October 9th 2016 I’ve since updated this article and added it into series on the X-Pro2. You can read the update by clicking here
Today (October 6th, 2016) Fujfilm released new firmware (FW – basically the camera Operating System) for the X-Pro 1 & 2 cameras, and also many of the XF (and some of the XC) lenses.
Focusing on the X-Pro2, which received the bulk of the updates, let’s take a look at some of the improvements and new features.
If you haven’t already; you can download the latest X-Pro2 FW from this link:
The Full list of Camera and Lens FW can be found on the link below
A document (in English) detailing the features can be downloaded here
Here’s the complete list of features and improvements.
I don’t have the full info on all of these items, but here’s what I do know!
1.
The NUMBER OF THE FOCUS POINT has increased.(*)
The options available are 91 POINTS(7×13) and 325 POINTS(13×25) on the NUMBER OF THE FOCUS POINT of the AF/MF SETTING in the Shooting Menu.
This update has added additional (user selectable) AF points. Before the update the figures were 77 and 273, which has been increased to 91 and 325 respectively. This means that we can select more parts of the frame to focus on. If your camera was already set to the (previous) maximum of 272, then this setting will update to 325.
2.
Improvement of phase detection AF accuracy.
By employing the new AF algorithm used in the X-T2, the AF accuracy has been improved.
The X-T2 camera features a more advanced Auto Focus algorithm. This has been rolled out to the X-Pro2. Time and usage will tell if we see a ‘in real life’ improvement or not.. If we do, we’ll soon get used to it 🙂 please note that the advanced AF tracking modes from the X-T2 are not included
3.
AF tracking function has been improved when CONTINUOUS L in the AF-C mode.
Although not benefiting from the advanced tracking features in the X-T2, the improvements to the X-Pro2 AF algorithm combined with the increase of AF points means that AF tracking is improved over the pre-existing FW
4.
In AF-C mode, AE function will work while pressing the shutter button halfway.
When you use continuous focusing mode (AF-C) the camera is now able to meter (ie ascertain the exposure parameters required) the scene whilst the shutter is half pressed. This enables you to track a subject and shoot at the desired moment without being locked into the exposure parameters that the camera had selected before. This is beneficial if the subject you’re tracking goes from a sunny to a shaded area for example.
5.
AF tracking function works while CONTINUOUS shooting in the AF-C mode with the Electronic Shutter.
Previously the continuous shooting function only worked with the mechanical shutter that topped out at 1/8000 of a second. Now the electronic shutter can be used, which can be set to silent and goes up to 1/32000 of a second
6.
AF tracking function works while CONTINUOUS H shooting in the AF-C mode instead of zone AF.
I’m not 100% clear on this… It seems that continuous shooting HIGH (the fastest burst mode) now functions with tracking auto focus. (I hadn’t ever tested how it worked before – I’m not much of high burst mode, tracking AF shooter 🙂 )
7.
STILL IMAGE(single frame shooting) is available when CONTINUOUS L in the AF-C mode.
When the camera is set to continuous shooting LOW, the user can chose to take only a single photograph. This burst rate is 3fps. I tested this, and couldn’t get any less than 2 shots taken when I used the shutter.
06 October: 18:00 – I’ve since discovered that this ‘single shot’ Low burst mode feature only works in parallel with AF-C (which I should of noticed from the Fuji info 🙂 ) I’ve tested this and it works as described.
8.
The focus point of Eye Detection AF has been changed to the eye closer to the camera.
I’ve not had chance to test this yet… It seems that Face Detect algorithm has been improved to be more accurate.
9.
Compatibility with the Shoe Mount Flash EF-X500.
Additional functions like the multi-flash lighting, high-speed flash sync and so on can be used with the EF-X500.
Accordingly, the FLASH SETTING and the Shooting Menu is dramatically changed.
10.
The items that can be assigned to the Quick Menu have changed.
FLASH FUNCTION SETTINGS and FLASH COMPENSATION have been added due to the compatibility with the Shoe Mount Flash EF-X500.
The EF-X500 flash is not available yet. I do not own any 3rd party HSS flash units to test the menu settings for HSS, zoom, off-camera, etc flashes.
11.
The roles that can be assigned to the Function buttons have changed.
