Fujifilm’s extremely successful X100x line has come to the fifth generation. Yesterday, at the London X Summit 2020 event, Fujifilm announced development of GFX100 ‘pixel shift’ mode intended for resolutions of 400MPix, presented GF 45–100mm f/4, GF 80mm f/1.7 and 30mm f/3.5 lenses for GFX system, the fastest AF lens ever – XF 50mm f/1.0, and a new camera – a beautiful X100v!
In a very smart market move back in 2010 with the original model, they have equipped one of the most classic look in camera world with the modern electronics, and then through first four generations, added higher resolution sensors and better AF electronics not touching the original design idea. Well, the touching time has come!
And we are not only talking about the lustful touching of that beautiful, voluptuous body that doesn’t allow to take hands off of it… We are also talking about adding touch options to the screen of a new model – it is now a tilting model as well! And hallelujah! It is not the same as that faulty X-Pro3 design, but a standard two-way flippy screen like you have on X-T20 or X-T30:
Only 4.4mm thin! Still room for improvement on the X100vi (or X200) with a fully articulating screen, right? 😉📸
Along with the touch screen coming, the D-Pad has been escorted into history archive. Some you get, and some you lose. Now you have some more thumb real estate and better position for a Q button.
But that is only the beginning of the improvements list. Looking from the outside, you would see only a few cosmetic changes. You won’t see that beautiful body is now made out aluminium and something called ‘multi process acri forming’. You also won’t see this body is now (almost) weather resistant (provided you attach the AR-X100 filter ring and a filter to the front of the lens), and that it has MUCH improved 23mm f/2 lens, which is optically an APS-C version of the famous Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 — with the small difference in price: The whole camera is far cheaper than just one 35mm Summicron lens alone!
dPreview Initial Review – Duration: 13:08
And one more thing about the new lens: it still compatible with current Fujinon WCL-X100 II and Fujinon TCL-X100 II extenders to 28mm and 50mm.
Further important improvements were made introducing the fourth generation AF and X-Trans BSI sensor (26MP) into this X100 body – the same one already seen in X-T30, X-T3 and X-Pro3. Yes, X100v has a focus limiter that can drastically improve focus speed at the designated distances! We also have better ISO dial handling, and added all those beautiful film simulations. Yes, ETERNA/Cinema, Classic Negative and ACROS with filters and grain control are all here! Counted 17 so far 🙂
Having in mind all said above, we could agree this may be the ultimate street life camera, aside from the exorbitantly expensive Leica M10 rangefinder. With burst speeds of up to 20 fps with the electronic shutter and improved (same old) Li-ion NP-W126S battery life, you could think of it as an ideal stills camera only. There you have another pleasant surprise… This time, X100v is no slouch as a video camera! The addition of 4K video with F-log internal recording, alongside various capture aids and Fujifilm's ‘Movie Silent Control’ system give the camera some serious video chops.
Much loved X100f has got a worthy successor. And we have to put up a little table with a key differences:
Spec.
X100v
X100f
Sensor
26.1MP APS-C X-Trans BSI CMOS 4
24.3MP APS-C X-Trans CMOS 3
Lens
23mm f/2 (2 Asph. Elements)
23mm f/2 (1 Asph. Element)
ND Filter
4 stops
3 stops
ISO
160–12800 (1/3EV step)
200–12800 (1/3EV step)
Ext. ISO
L80/100/125, H25600/51200
L100, H25600/51200
Burst (Mech.)
11 fps
8 fps
Burst (Elec.)
20 fps (30 w. 1.25× crop)
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Autofocus
425-Point Hybrid AF
325-Point Hybrid AF
Optical vf.
0.52x Mag. 95% Coverage
0.5x Mag. 92% Coverage
El. vf.
0.5" 3.69m-dot OLED
0.48" 2.36m-dot OLED
Display
3.0" 1.62m-dot tilting touchscreen
3.0" 1.04m-dot LCD
Video
DCI 4K up to 30p 1080 up to 120p
1080 up to 60p
USB
USB 3.1 Gen 1 (Type-C)
USB 2.0 (Micro-USB)
Wireless
Wi-Fi & Bluetooth
Wi-Fi
Battery
NP-W126S Li-Ion
NP-W126S Li-Ion
Battery life
350/420 Frames (EVF/OVF)
270/390 Frames (EVF/OVF)
X100f is not a bad camera at all, but with a current price difference of only $100, X100v is a clear winner.
Any dislikes?
This model has come so close to a perfect fix focused camera, that we have to name the designer. His name is Masa Imai, with the title FujiFilm Product designer. So, is there anything left for Masa to improve in the future? Not much, but yes, there is. For example…
We will not object fixed lens, of course, this is a type of a camera. Whoever wants an interchangeable lenses with the similar features, will have to wait for X-E4 or X-Pro4. That is an easy choice. There will be always a room for inevitable and natural incremental improvements in sensor, lens and AF technology. But, having in mind the direction X100v was given, there are some minor objections that are not dealbreakers, but still, are so easy to fix that they should not repeat in the next generations.
First is an obvious one. X100v is gorgeous from the front, from the top…
At the bottom we still have memory card cramped in a tight battery compartment, and for the fifth time, a tripod mount is stuck so close to battery compartment door, that it is impossible to change battery or card while you have a camera on tripod or gimbal. OK, you’ll say, this is not a dealbreaker because this is not a tripod camera, right? Fair point, but with a vastly improved video features, this model has far better chance to find on-tripod use. I wonder what is the big problem to put that tripod mount in the lens axis or at least at the other side of the lens, far away from the battery door.
Second minor objection would be from the right side – microphone/shutter release input is again non-standard ø2.5mm… We just got a standard ø3.5mm on the entry level model X-T200, and now at the premium model — step backward. Why, Fuji? Is it so much cheaper to produce non-standard than the standard one?
The final step to perfection would be the same fully articulating screen as we have seen implemented at X-T200 It’s not a rocket science any more.
At the very end of an X Summit LONDON 2020 event, Toshihisa Ilda, Fujifilm Manager, announced one more new camera this month: On February 26th, new Fujifilm X-T4 will be presented to the global public!
