If the frenzy over the Fujifilm X100VI has shown us anything, it’s that timing, and fate, and tides are everything. For years the X100 series had a loyal and discerning following, but was too specialized to become part of fashion folklore. But then, well into its life cycle, the X100V suddenly went viral, as people like to say these days, on social media. Fujifilm couldn’t make enough of them and now the same thing seems to be happening with its successor, the X100VI.
The X100 line includes some of the best compact cameras you can buy. Needless to say, it's also one of the best Fujifilm cameras in the range, at least in terms of reputation. No argument there.
But what other Fujifilm cameras have sunk into obscurity because the time wasn’t right? Not because they were bad cameras, but just because the planets didn’t align and their maker lost interest? After all, that COULD have happened to the X100V if it hadn’t been for the fickle nature of fashion.
I should have bought an X-E4 when I could
So this is Fujifilm’s most recent ‘abandonment’. You can think of the X-E series as a kind of compact and simplified version of the X-T series, with a similar retro appeal and external controls but in a neater ‘rangefinder’ style body. The Fujifilm X-E4 was perhaps a little too simple compared to the Fujifilm X-E3 before it, but a beautiful little camera to use (and to look at) and with a rather good updated Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 lens, now with an aperture ring.
This little kit has all the appeal – to me – of the X100V and X100 VI, but at a lower price and with interchangeable lenses. I would rate it amongst the best cameras for travel and certainly amongst the best retro cameras.
But I played that dangerous game. I watched the prices, choosing my moment, hoping to get a good deal as the X-E4 reached the end of its on-sale life… and then it was gone. It was too late. That’ll teach me. I could get one used but it would cost as much as the original camera new and wouldn’t even come with a lens. Huh.
The XF10 was better than it was given credit for
What, so no-one remembers the Fujifilm XF10? That, I guess, is the issue. Introduced as recently as 2019, the XF10 was the poor relation, in just about every sense, to the X100. It was smaller, cheaper and simpler. It looked cool but didn’t have quite the same retro chic. Its 28mm equivalent f/2.8 lens was one f-stop slower and had pretty sluggish AF actuators, but for me at least the 28mm angle of view was more useful than the X100’s 35mm equivalent lens. Oh, and the rear screen was fixed and there was no EVF.
But I liked it. I liked it because it was cheap and simple but produced good quality images. It was slimmer and more pocket-friendly than the X100 and the sort of camera you could shove in a jacket pocket without fretting over scratches, dings and scuffs. To me, that already would have made it one of the best cameras for street photography.
The XF10 was certainly basic, but if Pentax/Ricoh can turn the GR III into a cult camera, you’ve got to wonder if Fujifilm couldn’t have hit the same street photography niche with the XF10. I guess the X100 was where the company pinned its ambitions.
I still think the X30 was the ultimate travel compact
Small sensor compacts have gone out of fashion. The 2/3-inch X-Trans sensor in the Fujifilm X30 was big by smartphone and point-and-shoot standards but a lot smaller than the sensors in mirrorless cameras. And its 12MP resolution, chosen to offer a good overall balance of detail and noise, looked on the weak side even in 2014, when the X30 was launched.
But neither Fujifilm nor we could have anticipated what was going to happen. Retro-styled cameras have become a craze that seems to be gaining strength, not fading away, and the X30 had (well, it still has, because I kept mine) a wonderful classic camera look. And perhaps the thing I LOVE more than anything else is that it has a mechanical zoom action which also switches the camera on. This feels more like an old film camera than just about anything else I own.
The other thing we couldn’t have predicted is the rise of social content creation, where images are shared digitally on screens which tend to top out at 4K but are typically a lot less, especially on mobile devices. It turns out that 12 megapixels is actually all right after all.
Last week I checked with used camera specialist MPB and found several X30s selling used for more than I paid for mine new. This week, I checked and there aren’t any. That tells you something.
Did Fujifilm give up too soon?
We can talk all we like about specifications and features, but ultimately it’s DESIRE that sells camera gear, and specs and features are only one of the contributory factors. The fuss over the X100 VI and other cult retro cameras has made that pretty clear.
So obviously the Fujifilm X-E4, XF10 and X30 are out of date by today’s standards, especially for video content creation. But surely the concepts behind them are still valid? All three are design classics (in my humble opinion) that didn’t deserve their fate. In each case, all it would take would be a new sensor, a new processor (I know, easier said than done) and a new confidence in the power of influencer marketing.
I also have a feeling that if Fujifilm could find a few more of these old gems hidden at the back of a warehouse somewhere, it could sell them in an instant and wish it had more.