FLASH FUNCTION SETTINGS, TTL-LOCK and MODELING FLASH have been added due to the compatibility with the Shoe Mount Flash EF-X500.
New items to cover quick access to settings related to the upcoming flash unit can be assigned to the quick access function (Fn) buttons
12.
Addition of AUTO POWER SAVE.
AUTO POWER SAVE option has been added to the POWER MANAGEMENT of the Setup Menu. Select ON to save the power consumption and make the battery life longer.
Previously only available in economy mode and on by default with no user switching possible; I THINK that auto power save, reduces the EVF refresh rate (and perhaps some other things like histogram refresh) when the camera has been idle insufficient time to provoke auto power off, but still idle long enough for it to find ways to save power. I’ve no clue what the timing is on that though.. I usually get 400-420 shots (RAW + Jpeg, so 800-840 files) in high performance mode, per battery, so I’ll see if that number goes up at all
13.
Addition of setting time in AUTO POWER OFF.
15 SEC, 30 SEC and 1 MIN have been added to the AUTO POWER OFF of the POWER MANAGEMENT in the Setup Menu.
These new settings mean that the user can chose a shorter duration of time before the camera enters sleep mode. Which can be handy for saving the battery
14.
S.S OPERATION option has been added to BUTTON/DIAL SETTING in the Setup Menu.
Select OFF to disable the shutter-speed fine-tuning using the command dials.
When SS (Shutter Speed) dial is set to a user defined position, that’s not automatic, then selecting 1/3 stops via the front (default) or rear (if changed in the menu) command dial can be disabled.
15.
Change of the CORRECTED AF FRAME in the OVF.
Specification of the CORRECTED AF FRAME of AF/MF SETTING in the Shooting Menu has been changed.
·OFF: The frame moves according to parallax to show the focus point.
·ON: The CORRECTED AF FRAME in the OVF is fixed on the recommended value described in the Owner’s manual. If the minimum focus range of the attached lens is greater than the recommended value, the frame is displayed on the position of the minimum focus range.
There’s currently some contention about how this works in the X-Pro1 update, but on the X-Pro2, it works like this:
In the previous v1.02 FW, the X-Pro2 behaves like this
OVF Corrected AF ON =
You get 2 boxes, infinity and minimum focus distance
You make a bit of a guess of where your subject is, either infinity, minimum or somewhere in the middle and the corrected box (which is the minimum one) helps you make this guess by showing you max and minimum focus distances, so your subject will be either on one of those 2 points or some where in the middle
OVF Corrected AF OFF =
It resembles the OVF in MF mode.
You get one box, infinity.
You take a guess where your subject is, and the frame line movement is the only clue you get (plus if you use the distance scale) as too what subject distance the camera has selected
X-Pro2 2.00 FW
With CORRECTED AF FRAME = OFF
What happens now is that the previously fixed infinity box moves and becomes the indicator of the focus point within the frame
16.
The phenomenon is fixed that in rare cases the magnification of the OVF doesn’t switch appropriately when a lens is changed.
Previously there was a bug in the OVF automatic magnification switching =
If you overrode the automatically selected OVF magnification (eg if you wanted the 35 frame lines to be smaller by using the magnification level that’s selected with the 18mm) by holding the OVF/EVF lever for some seconds; then the OVF would never automatically select the correct magnification based on the lens you had mounted ever again… or until you did a hot lens swap or system reset (which loses all your personalised settings
I have tested this and can confirm it’s been fixed.
17.
The bright frame movement in the OVF has become more smoothly while zooming in and out.
I don’t have a zoom to test this, but I’d imagine it “does what it says on the tin” 🙂
18.
OIS function has been improved while using Electronic Shutter.
I don’t have a OIS lens to test this, but I’d imagine it “does what it says on the tin” 🙂
19.
The phenomenon is fixed that in rare cases frames of live view on a smartphone drop while using the application software “FUJIFILM Camera Remote”.
I don’t really use this feature, but I did notice it seemed to work better on my iPad than on my android phone, so perhaps there’s been improvements here.
20.
The phenomenon is fixed that exposure sometimes doesn’t change appropriately in Aperture Priority AE while using an M MOUNT ADAPTER.
I don’t have a M-mount adaptor to test this, but I’d imagine it “does what it says on the tin” 🙂
As you can see, there’s an extensive list of improvements, and for this Fujifilm must be applauded. Of course we each have things that we’d like to see added or annoyances we’re like to see removed, and FW updates are often accompanied with the internet chatter of disappointment.
