The X100V has been on many people’s wish lists. In fact, for many people, the wait to get their hands on one can be more than six months. But why? What is the hype all about? What makes the camera unique? Is it really as good as people say? Is it worth the wait?
Where to start?
Fujifilm X100V can be classified as a high-end compact camera. The size is very manageable as well as the low weight of 478 grams including battery and SD card. The design is a modern yet classic fusion of a rangefinder-style camera that’s no different from Contax or Leica M but at the same time unique in its own beautiful way. The sleek magnesium-alloy body combined with leatherette wraps around the front and back makes it nice to hold in the hand. When you pick it up, you know you’ve got a quality device in your hand.
The front of the body features a newly designed 23mm f/2 lens surrounded by a tactile aperture ring along with a manual focus ring. The corner of the body is home to Fujifilm’s unique hybrid viewfinder, allowing you to look directly at the scene captured through the camera body with all the necessary information projected into it, or at the touch of a button, using the electric viewfinder. The light element has a decent resolution and frame rate.
The top of the camera is adorned with mechanically-feel, click-clack and well-crafted metal dials that allow you to see all exposure settings at a glance even when the camera is turned off. The shutter speed wheel doubles as an ISO value wheel that can be adjusted by lifting it. Unlike previous versions of this design like the X-Pro2, X-Pro3 or X100F, the dial now remains the same. This makes choosing your ISO value much more comfortable. Last but not least is the exposure compensation wheel on the right side of the camera body. Easy to reach with just your thumb, much harder to accidentally rotate than older generations.
The back of the body has some small selection buttons, focus point joystick and tilting touchscreen. I was never a fan of tilting screens until I really started actively using one and now I can’t imagine working without a monitor. The X100VThe tilt mechanism is very simple. Up 90 degrees, down approximately 40 degrees, but the options compared to its predecessor are suddenly significantly expanded.
The star of the show
The camera is powered by a sensor that many of us know well. The fourth generation APS-C X-Trans BSI CMOS sensor has been with us since the X-T3 through the X-Pro3, the X-T4 up to the recently released generation. X-S20. It offers 26-megapixel resolution without the presence of an optical low-pass filter. The X-Trans sensor has the majority of critics but it has significantly more fans. And that’s right. The image files produced by the camera are stunning. Especially analog lovers.
You see, I can never really tell what the reason is, whether it’s the X-Trans color matrix or the processor doing the decolorization in the background, but whenever I shoot a Fujifilm at higher ISO values, the artifacts I get are more like film than grainy rather than traditional digital noise. The fact that the noise is mostly brightness and no random color points helps a lot with reality. I always say it’s not really a photograph unless it’s on paper and Fujifilm X100V the files just ask to be printed. When on beautiful baryta paper, the image comes to life just like in the movie.
This is why I usually just set my camera to auto ISO with the lowest (160) to highest (12,800) limits and I don’t care what value the camera chooses. I know I’ll get usable files anyway.
A pleasure to use
I have sold many X100 series cameras to many satisfied customers during my time working at various camera shops in London and Prague and I have met even more photographers who love their cameras . X100V camera. There is one thing they all have in common. The camera simply makes them want to take pictures. It forces them to carry it everywhere and capture whatever interests them. Its small size and low weight eliminate any reason to put it on a shelf at home. The simple yet intuitive controls make it fun to use, and the resulting files speak for themselves. Many of the photographers mentioned above already have DSLR cameras but barely touch them. Cameras that are just left dusting around the house depreciate in value over the years. When they came to the pretty little Fujifilm camera, they fell in love with photography again.
It’s the little things that also add to the whole experience. For example, the leaf shutter built into the lens not only allows for faster shutter speeds while using the flash, but is also near-silent regardless of the situation. Sometimes it’s so silent that you need to confirm that you actually took the shot. You won’t bother anyone with this shutter sound. Or the fact that NP-W126S The battery can last for a long time before it runs out. Officially it is rated to be able to take around 420 images. If I’m trying to save power, I can stretch it past 1,000. The trick was to set the power mode to boost which gave us the fastest boot time and turned the camera off when not in use. That way, it’s turned on and ready before it even shows up in front of my eyes.
Some “errors”
Autofocus isn’t slow at all. I’ve used X100V for weddings, corporate team building events, family vacations and anything in between. AF-S mode focuses quite quickly. I rarely missed an opportunity to slow down or the autofocus system was incorrect. The only problem is with object tracking mode. It just doesn’t reliably track when you want it to. The AF frame detects that the subject jumps all over the place and often even misses the subject entirely. This camera is not made for tracking. Especially compared to a newer one X-T5 or even the X-T4. As I mentioned, however, using the camera in single AF works well and doesn’t get in your way.
The aforementioned weddings and corporate events are often well-paid gigs. But you really shouldn’t bet on losing any files. I use a 32GB card so if it goes bad I can never lose all my pictures at once because I swap cards mid-event. But it would be nice to have two card slots. I’ve had card issues in the past, so this feature will save you a lot of anxiety when using the camera professionally.
Built for all weather
The biggest improvement in my opinion is the option to seal the camera from rain and dust by simply attaching a filter to the front of the lens. I love taking street photos in the rain. The scenes and compositions you get are often beautiful, and being able to shoot without fear of ruining your camera forever is a definite advantage. I brought my camera to the Slovakian High Tatras on a family vacation, and I was able to shoot just about anything regardless of the ever-changing conditions. The fear of a short camera is gone. The only fear left is the fear of the bears.
What I love about the camera
- Small size
- Light weight
- Nice picture quality
- 23mm f/2 . lens
- Great electronic viewfinder
- Cleaning the optical viewfinder
- Good AF-S performance
- Particle manageable at high ISO values
- Great Film Simulation (Especially Classic Negatives, Acros+R and Classic Chrome)
- comfortable handling
- tilt the screen
- Good battery life
- Weather-sealing with built-in filter
- Tactile analog dial
- USB-C charger
What I don’t like
- Tracking in AF-C is unreliable
- Only a single card slot
If you can afford it, get one
I have never owned one X100V or any previous X100 series camera. But I use them often because I can borrow one at work any time I want. The main reasons I didn’t get one were the lack of weather resistance and a card slot. The former has been fixed with X100V, but the latter still worries me whenever I take wedding photos with the camera. But even then, it’s quite possibly one of the best photography experiences and most enjoyable cameras I’ve ever taken.
I completely understand the hype and backlog of orders worldwide. Even the used market noticed. old thing X100Vs go for more new ones nowadays. A coworker of mine got his hands on a moderately priced used device a while ago and made the decision faster than I did and now I regret it a bit. It really is an almost perfect camera. Hopefully, the successor will achieve significantly more. And hopefully, it will offer dual card slots or internal memory combined with an à-la Leica M11.
Sample
