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Credit: Gareth Bevan / Digital Camera World
Fujifilm has rolled out firmware updates that improve the autofocus algorithms for several of its cameras, fulfilling an earlier promise that stemmed from user complaints about slow autofocus performance. On December 19, Fujifilm launched firmware updates for several cameras, including the X-T5, X-S20, X-T50 and X100IV, as well as the medium format GFX100S II.
The updates come after the company thanked customers for feedback and shared that it was working on firmware to improve autofocus, an update that was shared with customers in a YouTube comment in October. The Fujifilm X-H2, XH-2S and GFX 100 II received the promised updates last month.
Now five more Fujifilm cameras are getting the promised autofocus solution via updated firmware. Fujifilm says that “the AF algorithm has been partially revised to improve focus accuracy and subject tracking.”
The firmware brings the X-T5 to version 4.10, the X-T50 to version 1.10, the X-S20 to 3.10, the Firmware can be updated via the Fujifilm app or by downloading the software from the official Fujifilm website and adding it manually via a memory card. Fujifilm reminds photographers to always start with a fully charged battery and never turn the camera off or touch any buttons while the firmware is being updated.
As a Fujifilm photographer, the firmware updates give me hope that the cameras I love for color and ergonomics will offer more competitive autofocus performance in the future. I own two Fujifilm X-T4 bodies, and when I tested a rental the older bodies. Granted, focusing with a 40 MP sensor is a much bigger challenge, but performance was still disappointing.
Autofocus performance is impossible to judge without hands-on experience, but hopefully the firmware update will allow the cameras to deliver more competitive performance. Fujifilm is known for its color and retro ergonomics, making them more common in genres like portraits, weddings and street photography than in sports. As a portrait and wedding photographer, I may not need sports performance, but I do need my camera to keep up with active children and dancers in a dark lobby.
This week’s firmware updates also update Fujifilm’s proprietary software, including the Mac versions of the Fujifilm X Raw Studio and the Fujifilm Tether App, as well as the Mac and Windows versions of the Fujifilm Pixel Shift Combiner software. The software updates provide minor bug fixes, but no feature upgrades.
Fujifilm photographers can find full update instructions and downloads directly from Fujifilm.
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For more information, browse our list of the best Fujifilm lenses or the best Fujifilm cameras
