Square Lens Hood for Fujinon XF27mm f/2.8

FR-reader Daniel informed me about square hoods for the Fujinon XF27mmF2.8 by squarehood here.

Personally, as a XF27mmF2 owner, I prefer not to put any square hood on it, to keep the lens as compact as possible.

But yeah… it actually looks good on the 27 ;).

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Sony A7sIII vs Fujifilm X-T4: “Fujifilm X-T4 comes with Top-notch Features at a Much More Affordable Price”

Maybe the news might have passed under the radar, overshadowed by the Fujifilm announcement of the Fujifilm EF-60 flash and the Fujifilm EF-W1 commander, which everybody talks about today.

But I’d like to dedicate a space to a new camera that has been announced today, just in case you didn’t know, and it’s called Sony A7sIII.

It’s a fantastic camera, mainly for video, and it’s basically Sony’s statement that you better do not mess with them, when it comes to full frame cameras with great video performance.

BHphoto has put up a comparison roundup, where they compare the Sony A7sIII with the following cameras:

Overall they talk very good about the new Sony A7sIII and it wins many comparisons overall, although it’s though to compare cameras, which, in some cases, serve a different purpose.

However, overall, one of the cameras that comes out best from this comparison, is the Fujifilm X-T4, because, as they write:

the X-T4 comes in with a top-notch feature set at a much more affordable price […]

It does take advantage of that sensor size to create a smaller, yet still super-capable stills and video system that comes in at a much more affordable price point.

Read the full comparison here.

This kind of underlines once again the strength of an APS-C system: the balance!

But we have already discussed the balance vs. compromise argument in this dedicated post.

Congratz Sony, it’s a wonderful camera. But also congratz to Fujifilm, for releasing such a well rounded package with the X-T4.

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The Camera Industry Crisis: Who Will Fall and Who Will Survive? My Opinion, Your Vote!

Recently we published an article, where Nikkei experts predicted a dark future for the camera industry. It’s an interesting one, that goes beyond the statement “smartphones are to blame for that“. Make sure to read if first here.

This is kind of a follow up article to that.

Here are a few considerations, and then feel free to say your opinion in the comments and to vote the survey down below.

Let’s start!

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Fujifilm EF-60 Flash and EF-W1 Commander Officially Announced

Fujifilm just announced the following two products:

Coverage:

Press Release and Videos

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Introducing the FUJIFILM Professional Services Program

Personalized Support for Professional Photographers

Valhalla, N.Y., July 24, 2020 – FUJIFILM North America Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of the FUJIFILM Professional Services (FPS) Program designed to assist professional photographers and videographers with a variety of service and product-related needs for their recently purchased X Series and GFX System products.

Full Press Release Below

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Nikkei: “Japanese Camera Industry Strangles Itself. 88% Decline in 10 Years. On the Brink of Extinction, Unless…”

Triggered by recent failure of the Olympus imaging division (which FujiRumors dedicated an own – and very personal – article here), Nikkei deputy editor Masamichi Hoshi has published a rather dark overview over the current camera market situation and an even darker forecast.

The article starts by taking into account two rather obvious reasons, why the camera industry struggles, and that surely Japanese camera makers are not responsible for:

  • the rise of smartphones
  • COVID-19 (which lead to only 2.63 million shipments during the first four months of this year, down 44% from the same period last year)

The numbers of the decline are dramatic:

  • 2010: a total of 121 million digital cameras shipped
  • 2019: a total of 15 million digital cameras shipped
  • … this means there was an almost 88% decrease in 10 years only!
  • 2020: a total of 2.63 million digital cameras shipped in the first 4 months

A special mention in regards of struggling companies goes to Nikon, which has photography as a core business (unlike Fujifilm), but also all other brands are having hard times.

Nikon’s imaging unit, which has focused on digital cameras, finished the fiscal year that ended in March with an operating loss of 17.1 billion yen ($158.7 million), down from a profit of 22 billion yen the previous year. In November, the unit drafted a rebuilding plan focused on the “pro-hobby class,” which consumes 3 million interchangeable lenses per year. It aims to cut 50 billion yen from its fiscal 2019 operating costs by the end of fiscal 2022. The cuts will come from a reorganization of production plants, a narrowing of products and a personnel reduction.

The digital camera operations of companies like Ricoh and Panasonic also continue to struggle. The operating profit at Canon’s imaging system units fell by 48.2 billion yen in the year through December, a 62% drop the previous year.

But beyond smartphones and COVID-19, there is a third reason highlighted by Masamichi Hoshi, which is the one we want to focus on here today: excessive competition.

Here is what Masamichi Hoshi writes on Nikkei:

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Fujifilm APS-C is Dead? Nikon Z5, Sony A7III, Canon R6 vs the Fujifilm X Series Art of Balance

High End APS-C vs Entrly Leve Full Frame

First off let me say this:

I am a fan of competition. I want camera manufacturers to fight for customers, to work hard, to squeeze new tech into cameras as much and fast as possible for the most affordable price they can.

Hence, the more sub $2,000 full frame cameras hit the market, the more I am happy, that also Fujifilm ASP-C shooters like myself will profit from it in the long term, as this will push Fujifilm to work harder than ever.

So, I personally welcome the brand new Nikon Z5, the Sony A7III, the Canon EOS RP and also the Canon EOS R6.

But there is something I do not understand…

I blog on FujiRumors since almost a decade now, and over all these years, I have heard many times announcements of the death of the Fujifilm X series since the launch of the original Sony A7. And the same “Fujifilm APS-C is dead” voices come back today, after the announcement of the Nikon Z5.

Now, let’s look at a few facts:

  • after many years of death proclamations and multiple full frame mirrorless cameras, Fujifilm X is still here
  • not only “we are still here“, but even in times of COVID-19, Fujifilm is the only brand, that didn’t see a massive sales decrease (report here)
  • until 2018, in terms of worldwide mirrorless market share, Fujifilm came third very close to Canon, far ahead of Olympus, Nikon and Panasonic (report here)

So here is the thing: either customers are stupid, or they see it the same way as these industry insiders (DPReview included), who claim that APS-C is the sweet spot.

To be clear: the Nikon Z5, Sony A7III, Canon EOS RP and the Canon EOS R6 are all very nice cameras.

But there is one thing, that sets Fujifilm X apart from all those “entry level” full frame cameras: it can squeeze so much tech into sub $2,000 cameras, that other brands can not.

Or, in other words: their main selling point (full frame), becomes their main limitation, since if you want to deliver full frame cameras under $2,000, you have to cut costs on other sides.

Let me explain.

Entry Level Full Frame vs High End APS-C

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

RUMOR: Fujifilm to Launch Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 Mark II

Fujinon XF 27mm f/1.4 MK II

Here is the fact: a Fujifilm manager said back in February 2020, that, within the next 12 months, there will be 4 new Fujinon X mount lenses.

FujiRumors has investigated, and thanks to our sources we were able to tell you back in May here, that two existing Fujinon X mount lenses will be updated.

Now we can unveil (thanks :)) what the new MK II prime lens will be: the Fujinon XF27mm f/2.8 MK II.

I know, this will divide many of you.

Personally, as a happy owner of the Fujinon XF27mm f/2.8, a MK II version of this lens would make me very happy.

Just, dear Fujifilm, don’t make the same error you did in the past, and don’t forget to put an aperture ring on it, and keep it as you showed us in the XF 27mm mock-ups of 2013 here.

I included the XF27mm in my “5 most underestimated Fujifilm X-series products” trilogy, and Antonio calls it “the best unnoticed lens on fuji world“

With that said, here is the updated FujiRumors X mount lens roadmap.

XF 27mm Curiosity

If you are a long time FR-reader, maybe you’ll remember the FR-birthday quiz I made back in 2016.

In that quiz, we discovered that the XF27mm f/2.8 was the second best selling Fujinon prime lens of all time until December 2015 (find out who was the best seller here).

Let’s hope the new version will repeat that big success.

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