Top Gear 2023

So we told: there are no more Fujifilm announcements in 2023

• It’s Over my Friends: No More X or GFX Related Announcements This Year
• Fujifilm to Announce More Cameras in First Months of 2024 than in the Entire Year 2023
• Which Cameras do You Think will Come in first months 2024? VOTE NOW

And while in 2023 we might still get maybe some manual of even this new third party autofocus lens as well as the Meike AF 55mm f/1.4, a few more Yongnuo lenses and the first Brightin Star AF 50mm f/1.4, but those will come either in late December or next year, so we are basically done with pretty much anything.

This means it’s time for you guys to let us know what you consider the top gear announced in 2023.

Quick note: the list includes cameras and lenses with autofocus or at least electronic contacts.

• Fujifilm GFX100 II
• Fujinon GF 55mmF1.7
• Fujinon GF 30mmF5.6 Tilt Shift
• Fujinon GF 1100mmF5.6 Tilt Shift
• Fujifilm X-S20
• Fujinon XF 8mmF3.5
• Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8
• Sigma 23mm f/1.4
• Sigma 100-400mm f5.0-6.3
• Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8
• Viltrox 27mm f/1.2
• Viltrox 75mm f/1.2
• Sirui Sniper 23mm f/1.2
• Sirui Sniper 33mm f/1.2
• Sirui Sniper 56mm f/1.2
• TTartisan 35mm f/1.8
• Meike 85mm f/1.8
• Samyang AF 75mm f/1.8
• Yongnuo YN50mm F1.8X
• Voigtländer ULTRON 27mm f/2
• Voigtländer NOKTON 35mm f/0.9
• Voigtländer NOKTON 50mm f/1.2

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X Mount AF lenses in 2023

In 2023, Fujifilm launched only one XF lens, the Fujinon XF 8mmF3.5.

But that is not all we got in 2023 in terms of autofocus X mount lenses.

In fact, many third party lens manufacturer have launched their own X mount AF lenses, and if we sum them up all, we see we got a total of 17 new lenses (some of them announced and coming soon but not yet on the market).

So here is the list.

1. Fujinon XF 8mmF3.5
2. Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8
3. Sigma 23mm f/1.4
4. Sigma 100-400mm f5.0-6.3
5. Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8
6. Viltrox 20mm f/2.8
7. Viltrox 27mm f/1.2
8. Viltrox 75mm f/1.2
9. Sirui Sniper 23mm f/1.2
10. Sirui Sniper 33mm f/1.2
11. Sirui Sniper 56mm f/1.2
12. TTartisan 35mm f/1.8
13. Meike 55mm f/1.4
14. Meike 85mm f/1.8
15. Samyang AF 75mm f/1.8
16. Yongnuo YN50mm F1.8X
17. Brightin Star 50mm f/1.4

But as we can see, third party lens manufacturer prefer to navigate through the safer waters of popular focal lengths.

What we need at this point is Fujifilm to offer also something that other brands still not really offer: a long telephoto prime.

• Fujinon Wildlife Photography Lenses – POLL
• Fujinon XF400mm f/4 and Fujinon XF550mm f/5.6 Patents Surfaced
• Fujifilm Lenses for Wildlife Photography: Fujinon XF 400mmF4 and What Else?

They need to do that, despite the fact that, as we have shown in this “vote future X mount lens” survey, telephoto lenses are not high on the priority list of FujiRumors readers.

The reality is that it’s on the wide end that at least our readers want more options from Fujifilm. You can check out the most wanted lenses here.

• Dear FUJIFILM, We Decided: Make These 6 X-Mount Lenses Next!

You can now order the Sirui Sniper f/1.2 series of lenses at BHphoto here and at Amazon here.

• all options here
• Sirui Sniper 23mm f/1.2:
  Black – Silver – White
• Sirui Sniper 33mm f/1.2:
  Black – Silver – White
• Sirui Sniper 56mm f/1.2:
  Black – Silver – White
• Sirui Sniper f/1.2 three lens kit:
  Black – Silver – White

The next Sniper lenses to come will be the Sniper 16mmF1.2 and 75mmF1.2.

Brightin Star is already offering a Brightin Star 50mm f/1.4 and you can find it here on Amazon.

But that’s a manual focus lens.

Now they have officially unveiled the Brightin Star AF 50mm f/1.4 autofocus lens for several mounts including Fujifilm X mount. They say it is “coming soon”.

Brghtin Star lenses are sold at Amazon here.

Ok, so I guess it’s to update our list of third party autofocus lenses.

Back in July I asked which autofocus lenses do you own.

It was a huge survey that included all XF/XC lenses as well as all autofocus lenses currently available for X mount for a total of 65 lenses.

Now, the first 27 position are controlled by Fujinon lenses.

We have to go to the 28th position to find the first third party autofocus lens.

Down below I will share list of third party lenses ranked by popularity among FujiRumors readers.

My Personal Gear

• Full list of X gear I currently own
• Full list of GFX gear I currently own
• List of some accessories I own for my Fujifilm gear
• All my Apple Gear
• All my Instax Gear

Third Party AF Lens Popularity

The first stores in Japan have started to mark the Fujifilm GFX50S II as no longer in production, as reported by the Japanese website asobinet.

No longer in production does not mean you won’t find samples anymore around tomorrow. It is more likely that there will be still stable stock for quite some months ahead.

And yet, this news induces me to share some thoughts about the GFX50SII and the GFX system overall.

The GFX50SII was launched back in September 2021.

During these two years, it was often sold with a $800 discount (as right now), showing that the GFX50SII struggled to sell nearly as well as Fujifilm hoped.

The main drawback: the GFX50SII used the old non BSI sensor of the original GFX50S (and the even older Pentax 645Z)  in times when Fujifilm already offered the GFX100 and GFX100S with modern BSI sensor and 100MP. I guess most people decided to go for the more modern and higher resolution models.

In my opinion, the GFX50SII could have sold much better if only Fujifilm would have kept the retro dials layout of the original GFX50S. It would have differentiated it much more from the rest of the lineup.

And overall, the lack of a proper retro styled cameras in the GFX lineup is one of the big mysteries of our time. It’s Fujifilm’s biggest error and an enormous missed opportunity. Especially in times where there is no significant development on the sensor area, the one thing that can really boost sales for a new camera is offering a different shooting experience, which in the GFX world would mean to offer something different than the usual PSAM layout.

Make no mistake: my Fujifilm GFX100S is giving me great joy and it is extremely easy to operate. That’s not the issue. But if Fujifilm would make the camera with exactly the same GFX100S specs but with an X-T layout, I would sell it and go for the Fujifilm GFX100T (imaginary name).

I hope somebody at the higher ranks of the Fujifilm Japan HQ is reading these lines (and they do, they even use FujiRumors surveys for internal meetings).

I know, Fujifilm, you consider PSAM the “safe” approach, as it is more mainstream. But unless you drop a 150MP GFX or a 100MP stacked sensor GFX, you will keep struggling to sell GFX cameras (or be forced to give them huge rebates).

If you decide to stick with the current 100MP BSI sensor (no matter how much you optimise its circuits, AD converters, microlenses, etc), then the best thing to do to create a camera that sells like hot cakes is to offer a different photographic experience. And that camera is called Fujifilm GFX100T or alternatively also the GFX100R.

Trust me on this Fujifilm. Do it, and we will throw our money at you… and my money will be the first to fly to your bank account.