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Do we really still need compact cameras in 2020? After all, the iPhone 11 Pro is one of the best travel cameras ever made and smartphones in general have delivered a Terminator-style Judgment Day on point-and-shoot cameras. But the Fujifilm X100V has provided a timely reminder that dedicated cameras, even compacts, can still be essential photography tools. Yes, even in the age of incredible phone cameras.
How so? Having spent a few hours with the Fujifilm X100V â and a little longer with its predecessors â I can say that it comes closer than anything to packing traditional camera strengths into a pocket-friendly form factor. If my iPhone often feels like the photographic equivalent of getting an Uber, the X100V is like tearing around country lanes in a Mazda MX5.
[IMG alt=âFujifilm X100Vâ]http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4p4...bEzf8WKRU9.jpg
This is less a debate about outright image quality â I havenât spent quite long enough with the X100V to make definitive statements about that yet â but more about the X100V as a concept and street photography sidekick.
The thing this camera succeeds at most is creating a perfectly evolved, walkaround âshooting experienceâ. But as that sounds a bit like a misty-eyed audiophile praising the âwarmthâ of their tube amp, Iâll be a little more specific. Here are the five X100V features that make it a better street photography ally than my iPhone 11 Pro (and a few areas where it still falls short).
The X100Vâs special sauce
Like many of todayâs flagship phones, the iPhone 11 Pro is a brilliant pocket camera. But for those who want to make photography their creative hobby, rather than just a way to record their life, dedicated cameras like the Fujifilm X100V can offer five features that help make them superior tools for everyday creative snapping.
These are: a viewfinder (to help you compose shots in bright sunlight), a tilting screen (so you can frame shots from high and low angles), a large sensor (to preserve image quality without the need for computational stacking), weather resistance and, finally, handling thatâs a lot more comfortable than holding a glossy rectangle.
The great thing about the X100V is that, for the first time, it now offers all five of these in a camera that slips into a large jacket pocket. In this sense, itâs unique. As weâll see below, itâs not a perfect camera (that doesnât exist), but it is one that knows exactly what it is â a super-desirable street or travel sidekick â and doubles down on those advantages.
For me, the game-changer on the X100V is its tilting screen. This is something that the otherwise excellent Panasonic LX100 II â another take on the âbig sensor compactâ â sadly lacks. Itâs also something thatâs tricky to add to a smartphone.
The benefit is being able to take ground-level shots that can really add a sense of drama to a scene, or easily take photos above crowds. It doesnât sound much, but itâs hard to go back once youâre used to it â and the brilliance of the X100Vâs screen is that itâs completely flush with the back of the camera when folded away, making it virtually invisible when you donât need it.
Another big advantage over my iPhone 11 Pro is the hybrid viewfinder. This isnât huge compared to larger cameras, but itâs certainly big enough to comfortably use during those moments when the sunâs shining bright and you donât want to squint at a screen. The boosted 3.69 million-dot resolution helps too. While the hybrid aspect of the viewfinder â you can toggle between a traditional optical viewfinder and the EVF using the switch on the front â is something of a novelty, the EVF is a big bonus over smartphone shooting.
While I think comfortable handling, a viewfinder and a tilting screen are all unequivocally great things to have in a hobbyist street photography camera, some of the Fujifilm X100Vâs other âadvantagesâ over smartphones like the iPhone 11 Pro are more down to personal taste.
One of those is dials and manual controls. At this point, it seems fair to acknowledge that the iPhone 11 Pro is now way more than a point-and-shoot camera. Apps like Halide have done a brilliant job of reinventing manual camera controls for button-less, touchscreen slabs â features like exposure, shutter speed, ISO and even focus peaking are just a couple of swipes away.
But do I look forward to taking my iPhone out for an afternoon of aimless wandering through London in the same way that I did with the X100V? No, and Iâd argue that the X100Vâs physical dials and buttons remain the best way for beginners to learn the photography basics, as it really helps drum home the exposure triangle.
The case against
Of course, every camera is a compromise, and the X100Vâs main limitation is that it has a fixed 23mm f/2 lens. Thatâs right, just as we get phones with 10x optical zoom, Fujifilm releases a $1,399 / ÂŁ1,299 camera with a fixed focal length.
