WATCH: Fujifilm announces two new cameras and two lenses at X Summit Sydney!

We're only half an hour away from seeing what Fujifilm has to announce! Grab a cup of coffee and find yourself a comfy chair.

The comments section is already full of bright ideas. 

"Any hopes for an X-Pro 4 announcement?"

Gosh, I enjoyed using the Fujifilm X-Pro3. The hidden screen thing was a bit mad, but I love it when Fujifilm does mad things like that.

"would love to see a better 23mm f2. The new fuji lenses are too danged big.  Stick with what got you here Fuji!!!!"

Agree with the sentiment. More small lenses, please Fujifilm… and everyone else, for that matter!

"XH3 Global Shutter. 120fps."

Just trolling, methinks. But still, Sony got everyone going crazy with the A9 III, whether it's the global shutter as the newest uncurable GAS symptom or the crazy burst speeds. 

Speaking of chasing Sony's specs, the development announcement for the Canon EOS R1 yesterday got me thinking: when was the last time Canon did a big online streaming announcement like Fuji does? 

Was it for the EOS R5? Was that the only time Canon did it? 

(I still remember seeing Peter McKinnon kick off that launch and thinking, "Wow, the influence of influencers has really come a long way")

(… and then he jumped ship to Leica)

Nice drone shot of Sydney. MAKE A DRONE, FUJIFILM!

"We will be unveiling two new cameras and two new lenses"

Plug / apology for the X100VI. Fuji apparently prepared for double the demand of the X100V, it's still behind. And is increasing production.

It's asuccessor to the X-T30 / X-T30 II…

WELCOME FUJIFILM X-T50

Looks sleeker than the X-T30, with rounder shoulders. Grip is slightly larger, but feels snug, "making it feel smaller in your hand"

There it is: the Film Simulation Dial.

20 film sims, enabling you to change between them "as if using real film". Hmm.

40.2MP sensor, all the clever fifth generation features such as AI autofocus. 

Without IBIS, creating 40MP images isn't possible, apparently. 

Maxes out at 7 stops of stabilization.

NICE SEGUEWAY TO A NEW LENS

It's the new XF 16-50mm, as expected

(Replaces the 10-year-old Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS)

It's wider on the wide end, but shorter on the long end, and drops from f/4.8 to f/4 at top zoom. Weather sealed, though, and now able to resolve all 40MP, unlike its predecessor. And has half-macro capabilities

Why is the Film Simulation dial on top, replacing the mode / drive dial? 

Fujifilm considers it the next most important thing after aperture, shutter speed and ISO sensitivity. 

Makoto Oishi is here to tell us about the new GFX announcements. 

Given how important Fujifilm just told us the Film Simulations dial is, next to the exposure triangle, surely it will be on this new GFX camera. Right?

First, a proper lens for sports and wildlife photography: 

GF 500mm f/f.6 R LM OIS WR

500mm is about 396mm in full frame terms.

1,375g in weight. 21 elements in 14 groups.

"One of the highest class quality among GF lenses"

6 stops of optical image stabilization (IBIS is less / ineffective at extreme telephoto lengths)

NAUGHTY FUJIFILM, tossing out the words "large format". 

Jeez, bless their hearts but these photographers really weren't put on this Earth to be presenters. 

Where's Peter McKinnon…

GRRR, STOP SAYING LARGE FORMAT! I love GFX, but it's not even true medium format! 

Whinging aside, these sample shots look gorgeous.

f/5.6 obviously isn't f/5.6 in terms of depth of field on a GFX camera. And the messaging here is that, when it comes to AF, this isn't like a 500mm lens on medium format; it's like an X Series lens on a X Series camera in terms of performance.

Aaaaaand here's the Fujifilm GFX 100S II. 

New GFX 102MP CMOS II sensor. "Image quality highest among GFX series"

Now ISO80 base sensitivity, with improved deep learning AF algorithms. 

The IBIS unit has been upgraded, offering 8 stops using algorithmic updates.

Only 883g, lightest 100MP GFX camera, making it more mobile. 

Okay, I'm not a fan of these segments with the photographers, but seeing the GFX 100S II being used in underwater housing to shoot surfing is pretty damned amazing.

Here's the full pricing info: