AGENDA FUJIFILM
Not just for fanboys The new Fujifilm X-H2S is so much more than a bolt-on cooling system
WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH
P acked with spec to make made to be fitted with an optional cooling fan to stop the sensor overheating. And this fan has divided opinion. Some say it’s a great idea for when the camera is used in high temperatures. Others believe it’s an admission from Fujifilm’s engineers that there is an overheating issue, so the camera should have come with a built-in fan and better cooling. After getting hands-on with a prototype for a few days, Pro Moviemaker is firmly in the first camp. The camera does not have a serious overheating problem at all in normal temperatures, even with the most data-intensive codecs. In ambient temperatures of around 20°C, we recorded in high-bit-rate 4K until the battery ran out at around 90 minutes. That’s not a camera with an overheating problem. professional filmmakers reach for their credit cards, the Fujifilm X-H2S breaks new ground, as it’s If you are shooting high-end codecs up to 40°C, Fujifilm says the fan will extend the time before overheating is a problem, from 15 to around 51 minutes. That makes it a sensible buy if you’ll be putting the £2499/$2499 camera under this kind of sweat. It’s not an essential purchase for everyone, even though the price is a reasonable £169/$199. The X-H2S is a brand-new flagship model with the highest performance in both stills and video in the history of Fujifilm’s popular X Series, largely thanks to a stacked, back-illuminated, 26.16-megapixel sensor. A stacked sensor is an expensive choice, but gives far better readout performance. This new X-Trans CMOS sensor is capable of reading signals four times faster than the previous model, and the X-Processor 5 manages to double processing speed. That leads to zero lag or blackout in the viewfinder, great low-light performance, fast autofocus, virtually no rolling shutter, as well as 40fps stills performance and a huge list of incredible video codecs. The camera now includes subject- recognition AF technology and can film 6.2K/30p and 4K/120p video, with lots
FAN-TASTIC FUJIFILM The brand-new X-H2S has a bolt-on fan and wireless transmitter – and brims with codec choice
of 4:2:2 10-bit options and even internal ProRes recording in three different quality levels. It will also output Raw files to a recorder – either in ProRes Raw to an Atomos, or Blackmagic Raw to one of that company’s devices. The X-H2S is the fifth generation of Fujifilm cameras with X-Trans sensor technology and the first APS-C sensor to use the latest stacked-layer structure. Coupled with the new processor, this boosts image resolution at low ISO and reduced noise at high ISO sensitivity in stills, with improved AF accuracy and speed, thanks to AI tech. For video, the processor enables filming 4:2:2 10-bit at up to 6.2K/30p and 4K/120p
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