Takeshi Higuchi, head of the company’s camera division, said in an interview with Reuters on Monday that “The launch of a mirrorless camera, which has an electronic viewfinder, making it lighter and more compact than a professional-style single-lens reflex camera, would be an extension of Fujifilm’s effort to move upmarket and would put it in direct competition with Sony.”
And: “in digital still camera unit sales, Fujifilm says it is currently in fifth position behind Canon, Sony, Nikon and Samsung, but adds it is confident that its plan to boost sales 25 percent to 14 million units this financial year will gain it the No. 4 spot.“
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Admin i belive you had rumor about the dates of the introduction?
also any news about sensor size? aps-c or m43?
Samsung sell more cameras than Olympus or Panasonic? That would be very surprising if true.
I wonder if the failure to name O&P as competitors mean that Fuji’s getting cosy with them? A sign that Fuji will join m43, perhaps?
Whatever it is, it sounds like it’s coming this year!
> Samsung sell more cameras than Olympus or Panasonic? That would be very surprising if true.
They sell loads of P&S.
> Whatever it is, it sounds like it’s coming this year!
I hope “direct competition to Sony” doesn’t mean another “mickey mouse”-style controls camera.
I’m more interested in the mount it would use.
Let’s say that Fuji doesn’t want to introduce its own mount. Partnering with O&P for m43 brings little since the place is crowded already (but bit of fresh wouldn’t harm). Sony is already designated as a competitor (though “direct competitor” might also mean E-mount!). That leaves Samsung as a viable partner too: they have all the tech, only lacking in the know-how department.
Unless Fuji announces its own mount, the competition would heat up ==> more chances of interesting (to me) camera being produced.
Go FULLFRAME Fuji!
I’d buy a Fuji FULLFRAME Mirrorless!
Allow for the use of Leica/Voigtlander M Lenses with an adapter.
Fuji EBC (Electo Beam Coating) Lenses are excellent as well!
Go FULLFRAME Fuji!!!
Make it a fullframe sensor and you’re already Number 1 in my heart.
Great! Even if I do not like what Fuji have to offer I am very pleased that more manufacturers are making cameras with larger sensors 🙂
Come on Fuji, take the lead and introduce a FF sensor camera,
with interchangeable lens, buttons/knobs/dials for manual control, an EVF with high resolution and a fast refresh rate, and a display like the iphone 4, a registration distance suitable for M glass, and improvements to corner response for wide angle lenses.
To quote a movie, “Build It, And They Will Come.”
guess how much would Fuji charge for this kind of spec~~lol
hopefully not another mirrorless DSLR lookalike…
It will be x100 with interchangeable lenses. They already have a good basic solution.. why change it?
Yes, me too, i guess it’s a sort of X100 with interchangeable lenses. But wich mount ? A nikon one, like on their DSRL. ? Or another new mount with only a bunch of all around lense, like a stupid basic zoom, a pancake and a 18~200 Zoom and of course a manual adapter to rule them all 😉
The only two AF-capable mounts that would work for an interchangeable-lens X100 would be NX and NEX. Can you see Fuji partnering with either of them? I wish for the same thing as you, but I can only really see this being either an m4/3 exactly the new mount/lineup that you fear.
Key word is basic, not everyone loves 35mm FOV, and others feel limited with just one focal length, me included.
In some countries Samsung is just behind Canon and Sony selling more than Nikon.
Some interesting comments from Thom Hogan. I guess some people have already seen this new camera.
http://www.bythom.com/
“Quite a few of us have been waiting for Fujifilm to do that, with an m4/3 entry that has a built-in EVF. The product has been prototyped and tested. The question is whether it would be built and sold. It’s looking more and more like it will.”
Canon is coming with something next year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/05/idUSL3E7I50RX20110705
“We are considering the technical aspects,” Maeda said, when asked about the mirrorless segment.
“We will launch an interesting product next year,” he said, adding that it would be small, but not specifying whether it would be a mirrorless model.
This is the most interesting part of the article:
“…but we don’t have a very high-profile brand,” Higuchi said. “We have debated why that is and the upshot was we should put out luxury models and spend more on publicity to build up the brand.”
So Fuji is clearly shooting for the top “luxury” market with its cameras. Look out Leica. The article also quoted Higuchi saying that Fuji would have no problem developing the camera AND lenses themselves so I would take that as a pretty clear denial of the sensor being m4/3.
I expect we will see APS-C with a new mount or a standard Nikon mount with additional new matching lenses by Fuji.
“Fuji would have no problem developing the camera AND lenses themselves”
“so I would take that as a pretty clear denial of the sensor being m4/3. ”
I don’t get that from their statement, I get that they have no need to farm out the development to another company, there is no reference to the development of a new mount.
I’m waiting for Sony to launch a replacement body to the Nex-5 (bad controls, no hotshoe…) that I use with a M-mount adapter…
But if Fuji makes a x100 with interchangeable lens mount, at least with APS-C or even better (but I doubt..) a Full Frame sensor, maybe I’ll change my mind !!!…
Fuji’s strong point:- 1) APSC Sensor 2) Colors. Think a mirrorless interchangeable APSC camera would be GREAT!. Go Mirrorless for compact size and weight advantage. Interchangeble for more flexibility. Would prefer APSC rather than Four Third due to depth of field reasons (we want more bokeh effect) and high ISO capability . Image Stabilization in sensor to lessen possibiility of blur photos. Please offers a compact Mirrorless APSC with Image Stabilization in sensor and interchangeable lens and built in flash. EVF optional. But Fuji really have to improve themselves in the speed of Auto Focus. Actually Olympus has done this complete good package. However, just that the sensor size is a major obstacle for consideration (i.e. bokeh & ISO). This is the way to go Fuji!!! Hope you are listening…^^” Thx.