what would become a major trend many years later. Fuji X Weekly arrived immediately afterwards. I coined the name Film Simulation Recipe for Fujifilm JPEG parameters; however, it doesn’t matter who named it, I only mention it here because I’ve been asked a few hundred times who came up with the name. What I can say for certain is that this website played a major role in popularizing the term, and now it’s a part of the Fujifilm vernacular. Fujifilm even used “Recipe” in the X-E5!
The word “recipe” has been used in photography for a very long time, dating back all the way to 1856. The specific chemistry and time combinations for film development and printing have been casually called recipes for well over 150 years. In digital, Lightroom originally called their presets “Recipes” way back in 2001, and Capture One began calling their custom presets Process Recipes in 2007. Canon used the term “Recipe Data” and “DPP Recipe” in 2004 with the 1D Mark II. It’s a fairly common term in photography, becoming more widely used in the digital era within the last five or so years for in-camera JPEG customizations.
The focus of this website soon shifted from being exclusively about the X100F to all-things-Fujifilm, not restricted to one single model. Film Simulation Recipes were only a small part of it. I noticed that the Recipe articles tended to get more views than the others, so I put more energy into creating Recipes. Before long the catalog was over 50, with more being developed regularly. Since my background was in film photography, I tended to make Recipes that resembled different film stocks that I had shot or that I had a collection of negatives or slides for as reference.
Outside of a relatively small but growing community, nobody had heard of Recipes for Fujifilm cameras in 2019, not even Fujifilm. They first learned about it in 2020 from a photographer who told them he enjoyed shooting Portra and Tri-X on his X-series camera. Fujifilm had no idea what he was talking about, and the photographer was surprised that they were unaware of Fuji X Weekly. A few weeks later Fujifilm reached out to me to inquire what I was doing—what exactly is a Film Simulation Recipe—and that was pretty much the end of my contact with them for nearly four years. That December I launched the Fuji X Weekly App, which was the very first mobile library of Fujifilm Recipes. Initially at launch, there were 100 Recipes in the App; today, there are over 400! I don’t know how many people use Fujifilm Recipes, but over 150,000 have the Fuji X Weekly App on their phones right now, and there are many people who use my Recipes but don’t use the App, opting to get them straight from this website instead.
While the Fuji X Weekly App launch brought a lot more attention to Fujifilm Recipes, it wasn’t until the Fujifilm X100V went viral in fall of 2022 that things really began to take off. Seemingly overnight, the Recipe community doubled in size, and it’s only continued to grow since. Fuji X Weekly has been the most popular resource for Fujifilm Recipes for approaching a decade now. A few of you have been along for the journey from the beginning, some joined in fairly early on, and others are more recent. There are some photographers who are brand-new to Fujifilm and the whole Recipe concept, and have no idea the history behind it—if that’s you, welcome aboard! I hope you found this article interesting. I never imagined that this whole Film Simulation Recipe thing would grow so large, or that it would have such a profound impact on my life, the Fujifilm community, and photography as a whole. It’s been a privilege to have a front-row seat to it all, and an honor to have so many create photographs using the various Recipes that I created. I want to conclude this by saying thank you to all of you, I really appreciate you and your support.
I wanted to give another update to the new Recipe Transfer feature in the Fuji X Weekly App. I mentioned when this was first released that I expected to find a few bugs and issues, and that hopefully they would be small. So far, the bugs have been small and have been fixed via App updates. If your phone doesn’t automatically update your apps, you should double-check if you are on the latest version of the Fuji X Weekly App (click here for Apple; click here for Android). Some of the issues (not necessarily “bugs”) are a little larger, and I want to give you an update real quick.
First, on Apple, iPhones and iPads that use a Lightning cable don’t work. I have had some reports of people successfully using an adapter, like the official Apple Lightning-to-USB 3 that’s specifically intended for connecting to cameras, but when I was finally able to try it personally, I had no luck. I didn’t own any Lightning iPhones to test it on, so it took me some time to get one (plus various adapters—I tried a few), but I was unable to get it to work. At this time, I’m calling it: Lightning cable iPhones and iPads are not compatible with the App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer feature. Since I have had a handful of reports of it working, I’m going to continue investigating, and try to figure out how to make it work; until that happens, I’m considering Lightning cable iPhones and iPads incompatible. If you are able to successfully make it work, please let me know.
Second, also on Apple, I have had some reports of the Recipe Transfer feature not working for iPads (with a USB-C connection, not Lightning) with fourth-generation models (X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-T30 II, and X-E4). It will work with fifth-gen cameras (X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, and X-T30 III), just not fourth. This isn’t an issue for iPhones, only iPads. I’ve not figured out why yet, but I hope to get to the bottom of it. There might be a certain setting on the iPad that needs to be configured, but I’m just not sure why it works for some models and not others. Let me know if you are successfully able to connect your fourth-gen Fujifilm camera to a USB-C iPad.
Third, for Android, (as previously reported) the phones must support USB host mode (USB OTG), which might need to be toggled on manually; to enable USB OTG, go to Settings → System/Connected Devices/Additional Settings (depending on your phone) → USB OTG/OTG Connection (depending on your phone). Most modern Android phones support USB host mode, and most will enable it automatically, but definitely not all of them. If your Android phone isn’t connecting to the camera, this could be the reason. I got one report that the process to resolve it was much more involved. Specifically, on his Nothing Phone 1, he had to select Developer Options, enable USB Debug, then select Default USB Configuration, and finally choose File Transfer. The exact method to resolve this issue can vary greatly from model-to-model-to-model (etc., etc., etc.), and there is no way to test it out on all (or even most) possible Android phones or create a comprehensive list of the exact process to resolve this problem should it occur. I have had several reports of people having to figure out the process for their phones, which was different than the methods described above. Thankfully, this shouldn’t be an issue for most people.
The challenge with developing Android apps is that there is so much device diversity. With Apple, the hardware and implementation of the software is very consistent, which reduces a lot of the variables, and makes the process much easier. Worldwide, for every one iPhone model, there have been about 400 different Android models. That variety creates inconsistencies that can be difficult for developing apps, and that’s why it took longer for this feature to be released on Android than Apple.
For the App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer feature to work, the Android device must support USB host mode (USB OTG), which might need to be toggled on manually; to enable USB OTG, go to Settings → System/Connected Devices/Additional Settings (depending on your phone) → USB OTG/OTG Connection (depending on your phone). Most modern Android phones support USB host mode, and most will enable it automatically, but definitely not all of them. If your Android phone isn’t connecting to the camera, this could be the reason. I got one report that the process to resolve it was much more involved. Specifically, on his Nothing Phone 1, he had to select Developer Options, enable USB Debug, then select Default USB Configuration, and finally choose File Transfer. The exact method to resolve this issue can vary greatly from model-to-model-to-model (etc., etc., etc.), and there is no way to test it out on all (or even most) possible Android phones or create a comprehensive list of the exact process to resolve this problem should it occur. Thankfully, this shouldn’t be an issue for most people.
One last thing that I’d like to address is that a few people have accused me (flatly or insinuated) of being a hypocrite for sounding the alarm back in June that connecting your camera to any unofficial, unlicensed, unsupported program will void your camera’s warranty, yet I released a feature that voids the warranty. Essentially, the sentiment was, “Why is it not ok for them but it’s ok for you?” The difference is that most other app developers with a similar feature did not disclose this to their audience, or—if they did—it was almost always in the fine print of the Terms of Service, where it was unlikely to be seen. Thousands of Fujifilm photographers, maybe tens of thousands, inadvertently and unknowingly voided their camera’s warranty. Those app developers were (or at least should have been) well aware of this, but they chose not to make their users aware (presumably because they didn’t want to risk lower revenues), which is unethical in my opinion. I have been upfront and transparent so that people can make an informed decision of whether or not to use this feature. In other words, the issue isn’t in the feature itself, but in the disclosure of the risks. Nobody should have their camera’s warranty unknowingly voided; if one chooses to do so, it should only be after being well informed. I hope that clears it up.
