Sigma CEO Expresses Interest in Fujifilm GFX Support: “If We Want to Master Optics, We Need to Support Medium Format”

image courtesy: sigma-sein.com
image courtesy: sigma-sein.com

In an interview to Petapixel, Sigma’s CEO, Kazuto Yamaki, has expressed personal interest in supporting medium format cameras with the company’s lenses.

While Sigma has focused on building its lens lineup for full-frame mirrorless cameras, Yamaki acknowledges the growing popularity of medium format cameras and the potential for third-party lens manufacturers to enter this market.

Although there are currently no official plans to support medium format, Yamaki stated that it is his personal hope, and he emphasized the need to carefully assess the market and demand.

Here are the relevant quotes from the article:

I [am] personally very much interested in supporting medium format. Again, it’s a small market, but I have some interest.

[…]

So right now we don’t have such plan, but if Sigma wants to be a master of optics, I think we need to support medium format. But that’s just personal hope. But I need to carefully look at the market and demand

Fortunately, the CEO’s personal opinion holds significant influence, perhaps more than any other within the company. These statements indeed inspire optimism.

Additionally, it is now evident that Fujifilm has not restricted the G-mount to third-party manufacturers. If this were the case, Sigma would have publicly expressed their concerns, just as they did previously when they complained about Fujifilm not permitting them to produce X mount lenses.

It’s only an issue of market share. And luckily the Fujifilm GFX (and also Hasselblad X system) market share is growing.

You can read the full article at PetaPixel here (image from sigma-sein.com)

 

FR-Readers Wishlist Corner: XF 135mm F2 LM WR, Fujifilm X-E5 Pro, GFX72H, Special Edition X100V, XF 50-140mm F2.8 MKII, Medium Format X100 and More

It’s Christmas time. Time for wishlists and dreams.

And here on FujiRumors this means wishing and dreaming of gear that, if not this year, Santa Claus will hopefully make find us under the Christmas tree for 2024.

So here is a selection of wishes that I have received from FujiRumors community and that I now I am happy to share with all of you. Feel free to let us know if there is something among it that you’d really love to get.

I sort of made my own wishlist too, where I talk about three cameras that would push Fujifilm overnight exactly where they dreamed to be by 2019. Dear Fujifilm, listen to me, and Canon, Sony and Nikon will tremble!

Feel free to read (and watch) it all down below.

by anonymous

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Top 10 Hottest Topics of 2022: Lost Fujifilm Soul, X-T5 Battery Grip Dispute, No Medium Format Magic & More

When I shared the list of the top 10 articles for 2022, I noticed that some of the articles gathered huge traffic, but are of limited discussion interest.

Take for example the firmware articles. Sure, they always generate traffic, because many people who own the cameras in “firmware need”, go to FujiRumors to check out the details of the firmware and access the download links through our website. But they are not hot topics per se, meaning topics that generate lots of comments and heated debates.

So I thought we should honour also those articles of 2022, that were the most discussed here on FujiRumors. The ones where you guys decided to invest more time than in other articles.

Top 10 Commented Articles

  1. Fujifilm to Release Fujinon XF150-600mm f/5.6-8 (in XF200mmF2 alike Color)
  2. Is Fujifilm Losing Its Soul? Let’s Talk PSAM Dials! An Error or a Necessity?
  3. Rumor Update: Fujifilm X-H2S with PSAM Dial
  4. Which Fujifilm X Mount Lens Should Fujifilm Give us in 2023? Your Suggestions to Fujifilm Here!
  5. LEAKED: First Fujifilm X-H2S Hands-On Images
  6. Fujifilm X-T5 to Feature 40MP Non-Stacked Sensor (No 26MP Stacked Version Planed)
  7. Fujifilm X-H2S Images in Slightly Higher Resolution
  8. Fujifilm X-T5 with No Battery Grip: a Dealbreaker? VOTE SURVEY
  9. DPRTV: There’s Nothing Magical About Medium Format Depth Of Field… and Not Even About Full Frame (or APS-C) ;)
  10. RUMOR: Fujifilm X-H2S to Record 6K Video

And btw… my new year started like this:

 

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

 

Ein Beitrag geteilt von Fuji_Rumors (@fuji_rumors)

Fujifilm Patents Fujinon XF 300mmF2.8 OIS, XF 400mmF4 OIS, XF 600mmF6 OIS (APS-C) and Fujinon GF 300mmF2.8 OIS (Medium Format)

Do you remember when Fujifilm patented the Fujinon XF300mm f/4 and XF500mm f/5.6 a couple of years ago?

