Fujifilm X-T1: the camera that saved "the future of Fujifilm's X mount"

Fujifilm X-T1
(Image credit: Digital Camera World)

The Fujifilm X-T1 "was a camera that was made with the future of Fujifilm's X mount at stake," a company official has stated, revealing that there was plenty on the line when it was released eight years ago.

While the Fujifilm X-Pro1, released in 2012, was the first interchangeable lens X-series camera, it was the Fujifilm X-T1 in 2014 that represented the make or break point for the format. Which is perhaps why its modern-day siblings, the Fujifilm X-T3 and Fujifilm X-T4, are widely seen as the most important cameras in the lineup.

"The X-Pro1 is impressive, but if you say one of them, it's the X-T1," said Takashi Ueno, Fujifilm Imaging's New Product Strategy Group general manager, when asked which camera left an impression on him by Japan’s Map Camera (translated by DC Life). 

After the X-Pro1, the manufacturer released the Fujifilm X-E1, X-M1 and X-A1 – not to mention the original X100 and X100S compact cameras, along with half a dozen  fixed lens ⅔" cameras – but Ueno says that “the X-T1 was the camera that everyone worked together as one.

"In that sense, the X-T1 was a camera that was made with the future of Fujifilm's X mount at stake. Thanks to all of you, the X-T1 has been very well received and sales have been strong, so we are where we are today. Without the X-T1, this interview might not have happened. That's how much the X-T1 left an impression on me."

Obviously today, those other cameras (minus the poor X-M1, which never saw a successor) have found great popularity and live on in the shape of the Fujifilm X-Pro3, Fujifilm X-E4, Fujifilm X-A7 and the beloved Fujifilm X100V

However, without the Fujifilm X-T1, the future could have been very different for the X-Mount – and for Fujifilm’s camera business as a whole. 

Read more: 

Best Fujifilm cameras
Best Fujifilm lenses
Best mirrorless cameras

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James Artaius
Editor

The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera MagazinePhotoPlus: The Canon MagazineN-Photo: The Nikon MagazineDigital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.