I’m here again dear readers! I thought you could be interested in the latest rumors bubbling in the FR-kitchen.
A new source shared with me (and with you) the following informations:
1) THE STRATEGY: Fuji won’t replace frenetically its cameras after a short time. The company’s goal now is to extend its offer to new market segments. Therefore there will be new cameras targeting different customers. (a trusted source told me here that, after the X-A1, Fuji plans to release two more cameras this year)
2) THE X-PRO2: Because of this strategy the high end cameras won’t be replaced that soon. (so it seems that the X-PRO2 won’t be one of the two cameras released after the X-A1 this year.)
3) THE NEW LENSES: There will be new cheaper lenses after the 16-50 f/3.5. These lenses will be cheaper because they are slower, but the image quality will remain top-notch because inside all elements are made of quality glass.
4) THE CHEAP 55-200: We will soon have a cheaper 55-200 lens (or something very similar).
5) THE DOUBLE KIT: Fuji could offer the X-A1 with a double zoom kit lens (16-50 and cheap 55-200)
As always, take rumors from new sources with a grain of salt. I’ve already fired off some emails to trusted sources and as soon as I can confirm this rumor I’ll post an update.
And don’t be shy, if anyone else out there has some inside news to share, use the rumor box on the FR-website to share them anonymously (you can give yourself a fake name and create an identity so that I recognize you in future) or contact me via email at fujirumor@gmail.com.
Follow FR on facebook, twitter and subscribe the RSS feed to stay connected with the Fuji-world.
may the focus be with you!
Patrick
P.S: Oh, and if someone out there reports these rumors on other websites don’t be afraid to quote the source, I have nothing against it ;).
P.P.S.: The Polish site optyczne posted some samples taken with the X-M1 and 16-50, the [shoplink 13646]Zeiss Touit 32mm[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 12892]XF 55-200[/shoplink]. Click here to see them all.
X-M1 (body only or with 16-50mm) – USA: AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama / DigitalRev / Pictureline EUROPE: DigitalRev / WexUK / PCHstore / AmazonITA
XF 27mm – USA: AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama / DigitalRev / Pictureline EUROPE: DigitalRev / WexUK / PCHstore / AmazonITA XC 16-50: WexUK / PCHstore
59 Responses
Shame that they are not working on high end cameras, because Sony will probably soon release a full frame NEX and new Zeiss lenses. I thought Fuji will also release in the near future FF camera or Xpro2. I can understand that they want new customers and this is the way for them, but I was really waiting to something like Sony is working on.
Fuji’s rumors sources are generally less talkative than Sony’s ones. I’m petty sure Fuji will have his FF camera to come in time. Anyway, knowing the technical problems around FF mirorless and lens size, it will take a long time before to have a camera with a correct range of lenses from Sony. I’m very curious how Sony is going to fix the problem of wide angle rays from lens to FF sensor…
What is the problem with FF mirrorless and lens size? I really want to hear it. There are hundreds of absolutely tiny FF lenses that are tiny. Most of them are for L39 or M mounts. SLR lenses, too can be small, though not as small as rangefinder lenses. My 28/2,8 ASPH is smaller by about half than any 28mm SLR lens out there. My 35/2 Canon LTM is much smaller than that and much smaller than the Fuji.
Voigtlander’s 35/1,4 an leica’s pre-ASPH 35/1,4 are much smaller again, than Fuji’s 35/1,4 is. They are FF.
Most of people who chose to go to mirorless are expecting tiny lens. However, with OIS and autofocus, lenses are relatively big, despite they just cover an APS-C.
As for me, I would choose an XE-1, an M-mount adapter, and a couple of Voigtlander lenses. However, as you can see, even in APS-C, the image corners lack of sharpness with these lenses. Then, due to the angle of the rays from the rear of the lens to the sensor, imagine the problem with a larger sensor like an FF. It,s why i’m curious to know how Sony is going to fix this problem.
And it’s why we must accept, in order to obtain low angle rays on the rear of the lens, to have quite bigger lenses. It’s why I mean when I say “problems with FF and lenses”.
