For several years now, we’ve been saying that the camera brands are going to have to turn into luxury brands. Cameras are specialist tools that can serve a functional purpose when it’s needed. But like watches, cameras can mostly be replaced by your phone. The watch world evolved to become a hobbyist, enthusiast, and luxury world. Cameras will need to do the same. And in a recent interview, Fujifilm stated that they, too, understand this. In fact, they stated that they want to become more like Leica.
This quote comes from Canon Rumors and is in reference to their products and their longevity:
“To use an analogy, I say within the company that Leica, a famous German manufacturer, still maintains a fairly high value for both old and current cameras. This is the goal. Our goal with mirrorless cameras is to fundamentally change the way Fuji Film sells cameras.“
Currently, Fujifilm cameras don’t really hold their value on the market all that well. That’s because so many of them are already not very expensive. They also make a lot of affordable lenses, which don’t hold their value all that much either. In comparison, Canon and Leica hold a ton of their value. Fujifilm isn’t as bad as Sony not holding value, but they’re still not highly regarded.
For Fujifilm’s cameras to maintain a high value they’re going to need to make themselves and their cameras much better. I can’t really see their APS-C cameras holding value like that. In fact, I’ll reiterate the belief that APS-C cameras are going to die out. However, their GFX cameras could hold their value. To do this though, Fujifilm is going to need to do a lot of revamps.
First off, the company will need to make their cameras incredibly durable while also having a “buy-it-for-life” style mentality. Leica cameras can be pretty much endlessly repaired and that’s part of why so many people like them. Plus, there’s the build quality. Their cameras have survived torturous situations the world over. The SL series are also IP-durability rated. Fujifilm surely has durable cameras too, but there’s no major award around this or crazy stories that make them seem holier than thou.
Beyond this, Fujifilm isn’t really known as being a luxury brand that’s coveted by many photographers out there. The reason for this is, well, look at what’s on the market right now. Sure, the X100Vi is selling like hotcakes, but it’s ultimately a 5-year-old camera body with two-year-old internals. At least with Leica cameras, they’re doing something very unique in each and every iternation. Let’s take the M11 for example. The M11 has an internal SSD for storage and can come in aluminum or brass. The M11P has this and the Content Authenticity Initiative chip inside. Then there’s the monochrom, which does something unique as well that nothing else on the market does.
So why couldn’t Fujifilm have done this with the Fujifilm X Pro 3 or X100vi? The X100vi has a limited edition option, and the X Pro 3 has a unique option too. However, the brand has yet to do this with the GFX lineup.
Fujifilm has a lot of work to do on themselves to have their cameras be coveted enough to have a lot of value if they’re both old and new.