"Our plan hasn't changed," says Fujifilm of X-Pro, but X-E may have snapshotfuture

Fujifilm's Makoto Oishi and Yuji Igarashi at the company's booth at CP+ 2025. Photo: Dale Baskin Fujifilm is still committed to both the X-Pro and X-E lines, says Yuji Igarashi, Divisional Manager of its Professional Imaging Group, as we discussed the future of those cameras, the challenges of autofocus and addressing the X100VI backlog. X100VI backlog Igarashi was keen to explain how the X100VI has ended up back-ordered and clear-up the mistaken impression that the shortages are intentional. "The number of pre-orders on Day One was so big that some people have been waiting for a year," he acknowledges: "It was an extraordinary volume of orders and, of course, we're doing our best to catch up with that. We've been shipping consistently, and we continue to do our best." "We've increased our production of X100VI quite a lot," he says. To put it in context, he tries to give an idea of how they got caught off-guard: "if you look at the X100 series’ history, we’ve had five cameras preceding this camera and we've already sold in a year what they would have sold in three or four years." "We've already sold in a year what they would have sold in three or four" Ramping-up production is harder for a camera like the X100VI, he says: "Generally speaking, a premium product is more difficult to produce. For example, the top plate of X100VI, you can see the sharp edges are made from aluminum, and it goes through many processes like stamping and milling, and filling in the colored details. So, it's not like you can simply increase production, quickly. But of course, we will continue to do our best to make a camera available to everyone who wants one. " Autofocus concerns Igarashi also said he recognized the concerns some users and reviews have expressed about autofocus. "I don't think we are at the point where I can say, ‘Ok, this is good enough and we’re not going to do any more', he says: "So even today, we're working on making improvements." "Of course, we always continue to improve our autofocus and also we are aware that we have room to improve as well. And so we’re making a continuous effort." "We are aware that we have room to improve... so we’re making a continuous effort" One aspect is that the evolution and expansion of the X-series is exposing their cameras to new photographic challenges, he says: "Picking up the X100 autofocus, and then using an X-H with a telephoto prime lens and trying to capture wildlife is a completely different story." "Of course we know that shooting wildlife or sports is not our bread and butter: it’s not what we’ve been doing for years, and that’s what we’ve been learning as we create these longer lenses. We’ve been expanding our field of photography as we’ve been expanding our lens lineup." "The areas we’re used to, I think we’re better at, and the new areas we’re expanding into, those are both the spaces we think we have room to improve." On X-Pro and X-E "Our plan hasn't changed, we still plan to launch a successor to X-Pro3, but we don’t have a date, yet. And X-E of course, too. We haven’t abandoned the line either." But, especially in the light of what he'd said about a younger audience, we wondered whether it was likely that the X-E series would return to its more enthusiast-focused roots, given how much the X-T series has now expanded to address that audience. "We’re always considering what's right, so it's never fixed," he says: "I think we look into every product, not just X-E. There’s nothing that’s perfect, which is totally unchangeable: it’s something we consider every time we come up with the next version." There are limits to this, he suggests: "I think everybody would be surprised if it wasn’t rangefinder style," he jokes. "Some people really liked the latest X-E" But, he says, it's impossible for one product to serve everyone: "Some people really liked the latest X-E we had: X-E4, but some did not, so while we can’t make everyone similarly happy, we try to come up with the best possible solutions. We try to listen to the latest feedback and make improvements from there." Jun Watanabe, Product Planning Manager, explained the sorts of users they will be building the next X-E for: "They love the rangefinder style, and they don’t have a specific shooting subject [in mind]," he says: "They love daily life photography [and using X-E] as a snap camera." Importantly, "they love the style and the design," he confirms. The future of photo-focused cameras Existing photographers shouldn't be alarmed at the company's efforts to broaden their appeal, Igarashi stresses. If anything, the broadening product line lets each camera be a bit more focused: "I think improving cameras for photographers is very much possible. Very small things, but for example, because we have more hybrid cameras like the X-H, that's allowed us to make the X-T5 screen a tilting screen instead of flip out screen. We can probably separate our cameras more between stills and hybrid models." "We just nee

Mar 19, 2025 - 20:23

"Our plan hasn't changed," says Fujifilm of X-Pro, but X-E may have snapshotfuture

Fujifilm's Makoto Oishi and Yuji Igarashi at the company's booth at CP+ 2025.