And I guess, finally, it should be noted that the exact details of your camera’s warranty and warranty laws vary from place-to-place. Some people are more protected than others. You should dig into what applies to you specifically. Also, just because you technically void your warranty, Fujifilm could still honor it, or perhaps not even realize that the warranty has been voided. My recommendation is to play it safe, and not use the App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer feature if your camera is still under warranty; however, if you’ve done the research and feel comfortable with the risk, that’s up to you if you want to use it now instead of waiting. I just want you to be well informed, so that you can feel good about your choice. And I’ve done more than anyone (as noted by DPReview) to inform you of the risks.
The wait is over! The Android version of the App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer Protocol (ATC RTP) is now complete, and available to you right now in the Fuji X Weekly App. You can send Fujifilm Recipes straight from the App to your Fujifilm camera. This feature has been in the works for a very long time, and was completed for Apple before Android. Since premiering on iOS, I’ve been working double time to get it out on Android.
I don’t want to rehash everything I already stated in the Apple release, but I will reiterate some of it. I highly recommend reading that article (click here) before using this feature. It basically works the same on Android as it does on Apple, so most of that will apply to you, too. One difference is that your Android phone must support USB host mode (USB OTG), which might need to be toggled on manually (most phones will do it automatically); to enable USB OTG, go to Settings → System/Connected Devices/Additional Settings (depending on your phone) → USB OTG/OTG Connection (depending on your phone). If you use an adapter, it must support data transfer.
Not every Fujifilm model is compatible, but most of the newer ones are. Specifically, as of this writing, you can use the ATC RTP with the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II, X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, X-T30 III, GFX100S, GFX50S II, GFX100 II, GFX100S II, and GFX100RF. Presumably all new cameras released in the future will also be compatible, but I won’t know for certain until they are available to test. Unfortunately, older models (such as X-Trans I, X-Trans II, X-Trans III, X-T30 and X-T3, X-series Bayer, and the first few GFX models) are not able to connect to the Fuji X Weekly App.
Very importantly, connecting your camera to any unofficial, unlicensed, unsupported program may void your camera’s manufacturer warranty. Fujifilm confirmed this with me. Please note that using the ATC RTP may void your camera’s warranty. Manufacturer warranties vary from country-to-country, and warranty laws vary from region-to-region, so read your specific warranty information very carefully, and research the laws that apply specifically to you. Some people are better protected than others; however, even if your warranty is technically voided, it’s possible that Fujifilm may decide to honor it anyway (or not realize it was voided) should something fail on your camera. It’s up to you if you want to take that risk, but my recommendation is to wait until after your camera’s warranty has expired (one or two years after purchase for most, but up to five years, just depending) before connecting to any unofficial, unlicensed, unsupported programs (pretty much any software that connects to your camera that’s not from Fujifilm or a major brand like Capture One or Adobe), including the Fuji X Weekly App. Whether you connect today, wait awhile before doing so, or never use this feature, that is a personal choice based on what you are comfortable with, having been well informed. I have connected all of my compatible cameras to the Fuji X Weekly App, including my brand-new GFX100RF, but that was my own decision based on my personal confidence in the App’s programming and in Fujifilm’s quality.
Whether on Apple or Android, if you’re having issues connecting your phone to your camera, the first place to look for help is the FAQ/Troubleshooting page within the Fuji X Weekly App. It’s a pretty good idea to read that before even starting, as there’s a lot of good information, some of which you’re likely to find helpful. I posted on Instagram how to configure your Fujifilm camera (click here) for ATC RTP, and you might find that helpful, too. I also have a short video showing this feature in action, which I’ve included below.
For those on Apple, a couple of quick final notes before ending this article. I just released an update with some small bug fixes and improvements, one related to the ISO setting on the camera. If your phone didn’t automatically update the Fuji X Weekly App, be sure to do so manually. This reminds me to remind you that the ISO on your camera needs to be at least the minimum for the Dynamic Range or D-Range Priority setting of the Recipe you want to transfer. For example, on fifth-generation cameras, Recipes that use DR400 will need a minimum of ISO 500, and fourth-generation need a minimum of ISO 640. For those with older iPhones that use a Lightning cable, it appears that the official Apple Lightning-to-USB 3 adapter (intended to connect the phone to cameras) is what’s required to get ATC RTP to work on your device. I have not tested this, it’s only from a handful of reports. I ordered an old iPhone and the adapter, and I hope to be able to confirm whether this does or doesn’t work by early next week.
Find more than 400 Fujifilm Recipes in the Fuji X Weekly App! Consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.
Rainbow over Hoboken – Hoboken, NJ – Fujifilm X-T50 – Pushed Analog
I don’t know if there’s any photography trend that’s hotter right now than Fujifilm Recipes. To say that they’re popular is an understatement. It’s a significant reason why Fujifilm cameras are doing so well right now, selling nearly three times as many units in 2025 as they did in 2023. Even Fujifilm has started to design their cameras around it, such as the ability to store Recipes into FS1-FS3 on the X-E5, and including the FRGMT B&W Recipe in a limited-edition GFX100RF. It’s revolutionizing photography. This trend doesn’t show signs of stopping, and I suspect Recipes will remain a popular part of the Fujifilm experience for years to come.
As one of the very first to create and publish Fujifilm Recipes, and one of the original resources for Recipes (basically, I was creating and shooting Recipes long before they were cool), I have had a front row seat to all of this. It’s amazing to me to see just how far it’s all come! I never imagined how much this would grow and grow. But not everyone appreciates this trend, or understands what this whole Recipe thing is even about, which has caused some myths to appear, many you’ve likely heard many times yourself. Let’s look at five of these myths, and quickly debunk them.
This has been discussed at length many times, so I don’t want to spend very much time on it, but—yes—Fujifilm Recipes are for amateur photographers, and they are also for professional photographers, and everyone in-between. There are many people of all skill levels that use Recipes on their Fujifilm cameras, including some names that you’re probably familiar with (but maybe you have no idea they use Recipes). There are some photographers who I would have never guessed use Recipes, but it turns out they do (at least sometimes). Those who claim that Fujifilm Recipes are only for amateurs would likely be shocked if they knew of all the people who are not amateurs that use them.
A couple of years ago when I started traveling around and meeting many of you in-person at various photography events and photowalks, I learned something that greatly surprised me: people use Recipes in all sorts of different ways. For example, I met several photographers who are strict RAW-only shooters; however, they’ve found a Recipe that is similar to their personal style, which helps them to better pre-visualize the final image while in the field, and it also gives them a shortcut to the finished photograph. Another shoots RAW+JPEG, and overlays and blends the JPEG into the edited RAW image. The developers of a large RAW software company largely use Recipes for their own photography, and even developed a tool to help them better match the RAW to their JPEGs whenever they need to edit the RAWs. Some people edit the out-of-camera JPEGs, finding it flexible enough to handle mild manipulations, while others (like me) are a lot more strictly straight-out-of-camera. There’s no single method, nor any one that’s better than another; instead, it’s whatever works best for you personally.
Recipes are Too Warm/Yellow
Buc-ees at Nighttime – Goodyear, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – Fluorescent Night
Many Fujifilm Recipes are warm with a yellow-ish cast, but so are a lot of films, especially many Kodak emulsions. Warming filters were once common in film photography, and some vintage lenses have a warm cast from their radioactive lens coating. Like film, many Recipes are daylight-balanced, and can produce an overly warm cast when used in artificial light scenarios. But, there are also lots of Recipes that aren’t warm, and don’t produce a yellow-ish cast. If you don’t like a warm-tinted image, find one of the many Recipes that are neutral or have a cool cast.
Recipes are just Instagram Filters
Misty Saguaro – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – Pacific Blues
Recipes are not filters, per se. For example, how the various film simulations render—especially Classic Negative and Acros—depend on how you expose the image. It’s integrated into the image processing pipeline, and is not an overlay. But on a more practical level, when you shoot with Recipes, you see the finished image in the viewfinder, which is a much different process and experience (with significantly divergent results) than adding a filter to an image after-the-fact. Aside from that, Fujifilm’s colors, which were developed using their long history of analog film, are second-to-none.
