Fujifilm Wins X-Pro3 Lawsuit

Back in 2022, Fujifilm started to face a lawsuit filed for allegedly falsely advertising ‘Reliable Durability’ on the Fujifilm X-Pro3.

Now the entire case has been dismissed.

when the listing is read in full and in context, Plaintiff’s cherry- picking of certain words does not lead a reasonable consumer to that conclusion. There is nothing “unambiguously deceptive” about Defendant’s Product listing.

[…]

Plaintiff alleges that the subject representations are that Product’s construction from titanium, when combined with certain advanced features, “create a camera that can be relied upon to perform in any situation,” and is made “for photographers on the move who want top-level features, a low-profile, and reliable durability.”

But that language simply does not tell “consumers [the Product] would function reliably and be free of flaws, damage, defects, and deficiencies subject to normal and intended use, although even when the camera is in excellent condition and never dropped or banged, the sub monitor and LCD become non-functional because of the defective ribbon cables.”

The Amended Complaint does not draw any connection between ribbon connector cables and the Product’s “body design [that] features a top and base plate constructed from titanium” thus making it more durable than stainless steel.

A representation that the Product’s top and base plate is made of durable titanium simply does not lead a reasonable consumer to believe that the Product’s ribbon connector cable would never require repair.

At the end it looks like the whole evidence where mostly a couple of screenshots taken from forums.

In my experience, when the issue is real and widespread, Fujifilm does take action, as for example with the Fujifilm X-T1 light leak. But evidently this was not the case with the X-Pro3.

You can read the full ruling here.

Fujifilm X100VI Manufacturing Production Started (at Least) Back in November – 60K to 90K Units Produced Before Launch?

Fujifilm X100VI Production

Fujifilm told us that they are making 15,000 Fujifilm X100VI units a month.

But given the astronomical preorders for the Fujifilm X100VI, many were wondering if that would be enough to avoid the same shipping disaster we experienced with the X100V.

And we told you in past articles that this also depends on:

  1. how many people preordered at several stores but intend to keep only the fastest-shipping X100VI order and cancel the other orders
  2. how many units Fujifilm has produced ahead of launch

We investigated the first point in a dedicated survey and so far we can see that 14% of people placed multiple orders. So once the first 2-3 batches are shipped, we can expect a sensible reduction of preorders due to the influx of cancellations.

As far as how well Fujifilm prepared for the X100VI launch, yesterday I followed the live stream of German photographer Thomas B Jones (if you are German make sure to follow his YouTube channel).

During the live stream he told us that he was testing a “final hardware production X100VI” since November 2023, and that Fujifilm is basically producing X100VI’s at full power since a couple of months already.

So at this point we can assume that Fujifilm is manufacturing 15,000 Fujifilm X100VI units per month since at least November, which would mean a total of about 60,000 units were made before the X100VI announcement in February.

However, I’d not be surprised if Fujifilm would be making those since even longer.

In fact, I was contacted by the former “head of the production engineering department” (for another company) with an extremely detailed overview on how these things work.

He told me that they generally started to produce the goods 4 – 6 months before they shipped out to the retail stores, because (for the products he made) usually 80% of the annual sales were made within the first 3 – 4 months of a new product introduction.

The email he wrote me was very detailed and insightful (thanks). If anyone wants to take a look behind the scenes and how such things are organized, I share it as PDF here (I kept the person anonymous, but if you want I can add you in the file and link to your accounts… let me know via rumor box in case).

Anyway, back to the X100VI.

Based on everything we said above, we can assume that Fujifilm has so far produced anything between 60,000 and 90,000 units.

Now that would be enough for pretty much any digital camera in the last 15 years. But we are talking Fujifilm X100VI, the most successful digital camera the photography industry has seen in decades. So this might not be sufficient to match the initial demand.

But it is a solid starting point which makes hope that at least those, who ordered in the first 1 to 3 days won’t have to wait that long to get their camera shipped.

And ignore that China numbers for the reasons we explained here.

Fujifilm is aware that the true success of the X100VI is intricately tied to the number of units dispatched. And I am sure delivering X100VI’s as quickly as possible will be their Nr.1 priority for 2024.

Tamron Contemplates Introducing Lenses with Dedicated Aperture Ring

Tamron opened up to the possibility of launching lenses with dedicated aperture ring.

We believe that whether or not to add the aperture ring depends on the concept of each lens and the target audience. So far, we have favored compactness and lightness. But we would like to consider adding one for users who need an aperture ring. It is therefore possible that we will develop this type of lenses in the future.

That would be just awesome!!! Go ahead Tamron!

And one comment about APS-C lenses:

We believe that the market size of APS-C lenses is always the same [as back in the times of DSLRs], at least for the second lens [note: second lens in the sense of lens that people buy after they got the camera with the kit lens].

You can read the full interview at the French website phototrend.

Fujifilm X100VI Owners Manual Available Now

The Fujifilm X100VI Owners manual is now available in html here and PDF here (full manual visible to scroll below)