When I first heard Fujifilm was releasing a new compact digital camera, I was excited.

I thought we’d be getting a new XF10, X70, or even an X30 successor.

Therefore, upon seeing the Fujifilm X half for the first time on my feed, I couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed.

But I told myself not to judge too quickly, and let’s try it out first.

Today I’ll share with you what I found interesting, the street photography session I had, and whether I think it’s worth it or not.

Note: this article is going to be a bit heavy on the feature side.

Let’s begin.

Half the Camera

What is Fujifilm trying to accomplish with this camera?

In my opinion, the X half seems to be a camera built for consumers, priced at a prosumer level (more on this later).

It’s not for photographers who want serious work done or the highest quality images.

Rather it seems to be aimed more for the people who just need something to take pictures with while they’re out, be reliable, and not have to worry too much about.

In these aspects, the X half does a really good job.

It’s a near fully auto camera, so it’s been stripped of the many tactile manual dials the X-Mount system is known for.

There is an aperture ring on the lens, but the rest of the settings are adjustable via the screen.

This makes it in my opinion harder to adjust settings on the go, but that’s not the point.

The camera is meant to be a “set it up first and forget about it” type camera.

To help with this, there’s a built in flash that functions pretty well and stays perpetually on in video mode.

Most of the functions are controlled through a tiny LCD screen through swipe and touch motions.

Personally, I think a small joystick would help with that, but I guess they thought it would get in the way.

What is cool about the design however, is the little screen which displays your film simulations.

This actually functions as a touch screen too, so swiping up and down allows you to switch your film sims.

I thought that was pretty neat.

As many of you know, this is a half frame camera.

Therefore, they’ve designed the camera to mimic the “half-frame” style.

Even the small screen on the back was built intending to look like half a frame.

Images that come out are “halved”, at a resolution of 3648x4864, which is still decent if you ask me.

And of course, there’s a film lever on top.

It’s a digital camera, so pulling this doesn’t advance the “film” so to speak, unless you’re shooting in the X half’s film roll mode.

Rather, it’s standard function is to split the frame so that your next shot creates a second exposure.

The camera will then combine both shots and you’ll have a side by side “full res” shot.

You can even go back and eliminate or reshoot the shots if you wish.

It’s a neat feature - you can think of it like a multiple exposure but you’re creating a collage instead of an overlay.

As for the weight and build of this camera, I was pleasantly surprised.

Upon picking it up, the camera was tiny.

It’s small, easy to hold in one hand, and can fit into most pockets, unless they’re jean pockets or really tight.

And despite it’s size, it’s got a decent weight, build, and shine to it, so it doesn’t feel cheap.

Rather, the build reminds me of a cross between an x100 series camera, and the Instax Mini Evo.

However, as much as I like a smaller and lighter camera, if it doesn’t work well, it doesn’t matter.

So it’s half the camera in size and weight for sure, but what about functionality?

Street Photography w/the X half

My time with the Fujifilm X half was short.

I roughly got 2 hours with it - not enough for a thorough understanding of the camera and not enough to get actual good photos.

Furthermore, the context I used the camera in, is probably not the one the camera is made for.

We mentioned earlier that this is a camera likely marketed towards prosumers or just your average consumer.

To me, this means road trips, travel, festivals, concerts, etc.

Not so much street photography, landscape photography, art, etc.

So although many of the photos here will be in a street photography setting, understand that it’s probably not built for that.

But if I get do the chance to try it in the right context, I’ll update my thoughts then.

Shooting with this camera was a familiar experience.

I feel like the design and shape of the camera is reminiscent of the X100 series, only much smaller and lighter.

Fujifilm is likely trying to capitalize on the popularity of those cameras.

The focal length is also similar.

The X half has an f2.8 lens of about 32mm, full frame eq.

And the sensor size is 1” - better than your average smartphone but smaller than your typical X-Mount camera.

It’s about the same as what you’d get in the DJI Osmo Pocket 3.

The problem is, it’s a 1 inch sensor on a point and shoot camera, not a pocketable gimbal.

So it works, but it’s smaller than I’d prefer, and not impressive by any means.

I feel like Fuji could’ve shoved an APS-C sized sensor into this camera if they really tried.

Shooting with the X half is a bit weird at first, since your standard orientation is a vertical shot, and you’d rotate it 90 degrees for a landscape.

The screen is also a bit tough to shoot with, as it’s too small to really see things clearly.

Now I understand why they made it this way - the design is supposed to be “half-frame” and when you emulate the film experience you don’t have a screen in the first place.

But it was annoying to go back and look through my photos and realize what I thought was a dead on shot, was not.

There is an optical viewfinder on this camera, but honestly I found it harder to use than the screen.

The few times I did shoot with it, I felt like what I was looking at was wider and a bit more fisheye than the actual shot itself.

And I found myself chimping to see if the images came out the way I wanted them to.

Again, it’s probably not that bad if you’re comparing it to the viewfinders of old film cameras, but this is not an old film camera.

And when the optical viewfinders of older X-Mount cameras are better than this, I might rather use that.

As I explored the streets of LA, I mainly focused on perspectives, light, and basic framing.

I knew I didn’t have a lot of time so I just tried to capture what was available to me.

And the images that came out were decent - but not interstellar.

