New Fujifilm Compact Camera Rumored

A new rumor has circulated that Fujifilm is looking at more small sensor compact cameras for next year. The rumor states that Fujifilm is considering another compact with a 1″ sensor size. Fujifilm has done small sensor compacts before, and last year did the Fujifilm X half, which also featured a 1″ sensor. But at 105mm x 64mm x 30mm and 240g, it's not exactly what I'd call a “compact camera”.

So, what may this camera be? Well, I have a couple of theories of pure speculation.

Fujifilm XQ3

Before the X Half, you have to reach back into the mid-2010s to find a Fujifilm compact camera. The little Fujifilm XQ2 was the last comparable compact camera that Fujifilm made that looked part of the Fujifilm lineup and not the 1 / 2.3″ FinePix lineup.

The QX2 didn't have a 1″ sensor, but close enough that we could see Fujifilm doing something with this format. Newer 1″ sensors are packed with performance, as we've seen from Sony's 1″ sensor lineup. So the new one would certainly outclass the specifications of the original QX2 from 2015.

If I had to guess, the compact would use the same 18MP 3:4 sensor in the X half, and act more like a compact camera in features and capability. It would make a lot of sense for Fujifilm to take an existing sensor and even most of the firmware and put it into a compact camera body for those users, and also be able to drop the price to be attractive to entry-level users.

I personally like the XQ2 being part of this rumor because it was a good-looking compact camera. I could see it selling well in Asia. Fujfilm XQ2's features were decent even though it's over 10 years old now.

• 12MP 2/3″ X-Trans CMOS II Sensor
• EXR Processor II
• Fujinon 4x Optical Zoom f/1.8-4.9 Lens
• 25-100mm (35mm Equivalent)
• 3.0″ 920k-Dot LCD Monitor
• Full HD 1080p Video with Stereo Sound
• Built-In Wi-Fi Connectivity
• Over 100,000 Phase-Detection AF Pixels
• ISO 12800, 12 fps Shooting, and OIS
• Lens Modulation Optimizer

Keeping the body height and width around the same as the QX2 and increasing the sensor size to 1″ wouldn't that difficult because the XQ2 is around the same size as the Sony RX100 VII 1″ sensor compact. The Sony camera is deeper, though, to support the larger sensor and EVF.

A Smaller X100

Let's face it, the X100 series is wildly successful for Fujifilm. The preorder queues are long, and getting a new model is always difficult as Fujifilm struggles to meet demand. Could Fujifilm look to capture that with a smaller than APS-C sensor? While the X Half is an interesting experiment, it's not a smaller X100.

But imagine a smaller X100 IV, perhaps slightly less expensive, but with the same featureset as its bigger brother. It would sell. The small camera body would look similar to the X30, but it would need room for the optical viewfinder.

The latest X100 VI has some fantastic features

• 40.2MP APS-C X-Trans CMOS 5 HR Sensor
• X-Processor 5 Image Processor
• Fujinon 23mm f/2 Lens
• 35mm Full-Frame Equivalent
• 6-Stop In-Body Image Stabilization
• 425-Point Intelligent Hybrid AF System
• Hybrid 0.66x OVF with 3.69m-Dot OLED EVF
• 3.0″ 1.62m-Dot Tilting Touchscreen
• Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Connectivity
• 20 Film Simulation Modes with REALA ACE

Closing Thoughts

Japanese Camera manufacturers are starting to gear up to do compacts once again, but it will be interesting to see how they manage to juggle profitability over serving the market.

I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what Fujifilm comes up with in this market next year.

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