Fujifilm X100VI leak suggests popular retro compact could get a price hike
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The rumored Fujifilm X100VI is one of the most exciting cameras of 2024 – and some new leaks suggest we may have to pay a slight premium for the compact camera’s inevitable popularity.
According to the reliable Fuji Rumors, the inbound successor to the Fujifilm X100V – which ran into serious stock issues after becoming an unexpected TikTok star – could cost $1,599 (which would likely equate to around £1,499 / AU$2,649).
If so, that would be a $200 price hike on the Fujifilm X100V, which landed for $1,399 / £1,299 / AU$2,249 when it launched back in February 2020. Fuji Rumors says the price leak is “not yet confirmed by trusted sources”, but there are reasons to suggest it’s a good ballpark figure.
Firstly, inflation in the last few years has increased the price of most cameras since the X100V was launched, so a $200 rise wouldn’t be unreasonable. Also, some of the company’s smaller cameras, like the Fujifilm X-Pro3, have already hit that kind of price point. The X-Pro3, for example, cost $1,699 / £1,699 / AU$2,699 back in 2019.
So while we’ll probably have to wait until February 20 – the X100VI’s rumored launch date – for its official pricing, we’d anticipate that $1,599 price leak to be pretty close to reality. The question then is, is that a reasonable amount to pay for a fixed-lens premium compact?
Based on our Fujifilm X100V review and the latest X100VI rumors, we’d suggest that it could well be worth that price, despite being a relatively specialist camera…
Repeating the X100V’s success?
When you consider that the Fujifilm X-T5 costs $1,699 / £1,699 / AU$3,199 (body only) and lets you choose from dozens of lenses, it might seem overkill to spend almost the same on a camera that has a 23mm f/2 fixed lens and is consequently far less versatile.
But the X100V showed that the series still has a special charm of its own, even more so than its ‘sensible’ X-T series cousins. It’s a stylish, just-about-pocketable camera with a large APS-C sensor and a unique hybrid viewfinder – and those nods to 1950s film cameras make it hard to resist picking up the X100V and shooting with it.
According to the latest rumors, the X100VI could not only get a sensor upgrade (the same 40MP X-Trans V chip that’s in the X-T5 and X-T2) but also the benefit of in-body image stabilization (IBIS) for handheld shooting, without any major size increase compared to its predecessor.
If that’s true, then X100VI could potentially become even more popular than the X100V, which has been sold-out in many regions for much of its lifetime. While the series doesn’t make much sense as a main workhorse camera, those rumored specs could make it a unique premium compact in a space where only the smaller Ricoh GR III offers any real competition. We’re very much looking forward to hearing more about it in a few weeks.
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