Wow… now that’s an ambitious goal.

Fujifilm just published their new medium-term management plan, called VISION2019, covering a three year period from the fiscal year ending March 2018 (FY2018/3) to the fiscal year ending March 2020 (FY2020/3.).

And regarding their imaging division they write:

• In digital cameras, work toward capturing No.1 market share in the premium mirrorless camera market, promoting the X Series that continues to evolve with outstanding image quality, fast speed and mobility, alongside the medium-format GFX Series that uses a large sensor, 1.7 times bigger than that of full-frame cameras, to pursue the pinnacle of image quality.
• Reinforce the lineup of its highly reputable interchangeable lenses to continue to achieve increased revenues and profits in the mirrorless system business as a whole.
• Broaden the lens business by expanding the lineup of 4K broadcast lenses, launched ahead of the rest of the world, as well as the lineup of lenses for the fast-growing new video production market, including online video.
• With regard to the “INSTAX” instant camera and film, expand the sales of existing products and promote its square-format products for greater proliferation. Expand printing service solutions with added convenience, e.g. incorporating AI, to boost printing demand from smartphones to maintain the upward trend in profits.
• FY2020/3 targets: 380 billion yen in revenues, 45 billion yen in operating income and 11.8% in operating income ratio

The competition is obviously very strong, especially from Sony, who are dominating, as we can also see from the AmazonUS mirrorless bestseller charts. But it’s good to see Fujifilm so confident about their present and future products, such as the sensor stabilizied Fujifilm X-T2S and of course the Fujifilm GFX 100S.

And you know what would sound really PREMIUM, too? That XF33mmF1.0!

Now, I want you to get quickly to the comments down below, so I won’t copy & paste the entire long press release here on FujiRumors. But if you want to read more, also about the medical, documents & co solutions and goals, check out the Fujifilm page here.

Hey X-folks…

I really hope you had (and are still having) a fantastic summer.

I hope you could travel, see new cities, taste new food, climb some mountains, play with the waves in the sea, photograph something that inspired you… and especially I hope you had time for your families, friends… and for yourself.

But also during this summer, FujiRumors worked restlessly on the rumors and news… and it was so busy, that you might have missed a few rumors and news during your summer break.

So I thought it could be useful to give you guys an overview of what happened over the summer in the Fuji World… also in the hope this can somehow mitigate your pain for going back at work… at least a bit… because AWESOME FUJI TIMES are coming :)

have a GREAT Sunday,
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BIG DAY: Fujikina Announcements on September 7

• Big announcement day on September 7, at Fujikina! Fujifilm X-E3, XF80mm Macro, GF45mm, new lens roadmap, firmware udaptes…

Some of the Rumors shared in July / August

• Fujifilm Lens Roadmap Updates to be Announced Soon – rumor here
• Fujifilm Firmware Update Will Bring Improved AF-Tracking of X-E3 also to Other X-series Cameras – rumor here
• Fujifilm X-E3 Will have Improved AF-Tracking… Even Better than Fujifilm X-T2 – rumor here
• Fujifilm Has Outsourced Development of X-A Line. R&D Needed for Fujifilm GFX – rumor here
• Fujifilm Scrapped the Ultimate X Series Camera… Focus on Fujifilm X-T2S (IBIS Camera) – rumor here
• Major Fujifilm X-Pro2 Kaizen Firmware Update Will Add 4K Video and More – rumor here
• New Fujifilm X-E3 Image Shows Lack of Pop-Up Flash – rumor here
• Fujifilm XF 200mm F2 Lens Rumors Confirmed – rumor here
• Fujifilm X-E3 will Shoot 4K Video – rumor here
• LEAKED: Fujifilm X-E3 First Real Life Images !!! – rumor here
• Fujinon XF 80mm F2.8 OIS WR Macro to be Released in October – rumor here
• Fujifilm X-E3 will Have the Focus Joystick – rumor here
• Fujifilm X-T2S will have IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization) – rumor here
• Don’t Worry, Fujifilm X-T2S In Body Image Stabilization (IBIS) will Work with ALL Fujinon X-Mount Lenses – rumor here
• Fujifilm X-E3 Will Have Bluetooth – rumor here
• Fujifilm X-T2 Successor to be Called Fujifilm X-T2S – rumor here
• Fujifilm X-E3: No Tilt Screen (Poll – Dealbreaker?) – rumor here
• Fujinon GF 80mm F1.4 for Fujifilm GFX in 2018 – rumor here

Some General News shared in July / August

• Firmware Updates for Fujifilm GFX 50S, X-Pro2, X-T2, X-T20 and X100F Available – news here
• Fujifilm GFX 50S Vs. Nikon D850 Estimated Dynamic Range Comparison – news here
• Peak Design Launches Re-designed Leash and Cuff Straps – news here
• New Picktorial X-Pack Adds Fujifilm Film Simulation Profiles  – news here
• Aurora HDR 2018 is Coming to Windows and Mac  – news here
• Fujifilm X-T20 and Fujifilm Instax Square SQ10 Win EISA AWARDS – news here
• Fujifilm Publishes 1st Quarter Financial Results (FY2018/3) – Strong Fujifilm GFX 50s Sales and Healthy Imaging Solutions – news here
• Cascable 3.0 Remote Control App adds Fujifilm Support, Geotagging and More! – news here
• Fujifilm MK Cine Lenses: X-Mount Version Confirmed for Late 2017, Feedback and Canadian Hands On Demo (Aug. 17) – news here
• Fujifilm Manager Theo Georghiades Inside View on Fujifilm’s History : “We Were Losing Connection to PROs”… and the Way to the X-series – news here
• Adobe Fixes Fujifilm GFX 50s Bug in Camera RAW 9.12 and Lightroom CC 2015.12/6.11 + adds WCL/TCL Ver. 2 Support – news here
• Fujifilm X-T1 (and X-T10) Officially Discontinued… An Emotional Farewell to the Camera that Changed Fujifilm’s Future – news here

