The Fujifilm X Pro 4 is arguably one of the most anticipated cameras on the market. This, perhaps, is quite a shock for so many people. Fujifilm often stated that the X Pro 3 didn’t sell well — and they also barely gave it any real updates. Indeed, at a certain point, it felt like a well I could cast wishes into and nothing more. It’s no secret that Fujifilm’s priorities have been with other cameras and ensuring that the market is starved of the X100Vi. But there’s some bad news about the Fujifilm X Pro 4.
Some of you wonder why you should trust Phoblographer with this information. The truth is that we’ve been around for 15 years in the photo industry and we’ve uncovered a lot of stories that bigger websites pretty much copy and never credit to us. The further truth is that I’m currently in the middle of eye surgery recovery, and I wouldn’t be writing this article if I didn’t feel if it was important to the photo industry. So if you don’t want to believe me, then that’s fine. I truly don’t care after this long. But you can be sure that what I’m saying is bound to come true.
After speaking with a rep from Fujifilm who I haven’t spoken to in a very long time, I was able to find out that the Fujifilm X Pro 4 isn’t coming before the end of 2024. That doesn’t sound like such bad news, but in reality, it is. And here’s why.
If the Fujifilm X Pro 4 comes to the market in the next year, it’s not going to have revolutionary features. Instead, they’re reserving those for the XH series of cameras. So, the Fujifilm X Pro 4 will be just a rangefinder variant of the XH2 with interchangeable lenses and a hybrid viewfinder. Essentially, it’s going to be an X100Vi with a few other features.
That means:
The Fujifilm XH2 came out in 2022, and the sensor will be around three years old.
The processor, which came out around the same time, will also be around three years old.
The body is likely to not really change all that much depending on how they choose to approach the screen. So the body of the camera will probably be like something out of 2019. In 2025, that will mean that the body is nearly 6 years old.
All of this information would check out well. Brands aren’t putting innovation into the APS-C camera market. They’re taking features from higher-end cameras and putting them into cheaper cameras.
The Fujifilm X Pro 3 has held its value better than any other Fujifilm camera on the market. When it launched, the price wasn’t all that much higher than it is right now.
Personally speaking, I think that the dream is over. If Fujifilm had released the XH2, then the XT4, then the X100Vi, and then the X Pro 4 in the period of around a year apart from one another, I’d feel much differently. But as far as APS-C cameras go, I’m not sure that the X Pro 4 will be worth waiting for.
So, instead, I’m holding out hope for a Fujifilm GFX 100R. I think that this will be far more satisfying to many photographers out there who actually care about shooting stills more than video.
