Fujifilm CEO Says Cameras Sell Well (if they Are Made), Increased R&D for More New Products and BLACK FRIDAY Sales Opportunity

Recently we shared the second quarter financial results of Fujifilm (in Japan the fiscal year starts in April and ends in March)

The numbers were actually good:

Imaging achievements. The sales of instant photo systems and digital cameras were strong, with revenue up 19.5% YoY to JPY219.2 billion and operating income up 85.5% to JPY49.4 billion.

But despite that, the growth was not as strong as Fujifilm hoped for.

Hence, in a Q&A session discussing the financial results, the Fujifilm CEO (Mr. Goto) and the Vice President (Mr. Higuchi) were asked about the reasons for that.

Shibano [Q]: I would like to ask President Goto about Imaging. Since President Goto took office, I believe you have often expressed your strong belief in the potentials of Imaging. In fact, the strong performance of H1 of the fiscal year indicates this, but the operating income for H1 was JPY49.4 billion, and even though Q4 is usually weak, there is Q3, so H2 of the fiscal year, which includes the sales season, is expected to see a 387% decrease, or even a 17% decrease YoY, which is a little questionable. I would like to ask again if there is any specific reason for such a decline, worse than the previous year, in H2. This is the point what I would like to reconfirm.

Higuchi [A]: Regarding H2 of last year, we closed our U.S. plant in H2 of last year, and there was a one-time profit. One reason is that we don’t have it in this term. Another is that we have increased development costs for new products in H2 in order to continue to introduce new products without interruption, and we have also increased marketing expenses and marketing investment.

Goto [A]: I will continue with my answer. Now, we are looking at Black Friday toward December, the biggest sales season in the U.S. at the end of November, and the purchasing situation, or rather the movement, is on par with the previous year, but the voice from the person in charge is that inflation in the U.S. is high. We have heard that it is not clear whether it will be as good as the previous year. However, in fact, given the tight demand for INSTAX film and the fact that cameras are selling well if they are made, I believe that there is room for a bounce upward, although we are taking a firm stance now. Is that all right?

Good thing first: one reason why the profit was not as strong as hoped, was that Fujifilm has allocated lots of resources to increase development and marketing expenses in order to assure “to continue to introduce new products without interruption“.

Of course the managers talk about R&D money for Instax as well as digital cameras. But it’s great to hear that overall they keep investing more money to push development.

Also worth to note is the comment of Fujifilm CEO Mr. Goto, who says that “cameras are selling well if they are made“. And this is probably Fujifilm’s biggest issue so far, with lots of cameras out of stock and in many cases even a complete suspension of camera sales in certain countries until who knows when.

The CEO says the hope is to “bounce back” thanks to Black Friday sales, although inflation is still high and it is not sure if the holiday season will run as good as last year.

And in this regard, here are the current deals you find on X/GFX gear that should help Fujifilm to show up with better figures by the end of the fiscal year.

GFX Gear

X Cameras

X Lenses

Fujifilm Q&A here

This is How Your Camera Lens is Made from Start to Finish – Most Detailed (and Best) Video

Over the years, we have seen lots of videos showing us the process of manufacturing cameras and lenses.

And while they all gave an interesting insight in the manufacturing process, they all just gave us a nice, but short look into it.

The video today is different.

In this video shared on the Japanese channel Process X, we enter inside one of the best lens manufacturing companies, Sigma, and we get an almost 25 minutes non stop and uninterrupted look into the art of crafting lenses.

We can see parts and details of the manufacturing process that we have never seen in other videos before.

The video comes with English subtitles. But there is no talk, just 100% video from inside the factory with short descriptions about what they are showing to give the images a proper context.

It really gives us an idea on how much work and care for the details goes into the manufacturing of a every single lens.

This is the factory where also the following Fujifilm X mount AF lenses are made:

Third Party X Mount Autofocus Lenses Ranked by Popularity (among FR readers)

Back in July I asked which autofocus lenses do you own.

It was a huge survey that included all XF/XC lenses as well as all autofocus lenses currently available for X mount for a total of 65 lenses.

Now, the first 27 position are controlled by Fujinon lenses.

We have to go to the 28th position to find the first third party autofocus lens.

Down below I will share list of third party lenses ranked by popularity among FujiRumors readers.

My Personal Gear

Third Party AF Lens Popularity

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

BRIGHTIN STAR Large Aperture Autofocus Lens Coming Soon

Xingyao Optics announced on their Chinese social media that the will launch a Brightin Star large aperture autofocus lens soon.

Given the trend we see from Chinese manufacturers (see below), it is safe to assume that also Brightin Star will offer an X mount version of this lens.

Brightin Star lenses are sold at Amazon here.

via Weibo

Full List of Third Party AF X Mount Lenses
— Available, Coming Soon, Rumored —

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Fujifilm X Autofocus Lenses Reviews Roundup

Today we are going to share reviews about all kind of autofocus lenses for the Fujifilm X system, from Fujinon to third party lenses.

The lenses we will cover in this roundup are:

If there is any lens you are interested in listed above, then feel free to check out the review about it below.

Review Roundup

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Fujifilm BLACK FRIDAY Starts NOW with Massive Rebates on X and GFX Cameras and Lenses

Before we start with the black Friday Fujifilm deals, maybe some of you will remember Michal Krause.

He is the fellow FR-reader who wrote one of the most successful and appreciated guest posts here on FujiRumors (with LOTS of great images!)

Well, Michal has launched the English version of his book: Capture One Effectively – The Complete Guide to Capture One Pro 23.

You can read more details about the ebook at this page here.

Black Friday

Fujifilm has currently a huge black Friday sale running in USA.

You can check out the full list of deals at B&H here.

The deals include rebates on the X-H2 and X-H2S and lots of lenses.

Probably on their lowest price ever the XF50mmF1.0, the XF150-600mm, the XF200mmF2 as well as other lenses.

X Cameras

BONUS OFFER: Purchase a qualifying X Series body (X-H2, X-H2S, X-S10) or kit product along with a LEXAR 2000X 256GB SD Card and receive $100 off the combined purchase price!

X Lenses

GFX Gear

7Artisans Autofocus Lenses for Fujifilm X now Tested by Photographers

FujiRumors already told 2 years ago that 7Artisans started to work on autofocus lenses for Fujfiilm X.

Well, it looks like the development is finally done and those 7Artisans AF lenses are already out for testing, according to reports shared at the Chinese social media account on Weibo 独立摄影师联合会 here.

Full List of Third Party AF X Mount Lenses
— Available, Coming Soon, Rumored —

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 DC DN Contemporary Images and Specs Leaked

FujiRumors already broke the rumor that Sigma would announce the Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 DC DN Contemporary on October 5th.

Now the first images and specs of the Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 DC DN Contemporary have leaked.

Its strongest competitor will be the Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8.

If we look at the specs of the Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8, we can see that the Sigma is a bit smaller and lighter.

  • Lens construction: 13 elements in 10 groups (3 FLD, 1 SLD and 4 aspherical elements)
  • Coverage angle: 109.7°-76.5° (APS-C)
  • Number of diaphragm blades: 7 (rounded diaphragm)
  • Minimum aperture: F22
  • Minimum focus distance: 11.6 (W) -19.1 (T) cm
  • Maximum magnification ratio: 1:4 (W) – 1:6.9 (T)
  • Filter size: φ67mm
  • Dimensions (maximum diameter x length): φ72.2 mm × 62.0 mm.
  • Weight: 260g / 9.2oz.

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Sigma X Mount lenses

BREAKING: Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 DC DN Contemporary Lens for Fujifilm X Mount Coming October 5th

Sigma is having a launch event on October 5th.

The awesome guys at SonyAlphaRumors have already leaked the information that there will be the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 FE coming on that day.

But speaking of awesome guys, also our sources would like to add an interesting bit of information ;).

In fact, according to our sources (thanks!!!), Sigma will also launch the Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 DC DN Contemporary on October 5th.

In the Sigma world, DC denotes lenses designed for APS-C.

Its strongest competitor will be the Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8.

And I have an idea how Sigma could beat the Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8: put an aperture ring on the Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 DC DN and you’ll win the hearts of us Fujifilm X shooters ;). So, let’s hope they’ll do that.

NOTE: how2fly informed us that it won’t have an aperture ring

First Images of TTArtisan 35mm f/1.8 and 56mm f/1.8 Autofocus Lenses for X mount

We already told you that TTArtisan will soon launch the following two autofocus lenses for Fujifilm X Mount.

  • TTArtisan 35mm f/1.8 AF
  • TTArtisan 56mm f/1.8 AF

The TTArtisan AF 35mm f/1.8 will be released on October 6 according to the official Chinese weibo page of TTArtisan here as well as the Japanese website asobinet.

  • TTArtisan AF 35mm F1.8 E/X/Z
    ・890 yuan [converted to 122 USD] ・October 6th
  • TTArtisan AF 56mm F1.8 E/X/Z
    ・Price undetermined
    ・Coming soon

Also the first images now appeared and I am afraid I can’t see an aperture ring on it.

Full List of Third Party AF X Mount Lenses
— Available, Coming Soon, Rumored —

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **