X100V

I turned 40 this year and bought myself a gift: a Fujifilm X100V. It took me about a month to come to this particular camera. I had a shortlist of about a half dozen different models, but the X100V has turned out to be practically perfect. I love it. I'm not much of a gearhead when it comes to equipment, but this camera is maybe changing my attitude on that. It's a fantastic camera.

I don't really intend to write a review of it, but I do have some praise to share. Carrying this camera is fun. It has a good weight. It has some heft, but not too much. Holding it is comfortable, even for an hour or more. There are more buttons, toggles, and dials on this thing than I can currently make good use of. The usefulness of this camera will grow with me. I'm still learning which settings are most helpful to have accessible at a click.

The images coming out of the X100V are exactly what I was hoping for from a camera at this price. Crisp when steady. Colors complete a very full range. The bokeh is as good as I need. The lag between trigger click and lens snap sometimes feels noticeably slower than I want; but measurable in milliseconds. I can't yet say if this is only user error, though. Definitely could be.

My previous camera, a Lumix GX1, was really nice, but the X100V is in another class altogether. I didn't realize how much I missed the manual controls I knew from my old film cameras. It's revelatory to get back on that bike, to engage with photography in the old-school way again. I still love taking photos with my iPhone because of how idiot-proof it is — point and shoot and never even think about it. But when I'm out walking and inside that photographer's headspace, it's so much better to have a camera like this. It's the right tool for the job in a way iPhone's will never fully be.

Lastly, the feature which really does it for me is the viewfinder. It was the only thing I considered a must have, somewhat arbitrarily. And I'm glad I prioritized it. It really makes taking photos feel like taking photos in a way I don't know how to verbalize. It de-digitizes the digital camera experience in a visceral way.

This camera has significantly lifted my photography hobby. After a full year of reviewing old photos and taking new ones of my neighborhood on daily walks, it's so fun to be reengaging with the fundamentals of the craft.