Recipes aren’t any Quicker than RAW Editing with Presets
Red Boat in Nyhavn Canal– Copenhagen, Denmark – Fujifilm GFX100RF – Avalon Ace
Of coarse Fujifilm Recipes are much quicker than the fastest RAW workflow. Why? Because the straight-out-of-camera JPEG is finished instantly, the moment that it’s captured. As I’ve said before: shoot more, edit less, and let your camera be your darkroom. But this only matters if that time savings is important to you personally—for me, it literally changed my life (no hyperbole), and is especially critical for my travel photography. For someone else, it may not be about the time savings, but more about the aesthetic the Recipe produces, or the ability to pre-visualize the finished RAW image in the field.
There’s no right or wrong way to do photography, only whatever works best for you personally. That might be RAW, that might be straight-out-of-camera JPEGs using Recipes, it might be a mix of both, or something else entirely. The pathway to your finished photograph matters much less than the picture itself. Do what works best for you, whatever that is. As long as you are happy with your process and pictures, that’s all that really matters.
I love using vintage lenses on my Fujifilm cameras. I have a bunch of them, mostly ones I picked up for cheap. Over the last couple of days, I wanted to use three specific M42 mount telephoto lenses: Helios 44-2, Vivitar 135mm f/2.8, and Cavalier 200mm f/3.5. I picked up the M42-FX adapter from eBay 10 years ago for under $20. The photos below were created over the last week or so—mostly just yesterday and the day before—using these three lenses.
The Helios 44-2 is a legendary Soviet-era 58mm f/2 lens, renown for its character, particularly the lens flare and swirly bokeh. Millions of these lenses were made between the late 1950’s and early 1990’s (mine was made in 1971). Essentially, it’s a Zeiss Jena Biotar 58mm f/2, but mass produced with inconsistent construction and quality. Most (but not all) are M42 screw mount. It has two aperture rings: one with clicks, and the other without. On Fujifilm X-series cameras, the 58mm focal length is 87mm full-frame equivalent. I’ve also used this lens on my GFX100S II, and it mostly covers the sensor, with only minor corner vignetting that’s easily cropped out. My Helios 44-2 was a Christmas gift from my wife a decade ago, and came attached to a Zenit-E camera, which she picked up for about $50. It remains one of my absolute favorite lenses.
I picked up my Vivitar 135mm f/2.8 lens four years ago at an antique store in Texas for $15. The front element is a little scratched, so it can be a bit hazy when shot directly into a bright light source; otherwise it’s in pretty good shape. Vivitar sold lenses made by other manufacturers, and this particular copy was made by Komine in Japan in 1978. This was considered a pretty competent portrait lens back in the day. It doesn’t have quite as much character as the Helios, but there’s still a lot to like about how it renders pictures. It’s fairly compact for how telephoto it is, and even with the adapter, it’s a tad smaller than the Fujinon 90mm f/2. On X-series cameras, the 135mm focal length is 202mm full-frame equivalent.
I found the Cavalier 200mm f/3.5 in the discount bin of a camera store a couple months back. When I asked the employee how much it was, he told me to just take it—nobody wanted it, so it’s free. Cavalier was an importer, and (like Vivitar) didn’t actually make their lenses. Digging into it, my lens was made by Uriu Seiki (better known for Cinemax Super 8 cameras) in 1974 for Willoughby-Peerless, which was a large camera store chain in New York City (but is now just one location called Willoughby’s Camera Emporium). Back then it was a low-budget option, and is considered a bit obscure nowadays. The image quality from this lens is so-so at best, but it was a lot of fun to use the 300mm full-frame equivalent focal length.
All photos above: Fujifilm X-T4 & Cavalier 200mm f/3.5. Recipes, clockwise from top-left: Kodachrome 64 x3, Vivid Velvia (except D-Range Priority Strong; one is an in-camera triple exposure) x2.
I woke up this morning to the news that Fujifilm announced a new lens last night: the Fujinon XF 400mm f/4.5 R LM OIS WR. This is a long-telephoto prime for wildlife, sports, and aviation photography, with a $3,199 MSRP (in America). It has a little less reach but with a 2/3 stop larger maximum aperture than the Fujinon 500mm f/5.6.
I remember when Fujifilm didn’t offer any prime lenses longer than the 90mm f/2. Then, in 2018, the Fujinon 200mm f/2 was released, but it was a big flop—not because it wasn’t good, but because it was so good that not enough people could afford it or wanted to carry such a heavy lens. Funny enough, Fujifilm made this lens because of demand for it from the community, but when it came out, many of those people who insisted Fujifilm should make it disappeared like Homer Simpson into the shrubs. Once bitten, twice shy. The next telephoto prime—the 500mm f/5.6—didn’t come until late 2024 (over six years later!), and that was basically a GFX lens repurposed for X-mount. Now there’s a third option longer than the 90mm, which is the brand-new 400mm f/4.5.
I couldn’t tell you why someone might choose the 400mm f/4.5 over the 500mm f/5.6 or vice versa. They seem really similar. I suppose if your priority is maximum reach, go with the 500mm; if your priority is maximum aperture size, go with the 400mm. Humorously, someone messaged me today wondering why Fujifilm didn’t make it with a larger maximum aperture like f/2.8, or the very least f/4. My answer goes back to the 200mm f/2: people say they want it, but when push comes to shove, it’ll be too heavy and expensive, and few will actually buy it. Those that claim to be an instant day-one buy will disappear like that Homer Simpson meme. A 400mm f/4.5 is much more practical to build and sell than a 400mm f/2.8 would be. It’s the same for the GFX100RF: those that claim they’d buy it if only it was f/2 and IBIS would not buy it if it was, because they’d then claim it was too large, heavy, and expensive. If you don’t put your money where your mouth is, Fujifilm won’t make those things that you claim to want; instead, they’ll make the products that they believe people will actually buy.
Francis Peak – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 100-400mm @400mm – Dramatic Monochrome
Invariably, whenever anything related to Fujifilm is said, someone will bring up autofocus. Fujifilm’s autofocus will never be as good as the Canikony brands because 1) the other brands had a significant head start (Sony through Minolta and Konica going back to the 1970’s; Canon and Nikon going back to the early 1980’s), 2) the Canikony brands (particularly Canon and Sony) have much larger R&D budgets and can better recruit the best talents, 3) the Canikony brands for a long time prioritized AF over image quality improvements and in some cases even to the detriment of IQ, and 4) X-Trans takes a lot more processing power than Bayer, which in and of itself puts Fujifilm at an AF disadvantage. Outside of a paradigm shift, Fujifilm will never have AF that’s as good as those other brands, and anyone who expects otherwise will always be disappointed. Still, Fujifilm’s autofocus in fifth-generation models is already pretty good, likely in the top 2% best of all autofocus cameras ever made (I did the math, I invite you to do the same), and plenty sufficient for most people and circumstances. Yes, there’s certainly room to improve, and I’m sure they will with future releases. If I were Fujifilm, I’d focus (pun intended) on intuitiveness, and not expect users to do so much AF fine-tuning, which many are unaware that they’re expected to do or even which setting combinations would be most appropriate for their specific use-cases. You fix that, and you fix the perception that the AF is no good.
While Fujifilm has added some telephoto primes longer than 90mm, it’s still a weak spot in the lineup. Personally, I would love to see a 135mm f/2.8 or f/3.5. Maybe a lighter and cheaper 200mm option, something like a 200mm f/3.5, would be a good addition. A budget-friendly (sub-$2,000) 300mm, perhaps with a f/5.6 maximum aperture, would be welcomed, I’m sure. Maybe those are being worked on right now, but if not, I would encourage Fujifilm to consider them for future development. In the meantime, if you’ve been hoping for a long-telephoto lens, perhaps this new one is just what you’ve been waiting for.
I reported a couple of weeks ago that in 2025 Fujifilm surpassed Nikon to become the third largest digital camera brand. That fact has been discussed at length across the internet, but my takeaways were 1) that the camera industry as a whole has continued to grow from rock-bottom sales around 2022/2023, 2) Fujifilm has been growing rapidly the last couple of years, selling nearly three times as many digital cameras in 2025 as they did in 2023, 3) Fujifilm is the first brand outside of Canon and Sony to top one million units sold in several years (however, exceeding one million was much less impressive not very far in the past), and 4) if you counted total cameras sold and not restrict it to just digital, Fujifilm is likely the second largest camera brand, exceeding Sony and coming in just behind Canon—Instax is way more popular than X and GFX combined.
