Fuji confirms they are about to launch an interchangeable lens mirrorless camera!
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.“
Via Reuters
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Comment from FujiColor fan: Fuji's strong point:- 1) APSC Sensor 2) ...
Comment from Miserere: But very few people pay $7,000 fo...
Comment from Nico: I'm waiting for Sony to launch a replace...
Comment from J-Man: "Fuji would have no problem developing t...
Frosti7
11 months ago |Admin i belive you had rumor about the dates of the introduction?
also any news about sensor size? aps-c or m43?
Chris
11 months ago |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!
Dummy00001
11 months ago |> 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.
El Aura
11 months ago |I think to remember that the Samsung mount cannot accept M-mount adaptors (flange distance difference too small). Sony’s E-mount however has such adaptors.
Miserere
11 months ago |Actually, the registration distance is fine, if a bit tight; the real issue are the protrusions inside the mount. In a new NX camera Samsung could decide to leave the space inside the mount clear and make M mount adapters viable.
J-Man
11 months ago |I doubt that will happen, as that will make all NX lenses not work on it, maybe if there was a removable/collapsible part.
Go FULLFRAME Fuji!
11 months ago |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!
11 months ago |Go FULLFRAME Fuji!!!
Thori
11 months ago |Make it a fullframe sensor and you’re already Number 1 in my heart.
onlyme
11 months ago |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
J-Man
11 months ago |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.”
Mr.G
11 months ago |guess how much would Fuji charge for this kind of spec~~lol
Miserere
11 months ago |J-man, would you be willing to pay $2,500-3,000 for this camera (body only)? I’d much rather pay $1,000 for the APS-C version and another $1,000 for a couple of nice Fuji primes.
J-Man
11 months ago |People already pay $7000 for less features in the M9.
$2000 for sure, any more and it would have to be bug free(unlike the x100), and it would have to feel like a $3000 camera.
Miserere
11 months ago |But very few people pay $7,000 for a Leica, that’s the issue. At $2,000, Fuji could market a FF, but they would need a lot of people to buy them. and I mean a lot. Sony could afford to have the cheapest FF on the market because they were happy to loose money on the A850, but Fuji NEEDS to make a profit on this camera.
Likewise, Canon can sell the 5D for under $3,000 because they have a huge userbase and sell many of them. Fuji has no World wide reputation nor a userbase that will guarantee the necessary sales numbers. I’d be surprised if they could manage to bring it under $3,000. The problem then is that buyer interest (like yours or mine) falls off quickly.
Fuji are not in this for the love of Photography, they’re in it for the money, and a FF isn’t going to give them the ROI they need for the end-of-year financial report. It’s that simple, and yes, that sad.
Camaman
11 months ago |hopefully not another mirrorless DSLR lookalike…
mirrorless
11 months ago |It will be x100 with interchangeable lenses. They already have a good basic solution.. why change it?
Gabriel
11 months ago |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
Fants
11 months ago |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.
J-Man
11 months ago |Key word is basic, not everyone loves 35mm FOV, and others feel limited with just one focal length, me included.
Din
11 months ago |In some countries Samsung is just behind Canon and Sony selling more than Nikon.
Steve
11 months ago |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.”
Steve
11 months ago |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.
wadcha
11 months ago |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.
J-Man
11 months ago |“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.
Nico
11 months ago |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 !!!…
FujiColor fan
11 months ago |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.