Why the Fujifilm X-E5 is the best travel camera

The Verge

Right now there are five Fujifilm cameras that are using the exact same 40MP CMOS sensor, and picking the right one for you can be confusing. Most Fuji cameras give you very similar results, and your choice might come down to just the form factor. The good news is that the latest camera from Fujifilm, the X-E5, is packed with top features in a form factor that has won me over. Despite the steep price hike.

Transcript

00:00There is one thing that made me really enjoy using this camera, and it is...

00:08Yeah, it's just a shutter noise. I know, it's seemingly very minor,

00:13but I've been using the X106 for such a long time that each time that I hear that mechanical

00:21shutter go off, it just kind of feels good. And it sounds really nice.

00:26So, this is the XC5, Fuji's tiny powerhouse. And despite me using almost every Fuji out there,

00:36this was actually my first time playing around with any of the XC line of cameras. A line of

00:41cameras that is often described as an X100, except with an interchangeable lens. But there's so much

00:48more to talk about when it comes to the XC5. Okay, so here's the thing. Right now there are

00:56five cameras in the Fuji lineup using the exact same 40 megapixel CMOS 5 sensor as the XC5. For the most

01:06part, your images will look mostly the same across all these cameras, so picking the right one for you

01:12becomes a choice between more specific differences. How much do you care about video, stabilization,

01:18IO ports, EVF, flippy screen, battery life, and so on. But also ultimately your decision might just come

01:26down to form factor. The XC5 is a gorgeous petite and classy looking camera with sharp lines throughout

01:34the body with an occasional concave edge for some extra flair and distinctive look. It is small enough to

01:41hide in plain sight, but hard to take eyes off of when noticed. So many people will just notice this

01:47camera out in a while, and a couple of people even asked me if that was a Leica. It is a crowd pleaser,

01:52you'll get noticed. It is ever so slightly shorter and thicker than the X1006, but weighs about the

01:59same when paired with a smaller lens like this 27mm lens, which is also one of my all-time favorite

02:05lenses. This camera's build feels incredibly solid, more than some of the other Fugees that I own.

02:11The dials are super satisfying to use, the buttons are very clicky, the hinge on the flip screen feels

02:17sturdy, and yes the screen flips all the way around so you can do some vlogging as well.

02:24All these little details matter and make the camera feel premium, which it should because it is

02:30$1,700. And for a Fuji body in this economy, that is quite a lot.

02:40The big not so new feature, but a new feature for this camera, is a dedicated film simulation dial.

02:46More and more Fugees are adding these, but this was my first time using it. Initially I was kind of

02:52indifferent. I rarely shift between film simulations since I have a few of my own that I stick to 99% of

02:59time. But it does make saving these sims easier, and because of that it also made me experiment with

03:06different looks a lot more than before. I started off this video talking about the shutter up top,

03:13and despite its nice and tactile feel, it also has some downsides. The XC5 uses a more common focal

03:21plane shutter. That mechanism works with two curtains opening and closing simultaneously, traveling from

03:28top to the bottom of the sensor, and exposing it to the light. The X106 uses something called a leaf

03:34shutter, which looks almost like aperture blades, and it converges on and from the center. The benefits

03:41are, one, gets you faster flash sync speeds, and two, my favorite part, an internal ND filter. And that's

03:49something that I learned to love and utilize more with my X100. So for example, I recently went to cover the

03:56no kinks protests, and in 2025, you sort of have to think twice about including faces in your photos

04:03when it comes to protest coverage. I had my X100, so I turned on the ND filter, and I started

04:08experimenting with dragging out my shutter and doing just more abstract work while hiding people's

04:15identities. And of course, a built-in ND filter comes in handy with video too. On the XA5, you'll just have

04:22to bring physical ND filters, no built-in ND filter here. And in video, you get 6.2k 30, 4k 60, or 1080p

04:34up 220 frames per second. You get both F-Log and F-Log2 color spaces, so if you want to experiment with

04:42some post-processing, there's plenty of latitude to do that. The rolling shutter isn't the greatest,

04:46but it's not bad at all. You shouldn't worry about that too much. You also likely won't use this camera

04:52as a primary video camera. You really shouldn't. But if you need it for occasional video clips,

04:58it's there, and the quality is really nice. Just keep an eye out on battery levels, because it is

05:03unforgiving, and it is the thing that actually makes me not want to use the X-E5 in video mode too much.

05:11Recently, I went to an event, shot a bunch of photos and some videos, but the battery was

05:17done within like two hours. So yeah, not good luck. Okay, I want to go back to those five cameras that

05:23are listed that are using the exact same sensor and try to make sense of which camera fits who.

05:29So let's start with the Fuji X-H2. $2,000 DSLR style body. This camera can shoot video up to 8k,

05:3730 frames per second, and also has the 160 megapixel pixel shift for high resolution photos.

05:43This camera also has the 7-stop IBIS. The Fuji X-T5 is next. It has the same price

05:49tech as this X-E5. This camera is also known for its look and its many dials. This camera can shoot

05:55video at 6.2k 30 and it also has the 160 megapixel shift for photos and the 7-stop IBIS. Next up,

06:03I'll go with the Fuji X-T50, which is the cheapest camera on this list and it's also the one that has

06:08the film simulation dial. It's basically cheaper and smaller X-T5. Same video specs, same IBIS.

06:15And the Fuji X-100 6. $1,600. Same video specs, same IBIS. Hard to find and it is a fixed lens camera.

06:24And finally, the X-E5. This camera, same price as the X-T5. And yeah, it's basically an interchangeable

06:31X-100. It also has the film simulation dial and video specs and IBIS specs are the same.

06:38By the way, camera is overheating after 14 minutes in 6.2k. Let me wrap this up. And yeah,

06:45just going through those specs, you can see that so many things are very similar here across cameras.

06:50So it really comes down to form factor and what kind of a photographer or videographer you are.

06:55Whichever one you're going to choose, you're going to get some really good photos. I really like this

06:59sensor and I've been using it for a while and it's slowly becoming one of my all-time favorite

07:04Fuji sensors. But I do think because of its size and the fact that it's interchangeable,

07:09the X-T5 really is the perfect travel camera. I brought this camera with me to Mexico, paired it

07:15with my favorite lens, but I still knew that I had an option to just swap it out if I want to use

07:20something else. And yeah, that's Becca on the screen so everyone take a moment and say hi to Becca.

07:27Hi.

07:29But despite how much I love my time with the X-E5, all these cameras above, ultimately at its core,

07:36are almost becoming too similar to each other when it comes to performance. Most of these cameras on

07:42that list excel in some way and the X-T5 is a classic jack of all trades. And that's not a bad thing,

07:50but once you start looking at the prices, you might have some second thoughts. So for reference,

07:56when the X-T4 came out, it was 850 bucks. It was seen as a hidden gem in the Fuji lineup,

08:05but not anymore with its new steep price. At $1,700, it will be extremely hard to look at

08:12all of those Fugees and pick this camera. But if you do pick this one, be assured you're picking

08:18a brilliant camera. It might not be a hidden gem, but it is still a gem.

08:23Okay. The Fuji camera also has one more little hidden feature. It's in here.

08:28This is the classic mode for the viewfinder. So you can switch between the old one here,

08:37and then this is the new one. Pretty gimmicky, but also kind of cute.

Category

Transcript

Recommended