In my opinion, where exactly each brand ranks is not all that important, and more gee-whiz than anything else. Who really cares which brand is number one or number three or whatever? I only bring it up because it illustrates the good position Fujifilm is currently in, with strong sales that continue to grow, a trend that I hope extends into the future, but could certainly change from one year to the next.
With that said, PetaPixel posted an article (and companion video) entitled Fujifilm Didn’t Actually Jump Ahead of Nikon in Mirrorless that’s a bit deceptive, seemingly intended to come to Nikon’s public image rescue. Oh, no, no, no—Nikon is really in third place, and not Fujifilm, because they sold more mirrorless cameras. But when you dig into it, it’s actually interchangeable-lens mirrorless, as it excludes fixed-lens cameras like the X100VI, GFX100RF, X half, and Instax Evo, that technically are mirrorless, but for the sake of this data were put into a different category. So basically, if you remove the most viral camera in history from Fujifilm’s numbers plus a handful of other models, yes, Nikon remains at number three. PetaPixel conveniently forgets to mention the X100VI and GFX100RF, and focuses on the “other” models, as a way to put down Fujifilm—even diminishing the massive X half sales success in Asia by focusing solely on its mediocre sales in America, specifically stating that it “became a pack-in bonus item with some Fujifilm X Series cameras at retailers”, which as we discussed at the time, was actually just one camera (the X-T5) bundled with one particular lens (16-80mm f/4) at one specific camera store (Adorama) for a very limited time (definitely not “some cameras” or “retailers”—the plural is a lie that I truly hope is not intentional, because that reflects very poorly on PetaPixel, something they should correct immediately and apologize for).
“Depending on the impact of Fujifilm Instax Evo and X half sales,” PetaPixel says, “the company’s success, and more importantly, Nikon’s failure, takes on an entirely different meaning that broad industry market shares cannot adequately reflect.” If you exclude a market segment that one brand is doing quite well in (and the other is not even dipping its toes in), it changes the outcome. TikTok is the number one social media app, if you exclude Meta. Dodge sells more pickup trucks than Ford, if you don’t count the F-150. Nikon beats Fujifilm, if you don’t count the X100VI and a handful of other models. See how it works? It’s stupid. I have no idea why Fujifilm coming in third bothers PetaPixel so much, and why they feel the need to cook the books so that they can say Nikon is actually the brand that’s in third place.
Like I said, I don’t think any of this actually matters. These rankings change all the time. I remember when Pentax was one of the big three, and now they barely exist, outside of the very popular Ricoh GR series, which is only sort of Pentax, since Ricoh owns Pentax (it’s like including Kia with Hyundai). Canon won’t stay number one forever. Sony could move up or down. Fujifilm might be in third place for one year and then back to fourth in the 2026 numbers, or maybe even number one someday. Who knows? It’s nothing to get overly wrapped up in, and—as always—take it with a grain of salt.
What’s disappointing to me is PetaPixel twisting into a pretzel to reframe it. Why be dishonest? It’s true that Nikon is the third largest when it comes to mirrorless interchangeable-lens models, but that shouldn’t diminish Fujifilm from being the third largest digital camera brand overall. Both can be true at once. Perhaps there is a more interesting story that PetaPixel totally missed: how can a digital camera brand that only makes mirrorless models be number three overall but number four when you just account for mirrorless? Obviously the difference is because the “mirrorless” category is not appropriately named, and excludes many mirrorless models—some very, very popular models, like the most viral camera in history. Is the so-called “mirrorless” category even meaningful? How are the models that were excluded (like the X100VI) impacting the industry? Is Nikon missing out on a major market share? Do they need to make a fixed-lens model to see market growth going forward? There’s a lot that they could have covered that would have been quite interesting, but they chose not to; instead, we got a bit of dishonesty in what’s obviously intended to make Nikon look better by attempting to make Fujifilm look worse. Weird. PetaPixel can and should do better.
I frequently get asked which lenses one should buy for their Fujifilm X-series camera. Lens choice is very personal. One might love a certain focal length while another might dislike it. I like primes, but you might prefer zooms. Some photographers prioritize character while others want maximum sharpness. Without knowing exactly what your preferences are, I cannot give good recommendations. What I can do is tell you what I like, and maybe—just maybe—that information will be helpful to you.
The list below are the five lenses that I have used the most lately. It’s not a comprehensive list by any means, as I have a whole bunch of other options, which get used sometimes. A few of the lenses that didn’t get mentioned—the 35mm f/2 and 90mm f/2 come immediately to mind—are frequently attached to my cameras, but just not often enough to make the Top 5. Ask me again next year and this list might look different.
Without any further delay, let’s dive right into my most-used lenses lately list!
Fujinon XF 23mm f/2.8 R WR
Fujifilm’s latest prime lens offering is the Fujinon 23mm f/2.8 pancake. Paired with the Fujifilm X-E5, it’s the closest you’re likely to get to an interchangeable-lens X100VI. This lens is an excellent performer, and has some good close-focus capabilities (not macro, but cropping will get you near-macro). An advantage that APS-C has over full-frame is size and weight, so you’d think that Fujifilm would offer a series of pancake lenses to pair with their smaller cameras; however, for many years your options have been the hard-to-find 27mm f/2.8 and the 18mm f/2, which is barely a pancake and, as one of the older lenses in the lineup, in need of a refresh. So I think it was smart for Fujifilm to release a third option, and I hope that another pancake lens or two are in the works.
While I really like the Fujinon 23mm f/2.8 pancake, I don’t love it quite as much as the 27mm f/2.8 pancake. Clinically speaking, it’s probably the better of the two, but it lacks a little of the soul that makes the 27mm special. I tend to only use it when the 27mm focal length is a bit too tight, or I want to focus a little closer. It’s completely worth owning, but you’re likely to choose either the 23mm or 27mm, and not both, since their focal lengths are fairly similar.
Route 66 in Rural Arizona – Seligman, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & 23mm f/2.8 – Agfa Scala
Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 R WR
When I preordered the Fujifilm X-E4, I did so as a kit with the (new version) Fujinon 27mm f/2.8 pancake lens. I was hesitant to do so because the maximum aperture of “only” f/2.8 wasn’t impressive, and I was unsure if it was going to be sharp enough. At the time, the Fujinon 35mm f/2 was my favorite lens, and it has a similar focal-length, a larger maximum aperture, and, while not a pancake, it’s pretty small overall. After getting the 27mm f/2.8, I fell in love with the character and compact size, and it immediately became my favorite lens.
This is my most used lens over the last several years. Even after getting the 23mm f/2.8 pancake, I still use the 27mm more than any other; however, I do use it a little less than I used to. If I could only own one Fujifilm lens, it would probably be this one.
White Bridge across Pond – Charleston, SC – Fujifilm X-E4 & 27mm f/2.8 – Pacific Blues
Rainbow over Hoboken – Hoboken, NJ – Fujifilm X-T50 & 27mm f/2.8 – Pushed Analog
Fujinon XF 33mm f/1.4 R LM WR
The Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 lens is a recent addition to my collection. It’s actually not mine, it belongs to my wife, Amanda, who uses it for portrait photography. This, the 56mm f/1.2, and the 16-50mm f/2.8-4.8 are her three favorite lenses. When Amanda isn’t using the 33mm f/1.4, I enjoy borrowing it. It has excellent image quality, I appreciate the “nifty fifty” focal length, and the large aperture is especially useful in low-light situations.
The focal length difference between this and the 27mm f/2.8 isn’t dramatic. If I’m not anticipating low-light situations, more often than not I’ll go with the pancake lens; however, if I expect to be shooting indoors or at night, this is the better option. It is a little on the larger/heavier side (but not terribly so), and I typically use it only when it makes the most sense to do so.
The Fujinon 56mm f/1.2 (new version) is extra special. It’s mostly regarded as a portrait lens, but it is good for so much more than that. The extra large maximum aperture makes the lens super useful for low light situations, and the shallow depth-of-field and extra sharp glass gives a medium-format feel to the photographs. The 84mm full-frame equivalent focal-length is slightly awkward for some subjects and situations, and it can take some time to get used to, but well worth the effort to get comfortable with.
