Victor Ha, Fujifilm VP, on the Success of the X100VI

The Fujifilm X100VI is proving itself to be one of the most successful cameras in recent years, with incredible sales results worldwide. It’s a much-needed win for Fujifilm, whose name is often neglected completely when discussing the major camera manufacturers in favor of brands such as Sony, Canon or Nikon. Victor Ha, the VP for Electronic Imaging Division and Optical Devices Division at Fujifilm, recently appeared on the CineD Focus Check podcast: discussing this camera amongst his other personal and professional successes. We highly recommend listening to the full episode, Ha’s particular perspective on the X100VI is a fascinating one to explore.

The Success of the X100VI

This incredibly versatile camera took TikTok by storm upon release, in what was a perfect medley of aesthetics and practicality. Most would struggle to justify the cost of a $2,500 camera, but this unit has seen unprecedented popularity. Ha mentions that he has been quizzed multiple times about how that success came about, and provides a very diplomatic answer:

I think a lot of it had to do with luck and timing, but I also think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that the camera has gone through five generations. So at that time we were lucky [...] We had a camera that was relatable, a camera that was attractive, and a camera that I think met the needs of some of the broader audience.
Source: Victor Ha, CineD Focus Check

One element that has been true of Fujifilm cameras, particularly their mirrorless models, is the style. It’s no wonder that the perfect storm of film photography and video content creation made the X100VI - with its film simulation presets and 6.2K video - an appealing package for content creators. As content becomes the buzzword of businesses worldwide, Ha went on to explore the interesting change in Fujifilm’s customer base:

What we see is that a large number of the individuals who have purchased the camera are new to our brand - new to Fujifilm - which is exciting. Traditionally X100 cameras have always been cameras for people who have other brands or are purchasing as well as, and so there's a lot of intersection of users there. I think the success of the camera has indicated to us that the customer group has expanded quite a bit: into first-time buyers, into first-time users, into first-time camera owners.
Source: Victor Ha, CineD Focus Check

But sales such as these are still generated by a great product. Ha praises the team of engineers who developed the X100VI for their work, and also highlights how development is a multi-step process. The color science behind Fujifilm cameras is exceptional, arguably the best in the industry - which Ha does in fact argue - and it makes the results of the X100VI exceptional to behold.

The Challenges of Modern Content Creation

The success of the X100VI takes place in a much wider market context, however. Recent data highlights a major slowdown in the sales of cameras, with a drop of over 94% in the past decade. Ha is well aware of the challenges facing the camera market, and offers a really interesting root cause - and a solution - rooted in the way that younger or entry-level creators are brought into the industry.

I think that many of the young generation kind of lost respect for the profession. [It is] so easy to take pictures and videos these days - I remember in the old days when you would come in with a camera people would look at you and say: “Wow, he’s probably doing something very special”. I’m very much in favor of the younger generation doing a lot of stuff, but do you see a way to keep the simplicity of taking pictures and video but also in a way to restore respect for the profession itself?
[...]
We deal with that just as a marketing team in the US right now, because we don’t want to alienate anyone that wants to make an image or tell a story. The goal is to have someone using an imaging device to tell a story, because if they’re not using [it] to tell a story then there’s no possible way that they’re ever going to use one of our cameras to tell a story. In different segments of the market, some individuals have less of a focus on the craft, or less of a focus on pricing or less of a focus on business economics - of how to run a sustainable operation - I think those are all contributing factors.

Education is really important, especially if there is a creative individual. I don’t care how old they are if they’re making great stuff, but if they’re charging too little for it, that’s going to affect all of us - from the manufacturer side to the content creator side. If they don’t know how to sustainably quote out, or bid, or understand copyright or trademark… how to write a proper agreement, the need for insurance and how to bill for all of that then that’s our problem. We have to fix that as an industry. We have to train and educate and teach them those things.
Source: Victor Ha, CineD Focus Check

In so many words, it seems Ha is advocating for a better system of education for entry-level content creation. As proven by the X100VI and its sales, along with the huge profits that content creators accumulate year after year, there is most certainly money in visual media. But as platforms like TikTok have grown in indirect proportion to traditional bodies such as Film and TV industries, modern culture is experiencing a shift away from the filmic approach taught in film schools or college courses.

Ha’s approach seems to be a proactive one - one that many young creatives will surely echo: the democratization of content creation is a great benefit, but it needs to be supplemented with the tools and resources that make an industry sustainable. How exactly that comes to fruition, however, is “an entirely different podcast topic” as Ha puts it.

There are plenty more insights into Ha’s perspective in the podcast as linked, and it is well worth checking out for a top-down perspective on the successes and challenges that face the modern visual media industry.