Note: here in the US this product is back to being out of stock. Due to the tariffs, Fujifilm is now building models for the US in Japan instead of China, but the production capacity there is not keeping up with demand in the US.
What is It?
The Fujifilm X100VI is the sixth iteration of the compact camera that has gotten a lot of attention from influencers and creators, to the point where the current version is perpetually out of stock, even though Fujifilm considerably boosted its manufacturing of it (currently as high as 15k+ units a month a year after introduction).
Given that this is the sixth iteration of the camera, you'd think that this would be a modest update, but it's not. That's because of two big changes: a 40mp image sensor (up from 26mp), and the addition of sensor-based image stabilization (6 stops CIPA using the electronic viewfinder). Along with image sensor comes a change to Processor V, which means that the new model now has full subject recognition and the current Fujifilm focusing algorithms (which were recently further improved via a recent firmware update).
Smaller changes produced three added film simulations (Reala ACE, Nostalgic Neg, and Eterna Bleach Bypass), Frame.IO support, HEIF, and a number of excellent video capability upgrades (e.g. 10-bit H.265 and even 6.2K capture).
Thus, if you have one of the older X100 models, this new VI version may look and feel the same, but it's packing a lot of punch that older version doesn't have. Let's take a tour of the camera to get the full details.
The X100 series has always been what Fujifilm calls a hybrid-viewfinder model. By that they mean that the rangefinder-style offset viewfinder has two modes: optical with helpful frame edge and overlays (shown above), and all electronic. You flip between these two modes with a lever on the front of the camera. The optical mode acts much like a sports viewfinder, with a wide overscan compared to the lens, with the actual cropped area indicated by frame lines. Those frame lines move with focus, so as to cancel parallax effects. In addition to the frame lines, the overlay system also shows you a variety of camera settings, making this one of the more useful optical finders you'll encounter.
Of course, you can also just switch to an all electronic view of the world, which will also show exposure and film simulation impacts, and that's probably where most people will live. The EVF itself is 3.69m dot with a .66x magnification. The view appears big with the eye at the viewfinder, enough so that with glasses I can (barely) see the full area all at once. Eyepoint is only 16.8mm, though there is a -4 to +2m diopter adjustment.
Since the X100VI is a compact camera, that means that it has a fixed lens (not interchangeable). That lens is a 23mm (35mm equivalent) f/2 lens. The design is a reasonably complex 8 elements in 6 groups, with two of those elements being aspherical. The lens has a click-stop aperture ring (controlled by those two easily found by touch ridges on either side of the lens you see in the above image), and a "focus" ring, which many will want to set to another function (I've got mine set to DIGITAL TEL-CONV., which provides me 20mp 50mm and 10mp 70mm crops via an accessible control). Note that the lens cap provided for the X100VI is a slip on one. It's also slippery metal, so it's easy to lose control of it pulling it off. I can't count how many times I've had to find it on the floor somewhere.
When the X100VI was first announced, the question that came up was whether or not the lens was capable of handling the higher resolution APS-C image sensor. I'm jumping ahead a bit and presaging the performance section below, but I'll just say "yes, it is" for now. One nice touch is that the X100VI has a 4 stop ND filter built in. This makes it possible to create shallow depth of field (f/2) in conditions where the shutter speed might start becoming an issue. That's more of a video issue than a still problem, given that the mechanical shutter goes to 1/4000 and the electronic shutter to 1/18,000. With video, however, outside in daylight you might want 1/30 at f/2, and that's often impossible to achieve without an ND capability.
Since I mentioned video, let's address that. The X100VI is capable of 6.2K (30P), DCI4K, 4K (60P), and FullHD (240P). 6.2K comes with a 1.23x crop (lens is now 43mm equivalent), while 4K is either full sensor sub-sampled or a 1.14x crop (39mm equivalent lens) at 60P. 10-bit, 4:2:2, H.265 Long-GOP is supported all the way to 6.2K, though the maximum bit rate never tops 200Mbps. Note that unless you've put the camera directly into video recording via the DRIVE button, many of the advanced video features are hidden from view and thus unsettable. I would have preferred a more direct Stills/Video lever (ala Nikon), but once you understand this nuance you should be fine.
