Fuji - the Surprise Rangefinder Hero of Photokina 2010 - aka Timing is everything

[CameraQuest]

As far as the introduction of new rangefinder products, I was surprised to see Fuji heading my own list of "Photokina 2010 Rangefinder Heroes" with its wide angle version of the film Fuji / Bessa III and its retro rangefinder styled digital Fuji X100 point n shoot.

How could Fuji become Photokina's 2010 Rangefinder Hero? Timing, Marketing, and Innovative Design.

The only two companies seriously producing for the rangefinder market, Leica and Cosina, announced and shipped their new Leica 35/1.4 ASPH and Voigtlander 75/1.8 lenses BEFORE Photokina to get their products onto dealer shelves and into customers camera bags ASAP.

True Leica announced a $26,000 special edition M9T at Photokina, but such an expensive camera will never be seriously considered for purchase by 99.99% of rangefinder shooters - nor of course was it ever designed to be.

With Leica and Cosina releasing their new RF lenses into photogs hands ASAP before Photokina, that left Fuji to step in as RF Photokina 2010 Hero.

While the new Fuji wide may have been predictable, the Fuji X100 was a great and much appreciated surprise. The over 1500 posts in this RFF thread http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95372 is just pronominal for such a short period of time. Fuji's innovative retro rangefinder styling with the X100 is very refreshing and promising.

Time will tell how the Fuji X100 concept develops into other models - perhaps with interchangeable lenses. Perhaps even more important longterm to RF fans will be the X100's design influence with other camera makers.

The rangefinder future looks interesting.

Stephen

 

[oftheherd]

Thanks for the update. I will not personally be buying the Fuji, but I have been keeping up with interest. At any point in time that I decide to get in to digital, I will consider them, especially if they move to an interchanable lens model.

 

[sevo]

The image on APs site shows a folder, but one member here states that at the show, it was NOT a folder??

The botom one is the normal folder, the two upper are the fixed lens wide...

 

[LChanyungco]

does the X100 have a rangefinder ? i thought it was auto-focus ?

 

[jsrockit]

does the X100 have a rangefinder ? i thought it was auto-focus ?

It is AF with a MF option too. It may not have a true mechanical rangefinder, but outside of that this one of the most promising rangefinder-like concepts we've seen...

 

[sevo]

" a button/level on the front of the body seems to be holding the lens panel in place. "

I bet that that "button/level" does not hold anything, but is is a front panel trigger/lock - Fuji has had that on most of their fixed lens medium format rangefinders for more than thirty years...

 

[Roger Hicks]

I bet that that "button/level" does not hold anything, but is is a front panel trigger/lock - Fuji has had that on most of their fixed lens medium format rangefinders for more than thirty years...

Go to the thread on quality in street photography and you'll see that your bet is right.

As for the X100: would it be the subject of so much awed admiration if the body were black polycarbonate? I suspect not.

It's pretty. It's what we want to see. But surely you met girls like that in your 'teens and twenties -- and didn't always fancy them when you got to know them better.

On the same stand, a few metres from the X100, Fuji were boasting about the 0.168 second shutter lag on one of their other digicams. A hundred and sixty eight milliseconds... Maybe the X100 is better than that. Or maybe not.

Cheers,

R.

 

[robklurfield]

X100:
rangefinder-like? with all due respect, it's either a rangefinder or it's not. it does look cute and it's priced well. if they make one that takes M lenses and has an actual rangefinder, then I'll get in line. the new 667 looks like a nice item, but way outside my budget. in any case, good for fuji. good for us.

 

[Paul T.]

As for the X100: would it be the subject of so much awed admiration if the body were black polycarbonate? I suspect not.

It's pretty. It's what we want to see. But surely you met girls like that in your 'teens and twenties -- and didn't always fancy them when you got to know them better.

35/2, APS-C, compact size and optical viewfinder mean a lot more than looks to most of the people who like the concept of this camera. No one's claiming it's an m9.

 

[jsrockit]

X100:
rangefinder-like? with all due respect, it's either a rangefinder or it's not. it does look cute and it's priced well. if they make one that takes M lenses and has an actual rangefinder, then I'll get in line. the new 667 looks like a nice item, but way outside my budget. in any case, good for fuji. good for us.

"my eyes are slightly out of focus; why shouldn't my images match?" At least a true rangefinder is helping you in your pursuit! 😉

 

[mathomas]

Fuji is my favorite camera company lately. I've been having a great time shooting my GW690III, and really appreciate the fact that they've released modern folders and now the 667 wide. The little X100 digital is just icing on the cake.