After months of online rumours, Fujifilm’s latest camera, the Fujifilm X half, has officially arrived. And let’s get one thing straight from the start – if you’re hoping for a more affordable version of the firm’s popular X100VI, then despite the clear cosmetic resemblance, that’s simply not what you get. Instead, the X half is a dramatically different kind of camera that takes its inspiration from the experience of shooting film, and as its name suggests, specifically half-frame 35mm.
Fujifilm X half at a glance:
- $849 / £699
- 3:4 vertical format shooting
- 32mm equivalent f/2.8 lens
- 17.7MP 1in sensor
- ISO 200-12,800
- 2.4in, 0.92m-dot screen
- Optical viewfinder
- Film camera mode
So what exactly does this mean? In essence, the X half is a lightweight, pocket-sized camera that’s built around the idea of shooting everything in vertical format with a 3:4 aspect-ratio, primarily for sharing on social media. It only shoots photos in JPEG format, not raw, and it barely panders to video at all (which is Full HD only and again, vertical 3:4). This being Fujifilm, the firm’s popular Film Simulations are very much to the fore, along with an array of creative filters and film effects such as ‘light leak’ and ‘expired film’.
That vertical-format design means that the sensor, rear screen and optical viewfinder are all rotated through 90° compared to normal. The sensor itself is a conventional 20MP 1in-type chip, but cropped down to give 17.7MP output. That equates to an active image area of 8.8 x 13.3mm (but if you care about this, you’re probably not the target audience).
The main rear screen is pretty small, at 2.4in and 0.92m-dot resolution, but it’s complemented by a second slim vertical touchscreen that shows the film mode while shooting, and aids with navigating the menus. Thirteen Film Simulations are onboard, giving a range of attractive colour looks, and you can select between them simply by swiping up or down on the vertical screen.
The built-in lens combines a 32mm equivalent view with an f/2.8 maximum aperture. Despite its small size, it manages to include 6 elements in 5 groups, with 3 aspherical elements. But there’s no stabilisation of any sort, and no filter thread either. When not in use, the lens can be protected by a push-on rubber cap.
Fujifilm X-half: Design and handling
Probably the most striking thing about the Fujifilm X half is just how small it is. It’s tiny, weighing a mere 240g including the battery and card, and measuring just 105.8 x 64.3 x 45.8mm (including the lens). The body shell is constructed from plastic, but it doesn’t offer the same premium feel as other X-series cameras.
That small body also means that there simply isn’t space for many controls. However, you do get arguably the two most important ones. An aperture ring on the lens offers settings from f/2.8 to f/11 in whole-stop steps, while a large exposure compensation dial on top covers a range of +/- 3 stops. You also get a manual focus ring on the lens – although I’m not convinced anyone will ever use it.
The other major control resembles a film wind-on lever. This sits flush to the body when the camera is powered off, but flicking the power switch to the On position pushes it slightly outwards, enabling operation by your right thumb.
In normal shooting, the lever is used to create “2-in-1” diptychs: in other words, two frames placed side-by-side. All you do is take the first shot, pull the lever, and take the second. The two individual frames are stored alongside the diptych. In a neat touch, pressing the lever inwards brings up a quick review of the photo you just shot, without having to enter playback mode.
Set the X half to its unique “film camera mode”, and that wind-on lever becomes an even more significant part of the shooting experience. First, you select a film simulation and a number of shots – either 36, 54, or 72. Then press the onscreen ‘start’ button, and you have to take that number of frames before you can ‘develop’ your photos and view them using the dedicated smartphone app. Oh, and you have to use that wind-on lever before you can take the next shot.
Fujifilm X Half menu screens
To enter menus and change settings, you use the two touchscreens. Swiping up, down, left or right on the main screen calls up various different options, including a quick menu, the main menus, and film camera mode setup. The options are then selected and changed by touch. Given the limited screen area available, Fujifilm has done a pretty good job of making this work.
An optical viewfinder complements the LCD screen, although unfortunately, it’s not great. It’s rather small, shows obvious barrel distortion, and isn’t particularly accurate, covering somewhat less than the final image area.
Like old film cameras, there’s no information display in the viewfinder, just a small status LED alongside that lights up green to confirm focus. But I found this rather difficult to see when I was shooting outdoors in bright sunlight.
Autofocus employs a single, rather large zone in the middle of the frame, which can’t be repositioned. This feels suitably film-era and makes sense for viewfinder shooting, but it’s rather crude compared to what we’ve become accustomed to. The only concession to modernity is that face detection is available.