To optimize very low angle rear rays, Zeiss produced its new 55mm as a Distagon, not a Planar, which means a retrofocus lens. Did you see the size of this lens ? As well the Planar 50mm 1.4 ? They are twice bigger than older AF 50mm.
As for me, of course, as you probably, I dream about a XE-1 size camera, FF sensor to accept Voigtlander lenses… Particuliarly the 4/21mm, 2.5/35mm, etc… But technically, it’s such a challenge. May be a new type of microlenses on the sensor… I don’t know. A lot of people think that Sony can produce a mirorless FF system as they did the RX1, but RX1 was only possible to be done with a 35-55mm range camera. At 24mm, the concept can’t just work, or with much bigger retrofocus lens. A tiny symetrical lens as the 21/35mm voigtlander which produce very wide angle rear rays will not work.
I was getting more and more interested in Fuji. I was hoping for an XE2 with more processor power. Now I am getting less and less interested. I like the idea of the 27mm lens, but there’s no aperture ring. My guess is that more of these lenses will be without aperture rings.
That’s OK. Now I can stop thinking about gear and go shoot with my other cameras, and that’s OK by me.
Great plan. Release firmware updates to correct flaws in and add features to existing products rather than ship out a new camera bodies with small improvements.
i have been using Fuji x100 for 2 years and now i wanna buy a camera with interchangeble lens. how can i buy fuji xpro1 waiting for pro2 . fuji shouldnt make their customer wait so much for xpro2 .
i dont want to buy a camera with slow AF and i want the new camera should have better DR capability.
Take a look on the Internet of all the professionals shooting amazing images with the x-pro1. They’re not crying about needing a better model. They are taking great photos. If you absolutely can’t get what ou think you need from fuji go ahead and sell your x-pro1 and go buy something else….like a nikon d800. That’ll solve your problem.
If you have a x-pro-1 great, but what about people like ali shooting x100 or me shooting a dslr dx? it’s different to shoot a x-pro-1 you bought a year ago – but what about people who want to switch to a new camera and think that spending that kind of money on almost 2 year old camera which is slow and with shitty autofocus?
the X-Pro1 was released in early 2012, so they will release the successor in the first half of 2014. That’s barly two years… so what’s the problem? they never said that they quit the X-Pro1 nor the sheduled Lenses on the Roadmap. just concentrating in the low-end models and lenses
exactly, somebody tells me which ever top of the line camera is launched every year? not a single one! top of the line camera’s life cycle are usually 2~3 years.
but I can’t imagine what are those 2 extra camera besides the X-A1, possibly X-E2? but what about the other? I don’t think that there is more room for another camera or possibly the new camera is a non-interchangeable lens camera. there was this rumored X30 successor with bigger sensor, that can be it, maybe even a FF fixed lens camera.
I’m really not worrying about Fuji not going FF, I wonder if there is really a point in rushing that. even if Sony goes ahead, they will take years to launch lenses, years. they already have the APS-C NEX, APS-C “DSLR-type-of-body” and FF “DSLR-type-of-body” and they ahve not been able to provide the lenses people want, if they add FF NEX they will rely solely on Zeiss.
hopefuly some of the “slower” lenses are pancakes, it would be interesting and totally make sense.
+1
>I’m really not worrying about Fuji not going FF, I wonder if there is really a point in rushing that.
competition will not wait for them. the sooner they get the FF out, the better for them. they might get crushed badly if canon, sony and other brands release something sooner.
i could also ask: what’s the point of rushing all those A1,M1,etc low end models? maybe it would be better for fuji to concentrate on doing serious cameras first. we have shitload of low end mirrorlesses on 1 year product cycle, there is no real need for this but there is a need for proper high end camera replacements right now. look at the forums! its not like the x-pro-1 is a modern camera, it might take good pictures but it sucks in many ways, its simply old. the mirorless camera hasn’t matured yet and fuji would earn more money and recognition if they could deliver the next gen cameras sooner.
