Fuji May Announce Entry-Level X-Series Mirrorless Camera with Tiny 2/3 Sensor

Update: It seems that this rumor was off base. The latest word is that there is indeed a 2/3 sensor coming, but it will appear in a new XS2 fixed lens camera. The upcoming entry-level X-Series camera will continue to feature a APS-C-sized sensor. That makes a lot more sense.

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We’ve heard that Fujifilm is primed to make some camera announcements this summer, and according to Digicame-Info one of those announcements may be a new entry-level X-mount mirrorless camera. The camera is expected to be announced in the summer (possibly June, according to PhotoRumors) and made available in the fall for anywhere between $550 and $700.

But it’s not the price, release date, or even the existence of a potential entry-level mirrorless ILC from Fujifilm that has people talking. Instead, it’s the rumor that the camera will come to market sporting a tiny 2/3-inch X-Trans CMOS sensor.

This wouldn’t be the first 2/3-inch X-Trans sensor to appear in the X-Series lineup, as the same sensor has already been released in the X20. However, the X20 is a fixed-lens camera, so this would be the first X-Series interchangeable-lens camera to feature the smaller sensor size.

To give you an idea of how that would look on an X-Mount, here’s a picture put together by Patrick over at Fuji Rumors:

As you can see, the sensor is significantly smaller than the APS-C sensor currently used by X-Series mirrorless cameras. The 2/3-sensor would have a crop factor of 3.6x, more than double the 1.5x crop factor of Fujifilm’s APS-C sensors.

This means Fujifilm’s 35mm XF lens would effectively be a 126mm lens when used on the new entry-level camera. The widest angle XF lens at the moment, the Fujifilm XF 14mm, would effectively be a 50mm lens.

For wider angles, Fujifilm will presumably want to release a new series of X-Mount-compatible lenses designed specifically for the 2/3 sensor size, assuming it does become a reality.

Whether or not the 2/3-inch sensor size actually materializes in the upcoming camera, the general consensus appears to be that an entry-level camera will indeed be announced sometime before summer turns to fall (along with some other tasty announcements as well).

(via Photo Rumors)