Fujifilm has won awards. But not so many this time.

Maybe Fujifilm finally came to reason and understood that it does not make sense to waste lots of money into paying for winning nonsense awards.

We remind you: using the RedDot award logo for one product and one year costs thousands of dollars (something between 4K and 8K). You can actually check out yourself how much each RedDot award costs here (in addition to the registrations fees that have to be paid upfront).

There were times in which Fujifilm won 23 RedDot Awards. That’s an expensive price to pay to brag with meaningless awards.

• A Look Behind the Lucrative Award Business

RedDot

Red Dot Design Award 2024: Branding & Communication Design category

• Dedicated application for “instax Pal
• Product package of “instax Pal”
• Visual branding activities (Visual Identity)

Idea Award

“IDEA 2024” Bronze Award winner

• Fujifilm GFX100II in combination with the vertical battery grip VG-GFX100 II

Fujifilm products in IDEA 2024 finalists

• Fujifilm X-S20
• Fujinon Lens GF110mmF5.6 T/S Macro
• Fujinon Lens GF30mmF5.6 T/S

FR-reader Wishlist Corner

Recently we published a bunch of gear/hardware related wishes we have received from the Fujifilm community.

Now it is time to share a bunch of firmware wishes.

by Oli

Here is a link to my blog post about my experiences with the X100Vi and the WCL as a “poor man’s Leica Q”.
I guess you might be able to read German: shashindo.de/fuqi/ (google translated).

There is actually ONE reason why the Leica Q3 is “better” than the Fujifilm X100VI: The handling of the metadata!

Leica writes the crop focal length and crop pixel size in the metadata!
It’s too bad that Fujifilm doesn’t also set the crop focal length in the metadata!
It would also be nice to find the name of the custom setting (aka film simulation) here in the EXIF data. Well, you can still have wishes…

Thought you might be interested ;-)
Or in case you do have access to Fuji Development department somehow, maybe you can drop this there… :-D

by Keith

Nikkei has published the global sales number and market share of digital stills and video cameras sold in 2023. The numbers are based on data from CIPA and JEITA and have been reported by the Japanese website dclife.

Here are the numbers for 2023:

1. Canon … 3.34 million units (46.5%)
2. Sony … 2 million units (27.9%)
3. Nikon … 810,000 units (11.3%)
4. Fujifilm … 430,000 units (6.0%)
5. Panasonic … 260,000 units (3.6%)
6. OM Digital … 180,000 units (2.5%)
7. Ricoh Imaging … 60,000 units (0.8%)

Nikkei writes that the decline in the global market share of digital cameras is slower than before, and the demand for high-performance mirrorless cameras is increasing. Nikkei says “high-performance mirrorless is strong, and the market is recovering“.

This is more in less in line with the market share given to us by Techno Research System, which is limited to mirrorless cameras, though.

• Canon 41,2%
• Sony 32.1%
• Nikon 13.2%
• Fujifilm 8%
• Other brands 5.5%

Considering that Fujifilm has no dedicated video camera, nor DSLRs in offering, it is safe to assume that the vast majority of the 430,000 units are X and GFX camera sales. Not sure if the (almost dead) Fujifilm Finepix line is included in the list, but even if it would, it would be a negligable number.

Let’s put context to these numbers.

In 2023, Fujifilm launched 2 cameras

• Fujifilm GFX100 II
• Fujifilm X-S20

Moreover, in 2023 Fujifilm kept struggling to produce and ship what they had announced in previous years.

• X-T5 sales suspension in Japan in 2023
• X-S20 sales suspension in Japan in 2023
• Chronic shipping struggles for X100V
• X-E4 shipping debacle, discontinued in 2023 with harldy ever being in stock due to Fuji’s incompetence to produce what people actually ordered

The list could go on forever, but bare with me if I stop it here to avoid to turn this article into a rant.

All I’ll say is that the number, 430K, is way below of what Fujifilm could have shipped if only they figured out a proper way to produce more gear rather than relying on creative, flawed and no-cost solution like using blockchain to improve parts procurement.

They did not increase production (except now for the X100VI). They did not hire more workers. They did not expand factories. They just accepted things as they are and so we got to absurd situation like the one of the X-E4, which was launched in January 2021. I noticed the X-E4 in stock only once in October 2021 and then it was mainly out of stock everywhere until it got discontinued in 2023 while tons of people still had one on pre-order.

The Fujifilm CEO calls this a “normal” situation, but I have not seen other brands struggle as much with deliver as Fujifilm. Sure, it’s not all Fuji’s fault, as nobody could have thought that Fujifilm’s popularity would expload like this. But the years passed, and Fujifilm failed to adjust to the new high demand.

Anyway… it is what it is.

Fujifilm sold 430,000 cameras in 2023. But it could have been easily twice as much if they’d have been able to ship their gear properly worldwide.

Famous X Shooters and Fujifilm in Ads

It’s been a long time that I have not done a “famous X Shooter” roundup and a roundup of Fujifilm gear used in ads.

Today I am going to catch up with it by delivering a rather big one :).

Thanks to everybody who has passed what they’ve spotted around!

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga, a renowned American singer, recently starred in a T.V. commercial where she is seen using a Fujifilm X-T3 camera! The commercial is for Nurtec ODT, a migraine medicine. You can see the full ad on YouTube here (screenshot above)

 _ _ _

FR-Readers Wishlist Corner

It’s time to dedicate some space here on FujiRumors to your wishes and ideas as far as future Fujifilm cameras goes.

Hence, down below are a few emails with Fujifilm camera wishes I have received.

