1 min readTraditional cameras often don't "go viral", but when they do, they become impossible to buy. Virality distorted the market for Fujifilm's X100V, but the newly announced X100VI should hopefully be easier to get your hands on.
Fujifilm Australia General Manager for Electronic Imaging & Optical Devices Shaun Mah told Reviews.org Australia that the company has ramped up production to try and anticipate demand, but some retail partners had already sold as of last night.
"A lot of businesses - since COVID - have learned quite a few lessons in terms of how they organise their supply chain and Fujifilm is no difference," said Mah. "So yes, we have increased our production to make sure we can meet demand. However, I don't how strong demand will be, only time will tell. If early indications are anything, I've already had a few suppliers tell me they've sold out [their initial allocations] as of right now."
The X100VI keeps the retro aesthetic that almost certainly helped with it predecessor's TikTok success, but has a few key upgrades. There's now a 40MP sensor, in-body image stabilisation, and a new processor that makes it twice as fast as the X100V.
Despite the camera's virality, Mah says Fufijilm isn't intentionally chasing influencers with the X100VI. The target market is street photographers, previous X100 users, and smartphone photographers looking to upgrade.
"People who venture into the hobby of photography, and now want to get something a bit more serious," said Mah. "Early last week, someone came into the office and tested it out, and said 'this made me fall in love with photography again'."
The X100VI is available to pre-order now, ahead of a February 28 release date. It will set you back $2,899. That's a $600 increase over the original asking price of the X100V, but cheaper than the inflated prices it has been selling for.
