The Fujifilm X half preview: what do you think?

charisgratia said:

I know where they're coming from and who they're trying to reach with this particular product.

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Absolutely. People who care more about their camera being fun, than technically perfect, and who not only don't mind, but instead rather enjoy, the fact it's a little silly.

Richard - DPReview.com

I think it's great. It's not like the camera industry is necessarily growing these days due to the ubiquitous smartphone. Fuji is trying here to reach new audiences, so it's natural this camera won't be popular with most folks in this forum. But I am tempted to buy one for the "whimsical" nature of this camera.

For most people here, don't despair, the X-E5 is on the horizon.

I took a little swipe at the preview with this.

Mike B USA said:

I think the preview sells it short by calling it silly. It's a real camera aimed at a target market.

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I wish I hadn't done that. I should have made my point with better wording. As it stands, I'm guilty of the same thing I poked the preview about, casting a more negative tone than I intended or it deserved. I'm a fan of DPReview and I appreciate the effort that goes into making content that keeps this site going. It's a valuable resource we almost lost a few years ago. Only the effort of the current owners, editors, and staff keep it going for us to enjoy (for free, no less).

What should a reviewer do with a camera from left field lands in his or her lap? To call it unusual would be understating the obvious. This was a preview, not an in-depth review of the camera. It fully makes sense to describe the first impressions in a preview article. I expect a preview to cover the aspects of the camera that make it different from other cameras in the Fuji lineup and any other cameras that might be considered its competition. Quirks and all.

I wanted to see a bit more acknowledgment of the craftsmanship and technology squeezed into this little camera. As i mentioned in my earlier post, the 10.8mm lens has 6 elements in 5 groups with 3 aspherical elements. It's a prime lens of modest focal length with some heavy-hitter design elements and a strong Fujinon pedigree behind it. I have pretty high hopes to see excellent contrast, good color rendition, and very low distortion from such a lens in a small, lightweight package.

How many pixels does one need? If it's your only camera, I think get as many pixels as you can afford. If you have other cameras for other purposes, there's a role for an 18 MP, small sensor camera in the stable if it captures pleasing photos with minimal fuss.

Everyone should have a camera (or two or three) with big sensors that can produce raw output. But once you have those, there's always room for a small camera that produces beautiful jpeg output based on the color science of Fuji's phenomenal film simulations. I'd argue the Fuji Acros simulation alone makes it a worthwhile companion.

The 256-zone TTL metering should nail the exposure for all of the common lighting situations. We don't know anything about the expected dynamic range of the sensor, but this is anything but a toy camera. Small camera, yes. Quirky, yes. Limited, yes, but there's a lot more to it than a toy. We haven't even discussed the built-in WiFi and Bluetooth radios or the companion apps that should make it trivial to share a few photos with your family or friends.

I don't know if the X-half will warrant an in-depth review. I'd like to see how it performs under the microscope, but I've preordered one to see for myself how it performs in the real world when it's not my only option.

Mike B USA said:

I took a little swipe at the preview with this.

Mike B USA said:

I think the preview sells it short by calling it silly. It's a real camera aimed at a target market.

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I wish I hadn't done that. I should have made my point with better wording. As it stands, I'm guilty of the same thing I poked the preview about, casting a more negative tone that I intended or it deserved.

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Not a problem. I was just trying to clarify my intent, not question your right to voice your perspective. Words can be interpreted differently. I was hoping using 'fun' and 'silly' together would imply that I meant something closer to 'whimsical' than 'stupid,' but feedback is useful in that regard.

Mike B USA said:

I don't know if the X-half will warrant an in-depth review. I'd like to see how it performs under the microscope, but I've preordered one to see for myself how it performs in the real world when it's not my only option.

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It will absolutely get a full review, but I don't think we'll be getting the microscope out for this one. We'll be just as focused on the experience as the output: this isn't a camera where technical perfection will define our conclusions.

Sadly I don't think I can use that as an excuse not to shoot the test scene!

Richard - DPReview.com

Your sample gallery says it all. It's a camera that never has to be turned sideways. There is not a single landscape orientation image in the gallery.

I have experience with the original Olympus Pen half-frame film camera (still have it BTW). One of the things I disliked about it was that the vast majority of my images required some awkward handling as they were in landscape orientation. Had I only known what would later transpire I could have been one of the early "all verticals all of the time" photographic pioneers.

Sadly the trend toward all photography being shot vertically, both stills and video, is now mainstream. The world is ready for the Fujifilm X Half.

• John

AlanDPReview said:

Hi everyone!

We have our initial impressions of the newly announced Fujifilm X half which you can read and see some sample shots from here.

What are you thoughts? Do you have any questions for our staff that we can answer after our hands-on experience?

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Without reading the entire thread, I think it will sell based partially on looks alone. It's also a different experience, and different can sell. It's also going to probably ride some of the success of the X100VI (as I think has been mentioned in youtube reviews) and sell.

I'm curious what the cultural reaction is, not the technical photo reaction. This isn't a camera for technical image making/proficiency, and I don't think Fuji is trying to hide that (indeed they seem to be embracing it). A younger/cell phone oriented crowd isn't going to have the history or baggage (for lack of a better word) of a DSLR or mirrorless dedicated camera to compare this too, so the control/layout issues will probably be less of a sticking point.

I'd be curious to do an experiment- give 3 to dedicated photographers, 3 to people who have no photographic experience, and maybe 3 to more dedicated content creators, and see what the reaction is.

I like the business decision . . . here is something to grab new audience/customers and get them into the Fuji system. Here is a company looking a bit willing to take risks, without giving away the bank. Fuji reminds me a bit of the saying . . . crazy like a Fox (I think Petapixel has mentioned that before).

The only barrier I can think of is the price. But, have you seen X100VI's sitting on shelves lately? Yea, the X-Half has less capability, but the fun will probably make up for it. If the X-Half is successful, the X100VI just became the perfect step up the ladder just as that model may finally start to become more available. Or, how about this X-M5 over here, and now with someone buying lenses and that income stream. Of course, the other caveat will be supply.

Very curious to watch it from a business standpoint.

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Matt
https://bsky.app/profile/photosbymattjames.bsky.social
http://www.instagram.com/photosbymattjames
http://www.flickr.com/photos/akita/
Fujifilm X-T5 (black and silver).
Prime time- 18mm f/1.4, 33mm, Viltrox 75mm.
2.8 club- 16-55, 50-140.
Rest of the story- 70-300, and 100-400mm, 1.4 ext. and MCEX-11. X-T2 (broken paper weight).

Looks like a fun little camera. At $900 I’m probably going to pass.

I’d be more likely to try a Sigma BF if they drop considerably used and I’m going to buy a camera for a goof though.

AlanDPReview said:

Hi everyone!

We have our initial impressions of the newly announced Fujifilm X half which you can read and see some sample shots from here.

What are you thoughts? Do you have any questions for our staff that we can answer after our hands-on experience?

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I like it.

I`m not a jpeg only shooter user but some how I could quite possibly enjoy using this camera.

Price does seem a little high but I can see this camera might find its way into the hands of mobile phone users that would like something extra, for me this one would need to be built like a tank and not only look like one.

I can`t see this one being popular with vloggers (recent trends) video modes are a bit basic.

My only negative is the cold shoe, there is no included pc sync socket, retro flash units could have been good, especially if your into up-cycling and using old flash, hmm not even a centre contact on the shoe.

Could fuji also be developing there own little wireless TTL flash to go with this camera ?

The 880 shot per charge rating when using OVF is a good point.

My father had an Olympus Pen halframe camera while serving in the navy back in the sixties, those things seemed popular back then if you spent a good part of your life at sea.

Mike B USA said:

You guys talked me into it.

I preordered the Charcoal Silver version. Sometime after June 17th.

If it works out to be easy to have with me and a better camera than my iPhone, I'll be quite happy.

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Excellent!

All the naysayers are getting stale... the camera is not for me, but I understand what the intended target is. Burying your head in the sand and pretend the world does not change is useless and inefficient. I wish Fuji had this, that, or the other, instead of this camera... tiring.

It has o appeal to me because I grew up with film cameras with film advance levers and 36 exposure 35mm rolls. At least 1 generation has had no such experience, and this is the target for Fuji with this camera. To provide a film-like experience without the film. Not hard to understand really.

Fujifilm throwing spaghetti at the Instagram wall, in a fun and silly way.

Definitely not my cup of tea, but I can see this starting a new TikTok craze.

I wish Fujifilm success.

Cheers,

AlainCo

My only cons with that camera is that its resources Fujifilm could have dedicated to some new lens / lens renewal that are very overdue (50-140 mk ii? hello? some XC refresh??). (I don't think new generation of camera is super needed, I wouldn't be shocked if the X-Trans V is stretch for another 2 years, especially if the wait enable proper X-H3, X-T6 and X-Pro6(?) development)

I much prefer it to be a P&S like the old FinePix F100fd type of camera for maybe USD749.

Something similar to Sony RX100v, but the 1" sensor is non-stack, just BSI will do. A useful zoom range of 24-90mm (F4 to 5.6). A small compact type of P&S with excellent quality would do it for me.

AlanDPReview said:

Hi everyone!

We have our initial impressions of the newly announced Fujifilm X half which you can read and see some sample shots from here.

What are you thoughts? Do you have any questions for our staff that we can answer after our hands-on experience?

Click to expand...

My thoughts:

• There is a clear counter movement against the traditional big body, big grip, big lens, big files, big workflow kind of camera. There are several takes on how to do it, but the key thing is usually the instant factor. Don't overthink, just look and take a photo of it. I think that's a really positive approach to emphasizing photography over gear.
• At the same time, people like more capabilities, so little concept cameras get expanded with more features. That's easier to do with digital than it used to be with film, so digital compacts now have film sims, filters, etc. This invites a kind of DIY mentality, too, with people hacking Instax etc. I'm looking forward to slide-on black mist filters for the X-Half ;-)
• Talking about Instax, MrWhisper on YT came up with the description: the love child of the X100 and the Instax. I like that! Here's his take on it (if I can post it here):
• People on big-everything camera forums don't get this counter movement so most people here are negative about this camera. It's like explaining a Smart car to a Dodge RAM owner.

For the review, I would like to see

• Workflow as a photo camera. Not in: how well can you push the RAWs. But: how well does it disappear when you're in the zone?
• Photo quality, of course. And bokeh: there isn't a lot at f8 equiv, but what I've seen looks rather good
• Body size comparisons. Put it next to an X-E4 or an X-H2 and show how small the thing is!
• Again, workflow! Better to compare it to a Leica or an Instax than to a big grip 120fps body.

Thanks for the good work!

silentstorm said:

I much prefer it to be a P&S like the old FinePix F100fd type of camera for maybe USD749.

Something similar to Sony RX100v, but the 1" sensor is non-stack, just BSI will do. A useful zoom range of 24-90mm (F4 to 5.6). A small compact type of P&S with excellent quality would do it for me.

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Well, if you put wheels on your grandma, she’d be a bicycle.

AlanDPReview said:

Hi everyone!

We have our initial impressions of the newly announced Fujifilm X half which you can read and see some sample shots from here.

What are you thoughts? Do you have any questions for our staff that we can answer after our hands-on experience?

Click to expand...

It's terrible. Should have made it a real film camera because all of their X-mount lenses would have worked with it. As a digital, it's too limited and too expensive. It'll go down in history as one of the worst camera designs of the modern era.

There, I said it. Flame suit is on!

I read with great attention "First impressions" in the developping X Half review. It seems to match excatly what I nitially thought and ..... feared about Fuji gear development ! They still cannot provide enough X 100 and X M5 gear that reveal to be tremendsouly successfull, but they do take time and resources top design and produce this "frivolity" (in DPR text !)

And ther is still a lot of work to do with the X menuing system which looks older and older as time is going.

The hyper complex setting design of AF also should be completely redesigned as well. (à la Canon ?) Wasting time and resources for this semi X camera is just IMO a pitty.

So DPR first impressions reassured me that I was not developping trolling thoughts or bad boy thinking.

Jeff Biscuits said:

Well, if you put wheels on your grandma, she’d be a bicycle.

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Or in this case - if you put together a 'whimsical' unicycle and charge the same price as for a small car you don't get a car but a very expensive whimsical unicycle.

In this case if you take a X100 and strip out 90% of the value but charge 40% to 50% of the price you will make big profits if you sell enough - but the risk is that you devalue your brand over the long term.

My view is that at the stated price this device is cynically and horrendously over priced for what it is. The gimmick aspect risks making a joke of the X brand.

Richard Butler said:

Mike B USA said:

I think the preview sells it short by calling it silly. It's a real camera aimed at a target market.

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Silly doesn't necessarily mean bad. We called it "silly and fun" because it's a deeply unserious camera, but that's not a bad thing.

Richard - DPReview.com

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I quite like it, it has very similar styling to the GFX100RF.

It has a leaf shutter so not sure why they added an LED instead of a small flash.

And the cold shoe, pretty pointless without a pc socket for flash.

Dryce said:

Jeff Biscuits said:

Well, if you put wheels on your grandma, she’d be a bicycle.

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Or in this case - if you put together a 'whimsical' unicycle and charge the same price as for a small car you don't get a car but a very expensive whimsical unicycle.

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Obviously the idiom has now been stretched to a fairly tenuous analogy, but I think this is the same complaint in different clothing: “this doesn’t have half the stuff I want from a camera, yet it costs a pretty penny”. It ignores the fact that it does have some things that some people do want from a camera (and it’s also easy to overlook the undervalued point that it doesn’t have a number of things that some people don’t want in a camera).

Essentially: a whimsical unicycle looks like a duff product if what you want is a car. But if you actually want a unicycle, you’re in the market for a unicycle. And if the starter of the supply chain and the nature of product design and low-volume markets are such that unicycles seem like less value for money than cars, then that’s just how it is. If what you want is a unicycle then you have to pay what a unicycle costs. The price of a car is completely immaterial. It’s not like deciding between Car A and Car B. When you want a unicycle and not a car, and there’s only one unicycle on the market, the question is simply “am I prepared to pay this price for this unicycle?”

(And I speak as someone who, whilst having failed miserably at unicycling, has at times had bicycles worth more than my car )

Dryce said:

My view is that at the stated price this device is cynically and horrendously over priced for what it is. The gimmick aspect risks making a joke of the X brand.

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I think it’s completely reasonable to put oneself in a potential buyer’s shoes and question the price tag. But one aspect of being in those shoes is to appreciate the unique characteristics of this (or any other) camera and what it brings to the user experience. Lots of people seem to struggle with that and still view a unicycle through the lens of wanting a car. In order to make a proper value judgement, you’ve really got to first fully grasp the appeal of the unicycle.