FLASH News & Rumors

• Godox Flash has done GREAT things for Fuji X and G users. Google for Godox on FujiRumors, to get quick access to all the news, from first reports of Damien Lovegrove, new firmware udpates that bring HSS support to more Fuji cameras or Cross Brand HSS and TTL, dedicated Godox Roundups, a full review of the Godox TT350F and a lot more
• Another great option: Cactus triggers! This firmware update added support for Metz M400 for Fujifilm, TTL Group Metering, TTL Ratio and More. Cactus also added, via firmware update, X-TTL Cross-Brand TTL for Fujifilm cameras. Google for Cactus on FujiRumors to find out more.
• Elinchrom to Release a Fujifilm Specific HS trigger at the End of 2017 (Q4)… says a new source – read here
• Metz WT-1 Trigger Coming also for Fujifilm – read here
• Between all the good news, there is also a bad one: Serene Automation (Roboshoot triggers for Fuji cameras) has “temporarily suspended operations.”. More here.

Ok guys, if you ever wanted to know when your Fujifilm camera has been manufactured, here is a simple way to find it out :)

All you have to do is to check out the first two figures of your serial number.

So, as you can see above, my good old (and now discontinued) Fujifilm X-T1 serial number starts with “42“.

This means that my Fujifilm X-T1 has been made in 2014, in quarter 2.

To check if this is correct, I opened a random image of mine (SOOC or RAW) with the Graphic Converter EXIF tool. Here is what it shows me: 2014:06:18… or 18th of June, 2014. So indeed, quartal 2 of 2014.

So if your serial number starts with, let’s say, 71, it means your camera has been manufactured in 2017, quarter 1.

UPDATE: Thanks to the FR-community, we have solved the riddle. As from Fuji’s page in Russian here (google translated)

1st digit = Year:
1 = 2011, 2 = 2012, …

2st digit/letter = Quarter:
I quarter = 1, 5, A, S, E, J, N
II quarter = 2, 6, B, T, F, K, P
III quarter = 3, 7, C, U, G, L, Q
IV quarter = 4, 8, D, W, H, M, R

Examples of determining the year and quarter of production:

Serial number 1Txxxxxx – the first position of the number – the number “1” means 2011, the second position of the number – “T” – means the 2nd quarter, accordingly the product was produced from April to June 2011;

Serial number 03xxxxxx – the first position of the number – the number “0” means 2010, the second position of the number – “3” – means the 3rd quarter, accordingly the product was produced from July to September 2010.

The production date itself is taken as the last day of the production quarter. Ie, if the camera is produced in the third quarter, the warranty period will be counted from September 30.

And don’t forget to join our facebook groups:

• Fujifilm X-T User Group
• Fujifilm X-Pro User Group
• Fujifilm X-E User Group
• Fujifilm X100 User Group
• Fujifilm GFX Group
• Fujifilm X100F Group
• Fujifilm X-T2S (IBIS camera) Group

have a GREAT day,
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P.S.: and since some of you might ask about it in the comments… the wooden grip on my X-T1 is made by JBcamera Designs. Check it out on AmazonUS here and at JBcameradesigns.

The Endless Tale of the Organic Sensor

Do you remember when back in June 2013 Fujifilm and Panasonic announced together the development of the organic sensor? If not, then check out below all the articles we shared here on FujiRumors about the organic sensor in last 4 years.

The last thing I’ve heard from sources about it (in March 2016), was that they had issues with too much heat generated by the sensor.

I have still no word about when (or if) the organic sensor will (if ever) find its way into actual digital cameras. For sure they are having more problems than they expected, since in June 2013 X-guru Rico Pfirstinger expected it to be read for mass production within 2015… and it we still have no organic sensor.

And despite delays and issues, both, Panasonic and Fujifilm, continued to publish press-releases about the organic sensor development.

The last one comes from Panasonic and has been published on May 2017. It’s written completely in Japanese, except for the English part I’ll share here on FR:

“We are trying to effectively offer greater value to customers and developing technology to dramatically enhance performance and functions utilizing the structural feature of organic photoconductive film (OPF) image sensors. In these sensors, the photoelectric conversion part and signal processing circuits are vertically stacked and they can be designed independently. We have proposed and developed a dual-sensitivity pixel utilizing this unique feature of the OPF CMOS image sensor. It realizes a simultaneous wide-dynamic-range image capture of over 120 dB without time distortion. Photoelectric-conversion-controlled global shutter technology has also been developed by only modulating the voltage applied to OPF. It has improved the tradeoff performance and realized a high-saturation signal up to 10 times larger than the conventional image sensors. These technologies enable high-speed, high-precision imaging without time distortion in high-contrast scenes, and will be applied to new imaging and sensing devices.”

The FR-reader, who spotted (and shared with us – thanks a lot) also reminds us what Image Sensor World (via 43rumors) said about this paper:

“[Panasonic is] describing, essentially, a way to control sensitivity on per pixel basis. It’s quite similar to the sensor presented at ISSCC 2017, but without the IR sensitivity.”

You can read the entire (Japanese) publication “Development of Simultaneous-Capture Wide-dynamic-range Technology and Global Shutter Technology for Organic Photoconductive Film Image Sensor” in this PDF here.

And now, as promised, all the episodes of the long organic sensor story :) – just click READ MORE