Adobe and Fujifilm announce Frame.io compatibility for X-H2S, world’s first camera-to-cloud native integration for digital stills camera

Alongside Fujifilm and RED, Adobe has announced Camera to Cloud (C2C) internal integrations powered by Frame.io. The Camera to Cloud integration is built directly into the cameras, taking Frame.io to new heights, making it possible to transmit photo and video files anywhere in the world remotely.

The Fujifilm X-H2S is the world's first digital stills camera to offer native integration with Frame.io Camera to Cloud. When paired with Fujifilm's FT-XH file transfer vertical grip, you can transform a photo or hybrid workflow entirely cloud-based. Frame.io supports high-resolution raw files with loupe, navigation and annotation tools. You can also transfer video assets, including ProRes and proxy video files.

To illustrate how useful this technology is, suppose you photograph a wedding, sporting event, or other live event. As you're shooting, your images can be transmitted to the cloud and then viewed, annotated, and edited by someone else on your team at a remote location. Through bypassing the need to hand someone physical media with files on it, you can significantly speed up a workflow.

Michael Cioni, senior director, global innovation creative product, Adobe, said, "While shooting to the cloud certainly speeds up your workflow, there's more to it than just that. It also increases the flexibility and control you have over the way you work. Imagine your raw camera footage being instantly backed up and accessible to anyone without downloading or shipping a drive. That's what we're doing, and the Camera to Cloud ecosystem we're building is key."

"Getting image and video files from your digital camera into post-production is a time-consuming process that can often require creating backups, transferring to hard drives, and then forwarding to the next stop in the production workflow. C2C eliminates these tedious steps altogether,” said Victor Ha, vice president of Electronic Imaging and Optical Devices divisions, FUJIFILM North America Corporation. “From the press of the first shutter, or the end of the first take, with this firmware and using FT-XH, files will automatically upload to a user’s Frame.io account directly from X-H2S and be ready for use within seconds of being made.”

Adobe and Frame.io has also partnered with RED. The RED V-Raptor and V-Raptor XL will be able to upload 8K REDCODE RAW files directly to the cloud from the camera when connected to a high-bandwidth network. Cioni said, "Camera to Cloud with RED V-Raptor and V-Raptor XL unlocks the biggest workflow improvement in more than a decade and begins to remove the delays every creative team has been accustomed to with shipping drives."

While the new RED functionality requires high-bandwidth networking, the C2C compatibility with the X-H2S doesn't. It can work with various networks, including a tethered connection using a mobile network with your smartphone. In a live demo ahead of today's announcement, we saw an alpha version of the Frame.io C2C technology working with an X-H2S over Wi-Fi and using a smartphone.

X-H2S users can determine how to prioritize files to send to Frame.io. You can send individual files, or send everything as you shoot. There are also ways to be more granular and determine that only certain file types will be sent.

"We are truly excited to be able to offer this feature for the first time and for our creators to experience that they can effortlessly access their files in Frame.io from the moment of creation,” added Ha. “This is where the possibilities for collaborating with off-site art directors, on-set digital techs, in-studio retouching artists, or anyone else involved in production become endless. From downloading images to remotely processing in Lightroom or Photoshop, to quickly reviewing and choosing video clips to create an assembly, post-production for stills or video, production work can finally start before the waiting even begins.”

Frame.io Camera to Cloud integration will be available to everyone via a firmware update to the X-H2S and the FT-XH grip in spring 2023. A closed beta test will begin in early 2023. Fujifilm has not yet announced plans to bring the C2C technology to additional cameras, but it's reasonable to expect the company will be looking into it for more cameras, such as the Fujifilm X-H2. The native C2C functionality will be free. However, a paid Adobe Creative Cloud subscription is required. For more information, visit Frame.io.