Fujifilm X100V enthusiast compact notably improves on its predecessor

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Lori Grunin/CNET

Set-lens compact cameras primarily based all-around APS-C-size sensors have arrive and long gone. But Fujifilm’s X100 series has persisted for 5 generations considering that it initially debuted in 2011, many thanks to a blend of a great lens, superbly-retro-but-useful design and style and great photograph top quality. With the X100V, it gets some fairly significant and welcome updates inside and out, together with a tilting Lcd, a lockable ISO dial, superior weather sealing, an enhanced viewfinder, a new edition of the 23mm f2 lens and the 4K online video and picture pipeline — X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor, X-Processor 4 and a lot more — of the XPro3.

You will be equipped to get it by the end of February for $1,four hundred — which is $a hundred a lot more than the price tag at which former versions have traditionally debuted in the US. (Probably £1,350 and AU$1,900 primarily based on past pricing.) Even though it is weather-sealed throughout the body, in order to full the sealing on the lens you have to incorporate the AR-X100 Adapter ring and the PRF-49 safety filter, which will incorporate a very little much less than $a hundred to the price tag of the program.

I had a temporary prospect to walk all-around with a preproduction edition and the shots surely do clearly show the lens advancements about the former design. Good quality variations concerning the new, marginally increased-resolution 26-megapixel sensor and the X100F’s have been a bit a lot more subtle, as was the autofocus improvement, considering that I failed to have equal pictures to decide. And considering that it is primarily the X-Pro3 as far as documents are anxious, it is already supported by Lightroom’s (and probably others’) uncooked codec — so no waiting around.

The tilting Lcd can make the digital camera a lot a lot more flexible to use, additionally the swap to OLED for the EVF lends it further contrast. I have in no way been a big fan of the optical aspect of Fujifilm’s hybrid viewfinder, but the reverse-Galilean, straight-by alternatively than by-the-lens see can be an obtained flavor (or a habit that needs to be unacquired).

The new lens has superior sharpness and much less distortion at the edges. (Shot with a preproduction design and scaled down.)


Lori Grunin/CNET

The body also has a visible curve on the ideal rear, so it feels a lot more snug to grip for an prolonged interval. Fujifilm switched from magnesium alloy to coated aluminum for the best and bottom plates, providing them a marginally grippier really feel as perfectly. Another helpful touch is the lockable — elevate to flip, reduce to lock —  ISO dial.

On the other hand, Fujifilm moved the Speedy Menu button to the surface of that curve but flattened it so it is tricky to really feel on the fly — and pretty much not possible to really feel with gloves on. And, as common for Fujifilm, the metering (“Photometry”) location is buried in the menus, which is a suffering for all those of us who use it, nevertheless you can incorporate it to the custom menus for more quickly access.

Other noteworthy updates involve the means to report 4K/30p online video, equally DCI and UHD, at eight bits internally or 4:two:two 10-bit by using HDMI, additionally a swap to a USB-C relationship.