A couple of days ago we told you the Fuji X20 has been discontinued. According to rumors floating around mysteriously (LOL) on the web the new Fuji X30 will be announced on July 3. And it’s the first camera that will match the Sony RX100 series 1 inch sensor size. It’s going to be an X-Trans sensor and also priced cheaper than the new Sony RX100M3 ($798 here at Amazon). Well that sounds good! It may forces Sony to lower their prices too!
via Fujirumors.
10 Responses
Very nice news – I have the X20 and it is a lot of fun – a beautiful retro design – simple design but elegant – light weight and it has a great fast lens – of course with the 2 recent updates to the RX100/m2/m3 the X20 cannot compete in IQ – but due to the faster lens vs the RX100 it was not far off especially at 50-110mm due to a sensor not much smaller but faster lens when zoomed and no AA filter –
So I think there are quite a few like me that have the X10 or X20 that would upgrade –
I am hoping to see some other improvements besides the 1 inch sensor – like an EVF and Wifi – I would also like to see an On/Off switch – also it would be nice to have a auto cap like the one on Olympus Stylus 1 –
and one or two additional Fn buttons – ND filter – Hope they keep the same body style – more art filters –
AF is quit fast in the X20 but could be improved for moving objects – better video options – of course a Touch LCD but I think hell will freeze over before Fuji and Sony will put Touch LCD on their cameras except the A5000 🙂 –
So if Fuji can do a 1 inch sensor and keep the same lens or a new one at 28-112mm F2.0-F2.8 then the X30 would have an advantage over the RX100m3 in focal length – and a nice advantage as for this type of a camera 24-70mm is a bit short –
Would be interesting to see a camera one day that would be able to have a collapsible lens and be interchangeable at the same time – and that accepted voice commands, so one could just say Aperture Mode, F2 for example –
So with the price lower it might also make the competition tighter – although I have a feeling that the only changes will be the sensor size and EVF and few other small things but lower price – the question is on the lens weather it will be the same focal length and F2.0-F2.8 or same focal length but slower lens or shorter focal length like Sony did –
I think first real competition is in the mirrorless power zoom cameras. This said, Fuji makes very good looking and surprising cameras. I am curious to see if they maintain the optical viewfinder and if zoom reach goes really wide. Sony´s RX100 zoom reachs 24 mm but the 70 mm long end is too short. If Fuji can make a 24-90 maintaining aperture, it would be a great advantage for portraiture.
In my comment under previous article I said X30 wouldhave hard times if it keeps 2/3″ sensor and in order to compete it would need 1″ sensor and it seems Fuji guys realize this. Since the large sensor compacts market is still poor (only RX100 and G1x), another competitor from Fuji is really welcomed, especially considering the X-trans technology. So now the big question is: will it retail an OVF, or will Fuji switch to EVF? Old-style tunnel-type OVF is dead, however Fuji improved it a lot with overlaying information and AF points, so maybe they can improve it further to compete with EVF. But maybe all this improvements will be so expensive it will be easier for Fuji to use an EVF. Anyhow I am very curious.
Amd one more point: X20 was fairly big with it´s protruding lens and OVF, so I wonder whether after putting in much larger sensor it remains pocketable.
Fuji vs Sony:
IQ will be a draw
Sony wins on size
Fuji wins on style
Fuji wins on build
Neither are weather sealed
Handling will go to Fuji if they improve the viewfinder
Fuji wins on price
Fuji wins on UI
I love the X20 for the handling and style, but am more interested in the rumored medium format or XPro2 at this point, unless this is a one inch organic sensor. But that’s probably next year 😉
Style is subjective. Fuji wins if you like retro and Sony if you like modern. I think they both look nice. Buildwise, The RX line is well built so I’d say that’s a draw. There’s no price yet on the Fuji so how can you say Fuji wins? Don’t forget about video. Sony easily wins that.
The X20 is a frustrating camera: on the one hand, it is nice and small and portable. But the images are so good and the handling so nice that you forget it is a compact, and start judging it against bigger cameras! That’s where it unfairly gets in trouble. And it really isn’t that small — a Panasonic GM1is comparable, and way better IQ. Of course, the GM1 doesn’t have a viewfinder, but the X20’s viewfinder is good enough that you wish it were better. I’m excited to try the RX100iii, although I hate Sony’s menus, and did not like the way that the RX100ii handled. The IQ of a 1″ XTrans should be a nice leap, but I’m also more interested in seeing what this “organic” thing is all about. An X40 body and lens with current generation XPro IQ would be pretty amazing
Should be noted that Fujirumors got this from a forum entry on dpreview.
A product announcement right at the start of a major U.S. summer holiday? Seems unlikely that the July 3 announcement date is correct. Yes, the world is a lot bigger than just the United States, but presumably, the U.S. is still a big market, and announcing into a deadzone like the fourth of July seems like a big miss. Fuji PR is smarter than that.
The Fuji is a great photo camera and the RX100M3 is a great hybrid camera, the video quality is going to surpass even the RX10 until the latter gets the proper XAVCS codec (if it ever gets in instead of a successor). They are not directly competing against each other so the price will not be lowered on the Sony (it is still by far the best video quality with included lens at that price, the only thing missing is a mic jack).