(FT4) Fuji announcement next week. But no m43 camera :(
Image courtesy and source: blog.livedoor.jp
Sorry If I fooled you for a moment by showing the picture on top
We heard that Fuji will make an announcement in two weeks but according to rumor coming in from our sources (and from Quesabesde and Photorumors) will not be a Micro Four Thirds cameras! It will be a fixed lens camera with a smaller than Four Thirds sensor. Now, Fuji said there will be an interchangeable camera coming this year. So there might be a second announcement by very end of 2011? So hope is still alive althaugh very weak…
P.S.: The new X10 will look very close to the actual Fuji X100 (Click here to see that cam). It has a4x manual zoom lens with fast f/2.0 aperture ad it will be priced at $599.00.


isaac
9 months ago |It would be really awesome if Fuji joined m43. This would give us more lens/body choices. Excited to find out more about the x10 though.
Miroslav
9 months ago |Well, Photorumors says: “In addition to the X10, Fuji is expected to announce also a new mirrorless interchangeable lens camera”, so the other announcement is likely, but the mount is anyone’s guess. Cross fingers for m4/3
…
PhanMan
9 months ago |Fuji cooperates with Nikon; together they release their new mirrorless mount.
Nick Clark
9 months ago |Fuji doesn’t and never has cooperated with Nikon.
The S-series dSLRs used Nikon bodies and had a Nikon mount, but the bodies were purchased by Fuji – Nikon had zero input in the the end product (beyond fabrication). At no level was there any type of corporate or design/engineering agreement.
Nikon (and Canon for that matter) have NOTHING to gain from releasing anything but a proprietary mirrorless system – the Nikon mirrorless will be Nikon and Nikon only.
kukuku
9 months ago |a m43 version of x100 would be disappointing for people with full-frame and 1.5 crop lenses.hope fuji doesn’t go smaller than APS-C
seb
9 months ago |true
Chris
9 months ago |What makes you think everyone’s APS-C lenses would necessarily be compatible with an APS-C Fuji camera?
That the fixed lens camera won’t be m43 is disappointing news, but fingers crossed that Fuji, having gone ‘too big’ and then ‘too little’, goes for the m43 ‘Goldilocks’ option with its ILCs.:-)
In the meantime, it’ll be interesting to see whether Fuji pitches its camera in competition with the LX5/XZ1 etc. or with the Nikon mirrorless cameras.
Eric
9 months ago |Even though I’m a m4/3′s user I agree; I want Fuji to go with APS-C instead of 4/3′s. I have two reasons for this. First, I don’t think either Samsung or Sony has done APS-C mirrorless properly. You can’t adapt m-mount glass to Samsung, and Sony has no idea how to design lenses for their E-Mount. So it would be nice to have a viable APS-C option. Second, I imagine there would be a lot of overlap between Fuji m4/3′s cameras and Olympus m4/3′s cameras. Eventually Olympus will have a complete set of metal primes and a high end retro body for them, I imagine Fuji would do the exact same thing. That said, options are always welcome, so I’m fine with either direction they take.
Mr. Reeee
9 months ago |Rainbow Imaging sells, at my last count a few weeks ago, 35 NEX lens adaptors and 25 M4/3 lens adaptors. So, ANY lens you can adapt for M4/3 you can adapt for NEX… And then some.
It would be great if Fuji entered the M4/3 group.
What would be so bad if Fuji did a better job than Olympus?
What if Fuji released several, clearly differentiated M4/3 bodies with an array of good external controls. Seeing what Fuji has done with the X100, my guess is that Oly would be shakin’ in their geta.
Eric
9 months ago |As far as adapting lenses, I prefer the 1.5x crop factor for adapting lenses, and it’s as simple as that. In fact in my ideal world Fuji would go either 1.3x or full frame with their interchangeable lens camera, but I know that’s a pipe dream.
I don’t know that Olympus would be shaking too much. When it comes down to it, the appeal of the X100 is the high end build quality, retro design, and the hybrid view finder (I personally would already choose an EP3 over the X100 even without the EVF). If Olympus or Panasonic chose to they could easily do those things, but does Fuji have the know how to match Olympus/Panasonics AF speed? We’ll see I suppose., but the X100 isn’t in the class of the E-P3.
But like I said, I’m fine with whatever mount they choose, but if I had my choice I’d choose APS-C or larger.
Michael Devitt
9 months ago |Wondering what sensor technology would Fujifilm gets by joining the m4/3 system. Panasonic seems like holding back their top sensors for themselves.
Narretz
9 months ago |They could have only gone for m43 if somebody had given them a very good sensor. Maybe Pana made an exception and gave them either the 16MP or the 18MP sensor? They will have a new one for the GH3 and maybe GF7 anyway.
DonTom
9 months ago |The X10 sounds like a nice competitor to the XZ-1 and LX-5, and will be even better if it has a larger sensor than those. I’ll look very closely at it if it goes as wide as 24mm equiv.
WT21
9 months ago |My thinking, too.
camerageek
9 months ago |Fuji will never go Micro Four Turds. Expect APS-C and something more akin to a Contax G.
Nico Foto
9 months ago |Contax G…i like that…what a beutiful, well designed camera
camerageek
9 months ago |Yeah, the G was certainly that. As far as m4/3rds is concerned though, I stand by my statement. It’s a pipe dream to even think Fuji will even consider a m4/3rd platform. APS-C is where the X100 lives, and where the mirrorless will be since it makes sense from an engineering and marketing standpoint. Fuji isn’t looking for any of Oly’s or Panny’s market share, they want Leica’s market share. They have historically competed with Leica for the same market for decades. They see themselves as an elite manufacturer of cameras (for good reason may I add).
