Fujifilm launched some of the best mirrorless cameras of 2022, including the photo-centric Fujifilm X-T5 and video powerhouses like the Fujifilm X-H2 and X-H2S. But it clearly isn't ready to sit back and admire those launches as it's announced that there'll be another X Summit event in April 2023.
Historically, Fujifilm's X Summits are reserved for significant new product announcements. Last year there were two launch events and the one in May 2022 treated us to the new Fujifilm X-H2 with its all-new, class-leading 40MP APS-C sensor. Yet this event appears to have caught even the most dedicated rumors sites, including Fuji Rumors, off-guard.
We always get excited by the thought of new Fujifilm camera gear and have touted a new Fujifilm X-T40 and Fujifilm X-Pro 4 in our cameras to look out for in 2023. Now the summit announcement has us really dreaming of what is to come from Fujifilm – including the probable and the more wacky. Let's start with the most credible rumor...
1. Fujifilm X-S20
According to Fuji Rumors, the next Fujifilm camera we are going to see is the Fujifilm X-S20. Such a camera would be set to succeed the Fujifilm X-S10, a mid-range mirrorless camera designed with photo and video in mind that we rate very highly.
At launch, the X-S10 was positioned below the Fujifilm X-T4, boasting much of the same tech but in a smaller and cheaper body ($999 / £949 / AU$1,699, body only). So what could we see in this latest iteration? Well, if the X-S10 borrows a lot of its tech from the X-T4, then logically an X-S20 would borrow from the Fujifilm X-T5, which has already succeeded the X-T4.
We can reasonably expect the new X-Trans CMOS 5 HR sensor to feature, meaning a bump in resolution from 26MP to a class-leading 40MP. There could also be the latest X-Processor 5, which is claimed to be twice the speed of the previous gen.
We might even get 6.2K video up to 30p and 4k 10-bit 4:2:2 internal video. If the launch price remains at a similar level to its predecessor, the rumored X-S20 could be one hell of a deal. Whether it arrives at the X Summit or sometime before then remains to be seen.
2. A new GFX camera with a stacked sensor
What do we want? A new GFX with stacked sensor. When do we want it? In a little bit once the cost of living crisis has eased and there’s been time to sell a kidney. Joking aside, Fujifilm debuted a stacked sensor in the Fujifilm X-H2S last year and it’s left us wondering where we can expect one next.
A stacked sensor is proving one of the most important recent innovations in camera tech, enabling ultra-fast read-out speeds, quick burst modes and a blackout-free viewfinder. Only the highest-performing high-end cameras like the Nikon Z9, Canon EOS R3 and Sony A1 have one, and it’s a design that doesn’t come cheap.
Perhaps we might see a new medium-format camera like a Fujifilm GFX100S II equipped with a stacked sensor, bringing unrivaled performance for medium format. While Fujifilm is at it, we’d love the handling of any new GFX camera to level-up with the Hasselblad X System by way of a design overhaul. Currently they feel a bit…blocky.
3. Pocket happy: a new app
It’s no secret - many existing Fujifilm users don’t like the handling of the mobile ‘Camera remote’ app. In fact, when we wrote in 2022 about a rumored update of this app, the average review rating of its current version was 1.7 stars in the Google Play store and only 1.4 stars on the Apple's App Store.
And while it might not be the most exciting of announcements, a better-functioning app would certainly be one of the most welcome for existing Fujfilm photographers affected by complaints like unreliable connectivity, sluggish performance, and limited image format support. (We should point out these issues are not everyone’s experience.)
Fujifilm did just launch a new app, but the Instax Mini Link for Nintendo Switch app was not the app photographers were hoping for. Will we see an update of the Camera Remote app or an entirely new app? Either way, it’s high on the wishlist for connected photographers.
4. Fujifilm X-Pro 4
Three years since the Fujifilm X-Pro 3 and we’re about due for an update (as we are with the X100 series of cameras for what would be a Fujifilm X100 VI).
Usually we look for the latest tech in the latest generation of cameras – an X-Pro 4 should have the 40MP sensor debuted in the X-H2, as well as a faster processor, but when it comes to the X-Pro line we think first about bold design choices.
The X-Pro 3 polarised opinion with its ‘hidden’ LCD screen design designed to encourage using its hybrid viewfinder more. A charming secondary LCD displays a graphic of the film simulation mode you’re using (like the rear window in a film camera), and the screen can fold out for waist level viewing if you really want it. Overall, X-Pro cameras have proved the place to experiment, so more of the quirky designs, please, Fujifilm.
5. A new lens roadmap: tilt shift on the horizon
Fujifilm historically launches around five new lenses every year and is usually transparent with what lenses we can expect in the coming year. So what does the current lens roadmap point to?
For medium-format photographers things look particularly interesting. There is a fast aperture prime lens in the shape of a GF 55mm f/1.7. That’s a standard focal length lens no doubt enticing portrait photographers in particular.
Things get even more interesting in two GF tilt-shift lenses, the GF110mm f/5.6 and GF 30mm f/5.5. Development of these lenses was announced at the summit in September 2022 and brings a fresh perspective to the GF lens range with a lens design type especially useful for photographing architecture.
Matters look a little quieter for X-series photographers, though, with what appears to be a single ultra-wide XF lens in the pipeline, the XF 8mm f/3.5.
6. The long shot: new Fujifilm film cameras
Pentax recently announced that it will produce film cameras once more. There’s a Gen Z wave to all things analogue with cameras like the Kodak Ektar H35. Surely one of the world’s most prolific film stock makers Fujifilm couldn’t return to its roots too, could it?
Well, we’d love to see what a Fujifilm camera for analogue photography would look like in 2023. Hey, its digital cameras already simulate film, and the X-series design largely looks the part already, too. As we’ve said, the X-Pro 3 gave us the biggest nod to film in a digital camera, so a film camera could seamlessly fit in the range.
Fujfilm makes film across multiple formats; Instant, 35mm (full-frame), 120 (medium-format) and 5x4 (large format), so which format could a new Fujifilm camera be? Lens format needs to be considered. Can you imagine placing a roll of Fujifilm Velvia 50 or Neopan Acros 100 in an actual new Fujifilm film camera? We can, but perhaps we're just dreaming.
