What we know: Fuji purchases its APS-C sensors from Sony.
What is rumored: There is a special agreement between Sony and Fuji (& other manufacturers), that allows Fuji to use the latest Sony sensor only 6 months after Sony itself implemented it in one of its cameras. Sure, the “6 months sensor embargo clause” is “just” a rumor, no matter how reliable the source are that shared the rumor. In this particular case I investigated the rumor together with Andrea of SAR. We both agreed that there is such a clause in the contract.

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Ok, you’ve read it on SonyAlphaRumors… Sony has delayed the release of the A7000 to February! So will the X-PRO2 be delayed, too?

Well, since some people seriously claim it’s in my interested to spread bad news so that I can make more traffic (weird, isn’t it?), today I’m happy to share a good news rumor with you (and I’m ready for the shitstorm from the same folks, who will now claim I spread good news just to make more traffic ;) ). And here it is:

The source, who was right in the past and told us here the X-PRO2 will come in January, confirms the rumor. And now even another anonymous source, who uses a nick name and was right in the past (thanks), confirms: X-PRO2 will come in January.

So what… is the 6 months sensor embargo agreement just a rumor-phantasy? I don’t think so. Here some possibilities:

1) the agreements between Sony & Fuji have changed in the meantime
2) as a FR-reader suggested to me via email, “Fuji and Sony probably negotiated a “What if” clause, covering some of the contingencies if Sony failed to deliver on time. I have to believe that the Fuji lawyers were sharp enough to demand that everything wouldn’t be business as usual if Sony breached.”
3) the X-PRO2 will feature an older Sony sensor
4) the X-PRO2 will feature a Non-Sony sensor
5) After years of X-PRO2 (and X-PRO1S) rumor hunting, I’m now in a state of delirium and spread random rumors about it.

Sure, still take the grain of salt… at least until a trusted source can confirm that the X-PRO2 will come in January! But I’m carefully optimistic, that it will come in January.

stay tuned,
Fuji X Forum, Facebook, Google+, RSS-feed and Twitter

According to a source, who was right in the past (thanks!), the Fujifilm X-PRO2 will come in January.

– – – End of the rumor – – –

There is the CES from the 6^th to 9^th of January. So maybe Fujifilm will show the X-PRO2 there. Or maybe there will be a separate announcement, like it was for the X-T1, which skipped the CES and was announced just a few weeks later at the end of January.

Anyway, we now have at least a first important hint, that the X-PRO2 will see the light exactly 4 years after the X-PRO1.

But this rumor makes me think… where is the Sony A7000 with its new APS-C sensor? SAR says it will come within a month. So. if the agreements between Sony and Fuji did not change, then Fuji has to wait about half a year before implementing the Sony A7000 sensor (with Fuji’s X-Trans CFA array) in the X-PRO2. In this case, the X-PRO2 could be announced in January, but not be available before mid March or mid April.

Or wait…. maybe… maybe the X-PRO2 will feature another sensor?

Take the usual grain of salt, but yes… it seems that we could pretty soon be relieved of a long wait and years of X-PRO2 rumor hunting could be over in Janaury… lucky me!

I admit I’m pretty exhausted… but with the power of the coffee I’ll keep it up with the rumor work until the end… burn out or not ;) .

Every help I can get from you out there is highly appreciated. You can send me emails at fujirumor@gmail.com (also using a fake email) or 100% anonymously via rumor box (but please use a nick-name, so that I can eventually recognize you if you share rumors in future)

Now where did I put my coffee? I have to fire off some emails!

have a GREAT day,
Fuji X Forum, Facebook, Google+, RSS-feed and Twitter

Rumored Specs List (TS= trusted source / NeS =New Source / AS = Anonymous Source / SRP = source who was right in the past / OS = other sites)

– APS-C sensor (TS + AS + AS)
– 24MP sensor (AS) – More than 16MP (AS)
– 1/8000 of a second mechanical shutter speed (TS)
– Sync Speed faster than 1/180^th (SRP)
– about the same size of current X-PRO1 (NeS)
– dual SD card slot (NeS)
– coming late 2015 (TS + AS)
– delayed to 2016 (TS)
– coming in January 2016 (SRP)
– weather sealed (TS)
– Two X-PRO2 version, one 24MP APS-C and one 25-27 MP ASP-X, compatible with XF/XC lenses (OS)
– coming September / October (OS + OS)
– tilt screen (AS)
– WiFi (AS)
– Non organic ASP-C X-Trans sensor (OS)
– Price about 20% to 30% more expensive than the X-T1 (AS)
– 4K video (TS + NeS)
– Faster Processor EXR III (TS)
– smaller than X-PRO1 (OS)

Back in February, dslrmagazine published an interesting interview with Fuji Managers.

