Sony Sensor Factory will Resume Operations at the End of May :: Will this delay affect the release of the Fuji X-T2?

There is a further press release regarding the Kumamoto Sony sensor production facility that was hit by the earthquake earlier this month (via SonyAlphaRumors).

Sony says they will resume operations at the End of May.

As you know, Sony makes the APS-C sensors for Fujifilm. For now I still believe the X-T2 will be announced in late June / early July. However, we can’t exclude that it will be available on the market later than orignially planed.

Status of Sony Group Manufacturing Operations Affected by 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes (Third Update)

Due to the earthquake of April 14, 2016 and subsequent earthquakes in the Kumamoto region, operations at Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation’s Kumamoto Technology Center (located in Kikuchi Gun, Kumamoto Prefecture), which is the primary manufacturing site of image sensors for digital cameras and security cameras as well as micro-display devices, were halted and currently remain suspended. With aftershocks continuing and employee safety the foremost priority, inspections of the facility and the development of a recovery plan remain ongoing. The current status of operations for the Kumamoto Technology Center is as follows:
  • Damage to the building itself has been confirmed to be primarily to the upper layer of the building, and reinforcement work will be carried out in this area.
  • The clean rooms used for wafer processing and manufacturing equipment, both located on the lower layer of the building have not been significantly damaged, and preparations are now underway to resume production. Manufacturing operations are targeted to resume around the end of May 2016.
  • Regarding back-end processes, such as assembly and measurement, as well as processing operations for components such as camera modules, which are carried out on the upper layer of the building, Sony has confirmed that there is damage to the clean rooms, manufacturing equipment and other equipment. Further analysis of the extent of this damage is currently underway.
  • Damage to finished product inventory such as image sensors at Kumamoto Technology Center is limited, and shipments of these products have already resumed. The status of semi-finished and uncompleted products is currently being confirmed.

The impact of the earthquakes on Sony Corporation’s (“Sony”) consolidated results continues to be evaluated. In the Devices segment, there is expected to be direct physical damage to Kumamoto Technology Center. Sony expects to incur expenses primarily for recovery and reinforcement work in response to the physical damage to the relevant portion of the Kumamoto Technology Center. Sony may also incur large opportunity losses, mainly in the Devices and Imaging Products & Solutions segments due to suspension of production for a certain period of time.

In addition, due to the suspension of manufacturing operations at Kumamoto Technology Center and potential disruption to the supply of components to Sony from certain third-party suppliers that also have manufacturing facilities in the Kumamoto region, it is possible that business operations within the Mobile Communications, Game & Network Services and Home Entertainment & Sound segments also may be affected. This potential impact is currently being evaluated.

Comparison :: Fujifilm X-Pro2 Vs. Sony A6300 + X-Pro2 at High ISO !

Fuji X-Pro2: Shooting @ High ISO at tavphotography youtube

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The Sony A6300 and the Fuji X-Pro2 are maybe the two best APS-C cameras you can get today on the market. Both sell very good, but which one is the better performer?

The Sony Vs. Fuji battle is a hot topic and comparisons are inevitable. Cameralabs tested the A6300 Vs. X-Pro2 here.

Admiringlight even compared Fuji’s new flagship to the Full Frame Sony A7II, as you can read here… with surprisingly good results for the X-Pro2, btw!

Sure, both, the A6300 and the X-Pro2 deliver amazing images in real life and you’ll hardly find something to complaint. But today let’s go deeper into the pixel peeper territory and look at “200% crops most of the time to show you the differences,” and where “we can easily file these small discrepancies into the irrelevant folder if we concentrate on real world shooting” as mirrorlessons said in their A6300 and X-Pro2 comparison.

In short:

Resolution and detail: RAW files difference is “almost non-existent“. Especially when using Iridient to demoisac the RAW files “the X-Pro2 files gain more details and they actual look crisper than the ones of the A6300. […] The a6300’s JPG engine has a tiny advantage because it renders finer details.”

Dynamic Range: “The uncompressed RAW option on the X-Pro2 gives more flexibility if you need to heavily post-process your images”

Low Light and High ISO: At ISO12,800 the X-Pro2 shows less color noise, while the Sony A6300 has more details. In real world, both are “very usable” at high ISO. “As for the extreme values and the JPGs, the a6300 is superior.”

