In an interview with Amateur Photographer (AP), Katsuya Makioka, operations manager at Fujifilm Japan, said the company’s first CSC, the X-Pro1, was aimed at ‘very high-end photo enthusiasts and professional users’.
He said Fuji wants the new X-E1 to ‘expand the market’.
‘We think this camera is for some medium-level photo enthusiasts and some professional users,’ he told AP.
Housing the same 16.3-million-pixel, APS-C-sized imaging sensor as the existing X-Pro1, key differences include the addition of an OLED colour electronic viewfinder (EVF).
The 2.36-million-dot EVF is higher in resolution than the 1.44-million-dot-resolution viewfinder on board the X-Pro1, which also features an optical viewfinder that is lacking in the X-E1.
The EVF is made using two glass elements, plus a double aspherical element that aims to boost image quality by removing distortion and aberration.
The X-E1’s eyepiece includes a soft resin material designed to make the camera more comfortable to use for people who wear glasses.
Fuji claims that the X-E1’s battery can deliver 350 frames when using the EVF, an improvement over the 300 frames possible when using the EVF on the X-Pro1.
The X-E1 also boasts an AF speed of 0.1secs.
The new camera is 100g lighter than the X-Pro1 and slightly smaller at 129×74.9×38.3mm.
Borrowed from Fuji’s X100 high-end compact, the LCD screen is smaller than that on the X-Pro1: 2.8in (460,000 dots) compared to the XPro-1’s 3in, 1.23-million-dot display.
A pop-up flash has a guide number of 7m @ ISO 200, according to the firm. A hotshoe will allow external flash attachment.
While the front, top cover and back of the X-Pro1 are made of magnesium, this material has only been used for the top and front of the X-E1.
Due out in November priced at an expected E800 (around £635), the X-E1 also includes a built-in microphone.
Meanwhile, due for release this autumn are two new Fujinon lenses: the XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS, and the XF 14mm f/2.8 R.
The 18-55mm optic is constructed from 14 elements in 10 groups, including three aspherical lenses, plus an extra-low dispersion element. It features a seven-blade rounded diaphragm.
As with other XF lenses, the 18-55mm features an aperture ring. Fuji claims that the lens’s Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS) delivers the equivalent of up to 4 stops.
Fuji plans to release five further lenses in ‘early 2013′. These are a 56mm f/1.4, 27mm f/2.8 ‘pancake’, 23mm f/1.4, 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 OIS telephoto, and 10-24mm f/4 OIS super-wide zoom.
The X-E1 will be available in silver or black coloured versions.
A UK price has yet to be confirmed.
