Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-04-04)

6 4 April 2020 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113

For the second of his reports from a recent trip to Japan,

Geoff Harris meets the planner of the Fujifilm X-T4 and

other key representatives of this innovative company

AP meets

top Fujifilm

representatives

FUJIFILM was another
company which invited AP to
chat about its latest products,
despite the cancellation of the
CP+ camera show in Yokohama
owing to coronavirus concerns. At
one of the company’s sprawling
manufacturing and research bases
near Omiya, north of Tokyo, I
spoke to Makoto Oishi, Manager,
Sales and Marketing Group,
Optical Device and Electronic
Imaging Products Division; Jun
Watanabe, Manager, Sales and
Marketing Group, Optical Device
and Electronic Imaging Products
Division; and Shu Amano from the
Sales and Marketing Group,
Optical Device and Electronic
Imaging Products Division (his
division deals with North America
and Europe). Oishi san dealt with
my questions about the GFX

series and X100V, while

Watanabe san dealt with the new

X-T4 model.

AP The X100V’s 23mm f/2 lens

doesn’t include internal

focusing, which would have

given quicker AF. How much

larger would the lens have been

if it had internal focus?

MO Actually, even if we changed

to internal focusing, the focus

speed would not be that much

different. Changing the structure

of the lens, with internal focus, it

would also be approximately

5mm deeper or more. We didn’t

want to change the compact

philosophy which is behind this

particular camera.

AP: How have fans of the

X100V reacted to the tilting

1.62m-dot touchscreen LCD

panel?

MO That’s a hard question to

answer because there has been a

very varied response, maybe

50/50 for and against. It was quite

a big decision for us as some users

said they would never buy it if we

incorporated a tilting screen.

Meanwhile, other users very much

wanted it, so it was hard to keep

everyone happy! It’s the same

situation with the hidden LCD on

the X-Pro 3.

AP What do you think are the

key improvements on the

X100V, compared to the

previous version?

MO I think the previous model to

X100V, the X100F, was a kind of

perfect camera. So it was hard to

improve, but that was the

challenge we faced. We spent a

long time thinking about what we

need to do, and developed a new

lens to perfectly match the new

26.1MP sensor. In terms of design,

we wanted to keep the basic form,

but we changed from using

magnesium to aluminium, in order

to make it feel more ‘premium,’

more beautiful. We also decided to

mill the top plate and improve the

look of the shutter speed dial. I

wanted to make it the most

beautiful camera ever. We even

As well as powerful

stills and video

specs, the X-T4 is

very stylish

Geoff met Jun

Watanabe, the

X-T4 product

planner