I too have things I’d like to see added… Being able to change the colour of the X-Pro2 frame lines in the OVF for example.
But the most important thing to remember is that Fujifilm gives us these updates for FREE, they constantly update the majority of their products, today even releasing updates for a body and some lenses that are over 4 years old.
So I REALLY do think that Fujifilm should be applauded for doing this, not criticised and moaned at 🙂
If you feel I’ve made any mistakes, get in touch.
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Adam Bonn Fotografia 
Adam thanks for taking the time and putting in the effort to direct everyone to the firmware upgrades and providing some explanation as to what they mean to us as Fuji xpro1 and xpro2 users.
I have to admit that I was really surprised to see their continued support for a 4 years old x pro 1. They are truly the industry leaders not only with gear but more important with support.
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No problem Elliot, besides writing things down helps me understand them too !!
Yes, the support for the 4 yr old products is amazing, not just the X-Pro1, but also the 18/35/60 lenses, after all these have been (sort of) replaced with newer derivatives (14/16, 35f2 and 56), yet still Fuji updates the first gen lens products
[Yes I appreciate these lenses are all still live products]
Absolutely first class from Fuji… Consider that a certain well known non-Fuji OEM once* charged (via its app store) to add features such as a shutter self timer
(* and maybe still do, I haven’t checked)
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The support is one of the reasons I’m still tempted to get the x-pro2, despite me being very happy with my x-pro1. The major reason would be to support the company, though.
I’m of two minds regarding the 4-year old lens support – from the viewpoint of electronics it’s great to see this. But, given that I have the expectation for lenses to last decades, every lens-manufacturer should support their products for this long.
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If you’re happy with the XP1 then there’s not that many reasons to spend a lot more on a XP2
The lenses are a tricky concept really… I think, that POSSIBLY we mentally think of lenses as robust beasts of steel and glass, but in actual fact they’re glass, aluminium, PCBs and wires – just like camera bodies, so there’s no reason for them to last any longer, but we’re less likely to want to change them, and they can survive spec changes of a camera body upgrade
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Hey Adam, thanks fort his post, and several others you have done too 🙂 I agree with all your points… but one. I respectfully, and most ardently, disagree with your thoughts on lenses. Given that there is far more technology in our glass than will ever be in the bodies, given we spend way more on glass, given that glass has FAR greater impact on IQ, given that I (and countless others) have lenses that are 50-70 years old that still perform beautifully on newer bodies/technology – We should be able to expect they endure far beyond that of the bodies.
I refuse to accept that my 56 1.2, for example, should need replacing when my XP2 packs it in. I also REALLY don’t want any lens maker to think that I think this is ok either!
Great site Adam, and I apologize for not leaving positive feedback before now when there have been plenty of times you earned it 🙂
Good glass is forever.
Bradley 🙂
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Hi Bradley,
Thanks very much for the kind words.
The points you’re debating relate to a specific reply I made to a comment.
The lenses you have that are ’50-70′ years old don’t have circuit boards and wires inside!
It’s like a wrist watch, no? A serviced, vintage watch with a supply of mechanical parts (like cogs that can be reverse manufactured if needed) will tick for decades, if a digital (with parts like a circuit board and capacitors) calculator watch breaks, throw it away!
Same with cars – a vintage car with mechanical rotor contacts can be fixed, or re-manufactured. A modern car with a black box for the ignition will only have limited shelf life before the computerised components becomes obsolete, and are not able to be replaced or fixed if needed
Anything that might make your X-Pro2 ‘pack in’ (excluding damage that’s electrical component degradation, or a failure of the fly-by-wire controls) is just as likely to happen to the lenses…
For example, the aperture ring on the XF lenses is not mechanically connected to the aperture blades, it’s a electrical pick up point!
The Leica M8 is good example, this camera is now 10years old, and many people are still using it to produce images. But on some M8s the LCD fails, and not even Leica have any replacements, so when that happens…. But the mechanical Leica film cameras for 50+ years ago still work
Don’t panic though!! We’ll all get MANY years out of our cameras/lenses if we look after them… just if we do actually use them – don’t expect them to last 70 years 🙂
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