Don’t worry there are only two manufacturers thinking about FF mirrorless and that’s Sony and Samsung – which, so far, isn’t one to be worried. Nikon and Canon are too worried about their own DSLR to anything bold, which is a f*** shame, they are too conservative and they don’t really want to start a new system with new lenses. The sooner the better is not really true, I think that doing it right is far more importatnt, Fuji was quite late on the mirrorless front and they are doing a fine job, it’s more interesting to mature the already existing system then starting a new one and become like Sony that can’t provide what users want, besides that, they would need to spend a lot of money, Sony got into that hole and they stopped for reestructuring. This year was supposed to have tons of cameras, inclusing SLT and NEX but they didn’t launch those, they are rethinking and focusing.
But but… how can I buy an XPro1 when I just know that there will be an XPro-5 at some point- with 15% faster autofocus and half an extra stop of DR and a medium format sensor? So I don’t understand why they can’t just release it NOWNOW NOW!!!
Amen.
i think that extending the life cycle of the x-pro1 and x-e1 is a smart move on the side of fuji. build their lens line up first and expand the market segment their products are participating in. remember, this is a new product line for fuji so they need to stabilize their line-up first before determining the life cycle for each one. i don’t think releasing the x-pro2/s will be a good move on their part – remember, we only had the x-pro1 for more than a year. releasing one so early will alienate the late adopters (such as me). but then again, i can have the sensor converted to full spectral and use it as a monochrome shooter.
Hmm i don’t think it’s early. It’s not like a Nikon D4 or whatever which is already a very refined system. But the X-Pro1 was just ‘their first attempt’ which has much tot be improved upon. At this stage i think they should try harder to get up to speed, like they did with the X100S. At this point they can get away with reusing the same sensor, but if they wait much longer we’ll expect a new 20MP sensor or something and more to ‘forgive’ them for letting us wait that long. 😉
i kind of agree sir. problem is though that if they re-use the X100s technology/improvements, the only differentiating factor will be the interchangeable lens system. if they have the X-Pro1 as the flagship, it should have better technology and not just adopt what the X100s has. but then again, it is up to us whether to buy into the upgrades manufacturers are offering. more choices, a greater win for us. 🙂
if i remember correctly they decided to cut down point and shoots to half… now it makes sense, less point and shoots, more ‘X rated’ cameras 😉
Maybe frustrating for people wanting the X-Pro 2, but it’s about the same as Sony has done with the NEX 7. Hasn’t the NEX 7 been out for longer than the X-Pro 1?
NEX-7 successor is likely to arrive in September or Q1 2014. Lucky bastards. 😉
That’s why following pro photographers who aren’t gear obsessed is so much more rewarding than equipment forums. People actually shooting amazing images without needing a nex-12 to do it. What a concept.
I like that Fuji is committed to updating their products through firmware updates. To me, this signals committment to the user and that they stand behind their product. Some may argue, “well they should put out a more complete product from the start.” However, other manufacturers are solving this problem by releasing new models sooner and leaving their predeccesor to fall behind, forcing the customer to get on the “upgrade path.” I actually really appreciate Fuji’s approach.
Halelujiah. Someone who gets it and appreciates saving money while working with this generation of excellent equipment that lacks very little for the non-pro shooter. If more people got this there’d be a lot more contentment in the world.
i get the diversification into lower cost markets, although I am not sure it is the smartest. These low cost markets are hugely competitive and the cheap cameras and lenses don’t enhance the camera system that put them on the map, with rave reviews, in the first place.
But I will really be disappointed if Fuji cheapens another of the lenses on their roadmap to pair with one of these low cost wonders. Especially if it is the 10-20mm zoom. This is my go to range for interior work and the lens I am counting on to finish off my dependance on DSLRs.
the X-Pro1 was released: 2012
mirrorless hype seems over:
http://www.43rumors.com/camera-slaes-history-from-2011-till-today-mirrorless-hype-is-over-dslr-rules/
…no rumors about x-pro2 yet…no good
DSLR sales way down compared to camera phones too.
