CineD Fujifilm Manager Interview: GFX Eterna Affordable Premium Cinema Camera and More than Just a GFX100II Rehousing

CineD had another interview with a Fujifilm manager (first interview here).

This time they talk to Yuji Igarashi-san. You can see the video above as well as a quick summary of the interview:

• Fujifilm calls it a filmcamera and not a cinema camera because of Fujifilm’s heritage
• this year Fujifilm celebrates its 90th anniversary
• Fujifilm started with film stock for cinema
• Fujifilm is in the business since a long time and still makes lots of cinema lenses, so Fujifilm is familiar with the film industry
• X-T2 was firs 4K capable camera
• Fujifilm continued to put more features in their still cameras
• then Fujifilm came with more hybrid cameras
• GFX100 II is also a hybrid camera where you can switch quickly between stills and video
• the decision to make a cinema camera was made when the large format GFX100 camera has been used for actual video production
• Fujifilm started to get lots of feedback from productions to bring a dedicated GFX cinema camera
• when asked how they are going to market it agains competitors, the Manager says that the main carachteristics and unique selling point of the GFX Eterna is the color reproduction
• another selling point are the optics, such as the GF32-90mmF3.5
• another selling point is of course the large format sensor
• Fujifilm won’t make just this camera and that’s it. Fujifilm is now committed to this product lineup, so Fujifilm will also invest in making more lenses
• you can use the newly designed lenses like the GF32-90mm, but also all other G mount lenses. There are Premista and Cabrio lenses and then there is also the PL mount adapter coming
• Pricing: if you look at GFX system, photographers shooting stills and aspiring to shoot medium format, but that was often too expensive and they had to rent it. Fujifilm brought that medium format to a more affordable price
• Fujifilm wants to achieve the same also with the GFX Eterna [admin note: meaning making it more affordable compared to competitors.]
• still a premium product, but a more “affordable premium”
• when asked about concerns that the GFX Eterna is just a rehoused GFX100 II, the manager answers: “One of the reasons why we announced this product so early is that we wanted to get feedback and make sure when we launch it it’s a proper launch so there are no quirks and so. The current GFX100II needs rigs and changes to be used for cinema production. Fujifilm wants to make the workflow as seamless as possible with the GFX Eterna. If Fujifilm would just put the GFX100II in a box, it would not take Fuji 2 or 3 years to develop the GFX Eterna. The reason it takes so long is that Fujifilm wants to make sure they are covering all the points that potential users could be concerned about.