I took three telephones to Europe, however solely used my Fujifilm pocket digicam

Taking a trip — particularly in my line of labor — is commonly simpler stated than accomplished. Not as a result of I’ve a very strict schedule or a demanding boss however as a result of the fixed stream of smartphone launches all year long makes it laborious to determine which one (or ones) to convey with me. Whereas most individuals sit right down to double-check whether or not or not they’ve sufficient pairs of underwear packed for a couple of days away, I sit right down to see what number of telephones I can pack earlier than the TSA thinks I’m a smuggler (I’ve but to determine the quantity, by the best way).

So, once I headed off to Amsterdam for a couple of days off forward of working my second marathon, I made a decision I’d convey three nice digicam telephones with me: the iPhone 16 Professional, which nonetheless held my private SIM; the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, which I used to be within the technique of reviewing; and the Google Pixel 8a, which I had simply picked up for a six-month revisit. All informed, I used to be heading off with eight fashionable digicam sensors to seize my journey, which appeared like greater than I may wish. And but, I just about ignored all of them in favor of 1 a lot easier, a lot much less versatile digicam — my Fujifilm X100V ($2,120 refurbished on Amazon). Right here’s why.

Whether or not you favor a Google Pixel 9, a Samsung Galaxy S24, and even an iPhone 16, fashionable smartphone cameras are extra succesful than ever. Some can punch in for as much as 100x zoom (even when it doesn’t at all times look unbelievable), and computational images processes photos nearly as quick as you possibly can say cheese. It’s like having a whole images studio in your pocket, and also you don’t must do way more than press the shutter button. Nevertheless, with that a lot flexibility, it’s simply as simple to grow to be overwhelmed by one digicam or one other.

You would possibly choose the Pixel colours, the Galaxy zoom functionality, and the iPhone video seize — all completely affordable decisions. Sadly, you (in all probability) don’t have three palms with which to make use of all of them. Even if you happen to did, you would possibly want a fourth or fifth hand to set your focus or zoom in in your topic. By the point you shuffle between the telephones in your hand and work out your settings, the second may be gone. My Fujifilm X100V, however, is not possible to make use of with greater than two palms — and generally I’ll work it with only one.

One of many crucial (and maybe controversial) causes I can get away with one-handing my X100V is that it’s a fixed-lens digicam. Basically, which means the 35mm equal focal size is what I’ve acquired — no extra, no much less. Positive, you should purchase an adapter to tighten it right into a 50mm equal or open it as much as a 23mm discipline of view, however I’ve skipped that to this point to maintain my digicam mild and versatile. By the best way, a 35mm focal size is about the identical as what most smartphones take into account 2x zoom, which is how I shoot with my telephone more often than not.

After all, as quickly as you are taking an important digicam function, like zoom, out of the image, you all of a sudden introduce a little bit of a studying curve. I rapidly realized that if I wished a particular composition, I’d both have to maneuver my ft or grow to be a grasp of cropping to make it work. It’s tempted me to stroll into site visitors a couple of times, but it surely’s additionally taught me to take a look at on a regular basis scenes just a bit in a different way.

Together with not worrying about whether or not I can zoom in or out, chopping my setup right down to a single lens makes it a lot tougher to get misplaced in an extended, sophisticated set of menus and guide settings. Sure, there are nonetheless loads of methods to set your white steadiness, picture kind, dynamic vary, and extra, however I’ve observed that after I discover a mixture I like, I have a tendency to not dive into the menu to vary it for weeks. One other factor that retains me from twiddling with the finer settings is Fujifilm’s movie simulations, however I’ll come again to these in a minute.

However, identical to Apple, Google, and Samsung provide totally different digicam experiences, I may have grabbed loads of different fixed-lens cameras over the Fujifilm X100V. I may have sought out the Ricoh GR III, picked up a Sony CyberShot, or dropped a small fortune on a Leica Q-series digicam. As a substitute, I discovered myself lured in by Fujifilm’s set of top-mounted dials. Quite than having to double-check the rear show — or dig into an advanced smartphone menu — any time I wished to vary my shutter velocity, ISO, or publicity compensation, I fell in love with the truth that I may simply pull and twist a couple of easy wheels on the highest of my digicam. Even higher, the settings keep simply how you allow them, which means I may pull my digicam up and seize a shot with out worrying about issues resetting again to default.

But, I do know that Fujifilm’s guide dials and set-and-forget setup gained’t be for everybody. I perceive that some folks love the pliability a smartphone digicam presents, particularly once they can share a picture simply seconds after taking it. Personally, I wish to dabble with a couple of edits after I snag a photograph, however that’s simply me. Sadly, at any time when I fall down the modifying rabbit gap, I rapidly lose monitor of time and would possibly miss one other photograph I’d have cherished to seize. Fujifilm additionally has a solution for that — the movie simulations that I briefly talked about a minute in the past.

