Fujifilm’s Next X-Summit is in February, Just Before Japan’s Big Photo Show

Fujifilm took to YouTube to make a few announcements today, with the most notable being the announcement of an upcoming X-Summit. Slated for February 20 in Tokyo, it’s poised to drop just days before the country’s largest photography trade show.

Twice a year, Fujifilm hosts a show called X Summit where it usually announces new products and technology advancements. Specifically, the company says these events are used to take “all its new products, services, and ideas for a great show to share the best innovative practices and technologies with [its] partners.”

Fujifilm will regularly host X Summit events in different cities around the globe. The last X Summit took place on September 12 in Stockholm and was used to launch the GFX 100 II while the last winter event took place in Bankok.

This year is starting off even earlier than last year’s event (which took place in May) and will drop just a couple of days before the start of CP+, an annual photography trade show that is one of the most important on the calendar for Japanese camera companies since the collapse of Photokina. CP+ will take place February 22nd through the 25th.

The event survived the COVID-19 pandemic where it went online-only and returned to in-person last year. It remains the preeminent international tradeshow for camera and lens manufacturers and is expected to be particularly important this year ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris. While some companies have likely already announced their flagship offerings for the global sporting event, like Sony and its a9 III and 300mm f/2.8, many will be looking at Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, OM System, and Fujifilm to showcase offerings that even if they aren’t aimed at pros, are impressive enough to take advantage of a surging photography industry.

While Fujifilm announced the X Summit, and its events usually feature new cameras or lenses, the company didn’t say anything further about what to expect. That said, whatever the company announces is very likely to take center stage at CP+, as Fujifilm has confirmed it will be present at the show. Whatever Fujifilm makes public on February 20, it intends to have it available to try out in its booth.