Fuji X-Pro Lens Roadmap Revealed

Amin

Hall of Famer
Roadmap.jpg


Fuji today revealed a roadmap for X-Pro1 lenses to be introduced between now and mid-2013.

In the fall of 2012, they plan to introduce a 14mm (21mm equivalent) f/2.8 ultrawide prime and an 18mm-55mm (27-84mm equivalent) f/2.8-4 optically-stabilized standard zoom.

In early 2013, they will add three additional prime lenses: the 56mm (84mm equivalent) f/1.4 lens, 27mm (41mm equivalent) f/2.8 pancake, and and the 23mm (35mm equivalent) f/1.4.

In mid 2013, they will launch a telephoto 55mm-200mm (83-300mm equivalent) f/3.5-4.8 zoom and a 10mm-24mm (15-36mm equivalent) f/4 ultrawide zoom, both with optical image stabilization.

Fuji had a very smart initial three lens lineup, and this roadmap looks to be well planned as well. The f/2.8-4 zoom is a nice touch, and I imagine that Fuji is probably correct that few people who buy an X-Pro 1 will be interested in a cheap f/3.5-5.6 standard zoom. The only thing I see missing is a "megazoom", more than likely to be featured on the "late 2013" roadmap.

From the perspective of one OM-D user, the only thing unappealing to me about this lens lineup is that the zooms get stabilized while the primes do not. I'm pretty much a prime shooter (99%), and I love my image stabilization. It's more a luxury than a necessity though. Between the high performance sensor and fast primes, I doubt many X-Pro 1 users will be left wanting.

Source: DPReview
 
Wow, looking better than anticipated. I could easily see getting the 23 f1.4 (not my favorite focal length, but could replace the 35mm as my go-to low light lens) and the 10-24 (almost as wide as the m43 7-14 and could replace my 9-18). The 14mm maybe, not sure how much I'd use a prime that wide. And the 56mm f1.4 maybe if it's better AF than the 60 - could possibly replace my Oly 45mm. This is looking strong enough that my m43 setup could be reduced to the 12mm for street shooting and then a couple of middle and tele zooms. Woth the X-Pro handling everything else from ultra-wide to all of my prime needs. Good stuff! Still not sure how the wider lenses will work with the OVF though.

-Ray
 
Wow! (and ouch! my wallet is panicking) I have just started to appreciate and use wides and now I see this road map, I can already see the applications where I would use the 14mm or how versatile the 10-24 is going to be. It's also quite interesting what Ray mentioned regarding how the wider lenses will work with the OVF.
 
I'm assuming based on how Fuji reacted to the market in the past, they could release a slightly cheaper model based on the Xpro that has EVF or OVF only (refering to the X10 and X100), or alternatively a new body as you have mentioned (X Pro 2?). We're gonna have interesting times ahead.
 
This looks very, very good. They are hitting all of the wide angle and medium tele focal lengths that would be used by many DSLR and rangefinder enthusiasts. They even have an 83-300mm equivalent zoom! The aperture is more like a consumer zoom rather than fast or continuous aperture glass, but it means that you could pack the X-Pro 1, a prime and a couple of zooms, and be ready for almost any holiday or semi-demanding shooting engagement.

The pancakes appeal to me a lot. For me, this style of body is all about a low physical profile, and good pancakes in the key focal lengths help a lot. 21mm, 41mm, yum. And a 81/1.4 eq portrait lens! Nice!

My concern is this: if you buy into a system like this, you are committing yourself to an unknown future set of bodies, unless you decide to sell the whole system one day. I want to buy into a system if I see the performance that I like NOW - there is no point thinking that future bodies are going to be better/faster/stronger, because that does not help me take better photos in the present. A person could be looking at this lens roadmap and drooling, but the body is less than a year old and still very quirky with regards to operation. This is why the m43 is now beginning to appeal to me, as the OM-D finally presents a camera that has an excellent shooting experience as well as a mature lens lineup.
 
The best lens roadmap I've ever seen :) Congrats Fuji!

Didn't dare dream of that 23mm f1.4, if it's of a similar size to the 35mm and <$1000 it's going to be mine.
 
I am really curious to see how the 21mm equiv. performs.... is this the landscape and architecture prime for the X-Pro1? It is smaller than I was expecting.
 
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