Colours: Guys, you know the winner here, right? ;)

Autofocus: “The a6300 has a few advantages (faster burst speed, better Eye AF and 3D Tracking) while the X-Pro2 has a better buffer with JPGs and is easier to use. When we look at the results and the consistency of the performance, both cameras work really well.”

Check out the full review at mirrorlessons.

Sony A6300 Vs. Fuji X-Pro2 :: Should Fujifilm Fear Sony’s new APS-C flagship?

Fujifilm 2015 Financial Report: Imaging Solutions Significantly Increases Profitability thanks to Instax & X-series!

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The 2015 Fiscal Year Reports are now online (FYI, the Japanese Fiscal year 2015 ended on March 31, 2016)

Instax and X-series sell strong. A special mention goes to the X100T, X-T1, X-T10 and also X-Pro2… and of course to the Hello Kitty Instax (a limited edition version has been launched in 2016… sorry guys I missed to share rumors about that one ;) ).

“Strong sales of the FUJIFILM X100T premium compact digital camera […] FUJIFILM X-T1 premium interchangeable lens camera, interchangeable lenses, and other products […] Though the sales volume largely decreased due to the contraction of the product lineup of compact digital cameras, the sales of digital cameras X Series, centering on FUJIFILM X-Pro2, a flagship model launched in March 2016, were strong.”

Some excerpts from the reports (full reports here):

In the Imaging Solutions segment, consolidated revenue amounted to ¥353.3 billion, down 2.1% from the previous fiscal year, due to the decrease in sales of optical device and electronic imaging business, despite the increase in sales of photo imaging business.

Consolidated operating income amounted to ¥32.2 billion, up 55.5% from the previous fiscal year, reflecting an increase in gross profit by the growth in revenues of the photo imaging business.

In the photo imaging business, sales of instant photo systems such as the instax series and various designs of instax films increased especially in the United States and Europe. Fujifilm strengthened its lineup by offering a new instant camera with instax mini HELLO KITTY 2016 limited edition and new Hello Kitty patterned films, which were launched in March 2016. Sales also increased as a result of the expansion in the high-value-added printing business. Main contribution to this expansion were sales of the Year Album service, which can select good photographs and arrange them automatically, and the Shuffle Print service, which can summarize photo data and print it on a single sheet.

In the electronic imaging field of the optical device and electronic imaging business, sales volume of digital cameras decreased due to the contraction of product lineup, while the sales of X Series were strong. This was due to further shift to high-end models such as the mirrorless digital camera FUJIFILM X-T10, which realizes outstanding image quality and comfortable operability with a compact and lightweight body and FUJIFILM X-Pro2, a flagship model which realizes the best ever image quality and comfortable operability among X Series, and the sales expansion in Asian countries. In the optical device field, sales of camera modules for use in smartphones significantly decreased. Fujifilm tries to expand global market share in broadcast zoom lens, with such products as those for use with 4K cameras which were launched ahead of its competitors and highly appreciated in the aspects of imaing quality in the market.

Download New Fujifilm X-E2S Firmware 1.01 (Bug Fix) + Fuji X70 FW 1.10 (WCL-X70 Support) !

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Fujifilm released Firmware 1.01 for the Fujifilm X-E2S. You can download it here.

  • 1. The phenomenon will be fixed that the EVF doesn’t work on rare occasions right after Power On.

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There is also an update for the Fujifilm X70, ver.1.10 here.

  • Support for the wide conversion lens, WCL-X70. WIDE CONVERSION LENS in SHOOTING MENU and assigned to Function Buttons will be available.

Tips for Updating your Firmware

Trusted Japanese Source says: “No Fujifilm X40 on the horizon”. Is the Fuji X30 the last of the line?

 

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I get this questions quite often via email: when will Fujifilm launch the Fuji X40?

Well, according to what the Top Trusted Japanese Source told me in our chat yesterday, Fujifilm has currently no plans at all to make it.

So what… is the Fujifilm X30 really the last of its line? At the moment it looks like this. But in the meantime you guys know Fujifilm. right? Plans can change so quickly at the Fuji Headquarter, that you should take every single long term rumor with a grain of salt, even if it comes from trusted sources.  An example is the Fuji X70, planed by Fujifilm in 2013 (rumor here), then canceled and finally announced in 2016.

So nobody, not even the trusted Japanese source can 100% exclude that there will ever be, one day, eventually, an X40. But at the moment Fujifilm is focusing on other stuff (Medium Format Fuji anyone?).

have a great day,
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