As all the other manufacturers move to full-frame for everything except entry-level cameras, what will happen to the availability of class-leading APS-C sensors? Fuji placed a huge bet on APS-C, and they did it right - with high-quality lenses that took advantage of the potential weight savings, and were the right focal lengths for the sensors.
Other manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, Sony) focused their lens development efforts on cheap lenses and superzooms for APS-C, while saving the high-quality lenses for full-frame (with few exceptions). We'd occasionally see a non-Fuji APS-C body over $1000, but they never had the lens support, and they lingered on the market with very few updates (D300-D300S-D500 is a classic example).
With FF mirrorless appearing all over the place, three new systems (including Canon and Nikon) released in the last month, nobody except Fuji has released a higher-end APS-C camera in nearly two years (the D500). I can't recall when we last saw a non-Fuji APS-C lens of note...
Will Fuji's business be enough for Sony (or someone else) to keep putting the latest technology in APS-C sensors? Or, since the APS-C market now consists of "$400 cameras and Fuji", will they be relegated to only sensors that are suited for cheap cameras (with custom color filters)? If you're building a D3500, you can't afford to spend more than $30(?) on the sensor, while you're happy to spend $250 if you're building an X-H1 - but will there be a $250 sensor to buy???
Dan
It does not matter that all other manufacturers FF sensors and Fuji is the last APS-C standing. The sensor will be produced in the same lines FF sensors are produced, that it is the same line as Medium Format sensors are produced, compact camera sensors are produced or mobile phone sensors are produced. That it is the way CMOS technology works. You start with a very pure silicon wafer of 300mm of diameter. Over it, it goes via the same automated machines (it is highly automated process to avoid little pesky humans introducing dust in the environment), the chips are build in the wafers and then cut. If you are doing Medium Format sensors, you will get few chips per wafer, if you are doing FF a bit more, a bit more in APS-C, a much more in Mobile Phones (with more chips per wafer, smaller chips, the costs of production are reduced).
Sony, as any other CMOS manufacturer, like TMSC that is manufacturing right now iPhone CPU processors, nvidia graphics chips or AMD processors, gives all its clients a set of VDHL libraries that they can use to design their sensor, this is very well illustrated in this Imaging Resource article about how Nikon designed its D850 sensor using Sony fabs:
https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2018/07/17/pixels-for-geeks-a-peek-inside-nikons-super-secret-sensor-design-lab .
That other manufacturers are using ASP-C sensors only mean that Sony can offer everyone an standard design, but, as it was demonstrated with the case of D850 sensor, it does not mean you can not custom design your own sensor using Sony technology. This is what I suspect Fuji is doing here. If no other one uses a 26 megapixel sensor and the sensor is made by Sony it only means that Fuji had to invest a bit more upfront designed the sensor and fine tuning the manufacturing process for it (the first wafers coming from a new design usually have worst yield rates until the machinery is fine tuned for it).
Also, there is a rumor circulating that the sensor is in reality made by Samsung:
https://www.fujirumors.com/samsung-will-supply-aps-c-sensors-to-fujifilm-report-says/ that it is trying to get back to sensor business in their CMOS fabs since now the market of CMOS sensors is still growing, with phones having several cameras and cameras needed for intelligent cars...
So, yes, don't worry, Fuji has no problem getting sensors... CMOS technology is not like CNC tooling, where many times you need to build the CNC machine for an specific design, think it more like a 3D printer, same machine can produce thousands of designs... from all sizes and shapes...