Duarte Bruno
9 months ago |So, are they going to be the manufacturer of Nikon’s mirrorless sensor?
Could they have the production capability?
Nick Clark
9 months ago |Given the quality of the Sony sensors used by Nikon now, why would they want to change?
Duarte Bruno
9 months ago |Because Sony doesn’t make a 2.7x crop sensor?
Alexander
9 months ago |I think that Fuji will follow the Nikon system, because they had a long relationship together!
Dummy00001
9 months ago |New camera from Fuji?
It seals it then: long list of X100′s bugs is going to be left unfixed.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/FujifilmX100/page27.asp
camerageek
9 months ago |The new camera that is in a very different market sector. The few remaining X100 quirks will be addressed.
Bob B.
9 months ago |If Fuji was going to release an MFT camera then the x10 would have an MFT sensor. I don’t think it would make sense to manufacture yet another size sensor….but hey.. it’s another cool (quirky??? LOL) camera on the market!!! Its all good.
carpandean
9 months ago |If they wanted to put a fast (~ f/2.0) short (3x-4x) zoom lens lens on it, then there was no way that they could come even close to a 4/3 sensor. The 2/3″ (or 1/1.5″, if it puts things in perspective) sensor is very small, being almost exactly 1/4 the size and only slightly larger than the 1/1.63″ sensor in the LX5. This allows for very small lenses.
Eric
9 months ago |Fuji just announced the F600 using a 1/2 size sensor. So apparently they have no qualms with using oddball sensor sizes. If this next fixed lens camera is smaller than the X100 and is indeed using a 2/3′s size sensor then I will be most interested. 2/3′s used to be quite popular before the advent of the cheap DSLR (Panasonic used it in their LC1), but it’s kind of fallen by the wayside. I personally think most all high end P&S’s should use that size sensor. This thing could be a real XZ-1 killer.
Edit: meant to reply to Bob B
Anonymous
9 months ago |Eric, what kind of dof could you get with a sensor like that if the lens is fast, like say f2 at the long end?
Eric
9 months ago |Not a lot, but you could get minimal separation depending on the focal length and the aperture they offer. If interested you can browse Flickr for photos taken with the Sony f828 and the Panasonic LC1:
http://www.fluidr.com/groups/lux2lc1/interesting
http://www.fluidr.com/groups/sony_dsc-f828/interesting
That should give you some idea of what to expect. It won’t be a camera for a bokeh junkie, but it will make a great travel, street, and hiking camera.
Anonymous
9 months ago |Thanks for the reminder on the LC1 Eric. That was the other option (for me) when I first upgraded from P&S to m43. DOF wasn’t the first thing on my mind then, just better IQ. Only reason I didn’t buy one was I wasn’t prepared to put good money into old electronics…….glad now that I didn’t.
That said, I would buy this as a travel cam if it is wide, as it is the same money or less as a good WA lens for m43: I don’t really need or want shallow DOF for souvenir shots of buildings or landscapes.
safaridon
9 months ago |I don’t see anything impractical for Fuji to offer three different sensor sizes from other manufactures in basically one camera body. First the smaller Nikon sized sensor or that of the premier compacts is best for a small fast zoom starting at 24mm to 100mm that larger systems will find hard to duplicate unless Pany has some magic up their sleeve as rumored? Next for interchangeable lens systems the m4/3 size sensor for now seems to be the best compromise for small lenses while for a small fixed lens system the APS-C is able to still keep small as the Leica mini does. Why not cooperate with Nikon for the smallest system, m4/3 for the middle using Oly and Pany lenses, and Sony with the their APS-C as long as they are not having to produce the sensors and or lenses but primarily marketing their popular rangefinder body with optical/EVF viewfinder? Judging from the pictures leaked of the NEX7 I expect the X100 is still slightly smaller at least in height and with its smaller EVF projecting less in the back more compact.
Kylberg
9 months ago |I wonder why there is no camera with m4/3 and fixed zoom; Oly “ZF-XL” would be a perfect second camera. I have tried high-end compacts, but always ended up the sensor is not good enough for post processing into something good. If Fuji does this I will take a close look for sure.
A Fuji m4/3? Competition leads to better products they say, but it also leads to equalising product for the best revenue. The is also a lot cost-reduction involved. So competition may lead to what we see with OlyPana offering to those who upgrade from P&S (where the volume is. Two brands and how many basically equal cameras?
m4/3 now lack a flagship camera, the one we maybe dream of but cannot afford. But we can buy into the system, gradually invest in lenses, and one day have that flagship camera. Which brand will offer us that one.
(Yes, I know the crazy Olympistas will say it is the E-P3 – and the crazy Panistas will claim the GH2 is…. Yes they are crazy!:-))
Camaman
9 months ago |Manual zoom lens hopefully doesn’t exclude auto focus… :-/
bob
9 months ago |I’ve seen these specs before: 2/3″ sensor (4x crop factor); manual zoom and controls, f/2 lens–why, that’s the Leica Digilux 2/Panasonic LC1:
http://www.overgaard.dk/leica_digilux2.html
Maybe it’s a bit early, but Fuji may have another winner (and soon more of my money as well).
Hiplnsdrftr
9 months ago |Was still hoping for an all black X100… Guess that’s not going to happen?
Roger
9 months ago |I think the M43 companies should take note: I am in the market for a new digital camera. My old Canon Digital Rebel XT is OK but it’s too big to take along on trips. I want something similar to an old film rangefinder with manual controls, a good viewfinder and decent image quality. So far none of the M43′s offerings give me what I want. I will be pre-ordering the Fuji X50 as soon as I can, even without interchangeable lenses and the smaller sensor. Sorry but I can’t wait around forever while you put out glorified point and shoots like the GF3.