And yes, I have also received lots of non-camera wishes, which I will share in another future FR-reader wishlist roundup.

As for the rumors… guys, don’t worry… there will be plenty of them. ;)

Oh… and the Fujifilm X-E5, Fujifilm X-M5 and Fujifilm X50 you see above are all just renderings I made. But if somebody out there has the real images (of any upcoming camera or lens) and wants to share the joy with the FR-community, feel free to drop me a message.

Fujifilm US Manager Victor Ha had an interesting interview with CineD.

The interview is 1 hour and 20 minutes long. I strongly recommend you to watch it all. But if you are in a super hurry right now, here are the main takeaways:

X100VI Success

• a lot of the X100VI success has to do with luck and timing
• but also a lot of if has to do with the fact that the camera has gone through 5 generations
• a lot of people want to make high quality images. Sometimes they are not really photographers, but artists in other areas, chefs, or a different profession or something that requires high quality imaging
• in today’s world, no matter which you profession you are in, you do need a certain level of image quality that could exceed the phone
• a large number of people who bought the X100VI are new to the Fujifilm brand
• traditionally the X100 line always was also a camera that was grabbed by people who have other brands
• customer base has expended a lot into first time buyers, first time users, first time camera owners
• the X100VI is also a great product
• all these things came together
• Fujifilm has a great reputation in providing tools that are response to feedback of customers, and also balance it with what the market wants and what’s possible technologically
• X100VI is special because it is a combination between esthetics, design, tactile feel
• photographers (image makers) are moving towards the desire of having dedicated devices. You want to spend a certain amount of time engaging with a device where you can look through a viewfinder and there won’t be notifications popping up
• the job of camera manufacturers is to create devices that offer the best image quality possible in different sensor sizes and from entry level to professional market
• when asked about features like in-camera editing, Victor says the thought of it makes him sick. First, because the JPEG’s coming out of his camera are the best in the business. And there are some options in-camera like push and pull etc (admin note: via the internal RAW converter), so Fujifilm has at some degree on-device editing
• Fujifilm wants to offer users different ways to get images off the camera, and that’s evolved in the last couple of years (Camera to Could, new XApp, etc)
• but Fujifilm’s first mission is to provide the best image quality possible. For that you need a good lens, a sensor, processor, image science etc.
• Fujifilm is very pleased in seeing how Camera to Cloud is being adopted and they see continuous growth and more users try the service
• C2C is used by photographers and videographers
• WiFi congestion interfere and create problems with Camera to Cloud
• internal memory storage? Victor Ha says he would be reluctant to that. He was taught that it’s important to have physical backups. Also, in some cases taking a file from the card can be easier than getting it from the cloud. And taking the files through a cable when you do not have a reader is easier than pulling the card.
• manufacturers must understand that they need to offer different ways to get files off from the camera, not just one
• Victor is currently on a trip through Europe with his GFX100SII (+GF50mm and GF80mm) and shooting also street photography with it is very satisfying
• he did not use GFX so much before, but during this trip he got in deep love for that camera
• [when asked what if Hasselblad, now owned by DJI, comes out with an attractive MF camera] of course Fujifilm pays attention what other competitors are doing. Victor hopes that competitors come out with tools that challenge their tools.
• he believes that Fujifilm’s tools will always win in the end because “we have great fans, we have great image science, great colors, great optics“
• the industry needs to grow and make better tools. Fujifilm needs competition
• Without a vibrant and strong industry, lots of things will go away and nobody wants that

There is more to the interview, so make sure to check it out in full.

Just a few quick comments:

As far as in camera editing goes, for me the internal RAW converter is one of the big reasons why I stick with Fujifilm (Sony for example does not offer it as far as I know). Because truth be spoken: for hard core editing nothing beats the RAW file and a proper editing software. But I am often around with busses and trains to do my day hikes, and one of the things I love is when, on my way back from a long day of shooting, I can sit in the train, go through the images and pass some time having fun editing the images with the internal RAW converter. By the time I am home, I might have already edited enough images to a point that I feel completely happy with it and I can upload them on my phone and share them… and of course without the need of edit them later on with an editing software.

In the interview they talk about having kind of Lightroom like controls directly in camera, like on the Zeiss ZX1, but personally I think that’s an overkill. I’ll just use my computer for more heavy editing. I prefer to have the simplicity and immediacy of the internal Fujifilm RAW converter to do quick adjustments.

As for the internal storage, I think that would be nice to have, if that would allow for even faster writing speeds over a CFexpress Card, but only if there would still be a memory card slot for a backup. I probably would be too scared to go on vacation with internal storage only, and maybe get my files corrupted 1 or 2 weeks into the holiday. So Victor Ha makes a great point when he talks about having a backup solution somehow.

Camera to Cloud on the other hand sounds like a great idea that faces some real life challenges when it comes to the transmission of those files. I don’t know if any of you uses it. If so, please let us know your experience with it.

You know what I think about these awards. And if you don’t know it, read this article.

In short: they are meaningless.

So meaningless, that usually I write sarcastic articles about them.

And the point now came in which I thought I should not even talk about these awards anymore here on FujiRumors.

However, I also noticed that every time I post about them, there are quite a few out there who in the comments on social media rejoice about Fujifilm winning an award.

And who am I to take away such an easy and genuine joy to people. It’s a messy world that needs more joy, not less.

So, let’s be happy and celebrate the fact that EISA declared the Fujifilm X100VI the best compact camera.

• X100VI
  BHphoto / Amazon (black & silver) / Adorama / Moment / Nuzira

via EISA