My largest gripe with this lens is that it’s not mine. It, too, belongs to my wife, Amanda, but thankfully she lets me borrow it whenever she’s not using it. I don’t have access to it all of the time, but I like to use it whenever the opportunity arises. Because it’s significantly larger and heavier than the previously mentioned lenses, I prefer to use it on my X-T5, but I’ve used it plenty of times on a X-E4 and X-E5, too; however, it definitely balances better on the bigger bodies.
In general, I’m not a fan of zooms. I much prefer primes. Historically, I’ll carry a bag full of primes well before I’ll use a zoom. While the Fujinon 16-80mm f/4 is slightly on the large/heavy side for me, and the maximum aperture isn’t all that impressive, I found that I like this lens a lot more than I thought I would. It offers a large range of focal length versatility. The OIS combined with IBIS allows for slow shutter speeds, hindering it less in low-light than I expected. The image quality is quite good for a zoom, probably on par with some older Fujinon primes like the 60mm f/2.4. Essentially, I can leave my 18mm f/1.4 and 90mm f/2 at home and take this instead—not replacing them precisely, but close enough that it’s worthwhile switching out two-for-one when traveling (but still using the 18mm f/1.4 and 90mm f/2 when staying local).
If I could only pick three lenses, I could see choosing this for the focal-length versatility, one of the pancakes (probably the 27mm) for the compactness, and either the 33mm f/1.4 or 56mm f/1.2 (likely the latter) for lowlight situations. That would cover 99% of my photography needs, and—when traveling—that’s a massive win. So if you are not sure which lenses to buy, I hope this article provides a little clarity, and is helpful to you in some way.
Rock Peaks – Mesa, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 & 16-80mm – Kodak Tri-X 400
The Fuji X Weekly App can now send Recipes straight from the App to your camera using a USB-C cable! Right now, this is only available on Apple, but it will be coming to Android within the next few months or so. If you haven’t read the announcement, there’s a bunch of important information in it, so I recommend starting there (click here)—it’s essential reading if you plan to use this feature.
The new Recipe transferring feature is called App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer Protocol (ATC RTP for short). A few days ago I discussed some of the known issues, but a couple of those have since been resolved, plus a new issue has come up, so I wanted to give a quick update. Let’s dive right in!
The two known issues that were fixed are 1) Recipes that use DR-Auto were transferring as DR100 instead of DR-Auto, and 2) a warning—for Recipes with Grain Off—that Grain was not able to be set when in fact it was set correctly (the error message itself was the bug). Those have been fixed on the latest Fuji X Weekly App update. If your phone didn’t automatically update the App, you may want to manually do so now. This is actually the second update since the new feature was released, so even if you haven’t encountered any issues yet, you may still want to double-check that you are running on the latest version.
The other known issue is that iPhones that use the Lightning plug (not USB-C) do not work with this feature; however, I’ve had several reports that using a Lightning-to-USB-C adapter will resolve the problem. I’ve not been able to try it myself to know for 100% certainty, but there have been enough reports that I’m fairly confident that this will work for you, too.
The new issue is a weird one. It might only affect those on iPhone 16, but I’m not completely certain about that. It seems that very few have encountered this problem, and it’s unlikely that it will affect you. If you are not able to get the phone to connect to the camera, and it always just says No camera connected even though you’ve tried everything, there is a potential solution. If you’ve encountered this rare problem, go to the Settings App on your iPhone, tap Privacy & Security (which is towards the bottom), select Files & Folders, and find the Fuji X Weekly App. Make sure that it is only in the list once (not twice) and that it is On (green); if not, toggle it/them Off/On until there is only one Fuji X Weekly option (not two) and it is On (green). If you find two Fuji X Weekly folders, when you toggle them one will disappear. This should resolve the problem, and you’ll be able to connect the camera to the phone.
Lastly, I wanted to give a quick update on the Instagram problem I had previously talked about. For those who missed it, Instagram removed my post announcing this new feature, claiming that I had violated their community standards, which obviously is not true or even remotely close to true. Restrictions were placed on my account, punishing me for something I didn’t do. I later learned that this is a systemic problem, and a lot of other people have had similar experiences, which is unfortunate. I requested that Instagram review their decision, and a few days later my post was reinstated, and the restrictions removed from my account; however, I never got an explanation. I still have no idea why they did this, but at least it’s been rectified.
SOOC Live is back THIS Thursday, August 27th, at 10 AM Pacific Time, 1 PM Eastern. Nathalie Boucry and I will have a bunch of guests to chat about a number of things, including the future direction of the show. If you can tune in while we’re live, that would be great; since it is an interactive program, it’s much better with your participation. I hope that you can join us live! If not, no worries—catch it whenever you can. I’ve included the YouTube video below so that you can easily find it.
Both Nathalie and I have had busy schedules that have been difficult to match up this year. We’re sorry that there haven’t been more shows, but we’re not giving up! We do have plans for future episodes, including later this year. In the meantime, I hope that you can join us on Thursday!
When I launched the new App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer Protocol (ATC RTP) in the Fuji X Weekly App a few days ago, which allows you to send Fujifilm Recipes from the App to your camera, I said, “I do anticipate some bug reports, and hopefully they’re all very minor.” So far, they’ve all been pretty minor, but I think you should be aware of them.
First, if you have an older iPhone that uses a Lightning plug, in order to get this feature to work, you will need a Lightning-to-USB-C adapter. I’ve had two reports that doing this works, although I don’t have a Lighting cable iPhone to test it with personally. Those who have older iPhones, let me know if the adapter works for you.
Second, if you are an App Patron and attempting to transfer Recipe sets, and your iPhone iOS is 18 or older (and not 26), the app crashes. This was identified pretty quickly and has already been fixed. So if this is happening to you, either update the iOS on your iPhone or update the Fuji X Weekly App to the latest version, either option will fix the issue, and allow you to transfer Recipe sets.
Third, and probably most notably for most people, is that DR-Auto Recipes set Dynamic Range in the camera to DR100 instead of DR-Auto. This was working correctly in a beta before launch, so I’m not sure why it’s not now. It’s likely an easy fix once the issue has been identified. Sometimes with apps, a small change somewhere affects something else that is seemingly unrelated, and that’s my best guess for this. I’m hopeful that a fix will be in by Wednesday or Thursday, maybe sooner, so be on the lookout for an App update.
Fourth, Recipes with Grain set to Off will transfer correctly, but give a (false) warning that Grain was not able to be transferred. The bug in this case is the warning itself, and not the transfer. The App will set Grain to Off in the camera, so just ignore that error message.
Right now, that’s it. But please, no matter how small, if you encounter any issues let me know. I’d love to get this running as cleanly as possible. Your feedback helps to improve it, and is greatly appreciated.
In related news, I posted about the App update on Instagram; however, the next day, Meta removed my post for supposedly violating community standards, and they put some restrictions on my account. Specifically, Instagram claims that the post made “unrealistic claims or promises about economic gain” and violated their rules on “financial fraud and scams.” Of course, that’s complete nonsense and just boggles my mind how they came to that conclusion. It could be that their AI bots are not very good and are flagging and banning innocent content, or it was falsely (and maliciously) reported by someone trying to disrupt or sabotage the announcement, or maybe something else entirely. I have no idea. But, whatever the reason, it wasn’t right or fair. I’m being punished by Meta for something I didn’t do. I have appealed, but who knows how long that takes or what the outcome will be. If it was from a false report, will that person be punished for making the claim should the appeal return in my favor? Probably not.
In my IG Stories, I posted about this situation, and asked if this has ever happened to anyone else. To my surprise, I received close to 50 messages from people who have had nearly identical issues. Some of them even shared with me what they posted that got removed, and it was normal (non-controversial) content, similar to most other posts on the platform, and not a violation of community standards whatsoever. In other words, this is a very widespread problem that could happen to anyone. Any and every post has the potential to be falsely flagged and deleted, and the author punished for the next 365 days. It’s not cool, but this is what you and I agree to when we sign up. Mark and company make massive profits off of our content, and we sometimes get treated like dirt for no other reason than we agreed to their terms of service.