I had been considering an X-Pro1 for months but kept thinking it would be smarter to wait for the X-Pro2. Meanwhile, I was missing lots of shooting situations because my Nikon gear was at home. I couldn’t resist the huge discounts last month, so I finally bought an XP1 and three lenses.
I am so glad I did. The XP1 attracted my attention in the first place because it hit a sweet spot of IQ, size/weight, quality, and shooting fun. I knew that but couldn’t get over the internet chatter about slow AF. What’s interesting is that so much about the camera works so great that I have been able to adapt to the AF with very little fuss. It just hasn’t been a problem.
The XP2 will probably be great, but I’m not chomping at the bit for it now that I’ve made the XP1 my primary camera.
My god man…..thank you for sharing this, because THIS is what it’s SUPPOSED to be about. Get the gear and go shoot with it. What a concept.
Totally agree…I have been shooting with the X-Pro 1 for the past few months now and it is a fantastic camera. I have been shooting twilight and dusk photos all week now, and I haven’t had any troubles with the auto focus. Here are some photos that I have taken with the X-Pro 1 recently:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55594432@N03/9239007577/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55594432@N03/9300853261/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55594432@N03/9294357146/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55594432@N03/9271619926/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55594432@N03/9133834003/in/photostream/
++1
I hate seeing Fuji continuing to release lower end variants of the X line. It devalues the rest of the product line…
Why are camera manufactures so compelled to have so many fricken sku’s? It only serves to confuse their customers. Take a cue from Apple .. maintain a product line which is clear, makes sense and not cluttered.
I disagree that it devalues the rest of the product line. The same way the Canon Rebels don’t devalue the 1DX line.
devalue? this niche mentality got to stop. if this was at elast a comment based on photography issues, but it’s about branding, name, ego, about look, about what other might think, about exclusiveness…
by the comment, this is a typical “I don’t want Instagram on Android”, because yeah, the others that defines what each of us are. Apple’s business model is about quality but it’s based on fetish, about exclusiveness and Photography already has Leica.
Fuji would not survive under that same philosophy, they are not providing a gear for an exclusive need, the consumers are diverse, they have different need. Sure, Fuji IS about quality but not about exclusiveness, it’s not about retro-style fetish.
Fuji’s Kaizen philosophy just shows that they are always trying to improving and they understand that some want more speed, some want a decent video, some like Hybrid VF, others are ok with EVF and some even without EVF, etc.
people should and have to get over the “I want Fuji X-Cameras to be a niche camera” thing, not gonna happen, don’t like? do you feel it will devalue your photography – as if the cameras defines your image, both literally and figuratively? that other might think you are not so cool and premium anymore? jump the boat then and good luck.
Renato, no one denies that you are a smart bloke with a great eye. Kaizen is one thing, filling everyone’s gap, is another. If Fuji try to fit every gap alive, they will have a heap of nameless, formless, pointless cameras. They should really Kaizen their image by making a few GREAT products.
Too few Japanese companies do this. As soon as you try to cover every market/value, you must lower your standards, move things out of the country, plasticise, and compete on price alone.
Competing on price alone is what has made Canon/Nikon the dominate parties in 35mm and APSC photography. They two are virtually indistinguishable for use. Each have their fans. What’s better about one vs. the other? Nothing as far as I can see.
Fujifilm are a Japanese company, which means that they have the innate drive to fling everything at the wall and look at what sticks. This is a flawed design process. It spreads real innovation extremely thin, focuses on too many things, and looks at one goal and one goal only: market share.
Market share is important, but Fujifilm really could have rebranded/reinvented itself by working on two or three models tops and kaizening them, rather than putting out and putting out and putting out endless version of basically the same thing but with lesser/greater spec.
You will not see any truly great inventor work with this fling at the wall model. Truly great inventors create and refine and focus. Unfortunately, focus isn’t a Japanese trait.
