Xiaomi 12 Pro Smartphone Review: Small But Solid Forward Progress

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Fujifilm GFX50S Mark II Coming in September, To Cost $4,000: Report

A new report suggests that Fujifilm's next medium format camera will be announced this September. The GFX50S Mark II is expected to look identical to the GFX100S and cost $4,000.

According to a report on FujiRumors that the publication is putting a high-degree of certainty behind, the camera will start shipping in September. Also of note, the publication believes that despite rumors stating the camera would be announced on August 27, FujiRumors does not believe this to be the case.

The Fujifilm GFX50S Mark II is expected to use the exact same body as the GFX100S and as such will feature in-body image stabilization (IBIS). Its inclusion is noteworthy because the camera is expected to cost significantly less than the GFX100S and any other GFX50 camera at $4,000, which is extremely aggressive for Fujifilm. If true, it would put a camera with a very large, 50-megapixel sensor stabilized with IBIS at a lower price than some full-frame cameras like the 50-megapixel Sony Alpha 1. It would be comparable in price to the Canon EOS R5.

While its utility would certainly be different than both those cameras, the sheer size of the sensor grants photos a "look" that is difficult to match with full-frame cameras.

The original GFX50S was announced five years ago in 2016 and became available the following year. Given its age and the fact that the GFX100 has seen two iterations in that time -- the GFX100S and the GFX100IR -- it is certainly due for a refresh. At the time, Fujifilm touted it as a new Fujifilm G format sensor that measured 43.8×32.9mm and offered 51.4-megapixels of resolution.

"It’s a fantastic landscape camera, but it’s not just a landscape shooter. It’s good for other stuff like portraits," Kai Wong said in his review. "It’s just as versatile as any other camera.”

It still sells for $5,500 which is $1,500 more than the rumored price for its successor, and if IBIS does indeed come to the system in its second iteration, its lauded versatility will only become more impressive.

While a new camera would be nice to see, Fujifilm, like most electronics manufacturers, has been struggling to produce enough products to meet demand with its current offerings. In February, the company issued a formal note that it was unable to make enough GFX100S cameras to meet market demand, an issue that still plagues the camera five months later. Even if the company does release the GFX50S Mark II in the fall, it will likely prove quite difficult to obtain one for some time.

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Samsung’s 50MP JN1 Camera Sensor Has Industry’s Smallest Pixels

Samsung has announced that it is beginning mass production of what it claims has the smallest pixels in the industry: 0.64μm-pixels. The 50-megapixel sensor is called the ISOCELL JN1 and is equipped with ISOCELL 2.0, Smart-ISO, and "Double Super PDAF."

Smaller pixels usually means lower image quality and the possibility of introducing more noise, but Samsung specifically chose to push the JN1 down to 0.64μm-pixels so that it could be smaller and therefore see more widespread use in different applications.

As such, the company claims the JN1 is its most versatile sensor yet as it is compatible with existing 1/2.8-inch products and can be used for front-facing, ultra-wide, or telephoto cameras in addition to standard focal lengths. Basically, this one sensor is capable of being employed in any image capture format on modern smartphones. The goal here is to allow users to take 50-megapixel selfies or group pictures as well as high-resolution 4K front-facing video with high-zoom capability, but not limit manufacturers from only using this sensor in that way.

Because the JN1 uses smaller pixels and is, therefore, a smaller sensor overall, Samsung says an added benefit of its design is that it will reduce the size of camera modules by 10 percent. That's not a huge amount to cut down a camera bump, but in an age where it generally keeps getting bigger, any progress in the other direction is welcome.

The JN1 takes advantage of several Samsung technologies that the company has announced over the last year including its pixel-binning tech, ISOCELL 2.0, Smart-ISO, and Double Super PDAF.

In low light conditions, Samsung's JN1 utilizes the company's four-to-one pixel binning technology -- Tetrapixel -- which merges four adjacent 0.64μm-pixels into one big 1.28μm-pixel to quadruple light sensitivity for brighter 12.5-megapixel photographs.

Samsung detailed ISOCELL 2.0 technology in early March of this year and explains that the ISOCELL Plus technology that lies at its core adds a physical barrier made from a new material (typically this was done with metal) around each pixel that reduces light crossing between them and affecting nearby pixels, which leads to the ability to produce better color.

Smart-ISO is a Samsung HDR technology that allows its sensors to capture both high and low ISO simultaneously, which the company discussed in detail here. While Samsung also developed what it calls Dual Pixel Pro which splits pixels from corner to corner rather than down the center, the JN1 instead uses Double Super PDAF, which the company says features twice the density of pixels used for phase detection (1/16) than its Super Phase Detection (1/32) which supposedly enables the same autofocus performance in up to 60 percent less light.

The JN1 is currently in mass production, so it is possible that it will make an appearance in new smartphones as early as this fall.

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The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra Features a Truly Gigantic Camera Bump

Xiaomi has announced the Mi 11 Ultra, a smartphone that takes the original Mi 11 that already boasted pretty great camera performance and racks it up to another level with a giant camera bump that features a 50MP wide, a 48MP ultra-wide, a 48MP telephoto, and a tiny OLED display.

The first noticeable thing about the Mi 11 Ultra is the absolutely enormous camera bump; compared to the thinness of the whole device, it's noticeably huge and what it houses is a definite upgrade over the standard Mi 11.

That bump houses those three cameras. First is the main wide-angle camera which houses a 1/1.12-inch 50-megapixel GN2 sensor equipped with an f/1.95 aperture lens. The GN2 was announced by Samsung earlier this year and features what the company calls Dual Pixel Pro autofocus, which it promises offers a dramatic improvement in autofocus performance.

The size of the sensor itself is dramatic: it's not far from a 1-inch sensor:

Xiaomi uses that GN2 sensor to claim the Mi 11 Ultra is capable of fast, "laser-sharp" autofocus. That main sensor also boasts dual native ISO and staggered HDR. In addition to the main camera, which is designated as a "wide" camera (85-degree field of view), Xiaomi also equipped the Mi 11 Ultra with a 48-megapixel ultra-wide and a 48-megapixel 5x periscope telephoto. Periscope technology allows for a much more powerful optical zoom and is a technology that Apple is rumored to be at least a couple of years away from implementing in its own devices. You can read more about periscope cameras here.

The 48-megapixel 1/2.0-inch sized ultra-wide has a 128-degree field of view and an f/2.2 lens. The 48-megapixel periscope camera Is the same 1/2.0-inch sensor size, but at f/4.1. It supports optical image stabilization and phase-detection autofocus, 5x optical zoom, 10X "hybrid zoom," and 120x digital zoom. All three cameras support 8K video recording and Night Mode, and the Mi 11 Ultra can also record

That giant camera bump not only houses the three aforementioned cameras, but also a dedicated OLED that can be used as an always-on display (to display time and date, for example), notification bar, or as a selfie camera viewfinder.

The phone's other specifications are otherwise pretty similar to the Xiaomi Mi 11, including the 6.8-inch 120Hz 1440p OLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. However, the Mi 11 Ultra gets a bigger battery at 5,000mAh and can be fast-charged (what Xiaomi refers to as "turbo charging") at 67W both wirelessly and with a cable.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra was not given a final price or release date at the time or announcement.

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