There are two ways that I can respond to this. On one hand, I could stop using Instagram. Why am I allowing them to treat me this way? This seems like an abusive relationship that I’m enabling by staying. On the other hand, if it was removed due to malicious behavior by someone who dislikes Fujifilm, Recipes, or Fuji X Weekly (a competitive app developer, perhaps?), they win if I quit. I don’t even know if that’s the case, and I really hate to make any assumptions, so it might not be that at all. It might just be the terrible AI bots that Meta is using. So I’m not sure how to respond to this whole situation, other than to say Instagram really sucks, and I’m not happy with their platform right now. Maybe it’s a good time to consider an alternative.
Cruiser’s Cafe 66 – Williams, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – PRO Negative 160C
As widely reported by Digital Camera Life, PetaPixel, Fujrumors, etc., etc., who got their data from Nikkei Industry Map (“the best resource” according to PetaPixel), Fujifilm is now the third largest digital camera maker worldwide, topping Nikon for the first time ever. Specifically, the data, which only looks at Japanese camera makers (so, not Leica), details the number of digital cameras shipped by each brand, and what percentage of the market that constitutes.
The latest data is for fiscal year 2025, which, for Japanese companies, ended on March 31st (approaching five months ago). In fiscal year 2025, Canon dominated the market, shipping 4.5 million cameras (almost 46% of the total market). Sony came in second with over 2.4 million cameras (almost 25% of the market). Fujifilm came in third with nearly 1.2 million (almost 12% of the market). Nikon was fourth with 880K (about 9%), Panasonic was fifth with 440K (about 4.5%), Ricoh was sixth with 210K (about 2%), and OM Systems (Olympus) finished seventh with 150K (1.5%). Shipped doesn’t equal sold; however, most are sold, especially by the brands that have trouble keeping bodies in stock (like Fujifilm and Ricoh).
When you talk about total cameras shipped (both film and digital), Fujifilm surpassed Nikon a long time ago, and is likely up there close with Canon; however, we’re just strictly considering digital (and not film), so most Instax models are not included in this. Instax is far bigger than X and GFX combined.
These rankings vary from year-to-year, and a lot depends on who released what and how the overall market was, so it’s important to take them with a grain of salt. But a few things can be understood from this. First, the overall market is growing, from 8.7 million cameras in 2024 to 9.5 million a year later. That’s good news, because for a long time the market was shrinking (2022-2023 is when it seems to have reached rock bottom). Also, Fujifilm has been growing quite significantly lately. In 2023, Fujfilm only shipped 430K cameras, less than half as many as Nikon did in 2025, and the same number as Panasonic in 2025. Now, it’s over a million (about three times as many as 2023!), something that only Canon and Nikon have been able to do the last several years. That’s a major accomplishment; however, in years past, during the height of digital camera sales, 1.2 million would have been a relatively small number.
There’s a lot that this data doesn’t tell us, like profit margins and the overall health of these companies. But the camera market is indeed growing, and Fujifilm is growing, too, so that’s all good news. So far, 2026 has had a slow start for Fujifilm; however, camera sales still seem strong thanks to models like the X100VI, X-E5, X-M5, and X-T30 III, so I suspect next year’s numbers will continue to look good for the brand, especially if the overall market continues to grow.
I’m excited to announce a new feature in the Fuji X Weekly App: sending Recipes straight from the App to your camera! This will make Film Simulation Recipes much more accessible because it removes the necessity to manually program them into your camera’s C1-C7 Custom Settings presets. I’ve been working on this for about a year-and-a-half now, and I believe it will transform and significantly improve the Fujifilm experience for many people. There’s a lot that I need to discuss regarding this, so let’s dive right in.
The new feature is called App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer Protocol (ATC RTP), and it uses something called Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP), a standardized camera-to-software communication system that’s been utilized by all major camera brands for over 25 years. Fujifilm uses PTP for X RAW Studio and other programs. I was able to create the ATC RTP using publicly available information from both Fujifilm and the Fujifilm community, combined with lots of trial-and-error, plus a little assistance from AI.
Using PTP is generally considered very safe; however, there is a small inherent risk in unofficial, unlicensed, unsupported programs. While there’s not a lot that can go wrong with PTP, there is a minor chance of adverse affects, especially if not handled carefully by the developers. To mitigate those risks, we built-in many safeguards and heavily tested it (I tried my best to break my Fujifilm cameras using ATC RTP, and couldn’t—don’t attempt that yourself, though). I’m extremely confident in the safety of this feature, but I want to be upfront and transparent about the inherent precariousness. It’s better to lay out all the cards so that you can make an informed decision that you are comfortable with, and it’s important to me that you’ve read this disclaimer before connecting your camera to the App. If you do decide to use ATC RTP, it’s an experimental feature, and it is at your own risk. I do believe that this is about as safe as possible from an unofficial program, and I doubt you’ll find another option with as many safeguards or as heavily tested before release. Still, like with any new software feature, I do anticipate some bug reports, and hopefully they’re all very minor (be sure to let me know if encounter any, no matter how small).
Very importantly, connecting your camera to any unofficial, unlicensed, unsupported program may void your camera’s manufacturer warranty. Fujifilm confirmed this with me. I tried very hard to obtain a license from Fujifilm so that it wouldn’t risk voiding your warranty, but ultimately that didn’t work out (they told me that they only give licenses to large companies “like Adobe”). While that significantly delayed the release of this feature, if I had been able to obtain a license, that would have made the wait worthwhile. Since I was not able to get a license, using the ATC RTP may void your camera’s warranty. Manufacturer warranties vary from country-to-country, and warranty laws vary from region-to-region, so read your specific warranty information very carefully, and research the laws that apply specifically to you. Some people are better protected than others; however, even if your warranty is technically voided, it’s possible that Fujifilm may decide to honor it anyway (or not realize it was voided) should something fail on your camera. It’s up to you if you want to take that risk, but my recommendation is to wait until after your camera’s warranty has expired (one or two years after purchase for most, but up to five years, just depending) before connecting to any unofficial, unlicensed, unsupported programs (pretty much any software that connects to your camera that’s not from Fujifilm or a major brand like Capture One or Adobe), including the Fuji X Weekly App. Whether you connect today, wait awhile before doing so, or never use this feature, that is a personal choice based on what you are comfortable with, having been well informed (and I hope you appreciate that I’m not keeping this secret from you). I have connected all of my compatible cameras to the Fuji X Weekly App, including my brand-new GFX100RF, but that was my own decision based on my personal confidence in the App’s programming and in Fujifilm’s quality.
With all that out of the way, let’s talk about how this new feature can transform your Fujifilm experience. What ATC RTP does is push Recipes from the Fuji X Weekly App to your camera’s Custom Settings presets (C1-C7 for most cameras, C1-C6 for some, and C1-C4 for others). You can pick a single Recipe, and choose which Custom Settings slot to send it to, or—if you are a Patron subscriber—you can create and send sets of Recipes. No more manually programming them into your camera! This makes saving Recipes in your camera extremely simple, and changing them a breeze. You can also do it with your Custom Recipes, not just the 400+ Fuji X Weekly Recipes. Sending a Recipe from the App to your camera is completely free—use it as often as you’d like, as many times as you’d like. Going one-at-a-time, you can fill up your C1-C7 pretty quickly. Sending multiple Recipes at once is reserved for Patrons, and I included three Recipe Sets—Starter, Street and Travel—to get you started (with more to come). I have not yet figured out how to send Recipes to FS1-FS3 on the X-E5, so those will still need to be set manually.
Not every Fujifilm camera is compatible, but most newer ones are. Specifically, as of this writing, you can use the ATC RTP with the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II, X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, X-T30 III, GFX100S, GFX50S II, GFX100 II, GFX100S II, and GFX100RF. Presumably all new cameras released in the future will also be compatible, but I won’t know for certain until they are available to test. Unfortunately, older models (such as X-Trans I, X-Trans II, X-Trans III, X-T30 and X-T3, X-series Bayer, and the first few GFX models) are not able to connect to the Fuji X Weekly App.
