Will The Release of The Sony a7III Affect The Launch of The Fujifilm X-H1 and Future Fujifilm X-T3

• 7 years ago

Camera Comparison From camerasize.com

Sony vs Fujifilm has always been an interesting debate and many find themselves abandoning Sony cameras for Fujifilm cameras over time, but the launch of the Sony a7III is an interesting one. I was up all night covering it over at SonyAddict if you want to read more about the camera. The Sony a7III is ultimately the conclusion of a generational change that started with the Sony a9 series of cameras and now Sony will begin to stagnate and rest on their technological superiority for a while. Fast inexpensive mirrorless cameras that destroy their DSLR counterparts with almost no compromise are here now and they offer a number of advantages over their DSLR counterparts that will never be matched like silent shooting and continuous eye autofocus

The spec sheet alone doesn’t tell the full story of the battle between these two companies though. While the Sony a7III might offer Sony a9 performance for $2,000 it has a frustrating interface and very expensive glass that is sometimes subpar but can be excellent. Fujifilm obviously knew this technology was coming and decided to release the Fujifilm X-H1 anyways with some unique features for videographers to help continue to driving adoption of Fujifilm cameras in new areas until the Fujifilm X-T3 can be released with a sensor designed to compete with Sony’s next generation cameras.

Now more than ever Fujifilm’s firmware updates are going to become important because they will help drive home the point that Fujifilm cameras will only continue getting better, which is very different from Sony’s philosophy of releasing a camera and then forgetting about it unless something breaks. I have it on good authority that the Fujifilm X-T3 will put Fujifilm back in the technological lead, but can we all wait until Photokina 2018 and why does Fujifilm keep playing “Flagship” hot potato. Fujifilm needs to get their messaging straight and assign a flagship camera to each target market like other companies.

Fujifilm releasing the Fuji X-T3 before Fujifilm X-Pro3 is also probably the product of knowing the Sony a7III was coming. Fujifilm was way out in front when the Fujifilm X-T2 was released, even Sony admitted as much and the X-Pro2 wasn’t a slouch either, but now they need to take Sony head-on to continue growing. The Fujifilm X-T3 is the camera to look forward to if you’re a fan of Fujifilm and envious of the a7III. That’s not to say the Fujifilm X-H1 won’t be an excellent user experience, but The Fujifilm X-T3 will be the start of Fujifilm’s next-generation camera line-up and of course we will see it followed by a Fuji X-Pro3 and Fuji X-H2 when the time is right.

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Sony a7III: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

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