Not Really A Review. An Appreciation Post For A Camera I Did Not Understand At First: The Fujifilm X Half.
Subtitle: Oftentimes, reviews and spec sheets do not tell the whole story.
Cesar comes through again.
We recently attended a local car show.
He walked me around a recent acquisition of his…
…and kindly offered it up to try out so I could write a review of it.
Wow. Thank you.
So, for those who may not have seen the blizzard of posts and videos, what is it? My summary based on what I knew going in:
A digital camera made in the spirit of film half frame cameras. Accomplished by:
- Vertical portrait orientation.
- JPEG only film simulations.
- Film roll mode that simulates a film camera experience.
- A physical winder that is used in two ways.
- Film roll mode: Advances to the next frame.
- In normal use, it triggers diptych side-by-side mode. Take a photo, wind on, take another photo, and an in camera diptych is created.
- A general look and feel that mimics the appearance of film cameras.
Next up. How does it compare to other cameras on the market?
So, given its intention of being a digital alternative to a half frame film camera an initial competitor that comes to mind. A half frame film camera currently on the market.
The natural choice: Pentax 17.
An actual film half-frame camera.
Similarities.
- “Half frame.”
- OVF.
- Orientation.
- Both have a vertical portrait capture orientation.
Differences.
- Feel.
- While not cheap feeling the Pentax 17 cannot measure up to the build and feel of the X Half.
- Price.
- The Pentax 17 is considerably less expensive than the X Half.
- Focus.
- 17 has manual zone focus instead of AF.
- Half frame in name only.
- The 17 is an actual half frame film camera.
- The X Half is a digital sensor, smaller than a half frame of film that has been turned on end to a portrait orientation.
- Not meant as a slight. It is what it is.
But here I run into an issue. If my intention is to have a half frame film camera experience, I could buy a Pentax 17. You could buy a lot of film and film development with $350. This is pointing out a fact, not advice. Because, of course, if you do not care much about using actual film, the X Half will be the better deal in the long run.
The X Half does punch back witha virtual in app film development experience.
A novelty for sure… but a fun novelty. It was fun the one time I used it, but I am not sure I would continue to do so more than a few times.
Now for a completely unfair comparison.
Another Fujifilm: Fujifilm X100VI.
Similarities.
- Fujifilm cameras.
- And they share that same Fujifilm vintage-y design and control language.
- Film simulations.
- Digital cameras with film recipes baked in.
- OVF.
- The X100VI has many digital overlays that the X Half does not, but both offer an unobstructed means of framing a scene by viewing it directly.
Differences.
- Orientation.
- Traditional landscape sensor in the X100VI.
- Sensor.
- Considerably larger and more MP sensor in the X100VI.
- Features.
- While the X Half has a limited feature set by design, the X100VI is a full featured camera.
- Price.
- The X Half costs about… half the price of the X100VI.
Of course the the X Half has its hindparts handed to it based purely on technical capabilities. The X100VI is a camera that holds its own against some imaging juggernauts.
But at around half the price, and made for a completely different use case and customer, I do not see the X Half as a camera that should be compared to the X100VI. The X Half was made for fun. And it is fun.
I must also say that even though it was not made to duke it out with the best of the breed digital cameras, it does manage to churn out decent images. Much better than I expected. I will share samples before the conclusion.
First, I have to address something. All is not rosy. I’ll go from the smallest personal issue to the largest.
- Winder is dead.
- There is no feedback on the winder, so it comes a bit short of invoking that film camera experience.
- A bit of a mock gear set to give some resistance and a whir click would be pretty neat.
- Slow to rise.
- Cesar pointed this out before handing it over, and he was 100% right. As is the norm, it goes to standby when on. The issue is that it takes far too long to wake up. You will miss pics staring at the back of the camera waiting for it to come back to life as the moment you intended to capture passes by.
- A quick fix would be to turn off sleep mode, if possible, and carry plenty of batteries.
- Perhaps they will improve this in a future firmware release.
- Not a huge issue, but it left me stranded a few times.
- No burst mode.
- Granted, a film camera with a winder does not offer burst capabilities. Except those cameras where an accessory winder motor is offered.
- But… this is not a film camera. And this omission does away with burst. Something I use regularly with small cameras.
- Price.
- While not excessively overpriced like another recent release, <cough RX1RIII… cough>, $849 is a lot of money for a camera that leaves out so many features.
That last one was the biggest issue for me personally. Cesar obtained his for a price he could not refuse. And a lower price would move the needle for me also. At around $400, there is a good chance I would pick one up.
Now I would not argue with anyone who felt it was worth the price. To each their own.
What surprised me is what did not bother me.
JPEG only.
Every other digital camera I own I shoot RAW. Even other Fujifilm cameras. Which would surprise some because JPEG film simulations are kind of their thing. But here, I believe JPEG only fits the brief. The main theme.
Simplicity.
And this is where I believe I get the person this is for.
Someone who wants a more involved camera experience than a camera phone can offer.
Something akin to a film camera without all of the required film camera faffing about.
I happen to love that faffing about. So much so that I develop my own B&W, color, and now slide film. But I also understand that a lot of people do not want to deal with all of that.
And there are other things I like. Like the way this camera is laid out.
A phyical flash switch is a nice touch.
I like the film recipe selector.
Placing the flash where it is and presenting it the way they do reminds me of rangefinder cameras.
Generally a pleasant looking little camera. And Cesar made excellent accessory choices. The hood,…
…thumbs up,…
…shutter button,…
…and base plate…
…all improve the handling of this camera. I usually balk at such additions due to them adding size, but the X Half is so small it just makes sense here.
On to the sample images. Here are all the images taken with it, including the ones taken as part of the comparison mentioned above.
Closing thoughts.
To summarize.
I like it.
Not for me.
I could see why someone would get one.
I am glad they made it.
And most importantly. Thank you, Cesar.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 
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