In terms of the X100VI body design, while it looks like previous models, there are some subtle changes. The biggest of these is that in order to accommodate the image stabilization, the body is 2mm deeper and 43g heavier than earlier models. The tilting Rear LCD is now a little more flexible because it now pulls away from the body.
What didn't change on the body is the controls. We still have the ISO dial underneath the shutter speed dial, the exposure compensation dial, and the clickable front and rear command dials (push to click-set, or just rotate to set what they're already set for). Like most recent Fujifilm bodies, there's no direction pad, just a thumb stick for navigation. Other controls are minimal (and I'll touch on them in the handling section, later).
The body itself doesn't have much of a right side grip. The front slopes a bit to help you get finger purchase, and there's also a faint ridge on the back where you're supposed to get right thumb support. Personally, I've stuck a Neewer bottom plate on my X100VI, and it has a front hand grip extension built in (and that doesn't stick out past the lens).
Unusually, the X100VI puts its connectors on the right (hand grip) side of the camera, which can be a problem for handheld video. You get a mic input jack, USB-C connector, and a mini (D type) HDMI port under a hinged door. If you need headphone monitoring, this can be done with an optional USB-to-3.5 adapter. As you'd expect these days you have 802.11ac level WPA3 Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.2 LE support. Unlike many other camera company mobile device programs, Fujifilm's X-App seems relatively well-behaved, decently fast, and easy to connect. Firmware updates can be done via X-App (with a little extra tapping and a full battery).
The X100VI uses the NP-W126S battery again, which provides a reasonable 450 image CIPA rating for optical viewfinder usage and 310 for EVF (but will do better in extended photography sessions). USB-C charging is supported, but note that Fujifilm doesn't supply a charger with the camera.
The single SD (UHS-II capable) card slot is in the battery chamber at the bottom of the camera. Total weight of the camera with battery and card is 18.4 ounces (521g), or just over a pound. The X100VI feels heavy because its body size is still reasonably pocketable at 5 x 2.9 x 2.2" (128 x 74.8 x 55.3mm). The build quality level is mostly metal, and the body is densely packed inside.
Note that the camera comes in either all black or panda (silver over black) cladding. Fujifilm makes a few accessories for the camera, including an AR-X100/PRF-49 ring that supports 49mm filters and the two accessory lens converters (WCL-X100II 28mm equivalent and TCL-X100II 50mm equivalent). Price is US$1600.
Fujifilm's Web site for the X100VI
Source of the reviewed camera: Purchased
How’s it Handle?
Can we please identify the Fujifilm employee who’s specifying buttons and give them a stern talking to? It seems that Fujifilm’s goal is to make sure that you can’t find any button by touch, and if it’s a button that might do something dramatic, make it even more unfindable by touch. This seems odd to me, as I’m pretty sure that employee is in Japan, and that in the winter in Japan they’ll be wearing gloves. Which means they won’t be pressing buttons on their X100VI.
I’m not exaggerating here. This has been one of my consistent frustrations with the Fujifilm cameras, and it’s a big one on the X100VI. I’m of the opinion that a camera with a good viewfinder—which the X100VI has—should be up at your eye all the time when you’re using it. Which means that you have to find controls by touch to use them, lest you take the camera away from your face and miss potential photos while you fiddle with ridiculously small, no-feel buttons. Coupled with a focus switch on the side of the camera that’s too easily moved, and controlling the camera gets on the frustrating side if you’re not highly disciplined.
Meanwhile, the Fujifilm menus continue to sprawl out of control and order. Yes, the camera has a ton of options built in (good), but finding them and controlling them isn’t easy (bad). And here's another Fujifilm engineer who needs to given a lecture: stop using all caps. The menus are all shouting at the user, and often with words that are already difficult to understand.
I spent a day with two influencers who are 100% committed to their X100VI. What I noticed is that they don’t control much. Heck, they also rarely put the camera to their eye. Ironically, they were using their X100VI much like the Leica D-lux8 is designed: use an icon-based quick menu on the rear screen by tapping when they did need to control something other than with the dials.
I get this. It's a way content producers often work. However, if one user type is avoiding buttons, then why have them? Right, because there's another user group that's important to address ;~). That group is used to buttons and dials to control their camera, so attention needs to be paid to button functionality, and it hasn't been for some time at Fujifilm.
