Once upon a time, this used to be a photography site. The site’s camera-related content, particularly related to Fujifilm gear, continues to be the most viewed content over time. Since March, however, I have been distracted by this trivial little virus problem which the articles on the site reflect. I have now recovered from my own bout of COVID 19. It’s a good time to return to the site’s origins…
In this case, to discuss my eight-month experience with the Fujifilm X100 V.
As I wrote at the time, I acquired the camera in March, too late for the last dwindling period of normalcy before the restrictions ruined St. Patrick’s Day, as well as other public and private events I love to cover. Spring blended into a summer, similarly shorn of celebrations. Given this, I have tended to use the camera mainly for landscape photography. Thankfully, this is a discipline where its new features are particularly useful.
First and foremost is the new lens. My somewhat crude studio testing against the previous “F” model back in March did suggest that close up and wide open the lens is markedly superior to its predecessor. I captured a lot of close-up, open aperture images mindful that I might need examples for such an article. I love the sharpness and bokeh of the optics though I was hardly offended by the previous version.
The “V” model addition of weather sealing too is obviously useful in outdoor photography. Though I never worried too much about moisture affecting the previous versions, on a rainy day I would reach for my X Pro 2 with one of the weather-sealed primes. Now either with a UV filter or a lens converter (I use the TCL X100 all the time), I no longer have to worry for instance, about the spray from a waterfall when the camera is mounted to a tripod.
Speaking of tripods, the flip-out screen has turned out to be very useful. I do have to occasionally remind myself that it’s available given the clean look of the camera, but for low-level tripod work, it is proven to be invaluable. I know that I will enjoy it when I go back to shooting on “the street” but for now is still very helpful.
I honestly have little negative to report in my months of usage. There is this odd effect I noticed when the cameras turned on and I take off the lens cap. In the viewfinder, the view is entirely washed out and takes time apparently for the camera metering to throttle back on the sensitivity/aperture. This happens consistently with this camera, but I have not noted on earlier Fujifilm products. I’m not sure what it means but it’s a minimal problem once the sensor adapts.
Another useful feature has been the Bluetooth connection between the camera and my phone. This is much less fussy in my use than the Wi-Fi connection, and give you a quick way to remotely release the camera and avoid camera shake. It appears to use very little battery life.
It’s a measure of my enjoyment of the camera that I have used it almost exclusively throughout the year. I store my raw images on two external hard drives using the function in Adobe Bridge to clear my memory cards. They are stored in the main folder for the year, and then subfolders for each camera and date span. I was actually downloading some files from another camera when I noted that almost all of the subfolders for the year are those from the X 100 V. There are none for the X Pro 2. Perhaps it’s time for a sale?
In summary, the X 100 V has proven to be an excellent update of this wonderful camera line, one which I continue to use with great enthusiasm and I think with excellent results. Having a hard time imagining what the next version might bring to the table. I suspect image stabilization could be on the menu as Fujifilm seems to be packaging this feature into smaller and smaller bodies.
That would be wonderful… but I’m in no hurry
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