I live in Chiba, just north of Tokyo. I am a product photographer that specialises in audio gear. It is the same thing. The fling at the wall approach has created endless formless companies: Victor/Sony/Sharp/Mitsubishi/Panasonic/etc., and so on, that do exactly the same thing, attract very little brand loyalty and compete on one thing: price, which is pushed by a million crappy models and a few good ones.
The more a customer sees, even if what they see is in general, POS, the better. This mentality is a post-WWII mentality that has left the country in a shamble of very poor engineering/too much competition and very litter innovation.
It has to stop.
Fujifilm seemed to be doing something unique. But that was two years ago. Now, they are moving back to the copy/paste/smack on assembly wheel approach. Japanese consumers are noting this, too. For too long, Japan was a closed market. Nowadays, foreign brands with great focus, are coming in (albeit at higher prices) and showing how innovation can be driven when a company specialises, not commoditises.
As a Japanese descendant in Brazil that has visited Japan, I think I kind of understand where you are coming from and I liked that fact that your answer is refreshing. When I first entered a big electronics store in Japan I thought “wow, just too much”, there was so many things and I felt it was a visual pollution. Well, that’s what I remembered when I read what you wrote.
But my point is not that I think Fuji should keep adding new cameras to the line up, I had previously stated that I got that the X-M1 filled a gap but I still fail to understand the existence of the X-A1 line. I admit that my comment in an article that has a X-A1 in the headline won’t make people guess that I’m not so fond of the X-A1, but I’m still not against it so I don’t completely agree that adding new camera will necessarily mean that Fuji will end up going away from what made the first cameras of the X-system so compelling.
Why? Because there is not enough info to conclude. I think that there are some points to be made, one is that Fuji has an extra money due to the fact they won’t be replacing some of their P&S cameras. Another is that testing waters is not bad by itself as long as you keep what made X-PRO1 and X-E1 such good cameras.
I feel like Fuji is testing to see how consumers respond and I think this may be a move with eyes on a market like Japan, where smaller mirrorless cameras sell well, even more among females – a collapsable zoom would make sense here. If this is the focus of the X-A1, maybe that can have a market for it.
I didn’t mean to mess up Kaizen with filling all the gaps, I’m aware that Kaizen is about the always improving, I’m not really trying to defend to fill all the gaps, as much as it looks like. Actually I’m just full of is this “niche mentality”.
The idea of devaluing a brand just by the simply fact that there are cameras that are not considered “PRO” doesn’t make sense for me and that’s what I was about. I think that as long as Fuji keep doing what they are already doing with their previous cameras, what happen with the entry-level shouldn’t bother as much as this. If this was photography related I would understand, if like you said, this made Fuji derail from what made the X-system so refreshing, I would understand and even agree, but this isn’t about Photography and at the same time, we can’t act as if already happened, it’s still too early do reach that kind of conclusion. I don’t really think that this will affect the top line up and I cold care less if a person is feeling less exclusive by having non-PRO cameras as part of the X-system. In that case I’d rather have diversity so more people can enjoy Fuji colors than worry about the non-niche premium camera brand image.
But I have to say, I still think that they shouldn’t have taken the aperture ring from the pancake, all XF lenses should have aperture ring or they should have made it a XC lens then. I’m so so about the mode dial, I think you understand photography better when you change the shutter dial and the aperture ring but I understand that they were trying to appel for a different market. I think that the problem might be because they wanted to get smaller and a dial just for shutter wouldn’t do it.
I understand your point about ending up with a wall full of indistinguishable cameras but again, I don’t think that adding the X-M1 and X-A1 will necessarily means that – for Fuji, as for consumers, I think that design wise mirroless cameras are very distinguishable, NEX has its own look and so does Fuji, Olympus or Panasonic.
I think that as long as Fuji keep the core philosophy of the top cameras for their successors and keep improving it, X-cameras will keep going and XPRO2 and X-E2 will keep differentiating themselves from others mirrorless cameras. Optically Fuji made it clear that quality won’t drop quality but the new XC lenses line up won’t have the same build quality and that’s understandable. Aside from getting cheaper, the only road would be go weather sealed, I guess. By the time they will fill some longer focal lengths but tha’s clearly not a priority for this system.
