When readers ask me when we can expect Fujifilm’s best deals of the year, I usually reply “right before the Japanese fiscal year ends in March“. That’s when Japanese companies try to push sales to show up in front of investors with the best possible numbers.
Just 2 days ago I’ve expressed to you my plan to upgrade to the new XF23mmF1.4 and told you I will wait 1/2 months to see if a deal shows up and if not buy at full price. Well, I hope that the deal in USA is a prophetic sign that such deals are about to drop also in Europe. If it will, then it has to happen before the Japanese Fiscal Year ends. Crossing fingers.
Some readers noticed that I separated the lens offers in two lists: “official Fujifilm deals” and “price drop“.
My fault is that I did not elaborate on why I did that, so I’ll do it now.
The official Fujifilm USA promotion page does not mention any deal on the XF200mmF2 and XF8-16mmF2.8. However, BHphoto lists those lenses as having a “price drop”. Also Adorama and Amazon list them with a lower price.
I don’t know how long this “price drop” will last, as those rebates do not appear listed as official deals on any of the official Fujifilm channels. And that’s why I put them on a dedicated “price drop” section.
What is official, though, is the deal on the other XF lenses, which will end on March 26 and we share in the list “official Fujifilm deals”.
I will work to find out what exactly is going on with the XF200mmF2 and XF8-16mmF2.8 and how long that rebate will last.
The data is based on affiliate sales made via Amazon and BHphoto.
Sadly I don’t use the data of Adorama, as I have not found an easy way to display and rank the products. All I get is a list of numbers like “1236.5478.701164” and then I have to click on each number to see which product it is.
For the sake of my mental health, I can’t do that.
Finally the custom X hot shoe covers are widely available on Amazon, and it seems people love them (I own them too).
As for Nr.2 and Nr.5 on the list, these items definitely profited from the launch of the Fujifilm X-T5 and X-H2/s as for many of you, those cameras were also their first X series using the newer battery.
Interesting:
Most people went for the original battery as opposed to the third party options (just as I recommended in my article). I’ve even made the sum of the best selling third party NP-W235 battery options (Smallrig, Poweextra and Wasabi), but even in that case, the original battery has a distinct and safe advantage.
I make a prediction: the Fujifilm X-T5 will be matched in terms of sales only by the Fujifilm X-T6. The only camera that has a chance to even come close to it, would be an eventual Fujifilm X100V successor (the Fujifilm X200, or X100Vs, or X100VI or however they are going to call it).
In a normal year, the X-H2 and X-H2s would have been celebrated as top sellers with respectable sales number.
But 2022 was not a normal year: it was the year of the Fujifilm X-T5!
The X-T5 came here to do what it has to do: demolish the internal competiton and establish itself one more time as the top tier in the Fujifilm lineup. In fact, it was responsible for 65.5% of total camera sales via FujiRumors.
A pity for the Fujifilm X100V, which is basically out of the ranking just because it hasn’t been available most of the time. If supply would have been normal, I think it would have made it into the top 4 positions.
Well, it has been beaten by the Fujifilm GFX50SII, but only by 1 camera. So it’s basically a head-to-head. That’s astonishing, considering that the GFX50SII was in offer basically for the entire year with several more or less massive rebates, whereas the Fujifilm GFX100S saw it’s first time ever rebate only very recently.
So, despite Fujifilm being much more agressive with the GFX50SII, the GFX100S stands its ground and is actually about to pass the GFX50SII thanks to this sweet deal.
The explaination is simple: the XF16-80mmF4 (as well as the XF18-55mmF2.8-4) enjoyed a substantial sales push because it was offered in bundle with Fujifilm X-T5.
But this alone would not be enough.
Fujifilm also initally shipped out way more X-T5 kits than body only, so if we wanted to wait less for our new camera, we had to grab the X-T5 kit. And this makes Fujifilm more money.
Cynical?
Probably, but Fujifilm is just a business as many others, and other companies are no different. And yet, I wish Fujifilm would have done differently.
