The little Fujifilm X100V is the perfect camera to make street photography. The X100V is a compact camera you can always take with you, which is probably the main reason for its great success among street photographers and travel photographers.
It is a fixed lens, point-and-shoot, compact digital camera with a retro rangefinder style. The X100V is the fifth iteration of this camera, loved by street photographers worldwide.
Why is this little Fujifilm camera so popular?
These are the main reasons for its popularity:
- the Fujifilm X100V is stylish;
- even if I couldn’t define the X100V pocketable, it is small enough you can take it with you everywhere, and it is really lightweight;
- it is an APS-C sensor that gives you great quality images;
- the Fujifilm is a unique hybrid-viewfinder camera;
- has a fixed 23mm f2 focal length (35mm focal length equivalent to a full-frame sensor camera);
- it has a practice tilt screen, perfect for doing street photography.
The X100V, with its design, is so stylish
The design of this camera is just fantastic, with a retro-tech look inspired by 1950s film cameras. The lines are sharp and clean. In addition, it has a tilt screen perfectly integrated into the back of the camera. And the design can be essential. It can make you feel more engaged with photography, and it may lead to taking photographs more often, waiting for the next time you can go outside with your Fujifilm X100V just because of its beautiful look and perfectly fits in your hands.
With the retro style of this camera also comes the old-school way of changing the settings. It has an aperture ring on the front of the lens that allows you to change the aperture size easily, and it has physical dials on the top of the camera to adjust the shutter speed and the Iso.
The Fujifilm X100V can really excite you about street photography, as the ergonomics are so accurate and the camera’s usability is so fantastic.
Ergonomics is more important than all the image quality specs most people consider essential. This is because ergonomics will affect the camera’s usability; however, most cameras perform amazingly well in image quality nowadays.
In other words, the ergonomics and the retro look is the more significant reason to buy this camera where functionality and minimalism perfectly meet.
The small camera you can take with you everywhere
Maybe the Fujifilm X100V is not pocketable, but it is a small camera you can always take with you everywhere easily. The size is essential for a travel camera and to make street photography. Being so tiny, the X100V will also be less intimidating for people in the street and help you to photograph unnoticed. This little Fujifilm camera is also really lightweight, and like a mobile phone, it is the camera you can always take with you wherever you go. However, it will provide you with a completely different experience if compared with a mobile phone or with a DSLR camera.
In fact, if you compare the Fujifilm X100V with your mobile phone, the image quality is far superior to your mobile phone. Still, this tiny camera remains so unobtrusive that it is fantastic to use and makes street photography fun. For this reason, it inspires me to take more images than any other camera I own.
The sensor
The Fujifilm X100V has a new 26.1 MP APS-C X-Trans Cmos 4 sensor designed to maximize quality and dynamic range. As a result, the image quality of this camera is just fantastic.
The hybrid viewfinder
To capture your images, you can easily choose between the optical viewfinder (OVF) and the electronic viewfinder (EVF). There is also a third option with the electronic range finder (ERF) that lets you have the optical view with an electronic overlay in the bottom right corner.
The 23mm f2 focal length
To make street photography, you want the camera’s lens to be small and fast. Also, in this case, the Fujifilm X100V wins: the lens is small and fast with a maximum aperture of f2. In addition, Fujifilm redesigned the lens of the X100V, which is now better than the previous models.
The 23mm focal length is like a 35mm full-frame equivalent focal length, and it is incredibly versatile and allows you to capture great street photographs. The 35mm focal length is arguably perceived as the perfect focal length to make street photography.
The Fujifilm X100V has a built-in ND filter that can be useful on sunny days to avoid cranking your shutter speed.
The tilt screen
The tilt screen perfectly fits on the back of the camera. As I said before, the design of the Fujifilm X100V is just excellent. For a street photographer, the tilt screen can help capture low-angle images comfortably. It is fantastic because now, with this new X100V, thanks to the tilt screen, you can shoot at the hip. So it can be beneficial for street photography. For example, taking photographs of strangers, you don’t need to have the viewfinder up to your eyes. In this way, you can be more inconspicuous, holding the camera at waist height, and people probably won’t notice you. So the tilt screen is perfect for drawing less attention to yourself while taking street photos.
The jpgs and the film simulations
The way the jpgs work in the Fujifilm X100V, as in many Fujifilm cameras, is fascinating. You have many excellent film simulation options and can still capture your image using both raws and jpgs. I usually use both jpg and raw files, and those jpgs are helpful if you want to quickly transfer the pictures to your phone to post on social media. The raw files on the other side will give you more control if you edit the photos with Photoshop or Capture One. Anyway, the film simulations are fantastic, and sometimes you don’t have to make any corrections to your images.
Classic negative, for example, gives a rich, contrasty filmic look. On the other hand, classic chrome has more dynamic range and will provide pleasant and soft images.