Lens Production Moving to Philippines

Ok guys, I went through your comments regarding the “XF lenses made in Philippines” article yesterday here, and I perceived some confusion. So I thought I take my time to clarify a few things:

• ↓ A source told me that Fujifilm is moving the production of SOME lenses to Philippines. The same source also said that, in the long-term, MAYBE it could be even ALL X-mount lenses, but it was not sure about this. This is why yesterday I wrote: “A kind source (thanks) informed me that Fujifilm is moving the production of some X-mount lenses (maybe even ALL X-mount lenses), to the Philippines.” ↓

So the sure thing is, that the production of some lenses is moving from other countries to Philippines. As we could see in the last few days here on FR, this is happening now with the XF18-135 and XF27mm (which are made in China).

But also XF lenses made originally in Japan, are now moving (or already moved) to the Philippines. For example, take a look at the image above. You can see how my personal XF 18-55 is made in Japan, whereas the XF 18-55 a FR-reader purchased recently in Austria is made in the Philippines. The reader told me that her 18-55 is of impeccable quality, as well as her X-T20, which is made in China.

So the source is right: Fujifilm is moving the production of some lenses (made in China or Japan) to Philippines.

The part my source could not tell me for sure, was, if it will affect all XF lenses in future. It’s a possibility, but it’s not sure yet. I will write an update as soon as I can.

• ↓ Made in Philippines is not bad at all ↓

Some people perceived my blog post yesterday, as if I would be worried, that quality will suffer if lenses are made in Philippines. But I am not worried at all. As long as Fujifilm keeps the same quality standards as in their Japanese factories, to me, that’s not a problem. And let me add, also as long as Fujifilm treats workers well.

I mean, many of you will probably read this article on a Macbook, iPad or iPhone… which are all made in China. Do you perceive them as badly assembled?

So “made in Philippines” does not mean we lose any quality. Fujifilm sets the quality standard in their factories, and I am sure, wherever they make their lenses, they will be high quality.

• the XF 18-135 and XF 27mm MK II that popped up on several stores is only because of product number change

My post yesterday was also mainly a response to all the MK II versions we saw popping up on stores worldwide. I wanted to inform you that you should NOT expect any new lens, but that only the product number changed.

Ok… these were the two main clarifications I thought I needed to make.

take care, and enjoy your weekend :)
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Just yesterday I reported, how several stores are saying that a new XF 18-135 and XF27mm are coming.

Well, here is another one.

A Spanish FR-reader told me that his local store is listing both, the classic XF27mmF2.8 and a mysterious New XF27mmF2.8 II PH.

The specs listed at the store for both lenses are identical (so evidently copy & paste from the original 27).

Maybe all this means nothing… or maybe where there is smoke there is fire ;).

Anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to have a XF27mmF2.8 MK II with aperture ring, just like Fujifilm’s first XF27mm mock-ups displayed at official events years ago?

• The American West & Route 66, shot with a Fujifilm X-T20 and a XF27mmF2.8 pancake lens at Rico’s flickr here…. I wonder if it’s the Mark I or Mark II :-)

take care, fellow Fuji shooters… and stay tuned for updates
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Let’s talk about the Fujinon XF 18-135 lens, one of my favorite travel lenses ever, and about the XF27mm.

Back in March, Fujifilm said here that they are having some production issues with the XF 18-135 “[google translated] due to lack of procurement of some parts” and that the situation will be solved “around summer“.

But something strange is happening in the last few weeks. Some stores seem to indicate that a newer version is on the way, of both, the 18-135 and the 27.

Here is what they say:

18-135 mm: AmazonUK: “There is a newer model of this item → This item has not yet been released.”

27 mm: AmazonUK: “There is a newer model of this item → Currently unavailable. We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock.”

Fotokoch: This German Store marked the XF18-135 as well as the XF27mm as as “Neuheit“, which in German does not mean simply it’s a new, unused item. It means it is a completely new product on the market. That’s why I got many emails from German FR-readers pointing me to this store. I don’t know if there is a equivalent English word for “Neuheit“. Foto Koch says they will ship the new 18-135 in the end of July but they don’t give any shipping indication for the new 27mm.

Other stores just mark the 18-135 as back-ordered, whereas the 27mm is usually in stock.

BHphoto: “Back-ordered. Expected availability: Jul 17, 2017”
Adorama: “Back-ordered”
AmazonDE: “This item is not yet available
WexUK: “Awaiting Stock”

Phottix continues to be quite enigmatic, regarding their Fujifilm support.

When they launched the Ares II flash trigger back in February, when asked about Fuji support, they answered: “You never know what the future holds” (article here)

Well, recently they gave another hint on their facebook page here. They shared a video of a Fuji user using the Phottix Indra 500 and Indra 360, and in the comments they said:

“No dedicated Fuji trigger, yet.”

When asked more explicitly if they plan Fuji support, they answered:

“Fujirumors says we do” [here is the article with the rumor]

The flash problems for Fuji users will soon belong to the past. Godox & Co are all working on support. And how else could it be, given that in the last 5 years the Fuji X (and now also G) system exploded. The Fuji X (and G) user market can’t be ignored anymore.