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.
At a certain moment, I even fell madly in love with… with the selfie screen!
It was 2020, and since February I was in lockdown and teaching online. I filmed my lessons with my X-E3, but when I finally received the X-T4, it totally improved my workflow to be able to see myself during recording, but I also started to make more creative videos for my students (which they appreciated, as you can here from their Whatsapp feedback I’ve shared in this article – direct video here).
So I guess this could be called my best experience with the X-T4: it simplified my teacher life during lockdown and also gave me a creative boost.
So to be clear: it might not have been my all time favorite camera, but I appreciated it and had lots of fun with it.
The Sale
And yet, the day I’ve received the rumor that the Fujifilm X-T5 has a 3 way tilt screen (a masterpiece of a rumor btw, with quotes from V for Vendetta ;)), I did put my Fujifilm X-T4 up for sale. Because although I can see the advantages of fully articulating screens, for my style of shooting the disadvantages just outweigh the Pros.
I needed a couple of months to sell it. I feel like most buyers simply have unrealistic expectations on how much second gear should cost. I received messages from people who said they won’t pay more than 500 bucks.
Of course I declined such offers and wished them good luck to find an X-T4 for that price in 2038.
At the end I found someone living just 15 minutes car drive from my home who bought it at a fair price.
The new owner of my X-T4, Nicole, is more into video and prefers the fully articulating screen of X-T4. I am happy to see my X-T4 in the hands of someone who is going to appreciate and love it.
My Next Lens
And what should I do with the money earned from the X-T4 sale?
Buy more lenses, of course! :)
After lots of thoughts, I decided that it will be one of the new fast 40MP capable primes. But which one?
I use the original XF56mmF1.2 mostly for portraits. I don’t need faster AF in those occasions. And I also don’t need the even sharper images of the new XF56mmF1.2 R WR. It’s portraits, people usually don’t really desire to have their wrinkles captured in high resolution 40MP glory. The current 56 is plenty of sharp enough. No need for even sharper portraits
What’s Left
the original XF23mmF1.4 is a lens I have used in some of the most important moments of my life: it was the only lens I took with me when my son was born. It was a stunning performer during the weeding I photographed. I made some travels carrying only the XF23mmF1.4 with me. It’s just incredibly flexible and also fun and beautiful thanks to the focus clutch. But as much as I appreciate it, I am not madly in love with it like with my XF35mmF1.4. So the new XF23mmF1.4 R LM WR is an option
XF18mmF1.4 R LM WR: I once owned the pancake XF18mmF2 lens. When I sold it I did miss the pancake style and the 18mm FOV every now and then. I replaced my desire for pancake with the XF27mmF2.8 R WR, but I still sometimes miss to have a nice 18mm prime
But here is the thing: as you’ve seen from the examples I made above, 23mm is a really nice focal length that I use in many important moments of my life. And the idea of having the stellar ultra sharp and fast focusing XF23mmF1.4 R LM WR is intriguing me.
So the masterplan is this: with the money from the X-T4 sale I will buy a new XF23mmF1.4 R LM WR (I give it 1/2 months and hope in a sale, otherwise I’ll buy full price). Once I have it, I’ll sell the old XF23mmF1.4 and have some more money to buy even more lenses. Maybe the 18mmF1.4 or why not, even the XF16mmF1.4.
2023 just starts as 2022 ended: I still struggle with my GAS :D
UPDATE: Price is back to normal for most people. Some countries (like me in Italy) still see the higher price)
UPDATE 2: Reply from Viltrox:
We do not change the price of 75mmXF lens at Viltrox Official store—US$549,
but MSRP varies by regions like all of Viltrox other products as below for your reference:
Euro Countries: €599.00
GBP Countries：£533.00
USD or other currency countries:US$549 533
CAD: C$729.00
JPY: ¥70,600
ADMIN NOTE: even from Italy I always saw the lower price. Now suddenly this changed, and in Italy I see the new higher price. But US residents still see the old price. Also strange that I see the old price for their 85mm (hence I see the same price in Italy as it is in USA). But the other lenses have a different price.
Original Article
When checking the Viltrox store today, a FR-reader noticed that Viltrox started to increase the prices on their X mount lenses.
I don’t know what is happening and dropped an email to Viltrox to ask for clarification. As soon as I get a reply I will update this article.
But for now my best recommendation is that if you wanted to grab any of the lenses, better do it now at BHphoto. We don’t know if soon also BH & Co will have to raise the price on Viltrox X mount lenses, or if maybe Viltrox will revert back to the original pricing.
Here is a breakdown of the prices at Viltrox compared to BHphoto at the time of this post.
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.
Just yesterday we reported how a Vietnamese store was taking pre-orders on the upcoming Viltrox 75mm f/1.2 AF XF lens.
We also shared many samples images (as well as product images) in that article. You can see it all here and many have missed that we also shared some high resolution samples here.
And here is an important update:
The Vietnamese store was taking pre-orders for 10,500,000 Vietnamese Dong (equivalent of $423/€405). But that’s not the price it will be sold for in USD.
In fact, I have been informed that the Viltrox 75mm f/1.2 AF XF will cost $549.
It’s the last day for many of the deals listed below, including the software related deals. What is still running for a while, are the official Fujifilm X and GFX deals.
Save big on the Capture One learning material by Alexander Svet. Use code FUJIRUMORS to get an additional 10% discount on top of every Black Friday offer