And despite my warnings telling you not to expect such lenses soon (if ever), there are still a good amount of people who believe these patents are a strong indication for that gear to come soon.

So I will never be tired to make disclaimers: in 99,999% of the cases those patents never see the light of the day in a real product.

In fact, in over a decade of covering patents here on FujiRumors, I have seen 1 patent out of hundreds become real… and that patent was actually found only after Fujifilm released that gear.

Does this mean that covering patents is useless?

Yes… if you see it from the point of view of gear to come in future. You better look at our rumors for that purpose.

Any yet, these patents are a nice way to let us discuss on what Fujifilm should do in future and if such lenses would be appreciated among the Fujifilm community.

So down below are one by one all the latest patents.

Patents

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Kipon Medium Format Focal Reducer for Fujifilm GFX Available Now

Announced a few months ago, it is now finally available: the Kipon medium format 0.8x focal reducer for Fujifilm GFX.

The version available are:

GFX Gear

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RUMOR, NEWS and COMMUNITY

Shoten UMS New Universal Medium Format Adapter

Focus Studio Co., Ltd. released the SHOTEN UMS (Universal Mount System) adapters.

The UMS mount adapter has a two-part structure and is a new idea that you can change only the mount part of it so you can mount the adapter on different camera systems.

Down below a video on how it works.

For us GFX shooters these are the adapters of relevance:

  • M645-FG-U (Mamiya 645 Mount Lens to Fujifilm G-mount)
  • P645-FG-U (Pentax 645 mount lens to Fujifilm G-mount conversion)
  • P67-FG-U (Pentax 67 mount lens to Fujifilm G-mount conversion)
  • HV-FG-U (Hasselblad V-mount lens to Fujifilm G-mount conversion)

You can read about it more at the Shoten website here.

Japanese Fujifilm Manager: “Long Debate if to go Full Frame or Medium Format and Fujifilm X-T1 Saved the X Series”

Japanese Fujifilm Mr. Takashi Ueno released an interview to Map Camera on youtube.

It’s all in Japanese, but the guys over at dclife provided a summary of it, which I will share down below.

  • Fujifilm X-T1 was the first camera to put Fujifilm’s future stake, and luckily it sold very strong
  • without Fujifilm X-T1 the manager would not make this interview today [meaning Fujifilm would not have continued the X series if the X-T1 would have failed]
  • Fujifilm deliberately chose not to go full frame
  • it’s not that by doubling the mounts Fujifilm would have also doubled their R&D resources. The resources remain the same
  • for those who wanted larger sensors, it was not good for Fujifilm to tell those customers to look for other brands. Customers who liked the Fujifilm colors and concept. So Fujifilm decided to add the GFX system for them
  • there was a long internal discussion if they should go full frame or medium format [admin note: FujiRumors has the true internal story on the moment that convinced Fujifilm to go Medium Format]
  • The X series will continue to evolve
  • “All camera products are the same, but the functions of cameras today are completely different from what they were 10 years ago, and I think the expectations people have for cameras are changing rapidly. On the other hand, I don’t think it’s a good thing to stay the same without changing, and I want to keep the basics in mind, but I want to evolve by properly grasping the needs of users.“.

The X-T series is the one camera that more than any other camera combined determinates Fujifilm success and future. This is why the Fujifilm X-T5 will be crucial.

This were just the bullet points. I will also share the full Google translated part for you:

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“Cr@p Light, Cr@p Backlight and Everything is just There on GFX Medium Format Files” – GFX Roundup

2022 has been an X series year so far, and therefore we haven’t covered the GFX system as much as for example last year, when the stellar Fujifilm GFX100S and the affordable Fujifilm GFX50SII hit the market.

And let me say this: Fujifilm has no hurry at all to release new GFX cameras, as the Fujifilm GFX100S is a crazy seller, which is still more often out of stock rather than in stock.

So time for FujiRumors to remind us all that there is also the GFX system out there thanks to a dedicated roundup.

Blog Posts

Videos

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Kipon Focal Reducer 0.8x for using Medium Format Lenses on Fujifilm GFX Cameras

Kipon has just announced their Kipon Focal Reducer 0.8x for using Medium Format Lenses on Fujifilm GFX cameras.

There are the various versions available

  • Pentax 645 – GFX
  • Pentax 67 – GFX
  • Mamiya 645 – GFX
  • Pentacon 6 – GFX
  • Hasselblad V – GFX

Shipping will start July 18.

Kipon products for Fujifilm can be found at AmazonUS here and BHphoto here.

This particular focal reducer is for now available directly at the Kipon store here (with 12% launch discount)

Focal Reducer 0.8x for using Medium Format Lenses on Fuji G Mount Camera

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