Last but not least, Fuji has to differentiate well one line from another. For instance, XPRO has the hybrid viewfinder, X-E has the EVF, X-M has the same IQ but has no viewfinder, X-A1 – and I will just use it as an exemple – is a smaller and cheaper camera to compete with GF6 and E-PM1. This can still work, I think I understand where you are looking at – as a possible future for Fuji – but I don’t think Fuji is heading that way. But with the way Fuji listen to their consumers if they were to make a fatal=worst-case-scenario-mistake like that I think Kaizen would save them and make them redeem themselves getting back to track, don’t you think?
Hopefully things will get clearer and they will keep what made the top line up great and the new cameras won’t make Fuji just another manufacturer in the market.
Renato, thank you for the kind and thoughtful answer. To some extent, I agree with you. It’s just that I live here. I live in a house made of plastic because all the competition is making plastic pipes, floors, siding, and walls.
Japan is full of kitsch that has no equal in the developed world. It is cheap and shoddy and garish. Fujifilm’s X products (the early ones) were a good step away from that. I don’t agree that the X-Pro 1 is PRO.
If it breaks, I can’t go into a readily-available Fuji fixit shop and get a replacement. Its bottom plate won’t take a beating, its screen isn’t even glass. It is just an expensive mirrorless. I love it, but it isn’t a PRO camera except in the nomenclature.
Adding cameras that are put together more cheaply in response to a market, rather than products that were made with purpose, and in response to what customers don’t realise yet what they need… is poor.
Think back to 2011. The X100 came out and it was different. Until that moment, no one had thought that it would take off or even be a viable niche. Fujifilm put it out and it was a camera with which people immediately gelled. Creating iconic, usable products is good market leadership/innovation.
Creating ‘me too’ products just to compete with other products is a signal of a headless monster. Again, Fujifilm are exactly what they are: a Japanese company. They can’t escape the cultural/economic past which dictates: make as much as possible for every possible niche, and trim away quality as necessary.
I wish they would. They are the only camera maker in the race now that could do that. Sony are an electronics giant with hands insurance, construction, and automanufacturing. They are no longer a honed, fine-tuned company. You can’t define them.
Ditto everyone else.
Nikon and Canon exist just to one-up the other. They no longer make great products. They just make products that will create great sales. Generic generic generic. Welcome to Japan.
I feel somewhat similarly about the aperture rings, but even they are conceits. They do nothing on the lens. The focus ring does nothing on the lens. None of the switches do, either. The only thing that has any direct control is the zoom ring on the zoom lenses. Everything else is electronic.
My biggest gripe with the X series is that it is the MOST electronic of any camera out there, but it looks the most non-electronic. Had Fujifilm made real focus helicoids and real aperture rings that controlled in hardware, the aperture blades, there would be something real to lament in their removal.
But they didn’t. They are removing conceits that have no purpose other than visual porn. It is why the lenses are so cheap and light. They are the most completely electronic lenses on the market.
I’m working on seeing if my X-Pro 1 can replace my D800 for magazine work I do, and for the odd small-print size marketing campaign. If it works, it works. But if it does, so can any mirroless.
Fujifilm have made a great looking camera series, but let’s be honest, there is nothing inherently different about it apart from the OVF that does nothing unless you have X lenses attached, and even then, doesn’t help in fine-tuning manual focus. For all intents and purposes, Fujifilm have created the greatest conceit in the history of the digital camera.
I like it because it looks and handles somewhat like my Canon P. In real use, it is completely different. So it stands that the only company doing things its own way is Leica. That is it. Fuji had the chance, but is proving with ever step, that the only thing they really cared about was the look of the X series. Follow through does not seem to be important.
I do agree that the XPRO1 is not really a “PRO” in that way but I give it credit because it’s just the first X-camera and I expect it to keep improving, since hardware is not something you can upgrade via firmware… hehe… Weather sealed X-PRO2 would be nice I guess.
