We’re all fans of some photography brands. Some hold a special place in our hearts, and many among us defend them to no end. Other brands we can’t stand, and we secretly wish our favorite brand would do better than them. But this article isn’t about which brands are outshining others. Almost all leading camera manufacturers are guilty of doing (or not doing) one or more of the points below. What is worrying is that some of these unhealthy trends have continued for years. And manufacturers don’t seem to want to address these anytime soon. Which ones do you find most annoying?

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This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means. These points are ones I’ve been discussing with fellow photographers for nearly a decade now. It makes me wonder why, despite these issues being addressed in camera forums, manufacturers pretend they’re a non-issue. Isn’t the voice of the consumer valid to them? Isn’t it annoying when existing users reach out to brands with feature requests, only to have them ignored?

Table of Contents

Camera Manufacturers Not Providing Firmware Updates to Capable Older Cameras

Not Innovating Enough to Fill a Genuine Need

Camera Manufacturers Not Giving Prime Lenses as a Kit Lens Option

Pretending Like a Major Manufacturing Flaw Doesn’t Exist

Camera Manufacturers Not Providing Firmware Updates to Capable Older Cameras

Fujifilm is the most notable exception to this. I’m not a user of their cameras, but it brings me a smile to see them releasing firmware updates to old cameras. Many of these aren’t just updates that perform bug fixes. In many cases, they’ve brought AF performance of previous-generation cameras almost on par with current ones.

Let’s take the Fujifilm X-Pro2, a camera released to the public in early March 2016. Firmware version 5.00 made the following improvements:

The low-light limit for phase detection autofocus has been improved by approximately 1.5 stops from 0.5EV to -1.0EV, raising the precision and speed of autofocus in low-light environments.

The range at minimum aperture has been expanded from F8 to F11. For example, even when using the XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR with the teleconverter XF2X TC WR, phase detection autofocus can now be used.

Major improvements have been made to the AF-C performance while operating the zoom, which provides major benefits when shooting sports and other scenarios in which the subjects moves unpredictably.

Finely-detailed surface textures of wild birds and wild animals can now be captured at high speed and with high precision as a result of improvement in phase detection autofocus.

Fujifilm’s firmware releases are a testament to the fact that even older cameras can perform better with things like autofocus and subject tracking. Of course, they do this without having to resort to newer or dual processors. Manufacturers try to push consumers to purchase newer models for improved features. Yes, we’d all like faster AF. And we’d never complain if Eye-AF was an added feature with a firmware update. Just don’t keep spinning the annoying old tale that new features need newer processors. Fujifilm clearly proves that older processors can be improved upon if brands just took the effort to work on them. You don’t always need that latest camera; sometimes all you need is just a newer firmware for your current one. By continuing to support even first-generation models of their X-line of digital cameras, Fujifilm keeps their fan base loyal. We only wish more camera manufacturers would do the same.

In September of 2020, a whole bunch of Fujifilm’s cameras received firmware updates. These included the following: X-T4, X-T3, X-T2, X-T1, X-H1, X-Pro3, X-Pro2, X-Pro1, X-E3, X-T20, and X-T30. No doubt, it takes up a considerable amount of their R&D budget, but by continuing to innovate in this fashion, they ensure their customers stick by them. Plus it frees up customers from wanting th...