Photo: Dale Baskin

Fujifilm is still committed to both the X-Pro and X-E lines, says Yuji Igarashi, Divisional Manager of its Professional Imaging Group, as we discussed the future of those cameras, the challenges of autofocus and addressing the X100VI backlog.

X100VI backlog

Igarashi was keen to explain how the X100VI has ended up back-ordered and clear-up the mistaken impression that the shortages are intentional.

"The number of pre-orders on Day One was so big that some people have been waiting for a year," he acknowledges: "It was an extraordinary volume of orders and, of course, we're doing our best to catch up with that. We've been shipping consistently, and we continue to do our best."

"We've increased our production of X100VI quite a lot," he says. To put it in context, he tries to give an idea of how they got caught off-guard: "if you look at the X100 series’ history, we’ve had five cameras preceding this camera and we've already sold in a year what they would have sold in three or four years."

"We've already sold in a year what they would have sold in three or four"

Ramping-up production is harder for a camera like the X100VI, he says: "Generally speaking, a premium product is more difficult to produce. For example, the top plate of X100VI, you can see the sharp edges are made from aluminum, and it goes through many processes like stamping and milling, and filling in the colored details. So, it's not like you can simply increase production, quickly. But of course, we will continue to do our best to make a camera available to everyone who wants one. "

Autofocus concerns

Igarashi also said he recognized the concerns some users and reviews have expressed about autofocus.

"I don't think we are at the point where I can say, ‘Ok, this is good enough and we’re not going to do any more', he says: "So even today, we're working on making improvements."

"Of course, we always continue to improve our autofocus and also we are aware that we have room to improve as well. And so we’re making a continuous effort."

"We are aware that we have room to improve... so we’re making a continuous effort"

One aspect is that the evolution and expansion of the X-series is exposing their cameras to new photographic challenges, he says: "Picking up the X100 autofocus, and then using an X-H with a telephoto prime lens and trying to capture wildlife is a completely different story."

"Of course we know that shooting wildlife or sports is not our bread and butter: it’s not what we’ve been doing for years, and that’s what we’ve been learning as we create these longer lenses. We’ve been expanding our field of photography as we’ve been expanding our lens lineup."

"The areas we’re used to, I think we’re better at, and the new areas we’re expanding into, those are both the spaces we think we have room to improve."

On X-Pro and X-E

"Our plan hasn't changed, we still plan to launch a successor to X-Pro3, but we don’t have a date, yet. And X-E of course, too. We haven’t abandoned the line either."

But, especially in the light of what he'd said about a younger audience, we wondered whether it was likely that the X-E series would return to its more enthusiast-focused roots, given how much the X-T series has now expanded to address that audience.

"We’re always considering what's right, so it's never fixed," he says: "I think we look into every product, not just X-E. There’s nothing that’s perfect, which is totally unchangeable: it’s something we consider every time we come up with the next version."

There are limits to this, he suggests: "I think everybody would be surprised if it wasn’t rangefinder style," he jokes.

"Some people really liked the latest X-E"

But, he says, it's impossible for one product to serve everyone: "Some people really liked the latest X-E we had: X-E4, but some did not, so while we can’t make everyone similarly happy, we try to come up with the best possible solutions. We try to listen to the latest feedback and make improvements from there."

Jun Watanabe, Product Planning Manager, explained the sorts of users they will be building the next X-E for: "They love the rangefinder style, and they don’t have a specific shooting subject [in mind]," he says: "They love daily life photography [and using X-E] as a snap camera." Importantly, "they love the style and the design," he confirms.

The future of photo-focused cameras

Existing photographers shouldn't be alarmed at the company's efforts to broaden their appeal, Igarashi stresses. If anything, the broadening product line lets each camera be a bit more focused: "I think improving cameras for photographers is very much possible. Very small things, but for example, because we have more hybrid cameras like the X-H, that's allowed us to make the X-T5 screen a tilting screen instead of flip out screen. We can probably separate our cameras more between stills and hybrid models."

"We just need to be mindful of who the audience is, and how to provide the right fit for those people."

Interview conducted by Dale Baskin and Richard Butler, at the CP+ 2025 show in Yokohama, Japan. Answers edited for flow.