These simulations, that are exactly what they sound like — particular settings that make your digicam mirror the look of a basic movie inventory — take nearly the entire guesswork out of the best way I wish to edit a photograph. They solely work with JPEG information, which don’t provide as a lot room for modifying as RAW photos, so I can’t spend as a lot time tweaking and altering even when I wished to. On high of that, it’s merely simpler to cook dinner up a movie simulation that mirrors how I’d edit a photograph than it’s to recreate that precise edit in Lightroom. Usually, I discover that the movie simulations I exploit over and over are likely to behave higher than a few of Lightroom’s presets, anyway.

Thus far, I’ve discovered go-to simulations for Kodak’s Tri-X 400 and Portra 400 and a 3rd simulation that pulls items from different movie shares however doesn’t fairly match any of them. And, if you happen to’re questioning why I don’t shoot movie as a substitute, properly, it’s costly. I’d fairly construct up a set of photographs on a reminiscence card that I can entry from my MacBook Air than ship particular person rolls of movie off to a lab and pay for processing — wouldn’t you?

Nevertheless, Fujifilm’s simulations all of a sudden don’t appear as robust an argument for spending cash on an costly mirrorless digicam as they used to, and it’s all due to Apple’s Photographic Types. Apple has determined to frivolously copy Fujifilm, which has been frivolously copying precise movie for a number of years, by providing totally different coloration profiles which you could rapidly swipe between utilizing the Digital camera Management. From there, you possibly can modify the Photographic Types with totally different Colour and Tone preferences for a singular look.

Truthfully, Apple’s types are simply as versatile as what Fujifilm has created with its movie simulations, however my hangup comes with the truth that the iPhone digicam app appears to reset to the Customary profile each time I open it after not utilizing it for some time. The opposite profit to Apple’s Photographic Types is that they’re not fairly as tightly bonded together with your authentic picture file. Whereas I couldn’t hop again into a photograph taken with my X100V and swap between two movie simulations, I can achieve this with Apple’s Photographic Types, giving me a number of totally different variations of the identical shot.

After all, I’m not simply right here to check photographs from my Fujifilm X100V to these from Apple’s newest iPhone. I’ve had my mirrorless digicam for approaching two years now, so I’ve a reasonably good really feel for the best way my photos will come out. The truth is, I’ve in all probability taken it on extra journeys than every other smartphone digicam, largely as a result of I can convey residence photographs just like the gallery above (although, in fact, not all of those photographs are from my days in Amsterdam). Moreover, it’s simpler to connect a reminiscence to the press of a bodily shutter than it’s to recollect each single faucet of an on-screen button.

If there’s one option to sum up all the pieces I really like in regards to the Fujifilm X100V, it’s this — I’m not utilizing a telephone. Don’t get me improper, I like my telephone and I’m as hooked up to it as anybody else can be, however I don’t essentially wish to be. If I’m on trip and being all touristy, I’d a lot fairly keep within the second and respect the museum, restaurant, or park I’m visiting. Which means retaining myself off social media, and it often means utilizing the Motion Button to set my telephone to Do Not Disturb, too. It’s a lot simpler to do this once I’m capturing reminiscences with a digicam that may’t bodily entry Instagram, not to mention put up to it.

Outdoors of the plain undeniable fact that I can’t use my Fujifilm X100V to doomscroll, utilizing it for many of my photographs signifies that my iPhone 16 Professional stayed safely in my pocket until I wanted it. By that, I imply I couldn’t burn by its complete battery by lunchtime. I’ve already talked about being lower than impressed by Apple’s newest battery and charging setup and going overseas with a short lived data-only eSIM didn’t assist issues. No, I may not have been utilizing information fairly as rapidly as a result of I solely had 4G LTE protection whereas in Amsterdam, however I additionally forgot that I’d want separate chargers for my time in Europe, which restricted me to solely recharging my telephone from my lodge’s built-in USB-C outlet. It was a rookie mistake that finally stored me off my telephone, so I assume it labored out.

Moreover, social media would nonetheless be there once I returned to my lodge room. There wouldn’t be a put up or a narrative so essential that I needed to see it whereas wandering the Rijksmuseum or a university soccer rating so vacation-altering that I’d wish to see it whereas dodging between cyclists. Residing life six hours forward of my family and friends, I wouldn’t have to fret about posting a punctual replace, both — primarily as a result of I’d be consuming lunch by the point they wakened for the day.

And no, I do know none of that’s actually an important purpose to inform you to seize a point-and-shoot digicam to make use of over your iPhone, your Pixel, or no matter else you might have in your pocket, however I believe all of it comes right down to the best way you wish to seize your reminiscences. Should you’re grabbing them for social media, by all means, proceed to make use of your telephone — it’s simply simpler. Nevertheless, if you wish to preserve a few of these reminiscences only for your self and seize them in a coloration profile that feels a bit of extra private, I don’t understand how you could find a greater digicam than the Fujifilm X100V, aside from possibly its successor — the X100VI ($2199 on Amazon).