The Fujifilm X100V – Moving Pictures

I recently had the opportunity to make a few photographs with an unusual camera: the Fujifilm X100V.

The Fujifilm X100V is a handsome, capable camera.

In a photographic world dominated by digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras and the ever-growing mirrorless camera genre, Fuji has managed to help fill a void left by the disappearance of film and compact cameras.

Fuji refers to this line of cameras as “Premium Compact,” but the X100V is actually larger than my own Fujifilm X-T10 mirrorless camera, and it weighs more.

I placed my Fujifilm X-T10 mirrorless camera back-to-back with the Fujifilm X100V. As you can see, the camera body of the X-T10 is smaller, but after adding an lens adapter and a lens in the same class as the 23mm on the X100V, the two cameras are laid out quite differently.

The photography press is absolutely falling over itself to praise this camera, and I am starting to understand why. Some of the things this camera does really well…

Film simulation modes, including black-and-white filter modes that produce images like we used to get using red, green, or yellow filters with black-and-white film.
Manual everything; you can shoot in full auto mode, or manually control any and all functions, thanks to knobs and dials that remind us of film cameras from years ago. You could use words like “retro” or “vintage,” but honestly, I sometimes miss feeling like a pilot when running a camera.
In stark contrast to the “steam gauge” dials is that you can also control the camera with a touch-screen interface. Touch-screen cameras have been trickling through the hands of my students for some time now, and they tend to make the fun and magic of making pictures into an experience not unlike working with a smartphone.
It is film-camera-like in many ways, and reminds me of my Fuji GS670III medium format camera, a camera I regret selling but would never use if I still had it.
This camera is decidedly less conspicuous than my big DSLRs.
The sensor in this camera has a lot of pixels, 26 million, and it can shoot fast, really fast: 11 frames per second with the mechanical shutter, and 20 frames per second with the electronic shutter. I confess that I might not shoot at full speed if I had one of these, even for sports, since I tend to compose and edit in my head before I push the shutter release, and 20 frames per second can kind of clutter that process.
The hybrid viewfinder is one of the more groundbreaking features of this camera. In addition to the usual monitor on the back of the camera, it has a viewfinder which can be switched from optical, like a rangefinder film camera, or electronic, like we’re used to seeing with mirrorless cameras.

Obviously, the thing that sets this camera apart from the pack is that it sports that fixed 23mm f/2.0 lens, rather than the X-mount interchangeable lenses of their mirrorless cameras.

The lens on the Fujifilm X100V is a fixed (non-interchangeable) 23mm f/2.0.

If you can set aside the internet’s prattle about “crop factor” and see it for what it can do, this lens is a modest wide angle. In my film days, I had a 35mm f/2.0 Nikkor that was on my camera all the time, and Fuji’s 23mm is in this category of lenses.

Mackenzee Crosby scampers like a roadrunner across the street last week at the scene of a crash at Main and Oak. In her hands is her new Fujifilm X100V.

I only got the chance to shoot a few frames with this camera, but what I got was impressive; smooth handling, great sharpness, and very pleasing bokeh.

I made a few quick images with the Fujifilm X100V last week. As you can see, up close at large aperture, bokeh is quite smooth and pleasant.

That kind of brings us back to the idea of shooting with a camera that is married to one focal length. On paper, this seems like a limitation, but when you get the camera in your hands and start to shoot, it works so well. It encourages working to get the image. It makes you “zoom with your feet,” and the result seems, to me anyway, to be more intimate, more immediate, more genuine.

I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m blowing smoke at you. It really is a great way to shoot. I’ll be watching for more images from this camera. It is an exciting piece of kit.

Film photographers, especially older, more traditional ones like me, will feel right at home with the X100V's mechanical dials. — Film photographers, especially older, more traditional ones like me, will feel right at home with the X100V’s mechanical dials.

1 Comment