Fujifilm has a brand new pint-size addition to its X-series cameras coming in late June: the X Half. It’s an 18-megapixel “half-frame” digicam with a portrait-oriented sensor and viewfinder and a set 32mm-equivalent f/2.8 lens.
Regardless of being digital, the X Half is all concerning the classic movie aesthetic. The $849.99 digicam is so devoted to an analog-like life-style that it’s acquired a complete secondary display only for choosing certainly one of its 13 movie simulations, and it doesn’t shoot RAW photographs in any respect — simply JPGs, for a extra what-you-see-is-what-you-get expertise.
Fujifilm’s definition of a half-frame is a bit totally different from the normal one. Normally, a half-frame movie digicam just like the Pentax 17 captures photos measuring 18mm x 24mm (round half the scale of full-frame / 35mm format). However the X Half makes use of a 1-inch-type sensor measuring 8.8mm x 13.3mm, which is about half the size of the APS-C sensors in different Fujifilm cameras just like the X100VI and X-T5. So I assume it counts on a technicality.
However just like the Pentax 17 and different precise half-frame cameras, the X Half is all about taking informal, enjoyable snapshots and bringing it with you in every single place. It weighs simply 8.5 ounces / 240 grams and is sufficiently small to slot in most small luggage and even some outsized pockets. The X Half is shut in dimension to a conventional disposable digicam, however in contrast to a one-time-use movie digicam it has a correct glass autofocusing lens with aspherical corrections, and it even shoots some primary 1080 x 1440 video. (Although, in my briefing on the digicam, Justin Stailey of Fujifilm North America described the lens as having “some character.” Which is usually a colourful manner of claiming the lens isn’t the sharpest.)
As soon as you’re taking some photographs by way of the X Half’s conventional optical viewfinder (that’s proper, there’s no EVF or hybrid finder right here) or its portrait-orientation 2.4-inch touchscreen, you possibly can hook up with a devoted smartphone app (launching barely after the digicam) for further features. You possibly can create your individual two-up diptychs like a conventional half-frame digicam, although right here you possibly can pick the 2 side-by-side footage, or you possibly can go for two movies or one image and one video.
Fujifilm has baked different analog-inspired into the X Half app, like a Movie Digicam Mode that collects your subsequent 36, 54, or 72 photos and arranges them right into a contact sheet. However the movie nerdiness goes deeper than that, because the digital movie strip will likely be branded with the movie simulation you used. There’s even a pretend movie advance lever for making diptychs, and in Movie Digicam Mode it forces you to make use of it between taking every shot.
You possibly can lean additional into the movie kitsch by including filters, like a light-weight leak impact, expired movie look, or a ’90s-era time and date stamp to the nook. After all, for the reason that digicam doesn’t shoot RAW, your chosen filter and movie simulation are totally baked into the JPG file. You possibly can’t undo any of them or change it later in post-processing such as you’d usually be capable to with a RAW.
Fujifilm is definitely taking a singular strategy with the X Half, making an attempt to seize the curiosity of youthful picture fans who in recent times have been drawn to the imperfections and vibes of classic movie and getting old point-and-shoot digital cameras. I don’t know what number of of them will likely be leaping on the alternative to scratch that inventive itch with an $850 digicam in comparison with alternate options costing a fraction of that — like a $70 Camp Snap for digital or any 35mm disposable movie digicam for $10 to $20 — however even when it’s half the enjoyable I had with the Pentax 17 it ought to show an excellent time.
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