Fujifilm X100V review: The most capable prime-lens compact camera, ever

that's cool. I'd love to own an x100 one day

It's the same as printers today. In the old days, all printers came with data cables. Now they don't, since people probably have several laying around the house.

Why not make it a pancake 3X electronic zoom? But maybe that would make it be a totally different camera? That niche may be covered by something like one of the more compact Olympus M4/3 cameras which come with the 14/42 EZ pancake as standard.
No, the X100V is what it is. A beautiful well specified quality fixed lens that comes from a very popular heritage line.

Honestly, I also don't get it. It's an expensive fixed lens camera.
All in all, people seem to enjoy it. Maybe there's something to taking options from the user, after all.

@Radu:
Well, it is quite a cool, and compact, camera with a very useful focal length that certainly does produce fantastic images. I totally get its appeal. I'm enamored. It could totally use IBIS, but that's another discussion.

The problem for me is that while i love 35mm equiv length and use it a lot, it's not my first choice for a camera i would use in a way i would use this kind of body. It's actually the 4th of the classic lengths I'd choose. But even if it was 28mm equiv (my first choice), i still wouldn't want solely that length. I'd love to pop on a 20mm for intimate event/interior, etc.

Yeah, if only somebody would make a suite of pancakes for a body like this...

That would defeat the point of this camera

Pancakes are always compromised vs their full-sized counterparts. And they can never be *really* fast as that requires physical size.

But i don't care. I have all kinds of pro gear if i need that kind of IQ. As do many people who would consider this kind of money for a really limited-use type of camera like the X100V. The X100V would be a horrible choice as an only camera. MFT is a great example of people spending as much money on small gear as they would on FF gear just for the smaller size. If my primary goal is a really small camera that makes IQ far better than PNS, i can sacrifice maximal IQ and a couple stops of speed and DOF.

@Bernie: That Camera might be the X-T30 for you. It is for me - minus the OVF.

@CaPi:
Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I already have an X-T20 and i truly cannot stand using it. I honestly don't think Fuji can make a camera I'd enjoy using. I really can't stand their ergonomics, and the menus are even worse. Fuji's decision to drop the 4-way controller for a tiny joystick is an egregious dealbreaker. For me, anyway. Really sad because i love Fuji lenses, skin tone, and film simulations.

I've started shopping around on Ebay and Amazon for a Lumix GX85, 14mm, and 20mm pancakes. Maybe the 27mm, and 42.5mm lenses as well even though they're not pancakes, but rather because they are simply extraordinary. And still relatively small. I really hope Lumix or Oly will release a nice MFT 10mm pancake soon.

I wouldn't hold my breath for that, Oly/Pana haven't even released a non-pancake rectilinear UWA prime (fisheyes aside), yet they've releases a bevy of UWA zooms (far more than I would've expected a few years ago TBH)... It seems the market for the latter is just that much greater. That being said, you do have some options if you'll settle for a tiny lens even if not a pancake.

You could try an UWA converter on the 12-32 pancake but I don't think results will be all that great, the lens itself is well above average for a kit zoom tho so it might be worth keeping an eye out for w/that GX85. The Laowa 9mm f2.8 & the Oly 9-18 collapsible zoom are both just a bit larger (2" x 2"-ish) and pricier but would do the trick.

(continued)

(continued)

The Laowa 7.5mm f2 is a bit smaller and wider obvs but about the same price. Finally there's the Oly 9mm f8 fisheye bodycap, it's not as sharp as something like the Samyang 7.5mm f3.5 FE (itself a good option), nor as wide as most fisheyes (140 vs 180 deg. AoV), but it's not as bad as the 15mm bodycap. It defishes ok in post.

I was pretty happy with the 9-18 for a while before I went for the PL8-18, then ended up buying the Laowa 7.5/2 after it cause I missed having a really small UWA; and later ended up buying the body cap fisheye even tho I've got the Samyang... If nothing else tht body cap makes my smallest body (GX850) look like a P&S so security never bats an eye at it in any venues, then I pull out something like the 42.5/1.7 or 75/1.8 heh.

@impulses:
Thank you very much for your suggestions and input! I do intend to get a 12-32mm. Apparently there's a metal-mount version that's the same lens but wasn't part of a bundle. I'm gonna try to score one of those.

I also checked out all the lenses you mentioned. I'd really prefer to have AF, and well pancake, but that Laowa 7.5mm f2 is pretty tempting.

Lol, love your security hack! Muhahaha! 😈

Yeah the black 12-32 that came with my GX850 has a plastic mount, the silver one I'd bought much earlier from Japan on eBay (just cause Pana USA was dragging it's feet in bringing it out) has a metal mount (came in it's retail box). I don't think it makes a big difference on a lens that small/light tbh. The shell on that lens is more likely to detach than anything else if you manhandle it too much (seen a few instances of it on the boards), my original one from 2014 is still doing fine tho.

