Imaging Resource interviewed Toshihisa Iida and Makoto Oishi from Fuji. Fujirumors as usual did a superb job making a quick summary of the news that matters:

Market Future & Canon Predictions

• Fujifilm totally disagrees with Canon’s prediction, that ILC business is going to contract by half over the next two years
• Market will depend on innovation that will come
• Fujifilm believes there is room for further grow
• Some markets will decline, but other markets have still potential to grow (Asian market)

Full Frame

• Customers should have different options
• Currently full frame has 1/3 of the market by value
• 2/3 of market is predominantly APS-C, Micro Four Thirds, and some medium-format
• other manufacturers focus on full frame, this might open opportunities for Fujifilm as long as they keep up innovating APS-C and MF
• mainly X-T3 and GFX 50R helped Fujifilm to grow by 10% total volume growth
• APS-C vs FF is not just about sensor size, but also the lens size, lens weight, overall cost, or the speed, the 4K movies
• people judge the system more on the overall package

Fujifilm X-T3 vs X-H line

• sold better than expected
• Fujifilm X-T3 sold 40% better than X-T2 if you compare to same period since launch
• X-T3 and X-H1 have cannibalized each other
• with the new lower X-H1 price tag, X-T3 and X-H1 sit nicely next to each other
• H-series and T-series will coexist for the future, but we need to clearly differentiate the lineup without confusing customers

Lenses

• XF200mmF2 is not only for sports, but also for portraits for very creamy bokeh and concerts for example

GFX System

• Fujifilm GFX 50R sales are above expectation and factory is very busy
• Fujifilm GFX 100 design is almost final, very early firmware, and IBIS still does not work
• GFX 100 megapixel autofocus: same sensor structure as the X-T3
• GFX 100 has almost zero competition, because FF is only at 50MP and other medium format cameras are very expensive
• Fujifilm thinks at multi-shot high-res shooting mode for GFX100, but has not decided yet
• designing IBIS is a real challenge for big MF sensor
• Fujifilm has no idea about how many stops IBIS they will achieve [FujiRumors leaked internal press sheets that show they aim at 5 stops]
• Fujifilm is still improving image quality via firmware
• GFX100 launch in first half 2019 for around $10,000
• Fujifilm GFX 50S most popular lens is the GF 32-64mmF4
• Fujifilm GFX 50R most popular lens is the GF 45mmF2.8
• GFX 50S owners have more lenses than GFX 50R owners
• GFX owners complaint about the lack of more fast lenses for the system and Fujifilm is taking into consideration their feedback
• Fujifilm listens to customers and tries to make their wishes happen, but sometimes their wishes become reality is very difficult and challenging
• As bright as possible, as small as possible, as affordable as possible…
• same team works on GFX and X. One R&D budget and depending on needs they are flexible to shift their focus

Autofocus

• X-T30 has improved algorithm which will come to X-T3
• CMOS sensor is always reading by lines. So it isn’t very suitable for horizontal phase-difference […] technically we can make a cross-type system but normally, subjects are more… and horizontally-arranged PDAF pixels support them better
• Fujifilm could do vertical AF correlation, but hasn’t felt the need to do it
• 8% of pixels are phase detection pixels (high density), good for low-light and high-frequency subjects
• signal and phase pixel are read separately
• we used to have like 60 regions within each AF point, but now 240
• depending on the light level, the X-T3 can “bin” PDAF pixels together (basically just adding their contents) to get a better signal/noise ratio, and so be able to determine focus even in very dim lighting. Depending on how you do this, you’ll trade-off some ability to see the finest details, but it can really help in very low-light conditions

At The Photography Show 2019 ePhotozine spotted this world’s first Pinhole Zoom Lens from Thingyfy. This 18-36mm has been show mounted on the Sony E-mount. There is yet no info about price and shipment date but I bet this lens will be available for other mounts too (like Fujifilm X and Micro Four Thirds).

Here you see the new pinhole zoom (in the center) with the other already existing Thingyfy pinhole prime lenses:

The Sony folks got two new lenses from third party manufacturers:

Samyang announced the 85mm f/1.4 autofocus FE lens (full info here).
Zenit announced the 50mm f/0,95 manual focus FE lens (full info here).

