Fujifilm Managers: “We are Aware of the Many Requests for Fujifilm X-E3. Rangefinder GFX is an Option. GF Lenses Design Challanges & Future”

Dpreview Interviews Fujifilm Managers

Dpreview interviewed Fuji Guy Billy (Manager for the Technical Marketing and Product Specialist Group) and two more Fuji Managers, Makoto Oishi, manager of Fujifilm’s Sales and Marketing Group and Yuji Igarashi, general manager of Fujifilm’s Electronic Imaging Division.

They talk about the latest big Fuji announcements. If you are in a hurry, here some of the highlights:

• GFX TARGET: Fashion, commercial and landscape photographers. And especially when it comes to landscape, it’s not just professional photographers, but also amateur photographers. The tonality and dynamic range also mean it’ll appeal to wedding and architecture photographers.
• NEW GF LENSES (besides the 6 already announced): We have some ideas but haven’t decided yet. For example maybe a wide-angle zoom for landscape photographers or maybe something like a 200 or 250mm and so on. We want more feedback from users about what to make next.
• AUTOFOCUS: Some of the first [GF] lenses have linear motors, whereas the 63mm has a different motor, more like the one used in the 23mm F2. The autofocus speed is already very good: we haven’t had any complaints. Instead we’ve had some users surprised by how fast the contrast-detection system is. From a technical point of view, maybe in the future we might incorporate phase-detection pixels. On the other hand, we’re already developed advanced CDAF algorithms.’ There’s no image quality cost to using phase detection.
• GF LENS DESING CHALLANGES: As the sensor becomes bigger, that means chromatic aberration becomes bigger: it’s proportional to the size. In GFX we’ve minimized aberrations optically and the used digital compensation only to refine then final result, and it depends on lens
• GFX 50R RANGERFINDER?: The GFX 50S is one style: the ‘S’ means ‘SLR-style.’ Another way to do it would be a rangefinder style camera. Maybe an ‘R’ could be a rangefinder: we’re always considering other options and possibilities.
• X100F: The X100 series presents a great opportunity: the body size means it works as a second camera for anyone: not just Fujifilm users. If they fall in love with your system then maybe they’ll consider your cameras in future.’ […] X100 is about design. Even making it a couple of millimeters thicker to incorporate a touchscreen or tilt screen would make a big difference. It could change the design completely
• X-E3: ‘XE is an important series for us,’ Oishi says: ‘There are so many XE1, 2 and 2S users in the world. We are always thinking about the next model, whether that’s XT, XE or X-Pro. Obviously we can’t confirm anything at this point but we are aware there are many requests for this type of camera [see these FujiRumors Polls]

So there is hope for the X-E3… and I like it to believe we, the Fujirumors community, were able to make enough pressure on Fujifilm in all these months… as we already did with other products in the past apparently.

You can read the whole interview at dpreview here.