In this interview the manager didn’t say it expressidly, but DSLRmagazine tired to read ““between the lines” of his statements,” and made his guess: the X-PRO2 will have the elegance and great operability of the Leica CL and it will be smaller than the actual X-PRO1.

I’ve launched a Poll, asking if you would like the X-PRO2 to keep the same size of the X-PRO1, or if it should be smaller.

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And now the rumor: a new source told me, that the X-PRO2 will not really be smaller than the X-PRO1. Maybe just slightly smaller, but in fact the size will remain pretty much the same. So, no real downsizing for the X-PRO2 compared to the X-PRO1.

Would this be a good news for you? Tell us in the comments what you think about it.

have a GREAT day,
Fuji X Forum, Facebook, Google+, RSS-feed and Twitter

Rumored Specs List (TS= trusted source / NeS =New Source / AS = Anonymous Source / SRP = source who was right in the past / OS = other sites)

– APS-C sensor (TS + AS + AS)
– 24MP sensor (AS) – More than 16MP (AS)
– 1/8000 of a second mechanical shutter speed (TS)
– Sync Speed faster than 1/180^th (SRP)
– about the same size of current X-PRO1 (NeS)
– dual SD card slot (NeS)
– coming late 2015 (TS + AS)
– weather sealed (TS)
– Two X-PRO2 version, one 24MP APS-C and one 25-27 MP ASP-X, compatible with XF/XC lenses (OS)
– coming September / October (OS + OS)
– Comin in 2016 (TS)
– tilt screen (AS)
– WiFi (AS)
– Non organic ASP-C X-Trans sensor (OS)
– Price about 20% to 30% more expensive than the X-T1 (AS)
– 4K video (TS + NeS)
– Faster Processor EXR III (TS)
– smaller than X-PRO1 (OS)

PREFACE

1) Current APS-C Fuji cameras feature a Sony sensor (with special Fuji X-Trans design).
2) Fuji can use the latest generation of Sony sensors only about half a year after Sony itself implemented it in one of their cameras.
3) Therefore, any Sony A7000 sensor rumor could potentially be interesting also for the X-PRO2
4) No rumor until now says, that Fuji is going to use the Sony A7000 sensor for their X-PRO2

The Rumor

Ok, then let’s talk about the rumor SonyAlphaRumors just shared. According to the rumor of SAR, the Sony A6000 successor will hit the market soon…. very soon, maybe on the first half of September.

And here are the sensor specs:

– Best in class low light performance (backlit sensor and RGBW pixel array)
– internal 4k video recording with full sensor readout in 60fps
– extremly fast autofocus system

There is a Sony press-release of 2012 that explains how the RGBW Coding works.

The built-in “RGBW Coding” function which adds W (White) pixels to the conventional range of RGB (Red-Green-Blue) pixels has realized higher sensitivity, enabling high-quality shooting with low noise even in dark indoor or night settings. While the addition of W (White) pixels improves sensitivity, it has the problem of degrading image quality. However, Sony’s own device technology and signal processing realizes superior sensitivity without hurting image quality.

Also a Fuji patent of 2012 shows a sensor with enlarged green and  white pixels (see here). So Fujifilm at least investigated the possibility to make it. If it will become true soon, we will see.

CONCLUSION

– If it’s true, that the X-PRO2 will feature the same sensor of the A7000 (just with special X-Trans array)
– If it’s true, that Fuji has to wait about half a year before being able to use that sensor
– If it’s true that the A7000 will be announced early September

then this means that the Fuji X-PRO2 could hit the market around February/March.

stay tuned,
Fuji X Forum, Facebook, Google+, RSS-feed and Twitter

A New Source told me, that the X100T successor will have the same sensor of the Fujifilm X-PRO2 (which is rumored to feature an APS-C sensor).