Fujirumors translated the interview he spotted at phototrend. Some Highlights:

Hybrid Market

• hybrid market had already reached 48% of annual sales (in value)
• in the second half of 2019, the hybrid market has already exceeded the 50% mark
• the managers think in 2020 year it we will be around 55 or 60%

Fujifilm X-H2, IBIS in Fujifilm X-T3

• with the XH series, Fujifilm targets professional users, while with the XT series they focus on enthusiasts
• IBIS: Fuji does not want to compromise on image quality so they need a bigger package for now to get excellent image quality and image stabilization
• IBIS is currently not possible in cameras of size of Fujifilm X-T3
• But in the future, Fujifilm believes that it is necessary to offer IBIS technology on more compact cameras (X-T line).
• Fuji X-H1 size is not only due to IBIS, but because Fujifilm wanted to create larger body with better grip and ergonomics for Pros. Even without IBIS, the X-H1 would have the same size/style

Full Frame Fujifilm?

• we do not really know what’s in our customers’ heads (laughs). But in our case, we also have the GFX medium format camera system
• we believe that the combination of medium format and APS-C is the best option
• Canon, Nikon or Sony offer great full format products
• Fujifilm had an internal discussion on the sensor format they had to use
• they did a lot of simulations with engineers. They decided not to go FF, because APS-C allows for a smaller system, also lenses are smaller and lighter
• Fujifilm is a photography company and they really want customers to take more photos. If the camera is bigger and heavier, they will not necessarily want to take it all the time with them and we do not want that
• we want our customers to take their camera everyday and enjoy photography. This is the concept of our APS-C system
• but Fujifilm knows that some customers want a system with a higher resolution and a larger sensor. For them, we have a system with a larger sensor than the full format and it’s the GFX

Fujinon XF33mm f/1.0

• the goal is to deliver a lens with the most beautiful bokeh effect
• at f/1.0, the manual focus is very difficult and that’s why we made this lens with autofocus
• we already had this idea in mind, but we needed the technology to integrate an autofocus system on such a bright lens

Fujifilm GFX 100 Megapixel and GFX50R

• the GFX100 will have much faster autofocus than current GFX50S and GFX50R
• it will have IBIS
• Our development team is working very hard on IBIS, because the sensor is much larger and it is very difficult to control the movements of the sensor
• 4K 30p without cropping
• GFX100 target are professional photographers, especially in the world of fashion, advertising and portraiture. But since this camera is faster, we may be able to extend the audience
• Fujifilm GFX 50R sales are bigger than expected. Many advanced amateur photographers are buying the GFX 50r, especially for landscape or street photography

Modular GFX (Report & Images & Videos Here)

• The modular GFX body was of course only an idea, there was no technical research on how we could achieve this result
• For the moment, we have no plan to develop a modular GFX. But once we have the right technology to produce this type of device, maybe we will consider that option
• Fujifilm was surprised by the huge reaction there was about the modular GFX. Some customer misunderstood, and thought it’s an actual prototype and future product

Kaizen Firmware

• software technologies evolve on a daily basis, and new features are developed
• we are always looking for the benefit for the consumer, it’s our way of thinking
• when a new feature is developed for latest sensor/processor, it is very hard to bring it to cameras with older sensor/processor. It requires much more complex work. It’s not impossible, but it depends on situatuin and development resources

Market Trend

• SLR market, each year this market will shrink, by 10 to 20%
• Fujifilm is in the hybrid market for 6 to 7 years, it’s a good thing more manufacturers are coming up with more products because it creates a strong message for the hybrid with customers

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This is the modular Fuji GFX. Grip and EVF are exchangeable. This is just a concept for now but it will eventually make into mass production in 2-3 years. ⠀ What I like to have is also an additional exchangeable back to swap sensor. What do you think?⠀ images via @dpreview⠀ ⠀ -⠀ ⠀ #fujifilm #fujifeed #fujifilm_xseries #fujixseries #repostmyfuji #fujigfx #fuji⠀ #fujixt #fujix⠀ #mirrorlesscamera #mirrorlessgeeks #cameragear #camerageek #mirrorlessgeeks #camerasetup #camera⠀ ⠀ ⠀

A post shared by Andreas Photography world (@andrea_pizzini_photographer) on Feb 18, 2019 at 8:23am PST