Good Company, Bad Company

Dear friend,

I want to give you an insight into the corporate world. No, not that kind of heavy stuff. I just want to compare a good company and a bad one. Those lucky companies are Nikon and Fujifilm. I wanted to compare Mitsubishi vs. Subaru or Google vs Microsoft, but their rivalries are too complicated for my mind. So, without further ado, let's go...

Why Nikon vs. Fujifilm? Because I've had both of their products. When I was a junior highschooler, my dad bought a Nikon D3200 kit with cheapo UV filter, low entry level Excell tripod (which surprisingly survives until now) and other "amateurs' essential stuffs". They aren't many, but I forget them. After 2-3 years, my dad bought a Nikon D5200 with a 18-200mm kit lens (this time, without the "amateurs'essential stuffs") out of the blue. So that Nikon D3200  became mine in an instant because my dad kind of neglected it altogether. Moving on to early 2017, I sold it. I didn't like DSLR anymore. I bought an Olympus EPL-3 kit, but I sold the kit lens after just 3 weeks and bought the Panasonic 14mm f2.5 lens. The Olympus EPL-3 + Panasonic 14mm f2.5 was a really lovely setup. It's compact, the AF is quick, the kit flash is really good for what it is. There is one major problem, though. Just one. It doesn't have a viewfinder. I know I could buy an external viewfinder (whether an optical one or electronic one), but they're really hard to find. If you do find one, it's so freaking expensive. Especially the electronic one. It costs like Rp 3-4 million which is more expensive than the camera itself! (BTW, the Olympus costed Rp 2.5 million.) And for that reason, I sold the Olympus and bought a Fujifilm X100 (the 1st generation one) which I think is the best purchase I've made at least up to this moment. I may seem like a rich boy, but no. I meditated for a month or two and saved up some money for way longer than that before I made that purchase (to be honest, I always meditate for at least a month before I spend Rp 500 thousand and above).

So, enough for the nostalgia. Let's go straight to the point.

I want to talk about Nikon first. According to this article by PetaPixel, Nikon had a bad year last year. Because of one simple reason. They care more about their shareholders and less about their consumers. "...they’ve revised their Shareholder Returns Policy. They used to attempt to provide a “total return ratio of 30% or more.” Now they’re targeting a “dividend payout ratio of 40% or more.” Where are customers in any of this? Apparently not squarely in management’s vision.". In my personal opinion, after they made D3200 and its friends, their cameras aren't as appealing anymore. I have to admit, although I don't like DSLR anymore, their pro grade cameras are still appealing even until now. But the consumer grade ones? No, not so much. And I've known the reason why now. I know that big companies have to make themselves interesting in front of their shareholders. But do they have to go that far? I personally don't know. I don't have an insight into how capitalism works.

As for Fujifilm, I've loved them since I bought my Fujifilm X100. I know that I'll be biased towards Fujifilm. But I'll try my best to be as neutral as possible. Just hang tight. According to this article by DPReview, Fujifilm had a pretty good year last year, the opposite of Nikon. Why? Because they love to listen to their consumers, the opposite of Nikon too. They often update their cameras' firmwares (my Fujifilm X100 got a firmware update last year. And that camera is from 2011!). They also listen to consumers feedback before they update their camera models. But, as for their low entry-level cameras, there isn't much going on in terms of big spec update and stuff. I know most tech companies do that, but I'm afraid they'll become stalled after the long run. This concerns Fujifilm as well. (Fujifilm, if you read this post, maybe you could do something about it?)

Well, that was my two cents. Wassalamu'alaikum bro! Or forever...

Krisnabiroe out.