Quo Vadis Fujifilm ? 27 December 2021

 

Fujifilm is a multinational conglomerate which is involved in diverse business enterprises including optics, lenses, film, printing, office machines, biotech, chemicals and much else.

This post refers mainly to Fujifilm’s camera business.

Fuji Photo Film Co was founded in 1934. The corporation made Fujica brand 35mm film cameras in the period 1948-1985. Many of these cameras looked very much like and functioned very much the same as contemporaneous models from Canon, Nikon , Asahi Pentax and others.

They all used the same 35mm size film most of which was made by Fuji or Kodak.

Over the years I have owned and used several Fujifilm cameras starting with two models which took medium format rollfilm. These were a  GW690 Pro with fixed lens and a GA 645 Zi with an unusual portrait orientation film gate.  In the digital era I have used an X-T1 and owned an X10 compact and an  X-100V compact.  I found each of these models to be interesting, a bit unusual and resolutely different from the mainstream.  Unfortunately they were also frustratingly idiosyncratic,  burdened by quirks and foibles and basically not-quite-finished. So none of them stayed long in my camera drawer. However I keep a watching brief over things Fuji just to see what their product development people will dream up next.

As the 20^th Century came to an end it was apparent that digital imaging would supplant film. Fuji managed this transition much better than Kodak by better understanding the speed and extent of the collapse in the film production, processing and printing industry.

Fuji understood quite early in the game that the future lay with   digital capture and  mirrorless systems.

Fujifilm made some huge changes to their business priorities. One of their corporate decisions was to invest in the manufacture of digital cameras and lenses.

At this point their executives had to make some challenging decisions.

With respect to the market leaders at the time, Canon,  Nikon and Sony, Fujifilm had to decide whether to beat them, join them or try their luck at starting a new game.

My guess is that Fuji execs realised they could never beat the market leaders.

I’m also guessing that that joining them with the same kinds of products aimed at the same kinds of buyers  would not give them anything like a unique selling point.

So I think they decided to offer potential buyers the opportunity to play a different game.

With regard to its cameras, this has actually been a Fujifilm leitmotiv for several years with a willingness to tread where others fear to go, in the form of unusual designs especially in the medium format space.

In the first decade of the 21^st Century Fujifilm produced large numbers of digital compacts and bridge type superzoom models. Some of these had innovative sensor designs to improve dynamic range but overall were pretty much like the compacts and bridge cams from other makers.  With this enterprise Fuji was really just trying to join the market leaders with a range of similar products.

But then Fujifilm decided to stop playing the same game as those other guys and launch their own discernibly different Fujifilm game. I suspect this must have taken quite a bit of courage and a willingness to take on risk.

Small sensor compacts and bridge type superzooms were discontinued.

In their place came a line of mirrorless interchangeable lens models which looked different from and operated in ways different from the prevailing DSLRs and MILCs of the time.

The key identifiers of the new camera line are:

* The new in 2012  Fuji X mount with an internal diameter of 44mm,

* A Sony made APS-C crop sensor (23.5 x 15.6mm) and the X-Trans filter array which is unique to Fujifilm.

* A body shape typically lacking any prominent handle or thumb support.

* A set of controls with multiple prominent marked dials on top of the camera and an aperture ring on the lens.

* The cameras are very much a styling exercise aiming to provide visual appeal to buyers who like that techno-funky look and maybe who like to be seen holding such a suave looking  piece of kit.  They exemplify the idea of technology as fashion statement.

It worked !!  Camera reviewers gushed over the new designs and buyers in significant numbers gave the new Fuji venture their approval and their money.  Success !!

Well………limited success anyway……… for a while…..

A Nikkei report on Japanese camera shipments for the year 2020 shows the following breakdown which includes all digital camera types (DSLR, MILC, Fixed lens).

Canon 47.9%  +2.5% (change year on year)

Sony 22.1%  + 1.9%

Nikon 13.7%  - 4.9%

Fujifilm 5.6%  + 0.9%

Panasonic 4.4%  -0.3% 

These numbers illustrate the problem inherent in promoting  a technology product line the main selling points of which are being different and styling.