This isn't to say there aren't some nice touches in the UI/UX of an X100VI. From a dials standpoint, the X100VI has the most usable set of those on any camera to date. Aperture ring on the lens. Shutter speed on a big dial (with ISO underneath). Exposure compensation on a right edge dial. Plus, we still have a Front and Rear Command-type dial that can be customized. If you're into dialing, the X100VI's got you set, so all you need is a rotary mobile phone ;~). Indeed, I'd say that the X100VI is the only dials-oriented camera to date that I'm 100% comfortable with changing dials while never taking my eye away from the viewfinder. The only things you have to learn is the position of the dials and the fact that you lift up on the shutter speed dial to set ISO. Done.
Since I'm discussing controls, let's talk about a few other control problems. For instance, naming. What do you think FOCUS LEVER SETTING is? And what do you think TILT [snowflake icon] means in that context? Focus lever is one thing Fujifilm calls the thumb stick. They also call it the focus stick. This naming is problematic in a number of ways. First of all, the thumb stick doesn't just control focus ;~). It's really a navigational and selection control (that replaces a Direction pad), and is used for that in the menus, on the Quick menu screen, and many other places. Within Fujifilm's manual, it appears that someone found that they refer to this same control with two different names, because sometimes, but not always, the manual uses the words "focus stick (focus lever)." In the menus, though, it's only FOCUS LEVER.
Almost certainly the broad and deep menu system of the X100VI—and other current Fujifilm cameras for that matter—is going to at some point send you scrambling for the Owner's Manual. I know Fujifilm is aware of this problem, because right up front in the Owner's Manual they devote nine pages to giving you direct page access to every menu command by menu and name. For example:
Then there's organization. For the life of me, I don't know why formatting is where it is on a Fujifilm camera (WRENCH > USER SETTING > FORMAT). Formatting is an action, not a setting. So if you're naively looking for FORMAT, you won't find anything that helps you find it at the top menu levels. Given that formatting is something you do with regularity, having it buried indicates that Fujifilm also doesn't recognize the importance of some functions versus others, and built their organizational hierarchy around some level of randomness.
In Silicon Valley we used to call this Engineer Thinking. In order to use the product, you need to learn to think like an engineer, not a user. I see examples of this scattered throughout the menu system on the X100VI.
If you use an X100VI with regularity, you'll eventually start thinking like the design engineer (because you have to). Maybe you'll even comprehend why they did what they did (I don't). But this is you adjusting to the camera, not the camera adjusted by you. If you use the X100VI—or any Fujifilm camera—only occasionally, you're going to get flummoxed by the disorganization, poor naming, and other odd choices Fujifilm has made. By flummoxed, I mean you wanted to take a photo, but by the time you figured out how to make a setting change, the moment had passed.
The good news is that if you spend some time up front, you can mostly push all that menu nonsense under the rug. This involves assigning the few customizable buttons to functions you use often, making sure the primary things you want to change are in the quick menu, and creating a few custom settings. Basically, elevate Fujifilm's menu mess out of the menu mess.
I will say this: when configured to my use the X100VI started to feel like a controllable, responsive camera. In my working with others who own the camera, I find that they've basically done the same thing: simplified their usage and made sure that the things they use are at their fingertips. In that context, the X100VI then can be said to "handle well."
What wasn't said in the previous paragraph is how much I and other X100VI users aren't using many of the extended features and attributes of the camera. For instance, the hybrid viewfinder. Early on I thought the ability to flip between an optical and digital view of the world was useful, particularly since the X100VI's optical view will change frame guidelines for parallax and even focal length crop. In essence, you have a "sports finder" mode at the flip of a lever. In reality, I found very few instances where that was useful to me, and over time I used that feature less and less.
Finally, I'm going to keep repeating one particular problem until Fujifilm fixes it (it's an issue with all their cameras): when the X100VI times out to conserve batteries, waking it can only be done via the shutter release, and not just a casual tap on the shutter release, but a pretty strong press. Camera timed out and you press the menu button to set something up? No response. I understand that Fujifilm is attempting to keep you from accidentally setting the camera (the camera-bag-made-a-setting problem). It also means that the battery isn't being discharged accidentally, too. However, other companies have solved those problems, so when is Fujifilm—whose buttons are harder to accidentally push in the first place—going to get around to it?