There are a bunch of important notes, so let’s work through them. First, as of this writing, the ATC RTP is only available on iOS [Edit: it’s now available on Android!]. Second, you need a USB-C (2.0 or 3.0) cable that is no longer than 4.9 feet (1.5 meters), preferably a good quality one. If ATC RTP is not working, try a different cable. Also, Lighting cables don’t work, but I’ve had reports that Lightning-to-USB-C adapters do work. Third, you need to make sure that your camera’s Connection Mode is set to USB RAW CONV./BACKUP RESTORE. This is found in the Network/USB (Connection) Settings section of the Menu. Next, you might need to set the USB Power Supply/Comm Setting to SUPPLY OFF/COMM ON (or just OFF, depending on your model), although most of the time AUTO seems to work. The USB-C cable needs to be connected to both the camera and the phone (try reconnecting if the App doesn’t recognize that your camera is connected). Your camera must be powered on for this feature to work (the camera’s screen will go dark when connected). Do not power off the camera or phone or disconnect the cable during a Recipe transfer. ISO and Typical Exposure Compensation are not transferred via ATC RTP, and should be set manually. Also, Video Recipes are not included in this feature.
It’s possible to get error messages after a transfer. If the camera rejects a setting, it will either be left unchanged or set to a default, which is a safeguard, and you’ll be notified. Some common settings that will get rejected are Dynamic Range and Clarity. Since Dynamic Range is ISO dependent, if the ISO is set lower than the minimum for the Dynamic Range (for example, DR400 with ISO 200), the camera will reject it. To fix it, increase the ISO and either try again or set Dynamic Range manually. Since Clarity is dependent on the Drive mode, if you are in burst (Continuous Low or Continuous High), HDR, etc., and not Still Image (a.k.a. Single or S), it will reject Clarity set to anything other than 0. To fix it, set the camera’s Drive mode to Still Image (S) and either try again or set Clarity manually. If you’ve never saved Custom Setting presets into your camera before, you may encounter some errors on the initial Recipe transfer, especially with the PASM models that require shooting modes to be set. You will need to fix the errors in the camera, such as selecting a shooting mode and adjusting the ISO within each preset, plus selecting the correct Dynamic Range setting. Within Custom Recipes, any free-form text must be spelled correctly in English in order to work; otherwise, use the dropdown menus. Also, for any Custom Recipe Sets that you create, make sure that the selected Recipes are compatible with the camera you are transferring to (if not, you will receive error messages when transferring).
That was a lot to lay out, but I hope you can appreciate why it all needed to be said. If the Fuji X Weekly App on your iPhone didn’t automatically update, be sure to manually do it now. You may also want to update your iOS version if it’s old. To begin using the App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer Protocol to send Recipes directly to your camera, tap the camera-with-arrow icon at the top of the Recipe list page or at the top of any Recipe within the Fuji X Weekly App. You’ll have to agree to the TOS and select OK a number of times. If you are a Patron, to create Recipe sets, tap the three dots at the top-right of the Recipe list page and select Manage Recipe Sets. I think many of you will really love this new feature, and it will transform your Fujifilm experience. Right now it’s only available on iOS, but it will be on Android pretty soon, too, so stay tuned!
Find more than 400 Fujifilm Recipes in the Fuji X Weekly App! Consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.
Over the last maybe two years, I’ve read here-and-there people say that yellow-tinted Fujifilm Recipes have a “piss filter” as if the photographer shot through a glass of urine from someone who is not particularly hydrated. The term has spread across the internet over the last eight months or so, it seems, with people now using it more frequently. Today, Selishots posted a YouTube video called 5 Recipes So Your Photos Don’t Look Like Piss. I’ve met Ben of Selishots a couple of times, and he’s a great guy—this article is not about him whatsoever (so don’t think for a moment that it is); however, I brought him up simply because his video motivated me to finally address the whole “piss filter” nonsense.
First, the term is clearly meant as a putdown. It began with and is still largely used by those who don’t shoot straight-out-of-camera and who don’t like the whole Recipe thing. Most of them would tell you that real photographers shoot RAW, not JPEG. It’s a derogatory term intended to make you feel “less than” about your photography. In my opinion, it’s shameful. I put it in the same category as other derogatory slang, and I don’t think the photography community should be accepting of such uninclusive language. Do we need to invent new terms to call out this toxic behavior? Formatism? RAW supremacists? I’d rather not go there, but I think it makes the point. Don’t let anyone tell you that you are any less of a photographer or that your photographs aren’t good enough just because you didn’t go about it the same way (the so-called “right way”) as they did. There’s no right or wrong way to do photography, and anyone who says otherwise is flat-out wrong and couldn’t be more wrong.
Buck’s Space Cowboy – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5 – Retro Slide
The statement also stems from ignorance. The people who use the term “piss filter” have obviously never shot film, and they’d be surprised to learn that many Kodak film stocks tend to lean warm (some historical emulsions didn’t just “lean” warm, but were obviously warm). Expired or mishandled film could sometimes have a strong yellow cast. Aside from that, it was very common 25+ years ago to use warming filters, like 81B or even W12—those are probably the closest to so-called “piss filters” in analog. Not to mention that classic lenses with thorium dioxide will turn yellow over time, basically making the lens itself a so-called “piss filter” of sorts. Lastly, color film photos can fade, and sometimes that can make them turn yellow-ish. In other words, if you know even a little about film photography, you know that yellow-leaning pictures are quite common, and not an oddity. When someone says “piss filter” they are admitting that they know very little about analog images or the history of photography.
Third, the reason people are drawn to warm-leaning looks is because they like them. We’re all different, and have different tastes—I don’t know why this is a difficult concept for some people. If a photographer likes their pictures with a certain color cast, why does that bother you so much? It’s their art, not yours. When someone says “piss filter”, that has to come from some kind of insecurity or jealousy; while it’s often stated with arrogance, there’s clearly something painful going on deep inside of the person uttering it. Interestingly, these warm-leaning looks only seem to bother people when they are from Recipes and not when they come via Lightroom presets. Psychologically, color actually matters a lot, as different colors affect the viewer in different ways. For example, yellow can make a person feel happy and positive; orange can make a person feel optimistic and enthusiastic. In general, these colors can often feel nostalgic, like a joyful memory from your childhood. It’s about the emotion and mood that the photographer wants to convey. Someone might not “get” why warm-tinted photographs are popular, but it’s not difficult to understand when you think about it for just a moment.
Horsetail Falls from Bridge – Columbia River Gorge, OR – Fujifilm X100V – Improved Velvia
Additionally, it shows a lack of knowledge about Fujifilm Recipes in general. There are tons—probably hundreds—that don’t have a warm cast. In fact, I published an article last year highlighting 15 Recipes with a cool cast. To assume that they all have a yellow cast just shows how little the person actually knows about this topic. Instead of conducting even a minimal amount of research, they put it down. Sad. With so many possible looks from Recipes, there’s bound to be at least one that is close to most people’s personal style. If one isn’t for you personally, find the ones that are. I’ve published more than 400, so you have a lot to choose from.
The term “piss filter” needs to die. It’s dumb. It’s narrow minded. It’s insulting. We should not tolerate it as a community, because we should not tolerate putting people down just because they’re different than us in some way. We’re all humans, trying to create pictures that are meaningful to us. Let’s be a bit more respectful, and a little less rude. Do photography however you want to do it, and create photographs in whatever manner you desire. There’s no right or wrong way, and there’s no right or wrong way for how pictures should look.
The article begins with, “Over the years, I’ve seen a wave of film simulation recipe apps appear—often trying to cash in on the popularity of Fujifilm’s JPEG recipes. Some have even reached out to me directly, offering free access in exchange for exposure on FujiRumors. And if you’ve never read about them here on FujiRumors, there’s a reason for that. Look, some are genuine apps built by true Fujifilm lovers. But honestly, there are also plenty made by people just trying to cash in on the Film Simulation Recipe community.”
