Fujifilm X100V vs X100F – This Update Is Insane

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The Fujifilm X100V is the biggest update to any camera I have ever seen. So much has changed compared to the X100f, and there are so many new features; it’s really in a whole new class of camera.

Granted, we are paying for it with a slightly higher MSRP.

In this article, I’ll break down all the specs and subtle title details that only a regular x100 shooter would catch.

Fujifilm X100V | The Biggest Update To Any Camera Ever

Of course, I am a Fujifilm nerd, so maybe I have some bias towards their system, but I have to say that the X100V is the best, most interesting, and meaningful update to a camera system I’ve ever seen. Seriously, Fujifilm improved everything. I’ve never seen a camera company hit an update so hard as with this camera.

They gave everyone everything they were asking for. It’s kind of unbelievable, and it’s my dream camera now.

Let’s look at the awesome improvements, starting with the specs.

Fujifilm X100V vs X100F

A comparison chart between the X100F and  X100V specs.

Besides just the specs, there are also many small little things that make a huge difference.

X100f vs. X100v The Hidden Changes

WB-Shift Holds To The Custom Profiles—If you like making custom looks in your Q menu, C1-C7, you can now apply white balance shifts to them. They will change as you change the look. Previously, you could not save the WB shift as part of the presets.

This is a big deal for people who shoot JPGs and have various looks set up with different film simulators. However, I often use them even when I’m shooting RAW  because the WB  shift will carry over into the RAW file.

New Film Simulators – New Classic Neg Film Simulator. I don’t love it, but there are some nice looks you can get out of it if you R: -2 B -5 shift with a lot of contrast on the tone curves.

D Range Priority – There is a new Dynamic Range Priority setting. It’s somewhat similar to the Dynamic Range 100%-400%, but it creates more of an HDR effect. It’s pretty cool for landscapes or shooting into the sun since it aggressively lifts your shadow tones.

Visual Tone Curves – The ability to change the highlights and shadows has not changed, but they’ve added a visual curve to see what the effect does to the tone curve.

The New Lens – The new X100v lens is sharper at close distances and generally at f2. However, the bokeh is sometimes a little strange.

AF Range Limiter – There is a new tool called the AF Range Limiter (click that link to see a full breakdown). How it works: you can set up a range where the camera only looks for subjects within that range. Say you want to only focus on something .5  meters to 3 meters, you can set that up and the camera will hit that zone and not look outside for a faster AF experience. By doing that, they got rid of the macro setting. So, the camera will always be able to focus on the macro.

Color Chrome, Color Chrome FX Blue – Fujifilm also brought over all the color chrome effects from the X-Pro3. The X100f did not have these. If you like JPG shooting, these make a pretty big difference.

Clarity & Grain – If you like shooting JPG, they’ve introduced the clarity and grain effects from the X-Pro3. Remember that these slow down your camera since the effect must be processed after each shot. Especially clarity. The Clarity effect kind of looks like shooting with a Black Mist filter.

They Removed The D-Pad in the X100v—I thought I would hate this, but it turns out that it’s totally fine. The joystick pretty much replaces it when you’re in the menus. When you hit the Menu button, it defaults to the My Menu setting to allow you to program in any quick changes you might need.

The Design

I like the design. Some people like the old design. I like that Fujifilm keeps mixing up its designs. I think this is super important since we’ve had the retro-looking X100 camera for a long time now, and for people who have been in the system for years, it’s nice having a new, modern, sleek look. It just looks amazing, especially in black. I don’t know how they did it, but it’s one of the coolest cameras I’ve ever seen. Also, the black looks cooler in person.

I also keep an active list of the various Fuji X100V accessories, and of course, I still use UHS-I memory cards. Check out the X100V memory card guide here as well.

Fuji X100V – What’s Still Missing

Of course, Fujifilm didn’t give us absolutely everything. They still need to leave some room for improvement in future models.

Here are the issues or things that are missing with the X100V.

Camera Gets Hot, Limited Video Record Times – The camera gets hot, and you are limited in your video recording times. 10 minutes for 4k, and 15 minutes for 1080p.

No IBIS—Everyone would like a little 3-axis (at the minimum) IBIS system. The Ricoh GR has one in its smaller body, and the tech definitely exists. Fujifilm could implement something like this.

Slow AF Lens—The lens still struggles a little with AF-C. I don’t know if it’s the lens itself or the communication between processor and lens, but it jumps around way more than it should, and you really need to use your AF Range Limiters or just leave the camera in AF-S.

The problem with all Fujifilm cameras is that there is sometimes a one-second delay from when you push the shutter release to when the camera actually triggers. On the X100V, you’ll have it half-pressed, and then the AF jumps to the background right before the shutter engages. So it’s still an AF-S camera. Fujifilm needs to improve its AF across its whole lineup to eliminate these quirks. 

That’s all I could ever want from a future X100 series camera. I’m sure they’ll increase the sensor resolution at some point, and as these ARM processors get more efficient, they’ll be able to do more with video. I don’t mind if they introduce a higher-res sensor to meet the new 8k video spec, but if they jump to a 37MP Bayer sensor and don’t have some type of IBIS system, the system will be a motion blur machine.