Anyway, the good thing is that if you bought it with a bundle, you got the lens for a discounted price. That’s already nice. And you always have the option to sell it “like new” so you should get back most if not all of the money you’ve invested in the lens. Or simply use it and enjoy the lens :).
We have a rocksolid performance for the XF56mm f/1.2 MKII. No need for deals or bundles to push that one.
Excellent sales (and very close to grab the second spot) is the Fujinon XF150-600mm f/5.6-8. Looks like a wise decision by Fujifilm to make it smaller, lighter and more affordable thanks to its f/8 on the long end.
Oh… and I made the mistake to enter a photography store with my wife… here is what happened.
So, the lovely new 30mm Macro enjoyed great sales, too. I handled one in store myself, and if my wasn’t for my wife being in the store with me, I probably would have left the shop with one for myself. But my wife just asked “don’t you already own a Macro lens“? And since I had no brilliant answer to give, I passed. Please guys, advice me on what to say next time ;).
On Nr.7, an all time favorite for many of us, the lovely Fujinon XF27mm f/2.8 R WR.
In the GF world, the new GF 20-35mmF4 is selling strong.
A crazy good deal is also pushing the GF35-70mm to great sales. For 500 bucks you get a compact allrounder zoom lens capable of resolving 100+ megapixel. It would be too good to pass also for me, if I’d not already own the GF32-64mmF4.
And yes, I know there is an unwritten rule that every list should end with the Nr.10, but the sales of the lenses on the 11th position were so close to the XF16-55mmF2.8, that I felt I need to include them.
For Fujifilm, I guess the biggest disappointment are the sales of the video-centric Fujinon XF 18-120mm f/4 PZ. I guess it’s a niche lens within a niche brand, so one can not expect all too stellar sales.
There was a time, when the third party ranking was dominated by manual focus lenses. But those times are gone.
Since Fujifilm took the (long delayed) decision to open their mount, other companies like Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Viltrox, TTArtisan and Samyang started to offer X mount AF lenses. A decision rewarded by Fujifilm X shooters, who now prefer to grab third party autofocus lenses over the manual versions.
Official Fujifilm X and GFX Deals
WorldWide Editioin
The deals run for one more week. Stay strong and keep up resisting to GAS. But if you fail to resist, then to the best out of it and enjoy shooting with your new gear ;)
Fellow Fujifilm shooter Andrew Gibson has just released his new course “Finding Your Creative Voice“. You can read more details about each of the 10 lessons and find out how it works at the dedicated website here. The price is of $19 only.
Fellow Fujifilm shooter Andrew Gibson has just released his new course “Finding Your Creative Voice“. You can read more details about each of the 10 lessons and find out how it works at the dedicated website here. The price is of $19 only.
For the first time ever, almost 2 years after its launch, there is a significant rebate the stellar Fujifilm GFX100S in USA, Canada and Europe (full list below). And knowing I am a GFX100S user myself, fellow FR-readers started to ask me if I can recommend the GFX100S.
I personally use the Fujifilm GFX100S a lot when I hike the mountains around my home (as you can see from the IG posts I will share below). And I also took the GFX100S with me on some multi-day mountain hikes, as I reported here:
Look guys, you know better than me that there are compromises to make no matter which camera you pick.
The GFX100S is small for what it is (even smaller than some FF mirrorless cameras)
… but you do get generally smaller cameras and lenses with smaller sensor cameras
The GFX100S is fast and feature rich for what it is,
… but you do get faster AF speed and more video features on smaller sensor cameras
But if the one compromise you don’t want to make is on image quality, then gor for the GFX system.
Because whatever system you currently use (M43, APS-C or FF), once you shoot with GFX, you’ll always come home with at least a hand-full of images that amaze you due to the sheer power the Fujifilm GFX100S demonstrates in those files.
I guess that’s also the reason why the SonyAlphaRumors guy himself owns the GFX100S as you can see here.
So, if you want to shoot fuller than full frame with a sensor about 70% larger than FF, if you want to know that in your hands you are holding the one camera, that will give you the best results and the biggest flexibility in the trickiest light conditions, the look no further: no camera will be able to handle it better than the Fujifilm GFX100S does.