I'm hoping to get a silver body with silver lenses for very little more than all-black would cost. A silver 42.5mm would look really sharp. 🤞

I just don't like plastic lens mount's. I have broken 2 Nikkor 18-55mm kit lenses at the mount. Once from hurriedly mounting the lens not quite properly and i just totally cracked/stripped it. The second time, my tripod-mounted camera went over backwards, tripod and all, and the lens just broke off from the force of the fall even though the lens didn't make contact with anything. Plus there's the cheapiness factor. Silver with metal mount is the way i gotta go. 😉

For whatever bizarre reason, the silver variant of some of Pana's smaller lenses isn't sold at all in the US. Are they even selling the 12-32 by itself right now? I do know they *have* sold the one in silver with certain body combos in the US... AFAIK the 42.5/1.7 was never sold in silver stateside tho, and I think the tiny 35-100 f4-5.6 was only sold in silver with a GF7 kit.

I ended up buying my 42.5/1.7 in silver from Japan as well (same eBay seller IIRC, Wink camera store I think), for a similar reason as the 12-32... Pana USA was taking it's sweet time releasing it over here, plus I wanted it in silver anyway and eBay sellers had it for a good price. It's not a gamble I personally like to take with pricier lenses (trickier return process if it's a sub optimal sample etc), but with that kinda stuff it's no big deal IMO.

Yeah. $700. That's a good amount of money. It doesn't even have a flash. This thing costs as much as an RX10M4 and a MUCH more compelling case can be made for the RX10M4's price...

sure... there are a lot of things that cost $1500, doesn't mean we can compare them and say something is too expensive.

Lol, yes we can. That's what this whole area, even DPR itself, is about, lol.

Just wait till the next version comes out and you can get it used for your dream price

@Bernie - it actually has a flash. And yes, if you think that's $700 USD, as I said, some people want something for nothing. :-)

@Raist:
The X100V doesn't have a flash. You'd need to use an external.

And if you think $700 is "nothing", I'll remind you that for $629.00 (which i suppose is "less than nothing") you can get a brand new Nikon D5600 with Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6P + accessory kit including a generic external flash (even though the D5600 does have a pop-up), memory card, and bag.

https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D5600-NIKKOR-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G/dp/B082LNY8JN/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=d5600&qid=1586599636&sr=8-5

And for $1,274.95 (which is less expensive than the X100V) you can get a Nikon Z50 with Nikkor 16-50mm VR, Nikkor 50-200mm VR, FTZ adapter, and 64GB card. And it has a pop-up flash.

https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Mirrorless-Camera-Adapter-Accessory/dp/B07ZZ8FDS4/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Nikon+z50+kit&qid=1586600264&sr=8-3

Cont.

Or for $1,298.00 you could get an RX100M7.

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Premium-Compact-1-0-type-DSCRX100M7/dp/B07VPQV7BY/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=sony+rx100+vii&qid=1586601036&sprefix=Sony+rx100&sr=8-3

"Something for nothing"? Hardly. I just want more for my money than you do, apparently. Feel free to spend yours however you like though. I have no problem with that.

@Raist:
Shoots, my bad, the X100V does have a built-in flash. Pretty terrible placement though.

@Raist:
And i think you're missing the whole infinite focal lengths/lens choices, and stabilization possibilities. And for a lot less money.

Hell, a Lumix GX85 with 12-32mm and 45-150mm bundle, and 14mm f2.5 pancake, and 20mm f1.7 pancake, and 42.5mm f1.7 costs right about what an X100V without WR sells for. Or i could just get the GX85 body and 14mm used mint for around $500. And OMG, the ergos and menus are light years better than Fuji's!

Frankly, I'm very glad to have had these discussions on this thread because they finally led me to the solution to my lingering nagging problem of what small gear to get for kicking around First Fridays and other casual situations when my bigger gear isn't appropriate or when i just don't feel like lugging big stuff or going all the way down to my S120.

But hey, if the X100V is the solution for you, right on, more power to you, brother! ✊

@Bernie - Stabilization is nice but not essential for a lot of photography. And missing on focal lengths- again, that depends on each photographer.

I am not proposing the X100V is for all markets. But it seems that in your assessment you fail to completely understated what it really aims at- and that such market exists. Just because it's not for you doesn't make it non existent.

You seem to be comparing numbers of totally different cameras. I had a GX85 for exampple- great camera. Doesn't do the ISO and the image quality of the Fuji. Doesn't have the ISO, dynamic range, color sensitivity, has an EVF that has the rainbow scan problem, and it has absolutely no OVF/Hybrid EVF which only Fuji has.

The Ergos on Panasonic are good, but I think the Ergos on Fuji are pretty good. Ah yes, the color of Fuji is definitively better than Ppanasonic's though Panasonic has improved finally a lot in G9/GX9.

But you see, your needs not being met by X100V doesn't mean the camera is bad.

@Bernie- nor the limitations of the GX85 (by the way, , the kit lenses that come in the price you mention don't compare to the Fuji lens of the X100V - see how much money is a good prime lens in m43rds)- make it a bad camera either, it's pretty good. The Fuji fits in a jacket pocket easily, not so much for the Panasonic, though the 20mm F1.7 pancake is pretty great, even if slow to AF.

