Fujifilm's first X-Summit of 2024 took place in Tokyo last night, February 20, at 2.30pm Japanese time - and we were there to seem the announcement of the successor to the hugely-popular Fujifilm X100V compact camera.
See our full news story on the launch of this compact camera with its 40 megapixel sensor - and read our hands-on Fujifilm X100VI review.
X-Summits have become a regular event where Fujifilm reveals the latest products and development announcements for its GFX and X series of mirrorless cameras. And the great thing is that they are streamed live, so everyone can follow along as the details are revealed.
At the last X-Summit, just five months ago in Stockholm, Sweden, the company announced the flagship Fujifilm GFX100 II medium-format camera along with news of five new GF lenses.
The time difference will mean a late night or an early start for those of us in the US or Europe. The event started at 00.30am EST or 5.30am GMT – but if you are a Fujifilm X-shooter or a GFX fanatic, you may just want to follow along with the announcement as it happened using the YouTube link below…
Above: watch the YouTube video of the launch with this link
So what do we think we have in store at the Tokyo 2024 X-Summit? Fujifilm has already been teasing with us with what it has in store, with a series of social media posts…
The first of these posted 11 days ago, simply said "See you soon", and showed a silhouetted shape of what could be a compact camera…
Above: Fujifilm's first teaser for the 2024 Tokyo X-Summit
And now the latest teaser video, posted on Instagram over the weekend, shows us more glimpses of what looks like a retro-styled compact-shaped camera…
Above: Fujifilm's second teaser video for its X-Summit announcement
The Fujifilm X-Summit has already become something of a fixture in the camera calendar - but this industry event only started back in 2019, so in the history of photography is still relatively new.
This February 2024 X-Summit will be the twelfth so far. Here is a list of all the dates and venues so far:
1: Dubai - February 2019
2: Shibuya - September 2019
3: London - February 2020
4: Omiya - October 2020
5: Global (virtual) - January 2021
6: Global (virtual) - September 2021
7: Omiya - May 2022
8: New York - September 2022
9: Tokyo - November 2022
10: Bangkok - May 2023
11: Stockholm - September 2023
12: Tokyo - February 2024
With seven hours to go, we have no more teasers from Fujifilm. But other than the silhouetted camera, what else might we see?
I'm hoping we get first look and full details of the promised GF 500mm f/5.6 telephoto lens for the GFX medium format system. That's a lens I am really looking forward to trying out...
The Fujifilm X100V goes on sale next week - and you can pre-order it now at one of these dealers:
Here's a quick recap of everything we learned from the X-Summit Tokyo 2024:
• The star of the show was the introduction of the Fujifilm X100VI (or X100 Six, as it is pronounced). The key improvement here is the use of Fujfilm's 40-megapixel sensor. See our hands-on review
• A limited edition of the X100VI to celebrate the company's 90th anniversary. Just 1934 will be made available, and will go on sale at the end of March for $1999 / £1934. See separate news story
• A new XF lens roadmap that will bring a replacement to the ten-year-old 18-55mm kit lens - full specifications and availability of this XF16-50mm f/2.8-4.8 zoom are yet to be revealed. See separate news story
• Reala Ace film simulation launched with the GFX100 II (and now on the X100VI) will be added to the X-H2 and X-T5 and other fifth-generation cameras in due course.
• Built-in cloud back-up via Frame.io will be extended to the X-H2 and X-H2s.
• New version of the X-App will allow you to filter your images by camera, lens or film simulation type. It will also give you a shutter count reading for your camera - and will also allow you to perform firmware updates in the background.
• The next Fujifilm X-Summit will be in Sydney, Australia.