I think that some parameters are needed when we start evaluating things more deeply. X-PRO1 or any other X-camera is just the first generation of X-cameras so I think it isn’t totally fair to simply demand or expect to have everything there right off the bat. Usually takes two or three generation to have it right but Kaizen it there, with each new camera Fuji addresses a new issue, better EVF, different button layout, faster AF, etc. and that is the main thing for me.
Personally I think that the X-M1 should be the bottom of X-cameras and I think I understand why they changed to mode dial, it wouldn’t add a lot of value if the only difference between a X-E1 and a X-M1 was the EVF, size had to be a difference and to get smaller, one dial just for shutter would be a waste, so I think I get it and I can live with that.
That said, I don’t think that Fuji should have gone to X-A1, I don’t think that directly that is the way to go. Entry-level cameras are less profitable than “pro” ones, Sony, Panasonic and Olympus are all trying to climb the “pro” ladder and ever since the X-A1 rumors started I’ve been scratching my head trying to figure it out, why is Fuji doing this, it can’t be about market, that’s not a profitable segment, the entry-level. Those consumers don’t buy lenses, they stick with their kit or double kit lens and that’s it so why?
What I got and I think it makes sense is that they need these low end lines so they can expand their overall production, if not it seems that it’s troublesome to attend the demands of productions for both cameras and lenses. I think they would not open a new factory just to expand what they already have but by creating new lines and lenses they can also increase the production of what they already have.
With more production they can also reduce costs of materials and other components for manufacturing cameras and lenses. This way they can increase their production and at the same time lower the risks and costs. Mass market products may not be profitable but by getting more electronic components, for instance, you can get it at a lower cost and that can be used in the top of the line cameras and thet the profit back. Having a lower end product also brings other types of setback like the need of new lenses line up but as low end photography consumers don’t really consume a lot of lenses, you can give them the basic and if they want to step up, there are plenty of option.
Again, that differs from what I wanted Fuji to do or the direction I’d like them to go but I can understand them. I wonder if they would be able to attend the demand and expand with just the XPRO and XE cameras. The niche product is one of the things that makes the price higher. Hopefully Fuji will be able to make the top of the line products better built but keeping the same price due to other areas cost reduction – because of the bigger chain production.
So I’m not sure that it’s just Fuji responding to the market, I think there is still a purpose, ok, it’s not directly a photographic one, but in a way, it affetcs its output. I may be completely wrong, but the low end cameras may allow better high end products because of the other things that havig low end cameras does to the overall production. And that’s something that P&S wouldn’t do I guess, different sized sensors, components, glass, etc.
In the end I think that as long as they keep what they brought with the X-cameras I can understand the others things they are doing and try to accept it. My main frustration would be if they stopped trying things – like you said – or if they started to go in other direction even with XPRO and XE lines, but I don’t think that’s likely. There is this rumor about a fixed zoom lens with bigger than 2/3″ sensor, I think that would be awesome. I don’t like the RX100 because of its aperture because as soon as it passes the 35mm equivalent focal length, by the time it reaches the tele end there is a 3 stop gap in aperture and for me, that’s too much. I think that Fuji would handle that better. If it’s true this would be an awesome all-purpose camera. So I’m not so pessimistic about Fuji.
I would comment on the rest but right now I don’t have time, maybe we can exchange emails or something I liked this chat mainly because you bring a different perspective from mine and I think that’s very enriching – and of course, because you can talk without rushing nor being aggressive when someone doesn’t share the exactly same opinion, which is rare on the Internet! hahaha… Is the website of your avatar yours so I can contact you by there?
My feeling is also that X100 is better made than X-Pro1, it just feels more solid for some reason. Yesterday I was cleaning all my cameras and ended up playing and comparing them in how they feel, what’s the balance, how every knob operates.
Even aperture ring on X100 is better than the one on XF lenses (at least better than 35mm and 18mm)
1st place – M6 – no contest there
2nd place – X100
3rd place – X-Pro1/DP2M
Renato, I would be most pleased to have you email me. These exchanges are, as you noted, lively, but respectful.