That’s important context that hasn’t been stated anywhere close to enough. I’ve said it, but I’ve also been accused of being sour grapes over potential competition. I’m not afraid of competition, as I’m happy to point to The Film Recipes App, which was made by a genuine Fujifilm lover and Recipe creator (Justin Gould). What bothers me are the apps made by those who don’t actually create Recipes; instead, they’re aggregating “community recipes”, which are oftentimes just from myself or Justin or Reggie Ballesteros or someone on social media who shared a Recipe with their audience, only for someone else to add it to these other apps without credit to the actual creator (someone else gets credit instead). Even worse, these apps oftentimes use photographs without the knowledge of, permission from, credit or compensation to the actual photographers who created the images. For example, literally thousands of my photos have been illegally used in these apps (you can find some examples right now). Many others have had their pictures used illegally, too. Most of these apps are cesspools of copyright violations, which—as photographers—should be concerning to all of us. Not to mention that they skirt the line of plagiarism. And that’s not the end of the sketchiness, either. In my opinion, it’s harmful to the community, so bravo to Patrick at Fujirumors for pointing it out straight away.
Fujirumors then goes on to highlight a method for transferring Fujifilm Recipes from your phone to your camera using Fujifilm’s X App. Within the X App you can create backups of your camera’s settings. You can program a set of seven Recipes, save a backup, then change those seven Recipes, and save another backup. You can do this as many times as you’d like, and have a whole bunch of backups with different Recipes in each. You can give these backups different names so you know when to use them. These backups can be easily restored on your camera through the X App, giving you quick access to all of them at any given time. Amazing!
But, there are some significant caveats. First, the backups aren’t just C1-C7, they’re literally every single setting. So if you decide later that you want to change a sound or Fn button or AF setting, when you restore a backup, those changes won’t stay. So you really need to make sure you’re happy with your camera settings before doing this. Another issue is that sometimes a firmware update can render the backups incompatible with your camera. I’ve received a few different reports of that, so it’s a real thing. Next, if you change phones, there’s a potential of losing your backups. So it’s not perfect, but if you are ok with those issues, it might be worthwhile to try.
Ideally, Fujifilm would offer a way to set and store Recipes within the X App, and then wireless transfer those to the camera’s C1-C7 menu at any given time. That would be really cool, and I think it would be highly welcomed by the community. I’ve suggested it to Fujifilm a number of times, and I really hope they’re working on it. I do have some news related to this topic that I’m excited to share, but I need just a little more time, so stay tuned! In the meantime, if you don’t have the Fuji X Weekly App on your phone, now is a good time to download and use it for free; consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.
This new Fujifilm Recipe began with a stack of slides. Some were mine from the late-1990’s and early-2000’s (captured on Kodak Elite Chrome 100 and Elite Chrome 200), some were my grandpa’s from the 1970’s (I believe captured on Kodak Ektachrome-X and Ektachrome 64, although I’m not 100% certain). I really liked the look of some of the pictures as viewed on a light table (how slides are viewed—whether printed, scanned, light table, or projector—greatly affects how they look). Later, I was flipping through some vintage Arizona Highways magazine issues from the 1970’s. Back then, they would sometimes include the technical information about the photographs, such as the film used (among other things). I was drawn to the look of some of the photos, and for a couple pictures the film used was provided, which (as it turned out) was Ektachrome-X. I used those slides plus the images in the old issues of Arizona Highways as inspiration for this Recipe.
While Ektachrome and Elite Chrome were the inspiration for this new Fujifilm Recipe, which I’ve named Retro Slide, it is not an attempt at accurately mimicking it. There was a lot of variance in the sample photos (to put it mildly), so I’m not sure that would have been possible, anyway. This is more an encapsulation of the general aesthetic. In particular, I wanted it to feel more like the slides on a light table than images printed in a magazine, but the influence of the magazine photos can still be seen and (hopefully) appreciated. While this is not a fully accurate facsimile of Ektachrome, it is close enough that you could consider this an Ektachrome Recipe if you wanted to, despite the name.
Caboose – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5 – Retro Slide
Like a lot of Fujifilm Recipes, Retro Slide is intended for sunny daylight photography. It can do well in other light situations, too, but it seems to be hit-or-miss, rendering either a little too warm or a little too cool sometimes. I did get some good results at night, but this wouldn’t be my first choice for nighttime photography. Because Retro Slide uses the Nostalgic Neg. film simulation, it is only compatible with fifth-generation Fujifilm cameras, which are the X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, X-T30 III, GFX100 II, GFX100S II, and GFX100RF.
Film Simulation: Nostalgic Neg. Grain Effect: Weak, Small Color Chrome Effect: Strong Color Chrome FX Blue: Weak White Balance: 5000K, -1 Red & +3 Blue Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: 0 Shadow: +2 Color: +4 Sharpness: -1 High ISO NR: -4 Clarity: +2 ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: +2/3 to +1 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Retro Slide Film Simulation Recipe on my Fujifilm X-E5:
Baloney Maroney’s – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Service Trucks – Stroud, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Skyliner Motel – Stroud, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Buck’s Space Cowboy – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Meadow Gold Clock – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Shops & Lofts – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
H Bar C Ranchwear – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
We Sell Kodak Film – Oklahoma City, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Out in the Heat – Oklahoma City, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Urban Nature Photographer – Oklahoma City, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Jonathan, Photographer – Oklahoma City, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Empty Bench – Oklahoma City, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Canyon Diablo Bridge – Two Guns, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5
Tireless Truck – Stroud, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Be Careful – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Philco Radio – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Ms. Pac-Man – Oklahoma City, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Soda Bottles – Arcadia, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Syrup & Gratuity – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Empty Ketchup – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Bar Stools – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Conoco Tower – Shamrock, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Second Street Texaco – Winslow, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5
Auto Shop at Night – Winslow, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5
Love’s Trucks – Winslow, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5
Find this Fujifilm Recipe and over 400 more on the Fuji X Weekly App! Consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.
According to Fujirumors, Fujifilm is delaying the announcement of the upcoming X-T6; however, Fujifilm has not announced that they’re announcing any camera. How can something be postponed that hasn’t even been publicized?
Let me put it this way. Let’s say that you are the manager of some office somewhere, and you tell your secretary to pencil in some time and date for a meeting that will take place some months in the future. You tell the secretary not to tell anyone, only to pencil it in so that the time is blocked out and there won’t be any scheduling conflicts. The secretary later tells someone in confidence that there will be a meeting at the date and time that was penciled in, and that person blabs it to the whole office. Later, you realize that the initial date and time you picked for the meeting won’t work, so you instruct your secretary to block off a different day, which is still well in the future. Now your secretary once again tells their friend, who once again blabs it to the office, who are now bemoaning that the meeting has been postponed. But, since it was never announced, was it ever really delayed?
And that’s the problem with rumor sites. I enjoy getting a little sneak behind the curtain as much as the next person. The heads-up is exciting. Speculating on what will be can be fun. But there’s also a negative side to the coin. It slows sales of currently available models. It can give people false ideas or skewed expectations of upcoming products. It throws a curveball into a product launch that was carefully choreographed. I had a conversation about this topic with Ken Rockwell once, and he said, “There’s always something new coming out tomorrow, but you can’t take pictures with it today so it doesn’t matter.”
Abandoned Dream – Red Rock Lakes NWR, MT – Fujifilm X100V – The Rockwell
Can you pick up an X-T6 and photograph with it today? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Obviously the answer is no. Someday, yes—that time will get here before you know it. So be patient, and enjoy the gear that you can pick up and use today, which are the cameras and lenses you already own, or maybe that you will buy today at your local camera store.
Unfortunately, because the rumor of the supposed announcement was spread online, and now a new rumor has been published of a delay, people are creating all sorts of conspiracy theories—mostly by trolls, and most of which are not true. It might be simply that the penciled-in date was never all that solid to begin with. The large 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck near a Fujifilm facility about 10 days ago is the most likely explanation. According to Digital Camera World, “Fujifilm’s Kyushu location in Kumamoto, Japan manufactures color filter components used in Fujifilm’s X-Trans camera sensors, as well as films that are used in manufacturing LCD screens and slurries or polishing materials used for semiconductor manufacturing.” This facility was evacuated after the earthquake, and may have been damaged.
When will the X-T6 be announced? Who knows. When Fujifilm is ready, they’ll announce an X Summit, and during the X Summit they’ll announce whatever it is they’re ready to release. Maybe it will be an X-T6, maybe it won’t. I’m looking forward to the next X Summit and gear announcement as much as anyone else, but let’s not forget that today we can create amazing pictures with the cameras that are already in our hands.