Fujifilm X half key features:
- Colours: The X half comes in a choice of three colours: silver, charcoal, and black. I think the silver version is by far the nicest
- Cold shoe: There’s a shoe on top, but with no flash contacts. It’s not clear what Fujifilm thinks it’s for.
- Flash: A small LED flash is built-in, and enabled via a sliding switch on the side
- Connector: There’s just a single connector port, which is USB-C for battery charging and data transfer
- Storage: Your photos and videos are stored on a full-size SD card
- Power: Fujifilm’s familiar NP-W126 battery promises 880 shots per charge and is topped up via USB-C
In use
I got to play with the Fujifilm X half for an hour or so before its official launch, and quite simply, it’s a fun camera to use. I enjoyed being able to change film mode just by swiping on the screen, while the exposure compensation dial and aperture ring provide a shooting experience that’s far more engaging than just a simple point-and-shoot.
Click on any image to see the unedited full-resolution camera JPEG file.
Things like the filter effects, diptych shooting and film camera mode all add to the creative options. But they might lose their appeal after the initial novelty value has faded.
There are some caveats, though. Despite having an aperture ring, you don’t get a whole lot of control over depth-of-field given the small lens and sensor, so don’t expect much in the way of blurred backgrounds. Also, if you try to shoot at f/2.8 in sunlight, the top shutter speed of 1/2000sec and ISO 200 minimum sensitivity mean you’ll end up with overexposed images. You can see this is happening if you’re using the screen, but it’s easy to miss with the viewfinder.
Fujifilm X half sample image gallery
When it comes to image quality, my initial impression is that on one level, you get exactly what you’d expect from Fujifilm. That means lovely colour rendition courtesy of those film simulations, coupled with near-perfectly judged exposure and white balance. But if you zoom in and examine your files closely, they look distinctly rough at the pixel level, and not as good as I’d expect from a 1-inch sensor.
Here my best advice is not to look at your images like that – it completely misses the point of the camera.
Fujifilm X half: First impressions
The Fujifilm X half is an intriguing little camera that’s quite unlike anything else on the market. You do need to accept, though, that it’s not for enthusiasts who like tinkering with their exposure settings and then perfecting their images in post-processing. Instead, it’s a compact camera for the social media world, that offers much of the experience of shooting film but without the ongoing expense of developing it. There’s a lot to be said for getting Fujifilm’s lovely Film Simulations in such a pocketable package, too.
Fun as it is, though, the X half does perhaps feel quite expensive for a 1-in sensor compact with a fixed prime lens that doesn’t even shoot raw. For £200 more, you could get either the Fujifilm X-M5 or X-T30 II with a kit zoom, giving those all-important film simulations, but with much better image quality and the versatility of interchangeable lenses. Having said that, the X Half is rather cheaper than the few 1in sensor advanced zoom compacts that are still on sale – the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III and the Sony RX100 VII – so maybe that price isn’t so bad after all.
Of course, there are sure to be plenty of naysayers vehemently declaring that the X half is the wrong kind of pocket compact camera for Fujifilm to have made, and it should have been more like an X100VI-lite. Personally, though, I always like to see companies experimenting with new concepts and encouraging different forms of creativity. The X half may not necessarily be a camera to appeal to traditional enthusiast photographers, but it has a real madcap charm to it, and I suspect it’ll attract a significant following.
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Fujifilm X half: Full specifications
| Sensor | 17.7MP BSI CMOS, 8.8 x 13.3mm |
| Output size | 3648 x 4864 |
| Focal length magnification | 3x |
| Lens | 10.8mm f/2.8 (32mm equivalent) |
| Shutter speeds | 30sec – 1/2000sec |
| Sensitivity | ISO 200-12,800 |
| Exposure modes | PASM |
| Metering | Multi (256-zone) |
| Exposure comp | +/-3 EV in 0.3EV steps |
| Continuous shooting | n/a |
| Screen | 2.4in, 0.92m-dot fixed touchscreen |
| Viewfinder | Optical, 0.38x magnification, 90% coverage |
| AF points | 1 |
| Video | Full HD, 24fps |
| External mic | n/a |
| Memory card | UHS-I SD |
| Power | NP-W 126 Li-ion |
| Battery life | 880 shots |
| Dimensions | 105.8 x 64.3 x 45.8mm |
| Weight | 240g inc battery and card |
