Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-02-22)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 22 February 2020 11

First impressions

World’s fastest lens

with autofocus

ATTHEsametimeas

announcingthe

X100V,Fujifilmrevealed

itsnextlenstobeaddedto

itslineupof XFlenseswill

betheFujinonXF50mm

F1.0R WR.It willbringthe

totalnumberof lensesfor

X-seriescamerasupto 35

andit’llbetheworld’s

fastestlenswithautofocus.

Equivalentto75mmin

35mmterms,it’llemploy

13 elementsin 8 groups

andincludeanunusual

concavefrontelement, 2

extralowdispersion(ED)

glasslensesandfeaturea

77mmfilterthread.Fujifilm

explainedthatthesetof

largeelementstowardsthe

frontof thelensareused

to form the image, while

FujifilmX-T4isonly

a matter ofdaysaway

THEOTHERvery

excitingnewstocome

fromthisyear’sX-Summit

broadcastheldat Fujifilm’s

Houseof Photographyin

Londonwasconfirmation

thattheFujifilmX-T4is on

itsway.Towardstheendof

thelivebroadcast,Fujifilm

revealedtheX-T4willbe

officiallyannouncedon

26 February.Althoughno

furtherinformationwas

revealed,theofficial

announcementtiesin with

theannualCP+Camera

andPhotoImagingShow

in Yokohama,Japan(

February to 1 March)

wherewe’reexpecting

manyof themajorplayers

in thephotographymarket

toreleasetheirlatest

productsandinnovations.

APwillbeattendingCP+

tobringyouallthenews

andinformationasand

whenwereceiveit, so

watch this space.

whenthedistancetothesubjectyou’re
photographingremainsconsistent.
Othernewadditionsincludea built-in
4-stopNDfilter,whichimprovesonthe
X100F’s3-stopNDfilter,anda wider
selectionof filmsimulationmodesthat
includesClassicNegative,whichmadeits
debutin theX-Pro3.Videographers
benefit fromhavingtheabilitytorecord
4Kvideoat 30p,withFullHD1080p
alsoavailableupto120fps.Thosewho’d
liketorecordin 10-bit,4:2:2candoso
viatheHDMIportandthere’sa 2.5mm
micinputtoenhanceaudioquality.
Anotherwelcomeimprovementis the
X100V’shealthierbatterylife,which
lastsfor 350 framesusingtheEVF,or
420 framesusingtheopticalviewfinder.
Witha USBType-Cportusershavethe
optiontochargeonthego,andjustas
you’dexpect,Wi-FiandBluetoothis
built-intoenablewirelesstransfersand
remotecontrolwithmobiledevices
runningFujifilm’sCameraRemote app.

Buildandhandling
TheX100Vsharesthesamecharmand
eleganceasitspredecessors,butthere
arequitea fewdifferencesthataren’t
immediatelyobvious.Withregardtoits
buildquality,thetopandbottomplates
arenowmanufacturedfromsingle
piecesof aluminium,resultingin a much
crisper fi nish around the edge of the

bodythanpreviousversions.The

aluminiumcovers,whicharebuiltaround

a magnesiumalloyframe,areexquisitely

finishedin a satincoating,withtheall-

blackversionbeinganodisedratherthan

paintedtogiveit a ‘deepblack’look.

Onthetopplate,theX100V,likethe

X100F,benefits fromanISOdialthat’s

builtaroundtheshutterspeeddial.It’s

similartothearrangementyou’llfindon

theX100Fin thattheouterportionof

thedialis liftedtoadjusttheISOvalue,

butit’salsovastlyimprovedin thewayit

doesn’thavetobeliftedandrotated

simultaneously.Pulltheouterringup

andtheISOdialcanberotatedfreely

withyourthumbbeforeit’spushedback

downandlockedin place.

Thesignificantchangeat therearis a

newtwo-waytilting3in,1.62-million-

dottouchscreen.Bydesigningthe

screenunitincrediblythinly,usersget

thebenefit of a tiltingscreenwithno

additionalbulk– indeedyouwouldn’t

reallyknowit’sa tiltscreenif it wasn’tfor

thecut-outat thebottomleftcornerof

thebodythathelpspullit out.

TheX100Vdoeslosethefour-way

controller.Insteadusersareencouraged

tousethejoystickandtheMenu/OK,

playbackandDISP/Backbuttons,which

alignbeneath.A smallquickmenu

buttonremains,butit’sshiftedto theright

to prevent accidental thumb presses.

WITHtheX100V,FujifilmhaslistenedtowhatexistingX100usershavehadtosay
andrespondedbymakinga seriesof valuableimprovementstokeyareasof its
operationanddesign.If theexampleswewereshownof howthenewlensresolves
sharpnessis anythingtogoby,wecanexpectit toproducebetterimagequalityin
thecorners– pluswiththeintroductionof a weather-resistancekit,photographers
willnolongerbeafraidof usingit whenweatherconditionstakea turnfortheworse.
Addinga tiltscreenwillbea hugebenefit tostreetphotographerswholiketoshoot
inconspicuouslyfromthehip,whileothertweakssuchasrefiningISOcontroland
givingit anevenmorepremiumfinisharelikelytocharmexistingX100usersinto
thinking about an upgrade. We’re looking forward to reviewing it in a few weeks’ time.

APgothandsonwith

theX100Vata launch

event in central London

therearsectionthat’s

madeupof 5 elementsin

3 groupswillbeusedfor

focusing.Thelensis

designedtoproducevery

‘creamy’lookingbokehand

is promisedtobeeven

betterin thisrespectthan

themuch-lovedXF56mm

F1.2R.ThefactFujifilm

hada workingsampleto

showussuggestsit might

notbetoolongbeforewe

seethelensrollingoffthe

productionline.Fujifilm

wasalsoforthcomingin

sayingtherewillbethree

additionallensesaddedto

theXFrangebytheendof

theyear,howeverno

futherinformationabout

whatthesethreelenseswill

be has been disclosed.

Acountdowntimerhasbeen

added to Fujifilm’s website

ThenewXF50mm

F1.0R WRcoupled

to the Fujifilm X-T