What Happened to Fujifilm’s X-Pro Cameras?
News | By Stephan Jukic | December 28, 2022
Fujifilm has focused heavily on its X-T and X-H range of cameras recently, most notably the X-T5 and X-H2S, so what about new X-Pro models?
Fujifilm’s last release of an X-Pro camera model was the X-Pro3 way back in October of 2019, and since then, there has been nothing.
Does this then mean the end of the line for these popular rangefinder camera models? At first glance, it might just seem so.
The X-Pro models first came out 10 years ago with the release of the X-Pro1, followed by the X-Pro2 four years later in 2016 and then the X-Pro3 just under 4 years after that in late 2019.
Now that we’re on the verge of hitting 2023, the next X-Pro in the sequence is just about overdue based on previous release intervals. This however doesn’t mean that it isn’t on the way.
Fujifilm itself hasn’t said anything concrete about yet another of these cameras coming soon, but one major thing to keep in mind is just how busy the company has been with so many other new camera models in the time since its last X-Pro release.
These have included further expansions in its X-T lineup, new X-H cameras and the impressive new editions of Fuji’s GFX lineup. Taken together, these are plenty of camera models to make up for what seems to be lacking from one specific Fuji line with niche popularity.
The original X-Pro, released in March of 2012, the X-Pro1 was Fuji’s first rangefinder-styled digital camera.
It offered an interesting vintage-looking build over its APS-C sensor and happened to be an interchangeable lens model that many people still use even now.
Its successors were no less adored by their fans and the X-Pro2 in particular featured a major sensor size upgrade to 24.3MP from the 16.1 of the X-Pro1. The X-Pro3 only modestly upped sensor power but did introduce a number of new features.
Notably, the X-Pro3 had a rear screen kept concealed unless flipped outward, letting photographers test their mettle at composing good shots with their eyes alone.
Being a mirrorless camera like its predecessors, it also lacked a manual viewfinder (or an EVF). On the other hand, the camera wasn’t without its complaints.
This mirrorless quality also showed how much of a pioneer Fujifilm has been with this now dominant photographic technology.
When the first of the X-Pro models emerged in 2012, DSLR dominated the market among almost all camera brands and mirrorless was still more along the edge of camera sales. As we now know, the exact opposite is steadily becoming the case.
In any case, no official word has come down from Fuji about an X-Pro4 camera release and even many major retailers are now listing the latest existing model, the X-Pro3 as either discontinued, unavailable, or out of stock.
Even the website Fuji Rumors claims that Fuji might have discontinued production of these models to focus on its newer camera lines.
After all, many of these newer camera models, such as the X-T5 are so good, that demand for a new X-Pro gets eclipsed by them. If an X-Pro4 release does emerge at all though, 2023 would be when we’d likely see it, given the timeframes of the previous releases.
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Stephan Jukic is a technology and photography journalist and experimental photographer who spends his time living in both Canada and Mexico. He loves cross-cultural street photo exploration and creating fine art photo compositions.
