An update on my Fuji Guides

I wrote a little while ago about plans to update my Fuji guides at some point, and I’ve had a few people asking me about it. The situation is a little more complicated, so read on for details on what’s happening, or why there has been a delay.

For those not familiar, over the past few years, I’ve published a number of eBooks about various aspects of Fuji cameras, and specifically how to process the Fujifilm raw files in various applications. It’s been a while since I’ve updated some of these now and they’re getting a bit out of date. In fact, I’ve decided to put some of these on an “end of life” sale because of the fact that they’re no longer up to date (with a fairly significant disclaimer).

So why haven’t you updated?

The reason I haven’t updated is that I don’t own a working current generation Fujifilm camera. My X-Pro2 stopped working just before the Pandemic and I never got around to sending it for repair. The X-Pro 2 is also a bit out of date compared to the newer cameras too, so I would really need to update to a modern camera in order to write a new eBook.

The problem is, with the pandemic and other factors, it’s just not been economically viable for me to invest in a new camera just to write about it at the moment.

The other thing is that, it’s been so long now since they have had a major update, I can’t help but wonder if a new generation is on the horizon, and I don’t want to buy a new model to be up to date, only for it to be superseded a few weeks later. I know this is always a possibility, but with Fuji, they tend to go in generations, and I can’t see them getting much more out of the current 26mp sensors. Surely X-Trans 5 is around the corner? For this reason, I’ve been resisting until the X-T5 or X-Pro 4 come out.

Will you ever update?

It is still my intention to update at least the Lightroom guide and the Capture One guide at some point. I believe I can do these without having a new camera and for them not to be out of date. I am trying to fit it in between everything else, and making a living, so it’s still on the cards, but I can’t give a timeframe at the moment.

I would like to have the new Lightroom guide by the end of the year, however, as the Capture One guide is still mostly relevant, so I don’t plan on updating that until the next major version of Capture One (22?) possibly in December comes out (and so probably early next year) as there may be significant changes in that. I do still have to do client work and I have some big projects coming up that require all my attention, so this may still be pushed back.

My Fuji Jpeg guide is totally out of date now, so I have it now “end of life” in its current version. This isn’t something I can update without a new camera, as this would require the most updating. There have been such significant changes to Fuji’s jpeg engine since I wrote this originally that it requires a complete re-write and not just a new edition.

What can we do to help?

The other big factor that’s kind of been holding me back is that its hard to judge support for updated guides. I know I haven’t been writing about Fuji as much any more (for the above reasons and others) and so, I’m not sure I still have the readership I once did on the subject.

If you want to help, you can answer the poll below, or leave a comment below letting me know if its something you would be interested in or not. If there are enough people interested then I will move it up the priority list.

I also want to thank everyone for their patience. It’s been a difficult year for me, both with the pandemic, lockdown and for other personal reasons. It’s been a struggle to keep up to peoples expectations when it comes to this website and my photography content. I do want to get back to writing these guides, and others, but for all the previous reasons mentioned, it’s something will be a while yet. I hope for those of you waiting, you can understand.

Photo by Fujifilm North America from Pexels