Fujifilm posted a video announcing an upcoming X Summit in Tokyo on October 14th. Most likely, they will introduce one camera and two lenses. There could be other surprises, who knows. It will be at 6:00 AM Pacific Time, 9:00 AM Eastern. If you are possibly interested in the products that are expected to be announced, you might want to tune in and preorder as soon as that goes online, which is usually immediately afterwards.
Fujifilm also announced that they are planning to release a firmware update for the X-H2s, X-H2, and GFX100 II in November. This upcoming firmware update seems to be video-centric, but will also likely include some improvements and fixes for still photography. I wouldn’t be surprised to see firmware updates for some other cameras at or around that same time, but since it won’t include all of the video stuff, my guess is that they’re not making a big deal about it.
It’s been widely reported that earlier this year Fujifilm released a buggy firmware update that negatively affected autofocus on some models. While they largely fixed the issues from that buggy update (it’s always a good idea to wait a couple weeks before updating the firmware, in case there is a problem, no matter your brand of camera), there are still some persistent problems that people are reporting. Fujifilm has been working on it, and I believe that they’re about to get it all sorted out.
There has been a lot of unnecessary hysteria around this topic. In my opinion, it has been largely overblown with a lot of unfair exaggerations and even some downright lying. That is not to say issues haven’t or don’t exist, because obviously they do, or that they shouldn’t be addressed—they should be, and they are. I think some of the feedback has indeed been quite helpful to Fujifilm, providing a better understanding of exactly what is going on and how to fix it; however, some other feedback has just been an embarrassment to the community at large, with chronic complainers, haters, and trolls fanning the flames with anger and hate. The comments sections of many Fujifilm related websites and videos have become unbearable. Some trolls have been posting multiple times under various aliases, so as to make it seem like the outcry is bigger and louder than it actually is (shameful behavior, for those doing it). Petapixel has even deleted some comments, something they don’t do all that often (but should do much more, in my opinion), that’s how bad it has become—a few bad apples will spoil a whole bunch, as the saying goes. I cannot tell you how many people have emailed or DMed me, expressing how tired they are of it, but they don’t want to speak up publicly for fear of being bullied by the trolls. That behavior needs to stop—no excuses—it’s unacceptable.
I, personally, have not experienced any AF issues on my Fujifilm cameras (and I have many, and I use them all of the time). Within the last two months I have spoken with many of you in person. Just last week I spoke to some who use the affected cameras for their livelihood (very successful and talented creators), and asked them directly about this. In all of the circles that I’ve been in lately, this has not been seen as a big problem by anyone who I spoke to. That’s not to say issues weren’t noticed by some, only that they were able to work around it and get the job done without any problems whatsoever. All of this is to say, I think that those who are actually actively out there creating content with their Fujifilm cameras are doing just fine right now, and the issues have been largely overblown on the internet. Still, it’s good to see that very soon Fujifilm will have it all sorted out, so no worries for those who have been losing sleep over this.
Now, of course, I will get some angry comments about what I just said. That’s fine. Because the Fuji X Weekly community is so amazing, this website has largely been immune from the trolls that are all too common elsewhere. I have not been inundated by those over-the-top comments you see on other websites, and it’s thanks to all the good folks who regularly visit this page (that’s you!). But I’m sure I will still get some. The point of this article is simply to mention that a few new products are about to be announced, and that some firmware updates won’t be far behind. I really wish the rest didn’t need to be said, but unfortunately (and sadly) that’s the state of things right now.