What will the fujifilm medium format mirrorless camera be like?

Thanks, fujirumors, for sharing the rumour about an interchangable viewfinder for the hopefully upcoming Fujifilm mirrorless medium format. If true, this makes all the difference in the world for the camera and says so much more about what it is going to be like that i can almost give a shot at predicting it.

What the heck, ill give it a try.

(Its been released now, so how did i do? Find out at the bottom.

An interchangable viewfinder, what difference does it make?

When making an interchangeable viewfinder for an EVF camera one have two options. 

1. A detachable EVF.
2. A small sized amoled screen, much like an SLR focusing screen. Lets call it the EFS, electronic focusing screen.

Nr 1 has been used with quite low success but several mirrorless camera manufacturers. All the solutions were technology driven, expensive for the photographer and commercially rather unsuccessfull.

Nr 2 is an modern version of common solution from SLR world, but untried in a mirrorless camera. It is a lot cheaper, especially for a waist level finder that is nothing more than a foldable shade with a likewise foldable looking glass. For the eye-level viewfinder, prisms cost a bit more, but sometimes a cheap mirror may do the trick almost as good. If the EFS thingy is up-flippable within the eye-level finder it may in fact obsolete the prism all together.

With Fujifilm, a release of a new system always seems to come with a twist. Something novelle or quirky, sometimes brilliant, sometimes more or less pointless. I think its because most Fujifilm product lines start with an idea of how to improve or revive a certain aspect of photography with a new solution. It could be another new kind sensor pattern, moster tilt-shift medium formats, 6x8 frame size to fit magazine covers perfectly, reinventing instant photography, very short 120-films to suit drop-in studios, film simulations, yet another sensor pattern or another one again. Nothing has been predicted in the MMF rumours we have heard up until now.

I'd say Nr 2 would make this camera fit right into what to expect from a new Fujifilm product line. At the same time it makes the whole rumour of a MMF a lot more beleavable. It would also be the cheaper way to go and being cheaper than Hasselblad is kind of important here. 

The implications

With a focusing EVF on top of the camera, it will not look like the Hasselblad, the x-t1 or an x-pro2. It will look more like a SLR or a classic MF camera (of which there are many different designs, a bit more on that later).  Whatever they choose, the camera will be deeper than the Hasselblad that is a very thin camera being a medium format. That means that they can fit a focul plane shutter where the mirror would have gone in an SLR, without making it bulky. I know, Fuji do like their leaf shutters, but large leaf shutters are expensive and if you want to make them really fast, they are really expensive. They also make the lenses heavier. Another implication of a deeper camera is that the lenses can be shorter, since the sensor can be a bit further back and some of the focal length can be kept in the camera. I would love a telescopic tube or a TLR-like movable front behind the mount to keep the lenses down to large format size and even allow crude AF with adapted lenses, but i think the R&D and production cost of that would be a bit on the high side unless they come up with a super brilliant solution. I would rather expect a fixed register, something in the range of a regular small frame (D)SLR. Short enough to adapt most medium format lenses, but long enough to keep 44x33 covering optics rather small.

Interchangable viewfinders also limits where you can put the hot shoe and a pop-up the flash. We will most certainly not see a pop-up and the hot shoe may either be left out too, pushed to the left of the viewfinder or put in an unconventional place. Far left is is my guess.

Other conclutions

Sensor

Well, there is only one that would meet the requirements of being not to expensive and good enough. The Sony 50Mp 44x33mm one. Bayer or xtrans then? Rumours sais bayer and so does logic. Fuji will want to go with a perfect colour alternative here. Binning the 50Mp bayer would give true RGB on every pixel on 12,5Mp and a smart demosaicing algorithm would give twice the size with almost perfect RGB and almost 50Mp shapes. Then there is the problem with the current cost of a computer (and internal circuitry) that can demosaic an 50Mp xtrans file in bearable time. There is also the fact that a bayer sensor may still scare off less potential customers than an xtrans.
Bayer it is!

