Fujifilm celebrates 5th anniversary of the X-series with a new flagship camera! *updated*
The well-loved X-Pro1 finally gets a successor - introducing the X-Pro2, a range-finder style camera infused with Fujifilm's latest and greatest technologies. More details inside!
At Fujifilm’s anniversary event for the X-series, Toru Takahashi, Senior Vice President took to stage to talk about how camera industry as a whole was seeing a trend of decline in all sectors, and how Fujifilm saw that photography was becoming more of a core because the camera was dominating the photographer, and not the other way around.
“We won’t be swayed by pixel counting or a meaningless technological race” he said, going on to say that the company was focusing on APS-C as a perfect balance, and so looked to carry on developing a line-up that wasn’t based on specifications but based on photography style- rangefinder or SLR.
Meet the new Fujifilm X-Pro2.
The X-Pro2 then, falls under the rangefinder category, which is great for reportage and street photography. It comes with a Hybrid Viewfinder which allows you to quickly switch between optical and electrical viewfinder, a brand new 24.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS III sensor, new high-performance X Processor Pro, a new focal plane shutter that reaches a top speed of 1/8000s and flash sync of 1/250s, as well as a weather resistant body.
New X-Trans sensor
The X-Pro2 gets Fujifilm's latest X-Trans CMOS III sensor.
The new 24.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS III sensor again uses Fujifilm’s unique random color filter array that allows it to avoid moire without the use of an Optical Low Pass Filter. This of course, allows the lenses to deliver their full resolving power, and we’re told it allows the sensor to deliver a resolution equivalent to a 30+ megapixel sensor. Also, improvements in signal processing technology (mainly a switch from aluminum to copper process) means the camera now has a native ISO of up to 12,800, and about 3.6x the reading speed as before.
Head on to the next page for more details on the improvements made to the X-Pro2 and its pricing.
New X-Processor Pro
The latest X-Processor Pro makes the X-Pro2 a very speedy camera.
More powerful than ever, the X-Processor Pro improves response time of the camera dramatically, with start-up time reduced to 0.4s, shutter lag of 0.05s, and AF in 0.06s. It also allows for compressed RAW files and a new ACROS film simulation mode as well as the ability to adjust the graininess of your photographs via a new Grain Effect mode.
More focusing points
Wider Phase Detection coverage than before makes for much faster autofocus.
The number of phase detect focusing points has been increased to cover almost 40% of the imaging area, and that paired with the faster X-Processor Pro has allowed the X-Pro2 to achieve even faster autofocus speeds. This allows the X-Pro2 to achieve continuous shooting of up to 8.0fps.
Improved body design
Despite keeping the same overall shape, plenty of design improvements have been made to the X-Pro 2.
The X-Pro2 shares the same overall look as the X-Pro1, but has dual SD slots – the first in an X-series camera – for back-up or additional storage. The focal shutter goes up to 1/8000s, with a lifespan of 150,000 cycles, while the flash sync is now 1/250s. The ISO dial is now built into the shutter dial, further reinforcing the retro feel of the camera, and all the function buttons have been shifted to the right of the LCD, making the camera feel less messy overall. Also of note, is an added joystick near the command dial which allows for easy shifting of your focus point.
The X-Pro2 will be available from February for US$1,699 (body only).
For more, check out the Fujifilm site. Stay tuned to our first impressions of this camera and the other products announced later today.
*Update*
Dpreview has just published an interview with Toru Takahashi, Director, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Fujifilm's Optical Device & Electronic Imaging Products Divison and Toshihisa Iida, General Manager of the Sales and Marketing Group of Fujifilm's Optical Device & Electronic Imaging Products Division.
Here are some extracted quotes from their piece that you may find interesting:
Mr. Takahashi - you mentioned in your presentation at the press conference that Fujifilm is not interested in becoming involved in a ‘pointless technical race’. What did you mean by that?
TT: We think that the most important thing is overall image quality. So for example just increasing pixel count won’t make a better picture. We also need better high ISO image quality. It’s always a trade-off, and to find the optimal point is very difficult. That’s the reason we why we picked the APS-C image format. A 35mm full-frame sensor is bigger, but it’s difficult to handle and will make the camera bigger. So we’re trying to pursue the optimal combination for photographers.
A lot of photographers still regard full-frame as a better format - do you think in the future that Fujifilm will create a full-frame camera?
TT: First of all, I think you need to understand their thinking. Because of 35mm film, they’re convinced that sensors should be this format. But it’s not true. Now, you can shoot detailed images on the X-Pro2 at ISO 3200. In the film age, the maximum ISO was 400-800. So things are changing, and innovations have occurred but some photographers’ mentality has not changed. I think we can offer the best picture quality by using the APS-C format.
TI: If we could create a camera of this kind of size with a larger format sensor, that would be good, but the lens is analog technology so a bigger format means a bigger size, and weight.
What are the essential ingredients of the Fujifilm X-series?
TT: Product design is a key point of differentiation. We do this by ourselves. So too sensor design, although we don’t make the sensors by ourselves. We design our processors, but of course we do not manufacturer them so we require other companies. But still we stick to designs that we’ve come up with So the sensor in the X-Pro2 is a good example. This is a 24MP sensor that can produce something like 30-36MP equivalent resolution. Design is our strength I think. And lenses. We have very strong lens design capabilities. Lenses, we have our own technologies, we make lenses by ourselves.
In your opinion, what is the perfect sensor resolution for all purposes?
TT: We should separate commercial photographers in this discussion. I think we can satisfy most photographers with the APS-C format, but commercial photography is different. Excluding commercial usage I think 24MP is good enough and more than this I think would require a larger sensor format than APS-C.
TI: The megapixel race means much less in cameras like the X-series. Output quality is everything. So at the moment we think that 24MP is maybe not the maximum resolution, but certainly the best. Considering lens resolution, it is the best resolution for APS-C. If we increased to 28 or 30MP there would be more disadvantages than advantages. Of course technology changes and I can’t predict the future, but at the moment 24MP is the best.
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