What an interesting weekend! I’ve attended the GPP Photo Week, which peaked at Fujifilm Photofriday with the special event, the first ever FUJIFILM X-Summit. What is it?
X-Summit is a very cool live discussion panel, hosted by the Fujifilm’s general manager, senior Fujifilm R&D team and on the other end, by Kipon, DPReview, and 3 photographers; Zack Arias, Natalie Naccache and myself.
Fujifilm presented the technical papers related to their camera and optical designs and explained why it’s so hard to make a good lens. They featured the mockups of their future cameras and some of them, like the modular medium format camera received a phenomenally positive feedback. There was a part in the online and live audiences were asked to vote for the future lenses and specific features of the firmware updates, some of which may eventually end up on their roadmap. If this was a democracy, the FUJIFILM X-Summit would have been an open session of the parliament. It was a genuinely fascinating insight into the mindset of a major Japanese camera manufacturer, an event full of fresh ideas and well-meant suggestions. I’ve honestly never seen a camera brand engage with their customer base in such a fashion. I think it’s a fantastic idea which sets a precedent for everyone to follow and I’m looking forward to seeing some of our requested lenses becoming reality!
Here’s the entire event. Enjoy