Fujifilm’s X Half camera is so dedicated to the analog vibes, it can’t shoot RAW

[ad_1] 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” digital camera with a portrait-oriented sensor and viewfinder and a hard and fast 32mm-equivalent f/2.8 lens.

Regardless of being digital, the X Half is all concerning the classic movie aesthetic. The $849.99 digital camera is so devoted to an analog-like life-style that it’s bought a complete secondary display screen only for choosing considered one of its 13 movie simulations, and it doesn’t shoot RAW images 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 digital camera just like the Pentax 17 captures photos measuring 18mm x 24mm (round half the dimensions 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 all places. It weighs simply 8.5 ounces / 240 grams and is sufficiently small to slot in most small baggage and even some outsized pockets. The X Half is shut in measurement to a conventional disposable digital camera, however not like a one-time-use movie digital camera it has a correct glass autofocusing lens with aspherical corrections, and it even shoots some fundamental 1080 x 1440 video. (Although, in my briefing on the digital camera, Justin Stailey of Fujifilm North America described the lens as having “some character.” Which is usually a colourful means of claiming the lens isn’t the sharpest.)

As soon as you are 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'll be able to hook up with a devoted smartphone app (launching barely after the digital camera) for additional features. You'll be able to create your individual two-up diptychs like a conventional half-frame digital camera, although right here you'll be able to pick the 2 side-by-side footage, or you'll be able to go for two movies or one image and one video.

Fujifilm has baked different analog-inspired options 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 can 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'll be able to 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. In fact, for the reason that digital camera doesn't shoot RAW, your chosen filter and movie simulation are absolutely baked into the JPG file. You'll be able to’t undo any of them or change it later in post-processing such as you’d usually have the ability to with a RAW.

Fujifilm is definitely taking a novel method with the X Half, making an attempt to seize the curiosity of youthful photograph lovers who lately have been drawn to the imperfections and vibes of classic movie and growing older point-and-shoot digital cameras. I don’t know what number of of them can be leaping on the alternative to scratch that artistic itch with an $850 digital camera in comparison with alternate options costing a fraction of that — like a $70 Camp Snap for digital or any 35mm disposable movie digital camera for $10 to $20 — however even when it’s half the enjoyable I had with the Pentax 17 it ought to show a superb time.