Toshihisa Iida, General Manager of Fujifilm Optical Device and Electronic Imaging Products Division

Ninja Project FFF

This sounds like the introduction to a Ninja movie:

INT. SECRET LOCATION – DAY

In an undisclosed location at NAB, attended by unidentified executives from an unnamed company, Film and Digital Times has learned of new Full Frame zoom lenses being planned. This brief report has been authorized and vetted by the company, as are all reports in the Swiss-neutral, NDA-abiding pages of FDT.

The company is Fujifilm. It seems that they are studying the possibility of Full Frame zoom lenses. Much of the disclosure at the meeting was left to the imagination—so let me imagine what the lenses might be.

We know they will be Fujinon Full Frame zooms. Hmm…good name: FFF.

They will be lightweight, compact, high-end and comparable in optical quality to  the Fujinon Premier Series. The maximum aperture will be T2.X, where X is still being worked out. I would guess T2.9.

We conjured up a code name: “Ninja.”

Fujifilm’s current line of successful compact Cabrio zooms for Super35 consists  of these Cabrio zoom lenses:

• 14-35 T2.9
• 19-90 T2.9
• 20-120 T3.5
• 85-300 T2.9-4.0

For Fujinon Full Frame zooms, I would vote for equivalent coverage. To keep the size and weight down, reduce the individual focal lengths.

So, maybe 28-80 and 70-200 — and hopefully a wide 14-30.

Fujinon also makes the Cabrio 85-300 T2.9

and the following Premier HK zooms:

• 14.5-45 T2
• 18-85 T2
• 24-180 T2.6
• 75-400 T2.8-3.8

…so, I would assume there could be additional Full Frame studio zoom equivalents in Fujinon’s future.

But to feed the Full Frame frenzy, first I think we’ll see the lightweight, handheld, rig, gimbal, drone friendly FFF 28-80 first.