How’s it Perform?
Buffer: I didn't mention this in the specifications section up top of this review, because things get crazy complicated, depending upon whether you're in mechanical shutter or electronic, and exactly which frame rate the camera is set to. Let's take my findings bit by bit (and I caution, these are still simplified!). All this is with a state-of-the-art UHS II card (Nextorage or Prograde are my primary cards).
With the mechanical shutter maxed out (6 fps) you'll get about 100 JPEG images, or anywhere from 18 to 36 raw images. As you lower the frame rate, these numbers go up, though uncompressed raw files will always be 20 or just below. With the electronic shutter maxed out (20 fps), the raw numbers don't really change (17 worst case), but the JPEG capability goes up. But remember that the fastest electronic shutter drive modes invoke a 1.29x crop. At the fastest full frame mode (13 fps electronic), we're down to 80 JPEG and 17-38 raw frames.
I think you should just think of this all more simply: worst case raw is a 17 frame buffer, while worst case JPEG is typically an 80 frame buffer (there's an odd case at 11fps where it's worse).
So let me simplify it even more: the X100VI is not a camera you want to go around filling the buffer with. If you want a second or two of continuous results, no problem. The buffer very well may stop you if you try to stray above that. Unfortunately, if that matters to you, you're going to spend a lot of time studying the manual, and you'll probably want to carry a portable reference card with you.
Image Quality: Let's get one thing out of the way quickly, the lens. As I noted earlier, I was worried that when Fujifilm said they were using the same lens from the 26mp version of the camera, that this would prove to be a problem. Fujifilm is using lens corrections to fix a modest amount of pincushion distortion and a high level of vignetting, but that wasn't what we were all worrying about.
Overall, the lens is very good in the center at f/2, but stopped down to f/2.8 this improves to excellent. Corner performance never matches center—as you'd expect—but I'd say that the corners just poke into the excellent- range at f/5.6. Thus I'd tend to say that the lens works fine for most intended purposes and shows something closer to old-school look than new. In other words, some fall off into the corners, with a bit of aberration. Still, at 40mp the lens holds its own until diffraction becomes an issue.
I will say that the optional wide-angle converter option (28mm equivalent) for the lens isn't nearly as good, and not particularly useful. It produces strong blurring, even centrally. The "telephoto" converter option (50mm equivalent) on the other hand, seems to mostly keep the bare lens' capability, with only a slight loss in contrast.
Overall, I'd say don't consider the X100VI a landscape camera, unless you frame landscapes at 35mm. On the other hand, adding the teleconverter option opens up some portrait capabilities that look pretty good to me, particularly the 20mp 72mm crop.
Thus, my fear with the lens is not proven in practice. So we can move on to the image sensor's impact on image quality.
I'll say right up front I'm not a fan of 40mp APS-C. If you're really using the camera for 40mp, I think you'll find that this is pushing it a bit too far. Similar to the Sony A7RV 61mp full frame sensor, what I find is that the small photosite size just isn't giving me all that much more use. Viewed at 100%, you'll see the photon shot noise in the shadows, for sure, but even in the highlights the extra pixels feel like a bit of a stretch.
Curiously, Fujifilm's built-in film simulations do a pretty good job of handling those extra pixels, though I'm not sure why you'd want a 40mp JPEG file. What I've found trying to process raw files is that it takes some real effort to get the kinds of results that Fujifilm is getting with the camera's built-in processor.
I mentioned landscapes earlier, so here's kind of what I see in the raw files when I attempt that: I've got plenty of pixels, obviously, but the minute I start stopping down the lens to get some depth of field diffraction is making those pixels tougher to get meaningful final detail from. There's a real dance I'm doing with Photoshop with my X100VI files: noise reduction is necessary in the deep shadows, but sharpening needs to be more aggressive to make up for diffraction and other impacts. It took me a fair amount of trial and error to find a balance that gave me the most form the 40mp files. I never had that problem with the 26mp camera.
The implication is that a 40mp file will give you about a 26" wide print (at 300 dpi). I'm between printers at the moment so haven't been able to do my final evaluations here, but judging from my display, the "resolution" isn't knocking my socks off. I'm pretty sure I would have been just as happy with this camera with the older 26mp X-Trans sensor. The work I'd tend to do with a compact camera doesn't need that extra pixel oomph.
Final Words
There’s a lot to like about the X100VI, but I’m not sure it’s the camera everyone really would want.
To me the 40mp is a bit of overkill without clear useful benefit. Would I really use this camera for 40mp captures (implies 25”+ prints)? No. Plus, if you start using the crop mode function to simulate longer focal lengths, you end up exposing just how well 40mp works on an APS-C sensor, which is to say probably noisier and not as high quality as you’re used to with ~24mp sensors. Plus we’re down to a 13” print at the 70mm crop. I doubt the influencers and creators care at all about this, as their output of choice is somewhere between 2K and 4K. Personally, I was happy with the 26mp versions of the X100, and don’t find the stretch to 40mp gaining me much that’s useful. And that's from someone who has written for years that "I'll always take more sampling over less." Yes, I'll take the 40mp, but I don't find it adding much real value.
The real appeal of the X100VI is its Fujifilm-ness. The film simulations, the dials orientation, and the flexible viewfinder. All (mostly) unique Fujifilm camera attributes. Combine this with a deep functionality, high build quality, excellent video capabilities, and a reasonable level of customization, and you have a really competent compact camera that appeals to the same groups that the other Fujifilm cameras do.
A second appeal of the X100VI is its looks and build. It’s a very good-looking—though traditional in style—camera that’s built very solidly. I suspect that one of the reasons why the influencer/creator crowd likes the X100VI so much is that they can use it like a smartphone (away from face using the rear screen for everything) but they’re declaring that they are way beyond a smartphone now. In other words, it's more a fashion statement thing than a functional thing for them.
So let’s look at the X100VI more from a talented photographer's perspective. There’s a lot to like here. The 40mp image sensor is well proven at this point, though like the 61mp full frame sensor, I find it a bridge slightly too far to justify on its own. At the photo sizes I’d use from a camera like this, the extra pixels really just help with a bit of edge acuity when downsizing. Fujifilm also seems to have finally gotten serious about some of the issues with their focus system. The latest firmware update puts this compact up to the focus performance level you’d expect in a state-of-the-art, entry-to-mid-level, mirrorless camera. The deep set of functions and a fair amount of customization allows you to get the X100VI to work the way you want it to. The build quality is exceptionally high, and the camera holds up to a reasonable amount of abuse.
To put the above into one thought: that's a lot of camera in a small, well-built package that you can stuff in your jacket pocket and carry anywhere. If you’re into a 35mm focal length view of the world, you’re not going to find a better choice that’s so portable.
Frankly, I think Fujifilm overthought and overbuilt the X100VI. It doesn’t need the fancy hybrid EVF (the creators aren’t using it, nor do I think many serious photographers are using it). It needs more attention to usable buttons, plus the front and rear Command dials are wimpy, too. It doesn’t really need 40mp. The high-level video goodies and things like Frame.io integration seem a bit out of place. All these features gave marketing plenty of things to brag about, but I don’t think they made for a better portable camera.
The irony is that even though the Fujifilm X100VI is at the top of the heap when it comes to compact camera choices, they gave their competitors quite a few ways to make a better option. Given the X100VI’s huge sales numbers so far, I'm sure all the big boys are working on their own camera in this category. Other than perhaps the 40mp—which again I’m not a huge fan of—Fujifilm has left a lot of ways for competition to create a better, more targeted product for serious photographers.
That said, the top compact choice in terms of function, features, and performance, is currently the X100VI. At its price, you should also consider the Ricoh GR III or the Leica D-Lux8. Yes, those two don’t have as many pixels, features, or as much performance, but for this class of camera I believe you need to pay close attention to your photographic intent, and pick the model that best fits that. It might be the X100VI, but it also might not be. The D-Lux8, for example, fits the more casual photographer who doesn't want to have to learn a lot and pay attention to details. The downside of a D-Lux8 to the X100VI is autofocus; the X100VI is state-of-the-art, the D-Lux8 is still using some now stale art.
Recommended (2024 to present) but pricey and difficult to find in stock
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