For the most part, the auto exposure settings of the camera worked well.

It was bright sunny midday, so the lighting wasn’t ideal, but I still got some decent stuff.

Autofocus on this camera is okay - it’s a bit slow if there’s no clear focus point.

The lens itself doesn’t seem to be anything special - okay but nothing that caught my eye.

I tried to take photos in the style of “snap here, snap there”, without giving too much attention to the smaller details.

And I think the “point and shoot” experience works quite well.

I shot primarily in Classic Chrome throughout the day.

The camera itself does have most of the updated film simulations like Nostalgic Negative and even Reala Ace, but I just went with what I was used to.

The only thing I believe it doesn’t have is Monochrome.

I think Fuji opted to just have Acros for black and white and cut down on the choices.

There are however, a bunch of other filter like film looks that you can play with instead.

This was probably a fun and interesting way to use the camera, but I’m not too crazy about that stuff, so I just stuck to one film simulation and focused on taking photos.

Unfortunately, the X half doesn’t shoot RAW - it’s JPEG only.

I think this is beneficial to some, but I would’ve liked the option.

They probably did this to stick in line with the philosophy of the camera, “SOOC just have fun” type thing, but I think it’s a bit of a miss.

Similarly, since your images are “half frame”, horizontal shots aren’t automatically rotated when you back up your photos to a hard drive.

So obviously, this isn’t a camera to edit photos off of.

It’s very clearly meant to be a SOOC camera: take pictures and transfer them to your phone.

Out of the shots I took with the X half, I liked these the best.

The bus stop silhouette with graffiti behind it.

The man in the alley taking a smoke break.

And the various difference perspective and graffiti shots.

So despite the nitpicky little things I’ve said about the X half, the camera works.

It’s not ideal for the photographer I am, but I can see it fitting a certain group of people.

It looks nice, feels nice, and is easy to bring around.

And if your biggest obstacle as a photographer is learning all these complicated things about photography, this could be an easy way in.

The best part about it?: it’s easy to use.

It really is as simple as point and shoot, and that’s a good thing.

So I wanna give the camera credit for getting that right.

However, if that’s all you want out of a camera, I do think there are better options.

Let’s talk about that.

Twice the Price

At the end of the day, what do I think about the Fujifilm X half?

Well, I don’t want to judge the camera too harshly.

I only had it in my hands for a couple of hours and that’s really only enough for a few first impressions.

But overall, I do think Fujifilm accomplished what they set out to do:

Creating a premium and comfortable fun point and shoot camera.

The camera feels nice, works well, and gets the job done.

And I really liked the little swipe screen for the film simulations.

When using the Fujifilm X half, I was reminded of 3 different cameras:

a digital half frame Contax T2
a bare bones x100 series
a premium Instax Mini Evo (without the printer)

The Fujifilm X half felt like a blend between these 3 different cameras.

The problem is, it’s not a Contax T2 - so it probably wont have the same following.

It’s also too limited in functionality to be a budget x100 camera.

Out of these three, the X half feels closest to being a premium Instax Mini Evo, just half frame and without the printer.

Which is unfortunate if you ask me.

When I found out the price of this camera, I was a bit surprised.

The retail for the Fujifilm X half is $849.99.

Which is the same as the Fujifilm X-E4 (body only) when it was first released.

Obviously resale prices for the X-E4 are high right now, but we’re just talking retail.

So even though I’m not the biggest fan of the X-E4, I’d take it any day over the X half.

I’d even toss a few hundred dollars extra for a compact prime lens and still say it’s more worth it.

Because while the X-E4 isn’t quite the camera the x100v is, it’s much more of a camera than the X half.

And if we had a spectrum between camera and toy, I’d honestly say the X half leans more “toy” - but it’s priced the same as the X-E4.

The problem is, Fujifilm and other companies have been on this thing where they’re marketing having “less” as “minimal”.

I didn’t buy into it with the X-E4, and I ain’t buyin it for the X half.

You see, there a difference between the two.

Me personally, as a consumer, I don’t want less stuff.

I want less useless stuff.

Less stuff in general makes the camera less functional.

Less useless stuff makes the camera more minimal.

That’s the difference, at least how I see it.

Don’t remove features that actually matter, remove the ones that don’t, and you’ve got yourself something good.

So although the camera is half the size and weight, it also feels like half the camera it could (or should) be.

So I do like the X half - it’s well built, looks nice, and is fun to use.

And I do like the fact that Fujifilm isn’t afraid to experiment with their designs and create a half frame digital camera.

And I get it, the philosophy behind the camera is to fiddle less, think less, create more, SOOC.

The problem is when you realize the various many different options that already exist for a “have fun” camera.

You could pick up a $20-30 old digicam and get more or less the same experience.

Or even an older X-Mount series camera with an APS-C sensor, interchangeable lenses, better viewfinder, etc, for cheaper.

And then what you’re really paying for is the build, design, and shape of the camera - and maybe the half frame, collage feature, and filters.

Which is not worth the difference, imo…

So I have to be honest.

Sitting here right now, I would not drop $850 (before taxes) on this camera.

Now, if the Fujifilm X half was half the price, that would change everything.

And if not half the price, even the $600 range would make me consider it.

But $850 for what feels like half the camera at twice the price, just isn’t worth it.

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