So, no switch to a Full Frame sensor for the X100 line, at least not with the X100T successor. Some rumors shared in the past (by other sites), suggested a Fuji X200 with a FF sensor, and I believe that they even might have been right at the time when they were shared. But, if the New Source is right, Fujifilm dropped those plans and the competitor of the Leica Q and Sony RX1 will sport the next generation of Fujifilm’s APS-C sensor!

Sure, it would have been relatively uncomplicated for Fujifilm to switch from APS-C to FF with their fixed lens camera line (no need to launch a whole new series of lenses). But it seems that Fujifilm is firmly convinced of the virtues of the upcoming X-PRO2 sensor.

And indeed, the rumored sensor specs look very promising and exciting: phase detection pixels all over the frame, 24MP ASP-C sensor, X-Trans III, back-illuminated Sensor, maybe even native on sensor HDR for a higher dynamic range than any camera of the FF SonyA7 line… sounds good ;)

Ok, this new rumor marks the beginning of a probably very long X100T successor rumor story… and here is Chapter 1 of the rumored specs list:

Fuji X100T successor rumored specs
– same sensor of X-PRO2

And remember: stay tuned on FR to get the news & rumors for first – Fuji X Forum, Facebook, Google+, RSS-feed + Twitter

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Ok, for now it’s “just” a rumor… but a pretty exciting one ;) .

According to SonyAlphaRumors here, the Sony A7000 (and therefore maybe also the Fuji X-PRO2) could be the first mirrorless cameras of the world featuring a native “on sensor HDR”.

SAR says that “both, stills and video are capable of 15.5 stops of dynamic range!”

15.5 stops!!! That’s more than any Sony Full Frame A7 series camera! In fact, DxO calculates the following DR:

– Sony A7s: 13.2 f-stops
– Sony A7: 14.2 f-stops
– Sony A7r: 14.1 f-stops

– X-Trans 1 (X-Pro1/X-E1)  has about 9.5 f-stops – source
– X-Trans 2 (X-T1, X-E2 & Co) has about 13 f-stops according to measurments of Jordan (Admiringlight) and also imaging-resource, which puts it slightly ahead of the A6000.

If the rumor is right, then this feature would make the new APS-C sensor generation even more advanced than the latest Full Frame sensor of the brand new Sony A7rII.

And I’m curious to see if the special X-Trans CFA will give us even more than the rumored 15.5 f-stops of the A7000.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

According to SAR, a similar technology is already used in the Xperia Z smartphone for video recording. Sony describes it here:

HDR for VIDEO: To achieve true HDR video recording, the advanced Exmor RS camera sensor in Xperia Z changes the exposure every two lines of pixels. This creates a spatially varying exposure (SVE) array image, which is then used to make an image that is perfectly exposed in both dark and light areas. To simplify the concept, for each frame the camera shoots one picture with two different exposure levels at the same time, one light and one dark. Then, an intelligent software algorithm is used to combine (synthesize) the two shots into one picture, pixel by pixel. This allows you to see the details of both the dark and the bright parts of the picture.

And for Stills? Maybe it works as described in this Sony Patent here, that shows a sensor, where every pixel is exposed differently. So, the pixels in a dark area would become “long exposure pixels” and those in bright areas “short exposure pixels”. But the rumor published on SAR does not specify if it works this way.

In the past, Fuji used the EXR sensor (which can be found in the X-S1 and X10) to expand dynamic range. But in the battle between EXR and X-TRANS, Fuji went for the latter one.

Fuji currently offers the efficient DR expansion feature (DR200 = 1 stop underexposure / DR400 = 2 stops underexposure). The extra Dynamic Range is stored into the RAW files and allows you to recover a lot of highlight detail in post.

It’s time to update 2 of the 3 polls launched after my Sony A7000 sensor specs rumor of last week.

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Push the READ MORE button to read why any Sony A7000 sensor rumor is potentially interesting also for Fuji X-shooters