The Fuji X100V is a very nice camera. Well worth its retail price of $1399. Its fixed 35mm equivalent lens is a very good performer. It's lightweight and easy to carry around. The battery life is acceptable. But there is one major, overriding problem with this particular camera. It has been unavailable for over a year now.
Sure, you can go to EBay or Amazon and find a vendor who will sell you an "open box" or lightly used one for anywhere from $2,200 to $3,000. For those prices you can do better. In fact, it puts you closer to the prices on used Leica Q2s, which are substantially better picture taking devices.
I have no idea why there is so much demand and so little inventory for the X100V. It would seem that Fuji could sell every single camera they could churn out for its list price and, if the past is any guide, Fuji is capable of mass producing cameras. So what's the deal? Did they just get tired of having a wildly successful product or are they hellbent on driving medium format sales to the exclusion of everything else?
If I think the camera is a good value then why did I sell two of them? Easy. They are not built to the same standards as more expensive fixed lens compact cameras from Leica. The finders are not as good. The overall feel is plastic-y. The menus are not as well thought out. The optical finder combined with the digital finder is gimmicky and not instinctive in use. But for the vast majority of people, especially those who have never tried out a better finished product, it's a wonderful choice.
But it's not the "end all" and "be all" of compact cameras. Not by a long shot.
So, I wonder if Fuji is in the process of retooling and getting ready to launch an upgraded product that is a bit more expensive but also feels more substantial and incorporates features such as image stabilization.
Your guess is as good as mine.
As far as I'm concerned, if budget isn't an impediment, a good, used Leica Q2 is a lot more fun to shoot with. But you may have other metrics for cameras than I do.
If you ever see one offered with a true warranty, new, and at the retail price of $1399, you might consider snagging it. On the other hand that could be a speculative investment bundled with all the risk of every other bet.
Just thinking about that today as so many commenters rushed to laud the X100V as a substitute for a Leica. Maybe it is. But only if you can get your hands on one.... And you are willing to accept some compromises...
6 comments:
I've owned all but the original X100 camera along the way (S,T,F,V). They were all fun but left me wanting something more. I think you nailed it by noting the less substantial build quality. On the plus side, that leaf shutter is so nice and quiet. I bought the X100V shortly after it was introduced and probably kept it less than 90 days. Clearly, I should have held onto it for investment value and sold it "gently used" for $2,000.
I completely agree on the Q2 (and Q2M). That thing just feels solid, and the image quality is top notch. The simplicity of the Leica menus is something other manufacturers can learn from.
Getting older has its downsides, but being able to afford some of the things you wouldn't have considered before is a plus. My wife is still a spendthrift (always has been), so not overdoing it and staying on her good side keeps me in check. If someone enjoys Leica (or any other brand), and buying it doesn't hamper your retirement or putting food on the table, I say go for it.
Looks like that Fuji have some complicated supply problemas. Now they've halted the selling in Japan for the X-S20 and X-T5...
Other companies are dumb too - Panasonic could get a piece of this pie with the LX100 II (I had the MK I and the X100s together for some time and the LX100 was much better, smaller and versatile), but..they discontinued the model.
And guess what - the used price is now the same of the MSRP, and the few new ones and sold with a much higher price.
I'm not so interested in ultimate quality. I want the quality to be "good enough," which for me means acceptable newspaper quality on typical newspaper subjects -- natural light, movement, little time to think about it. Zoom lenses, for the most part. Some of my favorite photos ever were Robert Capa's war photos, including the Spanish soldier being shot and the D-Day photos, none of which were sharp or well-focused. I also lean heavily toward compactness -- my favorite cameras ever were the Panasonic GX8s, of which I have two, now old and worn and with obsolete sensors that can't match Fuji X-T5. I won't buy a Fuji X100V because I favor ILC cameras, but the reviews say that the V lens is much improved over earlier X100 lenses, and is quite sharp enough. The idea that it can match the Q lenses came from a blog called, I think, Fujilove, but I can no longer find the specific post. (The title is sort of a give-away of what to expect, I guess.)
I got one on the Fujifilm refurbished site 2 years ago.
50mm add-on is nice, too.
Patrick at Fuji Rumors, who seems to have excellent sources, reports that a successor to the X100V will be introduced early next year. I suspect Fuji’s manufacturing facility is occupied preparing for the new model.
I bought one, lightly used, in December 2021, and sold it April 2022, at a slight gain. First time that ever happened.
I don't know why I never cottoned to that camera, but I didn't.
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