I wonder if this is the IMX271 (a third generation of the Sony 24 MP sensor first seen in the NEX-7), which doesn't seem to have made it into any camera (unless it slipped, unnoticed, into a Pentax or two, or some APS-C compact), although it started cropping up on Sony spec sheets in April or so? The other possibility is a FOURTH generation sensor that is too new to be on a spec sheet yet... Does anyone know if the IMX271 uses copper wiring? It's supposed to have an extraordinarily fast readout, just like this sensor. Whether it is the third or fourth generation, this promises to be quite the sensor. The Photoreview article mentioned single-electron read noise (and Fuji has been boasting of extremely low read noise) - I'm not aware of ANY big sensor with read noise quite that low - they're getting better, but I thought the best were still around a couple of electrons. The sample high ISO shots in some of the reviews DO look very clean, and some of the reviewers have commented that it is unusually clean at high ISOs. I'm not sure the full well capacity of 18,000 electrons is correct - it's lower than previous sensors of similar pixel pitch (it should be similar or higher) - Fuji designer Takashi Ueno says that the signal level from the new sensor is significantly higher, which doesn't mesh with a low full well capacity (that I can see).
There is no way to get dynamic range greater than 14 stops out of a 14-bit analog to digital converter (yes, you can have a sensor whose full well capacity is more than 16,384 times the noise floor, but the converter won't give you more than 1 stop per bit). What may very well be happening here, and is happening with a couple of the very best full-frame sensors, is that we're coming right up on that limit. A 14-bit converter has noise of its own, so it won't give you QUITE 14 stops, and any sensor with more than 13 stops of DR is almost certainly seeing some limitation from the converter. A few modern sensors have begun to get into the range where this matters, and it sounds like the X-Pro 2 sensor is going to be one of them. The only cameras that can actually claim more than 14 bits of DR have a 16-bit A/D converter AND a sensor capable of picking up more than 14 bits. Right now, as far as I know, that group includes a few digital cinema cameras (some of the RED models, maybe an ARRI or two) and perhaps the new Sony 100 MP medium format sensor. Phase One has used 16-bit converters on a few of their CCD medium format backs, but the sensors themselves weren't giving more than 14 stops, so the 16-bit converter's function was to push the converter's own noise out of the picture, giving the best possible conversion from whatever 12-14 stop signal the sensor produced. The 50 MP CMOS back (which uses a medium format version of a modern Sony sensor) might have a 14+ stop signal, but it uses a 14-bit converter. The new 100 MP monster has a current-generation Sony sensor, which is at least pushing 14 stops, if not over, AND it uses a 16-bit converter.
Could we get more out of modern sensors below medium format by using 16-bit converters? Probably... There is some actual signal in the 15th bit on some full-frame sensors, and it sounds like the X-Pro 2 sensor will probably be the first APS-C sensor to produce any signal (other than noise) down there.16-bit converters are expensive (Red and Phase One don't care, but everyone else does) and produce a ton of data (Phase One shoots at 1 FPS, and Red sticks a huge processor in their camera, powers it with a 2 pound battery and cools the resulting mess with a big ol' fan). The first 14-bit converter I'm aware of that made a difference was in the Nikon D3x, which had 12 and 14-bit modes. The 14-bit mode produced notably better files than the 12-bit mode, but it took the otherwise 5.5 FPS camera and reduced it to ~1.5 FPS. Later 14-bit converters are faster, and the processors are set up to handle them, but the first 16-bit converter in a "regular" camera will probably have a huge speed hit.
Another spec that is worth a glance is that 480 MP/sec processing speed! That's high enough to handle any imaginable video mode, including uncompressed 4K 60p (just barely) , and more than fast enough to deal with the frame rate and resolution of the fastest pro DSLR. It almost smells of medium format aspirations to me (total guess). Even if it's not meant for medium format, it is fast enough for any POSSIBLE autofocus or other processing...
The only other tidbit we hadn't seen all over the place that turned up in the Fuji Guys video is that the tripod socket is correctly positioned! It's right under the sensor, centered both from front to back and side to side.
And then there's the mysterious flash! I dug through all of B&H's flash listings for other systems, trying to figure out what Fuji had rebranded - and I can't. Their overpriced Sunpak rebrands are rather obvious - the controls are exactly the same as the Sunpak model (except for the "retro" flash) and even the model number is often similar. I'm sure someone's making it for them, but it seems to be a custom job (I tried matching it to Sunpak, Metz, Phottix, Yongnuo and Bolt/Bower/Vivitar, without luck). Maybe it's a new model from one of those companies (one reason Fuji's version might be coming out in May), and we'll see a Canon or Nikon TTL version in April and say "oh, THAT's what the flash is"... Dpreview's pictures do reveal that it's made in China , which reduces the likelihood that it's actually made by Fuji - they make their higher end products in Japan, and a lot of midrange stuff in Thailand.