Interface

Fuji allready has a well tested interface of dials, knobs and buttons on the x system. I dont expect them to put resources into another one. We will propobly see the film simulations and most of the menu system duplicated as well. Then there is the question of the screen. If the camera is sold with the WLF as standard, its not impossible that they may skip the big screen in the back. However, i think the first release will be the premium model, a cheaper single screen may come later.

Touchscreen? Not yet, first they need to evaluate that on the cheaper x cameras.

Form factor

SLR-like, TLR-like, HB-like, P-67-like or even GA645-like? Well, i think they will keep the system specs so that they can build most of these in the future. However, for the first model i think its going to look a bit like the Reflex Beauty, but with a grip for the right hand. A small box to house the shutter inside and the EFS on top with a mount for the lens in front and another for the viefinder on the top. The box will most likely be a bit smaller since the 44x33 is smaller than the 55x55 of the beauty reflex. Maybe they will keep the electronic focusing screen at the modern standard 645 size of 56x42mm or their own 645 that is more like 55x43.5mm. Behind the box there would be a fixed back, with electronics, battery and memory card slots, with knobs, dials and buttons much like an x-pro2 or x-t2 and the same screen as them on the back.  All and all like if one would take an x-pro2 and put a small box in front of it and the viewfinder mount on top.

Ofcourse there will be cheaper models if the first one sells well enough. An HB 500c form factor or even a TLR-like camera, but with only one lens at the entry level are viable options in the future.

IBIS

The only reason why Fuji would implement IBIS would be that they were planning to go for a 645 sensor in a future genration so that the lenses were allready 645 prepared. That would actually make some sense here. But the do allready have in-house tech for OS lenses and IBIS is harder to implement the larger the sensor is. So its definetly a no anyway.

Lenses
Three lenses are rumoured to be first released. One normal and one portrait tele plus a wide to normal zoom.

Summary of my prediction compared to the real deal.

• Reflex Beauty style camera
  Not to bad. I didnt see the brilliant move of moving the grip of the camera forward to make it more balanced. But the box is there, just as predicted but its just visible on the back instead of the front.
  
• X system like handling and output
  Was pretty obvious.
  
• 50Mp 44x33 bayer sensor with True RGB binning option
  This is not clear as of yet. We still think bayer and they presented a few tricks of downsizing. More info on this later.
  
• Invention of the EFS, the electronic focusing screen
  Fail! It may still come on a future model.
  
• Small lenses compared to the ones of Hasselblad
  They are smaller, but not super small.
  
• Sadly no bellows, tube or other retractable mount
  Right, sadly enough!
  
• A bit thicker a body compared to the Hasselblad one, but smaller with most comparable lenses mounted
  Spot on!
  
• First body only slightly cheaper than Hasselblads, cheaper ones coming later
  First part is right at least, time will show if the second part is right.
  
• Neither touch nor flippable screen
  Half fail, with no WLF, the flippable screen has to be there. They didnt say anything about touch though.
  
• A focal plane shutter is slightly more likely than leaf shutters
  Right
  
• No IBIS
  Right
  
• Pop-up flash, no
  Right
  
• Hot shoe, far left on top of the camera
  Wrong, sort of. They have an odd hotshoe solution, but its on top of the viewfinder on the regular one. But with the angle finder, where is it then, is there none at all?
  
• Three lenses: Wide-normal zoom, normal and portrait tele primes.
  Kind of wrong. I don't think anyone see them anounce a six lens system.
  
• Weather resistant
  Right.

Oh, im gonna be so wrong...
Well, it could have been a lot worse. What was really wrong was the viewfinder construction and thus also the touchscreen. I'm pretty impressed with what i have seen of the system so far and hope for more (hopefully) cheaper bodies to be released in the future.

Thanks Fujifilm, for releasing such an impressive system!