Recent launches and future of the X-Pro series

Gringostarr wrote:

yayatosorus wrote:

Actually one thought that crossed my mind was they may get rid of the mechanical shutter altogether, if they decide to use the stacked chip from the X-H2S instead of the 40MP one. May be a way to save enough size/weight for Ibis or the new battery.

It could make sense as it would enable uncompromised silent shooting, which would be fitting for the X-Pro line.

Again, just a thought, not sure how viable of a solution this is may be.

The more I think about this the more it makes sense for several reasons.

First of all is that there will be enough of a time gap between the X-H2S and X-Pro4 release that Fuji wouldn't really see any loss in sales of the X-H2S.

Second, the X-H2S would still be the easy choice for hybrid video/photo shooters since there would be no space to mount the external fan, plus as with the X-T5 I'm sure some of the video capabilities of the X-Pro4 won't match the X-H2S.

Even if Fuji launched the X-H2S and a stacked sensor equipped X-Pro, I don't think there would be much cannibalization between the two lines.

Spacing them out would obviously only helps, as it would give time for the stacked sensor to prove what's its capable of.

What I'm proposing would be quite a departure from how other X-series cameras operate. It would be a very bold move from Fuji, especially in the context of the X-Pro - their purist line. As far as I know, solely Nikon has attempted to sell a hybrid interchangeable lens camera that's electronic shutter only.

If Fuji was to theoretically attempt something like this, it's reasonable to think they'd want to have everyone know their stacked sensor is up for the task to be used in ES only.

Third, it would give users a frame that has both the stacked sensor technology and the traditional control dials which I don't think even Fuji realized how much of a potential market segment there would be for that since pretty much every review of the X-H2S brings that point up.

I think that's where the market is headed anyway. Perhaps in a few years most of the X-series will have stacked sensors.

On a sidenote, I also think Fuji will try to bring this tech to Medium Format. May 2023 will mark the 4th year since the GFX100 was released. Considering how they've been pushing the envelope with their GFX system, they will likely want to do something even more groundbreaking than what we've seen from the GFX100 and GFX100S. Not sure if they'd manage to do a 100MP stacked sensor based on the one from the X-H2S, but even a 50MP one could prove revolutionary.

Fourth, besides video the other huge bonus of a stacked sensor is it's autofocus and burst shooting speeds which along with all the new LM primes would be pretty massive for more street focused Fuji users who might want to switch to AF-C instead of relying on zone focusing. After all, what's the point of a fast lens if you're keeping it stopped down to f8 to zone focus?

And last, depending on how much mass getting rid of the shutter assembly buys them along with further miniaturization, it could mean that they can combine the X-Pro and X-E lines together. While I love how compact the X-E4 is if the X-Pro4 was kept at around the weight and only slightly larger than the X-E1 I could absolutely see Fuji not bothering with an X-E5 since besides price (of which I have to believe the margin on Fuji's cheapest camera isn't great to begin with) there wouldn't be much of a benefit to it.