When Kodak ruled supreme in color film, Fujifilm dared to challenge it and, in the eyes of many photographers, either won or at least became a worthy opponent. When every camera manufacturer were piling meaningless features into their compact point-and-shoot without doing much to improve the image quality, Fujifilm innovated with its sensor design and introduced the F series of low-light capable digital cameras (though they seem to have stumbled lately on that front).
Now, when camera manufacturers are probably scared to cannibalize their own lucrative DSLR sales and holding back on going full tilt with the mirrorless design, Fujifilm announces that it will build a large-sensor mirrorless (what’s the use of the mirror, again?) that it claims will have resolution and low noise image quality that will best what 35mm full-frame sensors are capable of today.
That’s a bold claim — and will be a self-defeating one if it is simply marketing bluster. However, we believe it is the former and a serious claim since Fujifilm executives have stated their intention of going premium with their digital cameras. Since no camera manufacturers have dared challenge the full-frame lock on image quality (especially low noise quality), Fujifilm will have the field all to itself — and if it executes with the same alacrity and aplomb it did with the X100, then photographers worldwide will surely rejoice at its mirrorless. A prototype will be shown at CES 2012.