And please use the contact form to contact me. My website is attached to my avatar.
Weird….it’s as if some of you think or want to believe that fuji only started making cameras with the X-series. News flash: fuji had a full line of P/S and bridge cameras before launching the x-series and they continue to have the same today. They’ve been in the photography business for a long time. The fact that they make some cheap P/S cameras didn’t stop you from buying the x-series, so what difference does having a reduced-feature x series model here and there make? Buy what you like.
Fujifilm did indeed create cameras and lenses from long ago. They have a whole shelfload of crappy PS cameras that could be made from any maker out there. Switch badges and you are done.
When the X series came out, it was like a resurrection of their great wide angle rangefinder cameras. Very similar designs. Very similar controls. Were Fuji abandoning the make-as-much-as-possible-for-crap idea of their competitors? It seems not.
I think that one of the reasons people are upset at this is that Fujifilm looked to be making things from a focused perspective. A new Fujifilm- but in the manner of pre and very shortly post-war Japanese companies. Why would this resonate well especially with foreign sites like this?
Look at the differences in markets. The European markets generally prefer to (when affordable) support discrete makers. There are a few Samsung-like companies in Europe that make everything from shoestrings to Telecom towers, but very few. In Asia, companies are built along lines that push only one way: to get big, derailed, and have no head.
Your car is made by the same company that supplies your health insurance and makes the flat you live in and supplies the groceries you use to make dinner. Of course, this example is over the top; PoS cameras are a far stride away from grocery companies that just so happen to build ships, washing machines, ill-fated car lines, and the world’s tallest buildings (Samsung). But, they illustrate the headlessness of Asian companies, that prove success by making forty of the same thing and making forty different models. Saturation is the only measure of success.
And it is ridiculous.
I suppose if you grew up here, it’s one thing. But when a different, more focused, more structured option exists that actually appeals from top to bottom to the soul, it pushes buttons- even here in Asia. I think that many people had hoped that the X series was Fuji’s switch from kitsch and quantity to quality, pace, and vision. We were probably wrong.
Grrrr!!!! where’s my 35mm (equiv) prime? :\
You mean the 27mm pancake that was announced last month?
no… looking for a faster 23mm one. it’s really not that much difference in focal length, but i already have a 28mm f2.8 which i could mount (mind you, manual focus and not pancake) and use in the mean time.
for those who don’t have some old lenses lying around, the pancake is nice. for me…. i’m still waiting 🙂
35mm prime = X100s 🙂
Exactly. The only thing I cared about…
More cameras? Really, Fuji?
It’s on the 2013 lens roadmap, and a likely release date of Q4 was disclosed months ago. Guess for now pull have to take one step back with the 27mm you currently own.
It’s on the 2013 lens roadmap, and a likely release date of Q4 was disclosed months ago. Guess for now pull have to take one step back with the 27mm you currently own.
GRRRRRRRR!!!!! When, oh when will we get minimum shutter speed with Auto ISO?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
This is exactly what I expect, too…
I was sitting on the fence, waiting for XP2 or XP1s, but it seems that they won’t be released this year. Oh well… I’ll just buy another XE1 (or XP1) as a backup and be a happy camper. When XP2 arrives, I’ll send one of my cameras for an IR conversion…
Which brings me to the big question. Patrick, who does infrared conversions for Fuji X? Maxmax maybe?
http://www.kolarivision.com … A FR-reader converted his X-PRO1 for $300 here.
Molte grazie!
de nada!
Question… I can’t see the full EVF screen all at once because the rounded outer hole causes me to see the rounded viewfinder hole itself as black blurring on the corners of the EVF’s image (also hard to see the OVF). It’s like the outer hole is too small and should have been more rectangular or oval than round or the rounded part much larger.
Does anyone else notice this…that it’s hard to see the corners of the viewfinder clearly without it being blacked out? Or does this mean I need a diopter?
X-Pro1, no glasses
WTH? No X-Pro 2? Well, there be something good cooking then