Over the past few weeks, many have contacted me asking why I don’t talk about the reports that claim:
the Fujifilm GFX100 II sensor is not new
the Fujifilm GFX100 II does not read out at twice the speed and faster readout speed is achieved only with software tricks, meaning dropping down at 12 bit when in 8 fps mode
The answer is simple:
When Fujifilm published their first Fujifilm GFX100II development story episodes, they said they would talk about the GFX100II sensor in future episodes.
This is why I decided to wait, hear Fujifilm’s position, and then write an article that is as comprehensive and complete as possible.
And I am happy I waited, because in the 5th X Lab episode dedicated to the GFX100II, we get some helpful insights in the inner workings of the sensor (full episode with summary below)..
But before we dive into it, let me express my admiration for Jim Kasson’s brilliant work in analyzing the inner workings of the GFX100II and to Petapixel for bringing his findings to the attention of the larger public.
I decided to wait for more details coming from Fujifilm before reporting about it, but maybe they would not have disclosed those in such detail, if Jim would not have done his great work, and Petapixel made a huge buzz out of it.
Fujifilm has announced price increases for lots of Fujifilm X and GFX gear starting November 10 in Japan.
The increases for X and GFX lenses vary between 8% to 30%, whereas there is still no clear indication on how much the price increase for X-T5, X-S20, X-H2 and X-H2S will be (currently marked as “open”).
I have not yet heard of any price increase coming outside of Japan, and I hope there won’t be any.
Down below you can find the press release as well as the full list of gear affected by the price increase.
Fujifilm has announced the financial results for the second quarter of the fiscal year 2023 (July to September).
Needless to say that Instax is the goldmine. But there was also a “significantly increased revenue from digital cameras“.
Revenue from digital cameras increased significantly, mainly due to solid sales of X-H2, X-H2S and X-T5 released in the previous fiscal year. Sales of X-S20, which was released in June 2023, also fared well. […] We will continue to offer attractive products by achieving overwhelmingly high image quality with the large format in the GFX Series and the best balance between image quality and size in the X Series.
Instax and Digital Cameras together did give the imaging business a significant boost.
Revenue and operating income increased by 19.5% and 85.5% year-over-year, respectively, due to brisk sales of instant photo systems and digital cameras.
And all this has been achieved despite Fujifilm being incapable of delivering all the cameras mentioned in the report for many months in certain countries (mainly Asia), and some experienced worldwide delivery problems (X100V).
Fujifilm cameras mentioned in the Financial Report:
In the headline I wrote that this is the revival of the global shutter, simply because global shutter cameras are nothing new. In fact, cameras with older CCD sensors already featured a global shutter.
But as back in the days of CCD sensor cameras, the global shutter is not the answer to all problems, and as just everything in life it comes with its Pros and Cons. Let’s talk about it.
For personal reasons I was not able to make videos this month, nor to really work full power on the rumors and the blog in general. Sometimes life has other plans and sets other priorities.
Good news: an important medical check just a few days ago went well, so now it’s time for me to crawl out of my hole and gain back the energy to give you guys what you deserve: rumors!
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The French website Phototrend had the opportunity to interview Franck Bernard, Director of the imaging division at Fujifilm France. You can read the full interview here and the summary below.
Fujifilm’s strategy is to grip full frame between their APS-C and Medium Format bodies
When asked if X-H2S is popular among sports photographers, the manager said that the road is long. It’s not only a question of having the best product, but also of having the entire ecosystem
Overall market share in France? As far as hybrid cameras goes (full frame excluded), Fujifilm is market leader with 26% over the last 12 months
X-T5 is the best seller followed by X-T30II and X-S20/X-S10
the photo market is sustainable and will always remain so
smartphones accelerate the demand for cameras because at some point people will want to use a real camera for better quality
it’s too early to talk about an X100V successor
It has now been 3 years since the X100V was released and Fujifilm does not have a fixed renewal cycle forcing them to change bodies every three years
the demand for X100V is still high
“If we have decided to stop entry-level products such as X-T200 or X-E4, it is because it is not promising as a market“
but Fujifilm wants to keep more affordable models in the lineup (see X-T30)
third party lenses can have negative effect on Fujinon lens sales, but Fujifilm thinks they have the quality to compete with Sigma, Tamron and Co
Fujifilm is neutral in regards to third party lenses. They don’t oppose nor push them and they respect them
I’d like to make some considerations.
Fujifilm X-E Line
The French manager hinted that they dropped the X-E line, but that pretty much does not fit with the hints recently a Japanese Fujifilm manager gave us here. And also Fuji Guy Billy mentioned here the X-E line as a line that would continue (unlike X-T***, X-A* lines, which btw were just Fujifilm branded Xacti cameras since a long time anyway, as we reported here).
The French Fujifilm manager said they are neutral towards third party lenses. Although I remember Fujifilm managers inviting Sigma managers and talking about Sigma lenses for example here. So this gives me the impression Fujifilm is quite positive overall towards third party lenses.
The French manager said they think they have the quality to compete with third party lenses. This depends. The newest third party lenses from Viltrox & Co are quite phenomenal for the price. Maybe here and there they might not match the quality of the top of the line most modern Fujinon XF lenses, but there are quality options also from third parties.
The real and most important factors, for me, to use as much as possible native Fujinon lenses are two:
lots of third party lenses do not have an aperture ring
color consistency among Fujinon glass. And since a Film Simulation are a big deal for me, I like Velvia & Co to look consistent across the various lenses I use. There are for example third party lenses, like my manual focus Samyang 12mmF2, that are very lovely, but the colors they give me are not the ones I consistently get with my Fujinon lenses.
These are for me the two main reasons why I mostly stick with Fujinon XF and GF glass, although I own third party lenses for both systems, too.
But as you know, on FujiRumors we will not make up a single rumor just to make traffic, nor share anonymous rumors we receive in which I don’t trust.
We prefer to share less rumors, generate less traffic, make less money, and value your time with less, but accurate rumors.
But until more rumors drop, I thought we could also make one single article where we talk about the current state of the rumors and also make speculation on what could or we would like to come in 2024.
FUJINON Lens GF30mmF3.5 R WR Note: Fujifilm writes GF30mmF3.5 but show the image of the GF30mmF5.6 TS, so I guess this was a typo and what they mean is the tilt shift lens