But wait! One of the most common tips for developing your photography skills is to shoot with a prime lens, as it forces you to be more creative with your composition and exposure. And while there were times I craved the reach of a 50mm equivalent, the X100Vâs 23mm f/2 lens â which seems to be sharper than its predecessors when shooting wide open â does indeed provide some helpful limitations for creative street shooting.
[IMG alt=âFujifilm X100Vâ]http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/wfP...YBsNQaaVx7.jpg
For me, the greater disadvantage of the X100V compared to my iPhone 11 Pro is the latterâs supreme connectivity and in-camera processing options. From a traditional camera standpoint, there doesnât appear to be much else Fujifilm could have added to the X100V. But when you look at it in the context of the smartphone revolution, the X100V can still sometimes feel like itâs from another age.
For example, the long-awaited [Zeiss ZX1](âhttp://feeds2.feedburner.com/techradar/â for example, why not offerâ) at least offered the promise of built-in Adobe Lightroom on a premium compact camera. Where are the X100âs basic, in-camera editing options or iPhone-style Night Mode for a quick, Instagram-ready photo?
To be fair, the X100V does have a new in-camera HDR mode, along with Fujifilmâs fantastic range of Film Simulations, which can be a great starting point (and end point) for your photo edits. But standalone cameras like this arenât likely to jump on the computational bandwagon anytime soon, given the amount that Google and Apple have pumped into helping phones transcend their physical limitations. Perhaps they never will, but that doesnât mean you wonât sometimes miss your phoneâs immediacy and flexibility.
[IMG alt=âFujifilm X100Vâ]http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/C2s...TRQo6eCPb8.jpg
Despite all of this, and a few other sightly annoying quirks â like the need to add an optional adaptor and filter to make it properly weather-proof â the Fujifilm X100F is so far one of the finest street photography cameras Iâve used and a superior tool to my iPhone 11 Pro when used in that context.
The autofocus feels quicker than its predecessors, and itâs a lovely camera that strangers genuinely warm to rather than, in the case of DSLRs, recoil from. One person even approached me to ask about the camera and their photo taken.
Of course, the X100V is no replacement for taking photos with my iPhone 11 Pro and itâs far from a travel all-rounder. But it is a great blueprint for how cameras can still thrive in a world of rapidly evolving smartphones.
[ul]
[li]These are the best camera phones in the world right now[/li][li]Or read about the best compact cameras you can buy[/li][li]Read our in-depth Hands on: Fujifilm X100V review[/li][/ul]
Continue readingâŚ
How so? Having spent a few hours with the Fujifilm X100V â and a little longer with its predecessors â I can say that it comes closer than anything to packing traditional camera strengths into a pocket-friendly form factor. If my iPhone often feels like the photographic equivalent of getting an Uber, the X100V is like tearing around country lanes in a Mazda MX5.
[IMG alt=âFujifilm X100Vâ]http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4p4...bEzf8WKRU9.jpg
This is less a debate about outright image quality â I havenât spent quite long enough with the X100V to make definitive statements about that yet â but more about the X100V as a concept and street photography sidekick.
The thing this camera succeeds at most is creating a perfectly evolved, walkaround âshooting experienceâ. But as that sounds a bit like a misty-eyed audiophile praising the âwarmthâ of their tube amp, Iâll be a little more specific. Here are the five X100V features that make it a better street photography ally than my iPhone 11 Pro (and a few areas where it still falls short).
The X100Vâs special sauce
Like many of todayâs flagship phones, the iPhone 11 Pro is a brilliant pocket camera. But for those who want to make photography their creative hobby, rather than just a way to record their life, dedicated cameras like the Fujifilm X100V can offer five features that help make them superior tools for everyday creative snapping.
These are: a viewfinder (to help you compose shots in bright sunlight), a tilting screen (so you can frame shots from high and low angles), a large sensor (to preserve image quality without the need for computational stacking), weather resistance and, finally, handling thatâs a lot more comfortable than holding a glossy rectangle.
The great thing about the X100V is that, for the first time, it now offers all five of these in a camera that slips into a large jacket pocket. In this sense, itâs unique. As weâll see below, itâs not a perfect camera (that doesnât exist), but it is one that knows exactly what it is â a super-desirable street or travel sidekick â and doubles down on those advantages.
For me, the game-changer on the X100V is its tilting screen. This is something that the otherwise excellent Panasonic LX100 II â another take on the âbig sensor compactâ â sadly lacks. Itâs also something thatâs tricky to add to a smartphone.
The benefit is being able to take ground-level shots that can really add a sense of drama to a scene, or easily take photos above crowds. It doesnât sound much, but itâs hard to go back once youâre used to it â and the brilliance of the X100Vâs screen is that itâs completely flush with the back of the camera when folded away, making it virtually invisible when you donât need it.
Another big advantage over my iPhone 11 Pro is the hybrid viewfinder. This isnât huge compared to larger cameras, but itâs certainly big enough to comfortably use during those moments when the sunâs shining bright and you donât want to squint at a screen. The boosted 3.69 million-dot resolution helps too. While the hybrid aspect of the viewfinder â you can toggle between a traditional optical viewfinder and the EVF using the switch on the front â is something of a novelty, the EVF is a big bonus over smartphone shooting.
While I think comfortable handling, a viewfinder and a tilting screen are all unequivocally great things to have in a hobbyist street photography camera, some of the Fujifilm X100Vâs other âadvantagesâ over smartphones like the iPhone 11 Pro are more down to personal taste.
One of those is dials and manual controls. At this point, it seems fair to acknowledge that the iPhone 11 Pro is now way more than a point-and-shoot camera. Apps like Halide have done a brilliant job of reinventing manual camera controls for button-less, touchscreen slabs â features like exposure, shutter speed, ISO and even focus peaking are just a couple of swipes away.
But do I look forward to taking my iPhone out for an afternoon of aimless wandering through London in the same way that I did with the X100V? No, and Iâd argue that the X100Vâs physical dials and buttons remain the best way for beginners to learn the photography basics, as it really helps drum home the exposure triangle.
The case against
Of course, every camera is a compromise, and the X100Vâs main limitation is that it has a fixed 23mm f/2 lens. Thatâs right, just as we get phones with 10x optical zoom, Fujifilm releases a $1,399 / ÂŁ1,299 camera with a fixed focal length.
But wait! One of the most common tips for developing your photography skills is to shoot with a prime lens, as it forces you to be more creative with your composition and exposure. And while there were times I craved the reach of a 50mm equivalent, the X100Vâs 23mm f/2 lens â which seems to be sharper than its predecessors when shooting wide open â does indeed provide some helpful limitations for creative street shooting.
[IMG alt=âFujifilm X100Vâ]http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/wfP...YBsNQaaVx7.jpg
For me, the greater disadvantage of the X100V compared to my iPhone 11 Pro is the latterâs supreme connectivity and in-camera processing options. From a traditional camera standpoint, there doesnât appear to be much else Fujifilm could have added to the X100V. But when you look at it in the context of the smartphone revolution, the X100V can still sometimes feel like itâs from another age.
For example, the long-awaited [Zeiss ZX1](âhttp://feeds2.feedburner.com/techradar/â for example, why not offerâ) at least offered the promise of built-in Adobe Lightroom on a premium compact camera. Where are the X100âs basic, in-camera editing options or iPhone-style Night Mode for a quick, Instagram-ready photo?
To be fair, the X100V does have a new in-camera HDR mode, along with Fujifilmâs fantastic range of Film Simulations, which can be a great starting point (and end point) for your photo edits. But standalone cameras like this arenât likely to jump on the computational bandwagon anytime soon, given the amount that Google and Apple have pumped into helping phones transcend their physical limitations. Perhaps they never will, but that doesnât mean you wonât sometimes miss your phoneâs immediacy and flexibility.
[IMG alt=âFujifilm X100Vâ]http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/C2s...TRQo6eCPb8.jpg
Despite all of this, and a few other sightly annoying quirks â like the need to add an optional adaptor and filter to make it properly weather-proof â the Fujifilm X100F is so far one of the finest street photography cameras Iâve used and a superior tool to my iPhone 11 Pro when used in that context.
The autofocus feels quicker than its predecessors, and itâs a lovely camera that strangers genuinely warm to rather than, in the case of DSLRs, recoil from. One person even approached me to ask about the camera and their photo taken.
Of course, the X100V is no replacement for taking photos with my iPhone 11 Pro and itâs far from a travel all-rounder. But it is a great blueprint for how cameras can still thrive in a world of rapidly evolving smartphones.
[ul]
[li]These are the best camera phones in the world right now[/li][li]Or read about the best compact cameras you can buy[/li][li]Read our in-depth Hands on: Fujifilm X100V review[/li][/ul]
Continue readingâŚ