There is no getting around the fact that after a hundred years of camera evolution the mainstream is where most buyers prefer to be. Being different gets you around 5% with uncertain prospects for further market penetration.

Photos courtesy of camerasize.com

Not much difference in size between approximately comparable full frame and crop sensor kits

Why crop sensor ?

At the time Fuji executives would have been making decisions about the new X mount system, about 2010, camera sales were at an all time high and the dominant sensor size for interchangeable lens models was APSC. I guess that is why they decided to go with APSC presumably anticipating that crop sensor models would continue to dominate the market. 

But over the next few years several things happened.

One is that the price penalty of full frame sensors declined relative to the overall cost of producing a camera/lens system.

Another is that the market underwent some big changes. The total number of cameras and lenses sold per year declined and the bottom dropped out of the budget sector. 

The effect of these changes has been to reposition cameras as enthusiast and professional products at a much higher average price point than was the case a few years ago.  One of the most popular models in Canon’s catalogue is the R5 which is an expensive, high spec, high performance device.

At the same time camera makers have figured out how to design full frame bodies and lenses  which are no larger and no more expensive than many crop sensor models.

Crop sensor bodies and lenses once made up the great majority of digital interchangeable lens camera sales. But that has changed. Now full frame kits have become the mainstream and crop sensor systems are in decline.

Will Fuji go full frame ?

In an interview with DPReview at Photokina in Cologne Germany in 2018, Fujifilm imaging general manager Toshihisa Iida was asked directly whether Fujifilm will ever enter the full-frame market.

“No, never,” Iida replied. “Because we don’t have that legacy – luckily or unluckily. We don’t see any point in Fujifilm entering that market, particularly since we have good APS-C and medium format systems.   “If we entered full-frame [our systems] would just start cannibalizing each other. We’re happy to stay with two completely independent systems.”

So that seems definite enough, no full frame digital from Fuji which by the way does have a full frame legacy in the form of 35mm film and cameras.

The medium format part of the business looks healthy although it runs on very low production volumes.

One problem with Fuji’s medium format offerings is that the “44x33” format sensor is  only 1.2x larger on the long side  than 36x24mm “full frame” and even devotees of the genre have to concede that the improvement in image quality over full frame is modest  and not always able to be realised in practice as many factors other than sensor size come into play.

What about the crop sensor business ?  Fuji has tried to widen the appeal of its APSC line with models like the X-S10 which has a conventional handle and PASM control layout.

 This looks like a reversion to the “if you can’t beat them join them” position.  Reviewers mostly liked the X-S10 but it got a less enthusiastic response from Fujifans  who have come to expect something else from their chosen brand.

In September 2021 Fuji officially announced several new products for 2022, one being a new camera model or models with a new stacked APSC sensor. This would allow faster readout speeds and better enable some Fujifilm models to manage sports/wildlife/birds in flight.

That all sounds just fine but Fujifilm would be playing catch up to SoCaNik which have years of experience at this game.

Another problem for Fujifilm cameras is that their autofocus is  lagging  behind  recent developments from Sony, Canon and even Nikon with the Z9. 

What about Kaizen ? Some years ago Fuji generated considerable loyalty from users by offering a series of firmware updates to fix problems found with their cameras on release.

But in recent times Canon has gotten right into Kaizen with a string of firmware updates for RF mount cameras (the R5 and R6 are on their fifth substantive firmware edition) and lenses while  Fuji has been criticised by disappointed users for neglecting the process of continuous improvement.

In July 2021 Fujifilm’s new CEO Mr Teichi Goto is reported to have said that  the corporation will not sell the photography business which he described as  a cultural contribution to society.  That is hardly a statement of strong support given that the “cultural contribution to society” of cameras is being made by many other entities and would not be substantially diminished if Fuji withdrew.

I always wonder what is going on if the chief executive of a corporation finds it necessary to assure the media that one of the divisions will not be closed down.

I guess they will just press ahead with their current plans to upgrade and improve the APSC line,  add lenses and capability to the medium format line and see how it goes.

Maybe that will generate enough revenue to justify keeping the consumer camera business.

We shall see……………