First Pictures with the Fujifilm X-half

I briefly touched on why I got the X-half. Even though the consensus is that it’s a bad camera, as soon as it was announced, I wanted one. Why was it so hated upon release? I think it all comes down to price. The camera strips a lot of the complexity out and leaves you with, essentially, a point and shoot from the early 2000s. I think this is what Fujifilm was trying to do. The problem is they wanted almost $1000 for it.

Many people argued that the functionality could have been rolled into an app. Not a $1000 camera. It’s a 17 megapixel, jpeg only camera. It should have cost $400, max. At least, that’s what people were saying at the time. And I agree, though I’m not really a photographer. It just didn’t seem like the value matched what you were getting.

Fast forward a year and I was able to pick up the X-half brand new for $500. I expect they’ll go even lower in the future. So why did I want one so bad? Fujifilm Simulations. What is a Fujifilm simulation? Think Instagram filters but way more complex and authentic. I was reading that Fujifilm is the only company that produces cameras, lenses (called glass in the photography circles), AND film. What this gives them, that no other company has, is a unique perspective on what goes into making an image look a certain way. Long story short, Fujifilm is sort of dominating right now. You’re out of luck if you want one of their flagship cameras. They’re sold out. Always.

Below I've posted the first several pictures I've taken with the X-half. All of these were taken in auto mode with the "Classic Negative" film simulation. I like this one in particular because of the cold, sort of nostalgic look it gives the pictures. Please remember, I was simply taking pictures. Not trying to actually do anything nice. Observe: