You know what hasn't been talked about enough? The Fuji XPro4 (lol, kidding)
I was thinking about Dan Mitchell's comments of past here that (to paraphrase) the existence of really good no-lag EVF's sort of make the OVF a thing of the past. I think it's pretty clear that the existence of the really good X-E5 does put a big nail in the coffin of the Xpro4 and the other big nail is a fully matured X100 camera with IBIS.
So it begs the questions what does the Xpro4 need to be?
Short answer: Nothing that Fuji already makes. They will have to compete outside of their existing competencies.
Long answer: They were on to it with the XPro3. A luxury camera that was bold in it's ideas. But they did it with an "update" mentality. Hence the regular 'ol black Xpro3.
The X-E5 has gone upscale. It's the upgraded Xpro now. The price isn't entry level. It's virtually the same as a Nikon Z6iii. So you can't put the Xpro there or even at the Sony's 2,500 for the A7Cii. You aren't going to sell a bunch of X-T6's but in an RF form factor.
Rather, Fuji needs to do what Leica is failing to do. Provide a premium ILC camera with AF. I think Leica left a big whole in the market by dropping the CL and then coming out with the EV1.
Fuji is willing to go upmarket as we saw with the GF 100RF and put a heavy price sticker on it. Most commodity market researchers will tell you that, as the middle class is eaten up (and working pro's pick from the saturated pragmatic gig camera market), you have to go luxury.
All this is to say it's not the tech alone. The Xpro4 needs to be REALLY NICE.
Titanium? Sure, but with a solid base plate. No one wants to spend 4k on a camera and see screws everywhere. Put the screws under the leatherette.... oh, also go back to leatherette (then sell the full grain leather option for another $300 lol).
I'm not always impressed by Fuji's manufacturing tolerances and one thing I had noticed in my 3 copies of the XP3 is how much the gap varied in the titanium around the VF.
As with the Xpro1 they need to compete with Leica M users. Embrace Voigtlander's glass by collaborating with them (hell, have them manufacture one off Fuji branded lenses) and make your own M-mount AF adapter!
Give us an OIS prime lens. Give us built in memory alongside a card slot.
The question is can Fuji sell an expensive APS-C luxury camera if Leica could not. I think Fuji is far better established optically than Leica L was then. They can't expect us to get excited with the coke can sized 1.4 lenses though. When the XPro1 came out they built their lenses around that experience and there is a reason why the 35/1.4 is still loved today.
You keep saying the X-E5 is some sort of aspirational target. It has one of the worst EVFs on the market and it doesn't even have weather sealing. It has consumer-level physical controls. In no world is it some sort of X-Pro replacement, and in no world is either the X-E5 nor XP2 luxury, no matter how much y'all keep saying that. It is not remotely close to the Z6iii in build quality, robustness, or capabilities for the same price, and I doubt anyone is cross shopping the two. Are you actively smoking something?
Wow. Someone actually remembers something I posted in the past!!! :-)
Despite the periodic rumors that tweak the “X Pro 4 is coming” obsession, I really do not think one is coming. There, I said it. So it will probably come out next week. ;-)
But seriously, it is hard to imagine how it would fit into the current lineup, how the hybrid viewfinder would provide the same advantages that it was seen to offer years ago, etc. There are more reasons, but I’ll leave it there for now.
The XE5 is a camera that could evolve into what I’ve called the XE Pro in the past. It is partway there already, Things would need to be added and/or upgraded. The EVF would need to be larger and better. It would need a second card slot. It needs a full set of manual controls, à la the XT5.
But that creates some issues, too. It would not be that different from the XT5, aside from appearance. (The XT5 works very well where the XPro did the job for me in the past.) What would the value proposition of the XEPro be compared to the XT5 or its successor?
I supposed that Fujifilm could eliminate the XT and just have the XEPro in its place, with the XH reserved for top price buyers, but… the XT is a really solid product for Fuji and the XH does not ahve the full manual interface that som many of us like.
Who knows?
I don’t feel like there’s much of a potential for Fujifilm to sell a camera into the Leica market. Leica is a special case, where its sales are, in my opinion, as much about the name itself as about the quality of the cameras. Fuji doesn’t have the kind of name.
ottokbre wrote:
You know what hasn't been talked about enough? The Fuji XPro4 (lol, kidding)
I was thinking about Dan Mitchell's comments of past here that (to paraphrase) the existence of really good no-lag EVF's sort of make the OVF a thing of the past. I think it's pretty clear that the existence of the really good X-E5 does put a big nail in the coffin of the Xpro4 and the other big nail is a fully matured X100 camera with IBIS.
So it begs the questions what does the Xpro4 need to be?
Short answer: Nothing that Fuji already makes. They will have to compete outside of their existing competencies.
Long answer: They were on to it with the XPro3. A luxury camera that was bold in it's ideas. But they did it with an "update" mentality. Hence the regular 'ol black Xpro3.
The X-E5 has gone upscale. It's the upgraded Xpro now. The price isn't entry level. It's virtually the same as a Nikon Z6iii. So you can't put the Xpro there or even at the Sony's 2,500 for the A7Cii. You aren't going to sell a bunch of X-T6's but in an RF form factor.
Rather, Fuji needs to do what Leica is failing to do. Provide a premium ILC camera with AF. I think Leica left a big whole in the market by dropping the CL and then coming out with the EV1.
Fuji is willing to go upmarket as we saw with the GF 100RF and put a heavy price sticker on it. Most commodity market researchers will tell you that, as the middle class is eaten up (and working pro's pick from the saturated pragmatic gig camera market), you have to go luxury.
All this is to say it's not the tech alone. The Xpro4 needs to be REALLY NICE.
Titanium? Sure, but with a solid base plate. No one wants to spend 4k on a camera and see screws everywhere. Put the screws under the leatherette.... oh, also go back to leatherette (then sell the full grain leather option for another $300 lol).
I'm not always impressed by Fuji's manufacturing tolerances and one thing I had noticed in my 3 copies of the XP3 is how much the gap varied in the titanium around the VF.
As with the Xpro1 they need to compete with Leica M users. Embrace Voigtlander's glass by collaborating with them (hell, have them manufacture one off Fuji branded lenses) and make your own M-mount AF adapter!
Give us an OIS prime lens. Give us built in memory alongside a card slot.
The question is can Fuji sell an expensive APS-C luxury camera if Leica could not. I think Fuji is far better established optically than Leica L was then. They can't expect us to get excited with the coke can sized 1.4 lenses though. When the XPro1 came out they built their lenses around that experience and there is a reason why the 35/1.4 is still loved today....Show more →
Don't think that "luxury" will be the next big thing. Class leading AF will be. If (big if) Fuji manages to put Sony like AF into their X-E6, it will be an "X-EPro" no matter what. If Fuji can't do that (and after many years I am afraid they never will), then I don't care for their next generation of bodies.