Moreover- the X100V doesn't have to be a solution for me, to say all this. It can be my non solution, but I can see still what Fuji is doing and what market for that exists.

@Raist
You can romanticize the X100V all you desire, but it is nooo serious tool the way you make it out to be. I saw someone else in Comments call it a "professional" camera, lol. Such praise of such a limited device is just confirmation bias.

The bare truth is that the X100 series is a really cool toy with some neat tricks, that can in fact actually make some really nice images. But it's ultimately hipster jewelry, and it charges a hefty poser tax. That doesn't make it a bad camera. But it's not worth anywhere near the money in terms of actual camera gear. That doesn't mean it's not the right camera for a good number of people for whatever reason(s) they may have. Just not for me.

That's my take on it. YMMV... 🙂

@Bernie- I am not "romanticizing" anything here. This is a tool and just like any other camera today, it's great but has its pros and cons- like everything else.

The X100 line has been usually professional, so I don't think that's confirmation bias. It all depends what the photographer is doing and in what domain.

Certainly the camera is not for you. But for example, it is capable of producing on same light isutaitons better images than m43rds and 1'' sensor cameras for being in the class leading ASPC side of things.

Pros and cons. Not for you. It works for someone else. There's nothing romantic about it. I listed some of the pros it has. Obviously that is not an advantage for you or you don't see it- either way, it's fine. It sells and Fuji is doing well with it- and so are the photographers that find a match in their toolset with it.

@Raist:
Now *you're* calling it a professional camera...

Sorry, this is beyond ridiculous. Have a good one, bro.

Well, my 15 year-old GE Duet HT is better than your washer! Lol, jk. 😂

Thanks

@foto: I disagree.

@John you do have a point there

I certainly would pay that much more for the modest, one stop difference full frame gives you.

So what you are asking for is just a Leica Q2 in cheap. I am afraid the Sony would be the closest you can get in this respect. The Fuji by the way would lose it's appealing form factor. You wouldn't be able to but such a camera in a jacket easily…

You write "I don't think it's worth buying" and I literally gave you a reason why people but it. The fallacy, it seems, is all yours.

I can't find Tatsuo's video. I'd like to see what upset so many people.

In general i think it's okay to shoot people on the street. I'm not comfortable intruding, but some of the best photos come about that way. I'm talking mainly telephoto. If, however, some stranger stuck a camera in my face, there's a good chance it'd get knocked to the ground. Along with the photographer attached to it...

@DarnGoodPhotos
I agree with you. Not including IBIS or OIS in the lens made no sense for a $1,400 camera. It looks like Fuji decided to exclude both to maximise profits, simple as that. Without IBIS or OIS, the camera might be worth $900. Fuji already has IBIS in other cameras, so why not include it in this expesive fixed lens camera?

I think the lack of IBIS is partly nostalgia. Both in looks and in function. I also think they try to keep this line rather "pure" from a shooters perspective. It's a camera to carry with and make images as they are seen. It's a simple camera for simple photography. I originally was going to buy one (I'll probably buy this one) but couldn't wrap my head and hands around the size. It seemed too small to me and still basically does. I carry an X-T1 and 23 F1.4 most everywhere I go. Maybe it's my own nostalgia but it feels like a camera to me. Smaller just seems fiddly in use. I had an X3 and the trio of F2's but I was never comfortable handling them. My photography is simple and I do best with one camera and one lens. It's just how I see photos. In theory (I think) this camera was designed for someone like me. I make photos of scenes I believe will make an interesting picture. My family laughs at me when we travel.

blablabla I'm unhappy about a product I wasn't going to buy anyway blablabla

Lol, if Tatsuo pulled that crap on me, i think I'd have a nice new-ish X100V and Tatsuo would be short a tooth or two. 🤜

I think the X100's hybrid finder tosses the notion of "pure" shooting out the window.

Tripods certainly have their place. It's not like i don't use them. Stabilization, be it IBIS or OIS or both, is fabulously useful for tons of stuff. Particularly street, portrait, group, etc. There's no benefit to not having stabilization other than cost-saving, but that's *clearly not* the case here. If one doesn't want to use stabilization, one can just turn it off. But one can't turn on what one doesn't have...

If you responded to the boorish Tatsuo in that manner you would likely be facing a robbery and assault charge, followed by a hefty personal-injury lawsuit. And you would be deserving of every negative repercussion resulting from your intemperate overreaction.

Threatening violence doesn't make you appear tough; but it does reek of psychological compensation. . .

i agree 100% sir, i checked out at the camera store yesterday. it's a hunk of a camera. what on earth where they thinking?

iPhone also send data back to ... Why so many people bought it?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2014/07/22/every-iphone-has-a-security-backdoor/

Big difference between the two.

“A user must have unlocked their device and agreed to trust another computer before that computer is able to access this limited diagnostic data. The user must agree to share this information, and data is never transferred without their consent.”