Scenes Seen: Fujifilm x Half & A Triptych… When A Diptych Just Won’t Do.
Subtitle: Oftentimes, reviews and spec sheets do not tell the whole story.
I have had a few twists and turns with this camera.
Post one questioned the price.
Then I saw it in person, courtesy of my friend Cesar…
…and I wrote a post about that.
Then Cesar went one step further and suggested that I borrow it and write a post about it. I wrote two.
I used it side by side with other, more “serious” cameras, film, and digital.
This comparison was surprising. It was surprising enough to prompt an appreciation post about it.
Before I continue…
For those who may not have seen the blizzard of posts and videos about this camera, 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.
Side-by-side camera comparison notes are contained in the four-camera post above. That post revealed some surprises, and the next adds more details.
Here are the highlights.
Surprise 1.
I like the gimmicks noted above. Nonsense?
Yep.
Do I still like them?
Yep.
The virtual in app film development experience is fun.
A novelty for sure… but a fun novelty. It was fun.
The other gimmick is the in camera diptych.
Yes. One can stitch pics together in post. But this is convenient and far more fun.
Other surprises.
While not as solidly built as APS-C Fujifilm cameras, it is built to a pleasing standard and looks the part.
The control scheme is both unique and intuitive.
I have compared this camera to the Sony ZV-1, which trounces the x Half based on the specs alone, but they are utterly different beasts.
The ZV-1 is a little technical wonder. Built for video, it is also a competent stills camera.
Competent. But… It is not a fun camera.
Again. Nonsense. But here we are.
The x Half. A fun little 1″ sensor having stills point and shoot camera.
- A fixed 35mm lens.
- A viewfinder.
- And it definitely looks the part.
Here it is in its full Cesar regalia.
But it also looks fine as is.
That being said, 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.
Evidently $649 was my breaking point, not $400 off.
A new camera for little more than a used one?
I have no defense for that.
I would not argue with anyone who felt it was still not worth the price. To each their own.
Before I get to the pics, I will let you know 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 physical 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 that it just makes sense here.
But for me? I prefer the bare camera.
On to the images.
And here is my favorite surprise…. that should not be a surprise.
The ZV-1 already proved that a 1″ sensor can create a fine image.
I have yet to come across a bad Fujifilm lens.
And here you have a 1″ sensor paired with a Fujifilm prime lens.
The three pics above just begged to be made into a triptych. So…
Thoughts.
I like it.
I am glad they made it.
And most importantly. Thank you, Cesar.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 