Is This the Best Camera for Women?

The Fujifilm X Half is one of the very first cameras that did something completely different for me as a reviewer of over 15 years. For the first time ever, every single woman that I’ve been around in the past week or so of testing has been incredibly curious about it. Where a man would say, “It’s so small,” a woman would say so with excitement and internal quiet adoration. I’d see excitement and smiles in faces that I’ve really never seen before. So while lots of photographers might complain about the price tag or some of the features, I have to be very frank here. This might not be the camera for you.

The Fujifilm X half takes the idea of a point and shoot and modernizes it into something that’s completely unique. It’s the most appealing camera that I’ve used in a very long time, as far as the idea of an everyday carry is concerned.

Yes, I know the title of this article is odd for me to write. The Phoblographer has had years where our reviews team has mostly been made up of women. In fact, I’m proud of say that we’re the only surviving photo publication that’s had that. But as of the publishing of this article, that’s not the case.

For the record, I’m a straight man – but growing up, they would’ve called me a metrosexual. I’m not afraid of gender bending if it suits a cause and within my levels of comfort. Heck, I’ve toted around a pink film point-and-shoot camera because no one takes it seriously. And therefore, I focus on simply having fun with it. The X Half is no different here.

When you’re using the Fujifilm X half, you need to be really careful with taking the time to use it and to learn it. And if anything, this might be the thing that makes people not want to use it all that often. The screens (yes, there are two displays that interact with one another) require swipes, the menus require careful reading, and there are lots of things that people probably won’t be able to figure out unless they’ve got a lot of time to dedicate to playing with a camera. Fujifilm takes the X-series system and bundles it into an interface that’s still mostly designed for photographers rather than the casual shooter.

The women I showed this camera to mostly had no real experience with photography. And like them, I’d pretty much refuse to use this camera on anything else but Program auto mode. But I wouldn’t expect any of them to know what that means because if I were starting out today, I’d have no real idea what it means either. Instead, if any of them bought this camera, they’d end up texting me about this.

More importantly, this goes for the women I was around during leisure time. I took it to a networking event, and everyone was instead, really amazingly focused in on just that instead.

These folks will most likely need to experiment with the camera and learn a lot. I mean, how many people who are brand new to real digital cameras will really know what expired film looks like? The X half does a good job of making the images look like the film was kept in your desk and not in the fridge. But the other filters are hit or miss.

And there’s a lot to process with this camera. The idea of a diptych is something that I believe most photographers won’t be able to mentally process. Let alone, there’s the multiple exposure feature — which is something that I’m very familiar with despite so many others not being so. But on top of that, unless you’re using a film simulation, the digital filters are just that – a really digital look. The halation filter, for example, looks like an extremely digital attempt at trying to make CineStill. But you can’t combine it with a film simulation, or at least I couldn’t figure out a way to do that in a way that satisfied me. Classic Negative with Halation would’ve been really fun to use.

Then there’s the Film camera mode — which doesn’t let you see the images until you’ve shot the whole digital roll. Truly, that’s something that would bring me back to Fujifilm X series cameras.

Still, the most important thing about this camera is the experience and the smiles it gives people when you shoot photos with it. It fits in my pocket and I love that.

Lots of early reviewers complained about things like the write time to SD cards and the autofocus. While the autofocus is slow, I’m going to let you in on a little secret: most of the YouTubers use SD cards that are issued to them by Sony for free and have never upgraded. It’s something that I hear from other brands all the time. But at Phoblographer, we’ve got a bunch from others, like Pro Grade Digital, in-house. So when I switched out the SD card in the Fujifilm X Half, writing the JPEG file was at its shortest, just under a second long.

To be honest, that’s fine. And if you’re reading this and saying, “who cares?” you’d be 100% right.

Is the Fujifilm X half worth the money? I think it will be if Fujifilm gives it some firmware updates. Otherwise, it’s kind of pricey.

Where it’s really worth the money, though: printing out Instax images. In less than a minute, I was able to pair the X Half with the Mini Link 3. Then, I could print my images. It’s the fastest I’ve ever seen. Why doesn’t the rest of the X-series get simple treatment like this?

Am I going to buy this camera? No. But if it came in pink, well, my wallet wouldn’t have a choice.

Why the Fujifilm X Half is So Awesome

• Small
• Beautiful
• Can fit in your pants pocket
• It’s not a serious camera, and I love that
• Good battery life
• Lots of awesome customization to the images
• Very fun
• A conversation starter
• Pairing and printing with an Instax printer is some of the easiest I’ve ever done.

But Then There’s This

• For this price, it should be weather-resistant
• Right now, it’s around $850. And until firmware updates come in to add changes, it’s a bit pricey

Who Should Buy the Fujifilm X Half

The Fujifilm X half is for the person who wants to just have fun with a camera and that understands that a camera gets in the way of making a good photograph. This shrinks itself down to be as small of a problem as possible.

We’re giving the Fujifilm X Half four out of five stars.

Image Samples

Fujifilm X Half Review: Is This the Best Camera for Women?

The Fujifilm X half is for the person who wants to just have fun with a camera and that understands that a camera gets in the way of making a good photograph. This shrinks itself down to be as small of a problem as possible.