Fujifilm X-E5 First Impressions and Recipes
I was lucky enough to get delivery of my Fujifilm X-E5 plus the Fujifilm XF 23mm f2.8 right as it came out thanks to B&H. I’ve had a chance to spend a full day using the camera, thus giving me a really good first impressions of the camera. Normally I wouldn’t talk about a camera after only using it for a single day but considering how similar (nearly identical) this camera is to the Fujifilm X100VI, I feel more at ease giving you my thoughts. To summarize: I really wanted to love this camera but there are a few design choices that leave me questioning if they actually used the camera before manufacturing it.
A Fujifilm X100VI With Interchangeable Lenses?
Considering Sophia and I have a Fujifilm X100VI in our possession and the striking similarities of the two cameras, it’s hard not to directly compare the two, specifically with the new Fujifilm XF 23mm f2.8 attached. It’s clear this combination is intended to be compared. I plan on writing up a direct comparison between the two which I’ll add here once I do, but to keep it brief. Basically the body and ergonomics is essentially identical. Handling, size, and weight also basically identical.
Fujifilm X-E5 + Fujifilm XF 23mm f2.8 using Kodak Portra 400 Recipe (Below)
Going from the Fujifilm X100VI to the Fujifilm X-E5 you gain: interchangeable lenses, a simulation dial, selfie-mode LCD, and one extra stop of IBIS. You lose the hybrid EVF/OVF, one stop of light from f2.0 on the X100VI to f2.8 on the new fuji pancake lens, the leaf-shutter, the built in 4-stop ND, and the dual ISO/Shutter speed dial. Everything else is essentially the same.
Most of the time, the Fujifilm X-E5 combined with the XF 23mm f2.8 feels identical to the X100VI in everyday use. Of course I cannot tell you what is a priority for you, but gaining interchangeable lenses while still containing the essence and portability of the X100VI seems like a home run.
Fujifilm X-E5’s Odd Design Choice
So it’s basically an X100VI with very little downside? Well, not quite. On paper and comparing notes, the camera has a lot going for it. It wasn’t until using it for the first day that I realized a couple big flaws in the design.
The most egregious is the placement of the film simulation dial. Or more specifically maybe the issue is the proximity sensor for switching between the LCD and the EVF. If you’re holding the camera in your right hand, as I expect 99% of you to be doing, when you reach over to change the film simulation or recipe - it blocks the proximity sensor and turns off the LCD! Reading that might not raise many red flags to you, but in practice being able to see the difference between certain simulations can be really important to the photography you’re trying to capture.
Fujifilm X-E5 + Fujifilm XF 23mm f2.8 using Kodak Gold 200 Recipe (Below)
It’s made worse by the fact that if you are using the EVF, changing the film simulation is not a pleasant experience. It’s totally possible, but just isn’t great to do. Over time, you simply get adapted to reaching your hand over to avoid the proximity sensor, but it really feels like they didn’t think this design through. You can technically turn off the proximity sensor, but if you’re like me and use both the LCD and EVF all the time, that isn’t a setting I want to turn off.
Another annoying choice was putting the play back button below the hot shoe mount. Maybe I wouldn’t have noticed this if I didn’t own the Fujifilm X100VI, which puts the play button right in line with the joystick and menu buttons. Considering I do have one, it leaves me wondering why they moved it. No other button took up that space, and I noticed how much more inconvenient having the button far away from my thumb was throughout the day. Why not just leave it where it’s more convenient to access? Or at the very least let me change the button shortcut in the menu.
None of these are terrible enough to not recommend the camera, but I had to admit they annoyed me and made the experience with the camera certainly worse.
X-E5 Film Simulation Dial
Now with my complaining out of the way, lets talk about something I loved about the experience with the Fujifilm X-E5 and that is the film simulation dial. While I didn’t use the film simulations too often, I did use the 3 customizable recipe settings constantly.
Fujifilm X-E5 + Fujifilm XF 23mm f2.8 using Kodak Portra 400 Recipe (Below)
This was my first time experiencing Fujifilm’s recent recognition of user created recipes and I cannot wait for more in the future. In the past you had to create the recipes using customized settings, but these saved all settings in the camera. Settings like: metering mode, autofocus, ISO, etc. With the recipe dial, it will ONLY change the settings that impact a recipe such as the film simulation, white balance, etc. This was incredibly useful and something I really enjoyed. I put my 3 most used recipes on the dial and use them throughout the day.
Fujifilm X-E5 Recipes
Speaking of recipes, every image in this post is straight out of camera using simulations or recipes (aside from fixing a really bad horizon line or two). This is the same X-Trans 5 sensor as both the Fujifilm X-T5 and Fujifilm X100VI, thus you can expect the same image quality. On top of that all of the recipes that work on those cameras will also work on this one, along with plenty of other recipes. Below I’ll share the recipes I used in this first impressions with a few of the images
Kodak Portra 400
Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
Grain Effect: Weak, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome FX Blue: Weak
White Balance: Auto Ambient Priority, +2 Red & -4 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: -1
Shadow: -1
Color: +2
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -2
credit: adapted from Reggie Ballesteros
Kodak Gold 200
Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
Grain Effect: Strong, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Weak
Color Chrome FX Blue: Off
White Balance: Daylight, +4 Red & -5 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: -1.5
Shadow: +0.5
Color: +3
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -2
credit: Ritchie Roesch
Bright Kodak
Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
Grain Effect: Strong, Large
Color Chrome Effect: Off
Color Chrome FX Blue: Off
White Balance: Daylight, +3 Red & -7 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: -2
Shadow: -2
Color: +4
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -3
credit: Ritchie Roesch
Grainy Day
Film Simulation: Classic Neg.
Grain Effect: Strong, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Off
Color Chrome FX Blue: Weak
White Balance: Auto, +4 Red & -4 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: +1
Shadow: 0
Color: +3
Sharpness: -4
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -3
credit: unknown
Do I Regret Buying the Fujifilm X-E5?
The quick answer is no. I’ll admit the first day using the camera, I did have fleeting thoughts of questioning my decision or not. As of writing this conclusion, Ive had more time with the camera (stay tuned) and once getting past the annoyances - there is a lot to love about the camera. It’s not perfect and I still question a few decisions, but the more I use it with the kit lens and the new lens I purchased for a recent trip (more on that soon), I can at the very least give it the time it deserves.
Sometimes I listen to new music and question a lot about it. Many times needing to listen numerous times before it really settles in. So far, I’m having a similar experience with the Fujifilm X-E5. A quirky camera that took some time to dig into. The experience certainly got better once I tried another lens, which I’ll talk about in the future with a full review.
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