Review: Fujifilm X100F Compact Camera for Travel Photography

The Fujifilm X100F was released in 2017 as the successor to the popular Fujifilm X100T. On the surface, it looked similar to its classic-inspired design, but a lot was changed and upgraded under the hood. The most notable upgrade to the X100F was the 24-megapixel X-Trans sensor, the same one found in the X-Pro 2 and X-T2. The X100F is the camera that cemented the reputation of the X100 series, when it truly became great and the much-adored series it is today.

In this X100F review, Connor Redmond will discuss the specs, performance, design and handling, using the unique hybrid viewfinder, shooting with the 35mm equivalent lens, the image quality and autofocus and more. 

Back in 2019, I traded a boring (but highly capable) Sony A7 II for a Fujifilm X100F. I wanted to enjoy photography again, and the X100F looked like a camera that would be fun to use and look pretty slick while doing it. 10,000 photos later, the X100F still remains my main digital camera today. 

So, it’s fair to say that the X100F is my favourite. Is it perfect? Not always. There are times I wish I had a different lens or a larger sensor. But I believe that limitations encourage creativity. And for me, the X100F has a unique ability to coax a style of shooting and photography out of me.

Fujifilm X100F Key Specs

Pros

• Unique hybrid viewfinder experience

• Fantastic JPEGs straight out of the camera

• Practical autofocus joystick

• Super useful built-in neutral-density (ND) filter

• Leaf shutter design allows for flash sync speeds above 1/250 to 1/4000

• Stylish classic design

• Film simulations and ‘film recipes’ look great 

Cons

• Fixed lens can be limiting

• Battery life is okay, but bring an extra one 

• Autofocus performance can be a bit sluggish

• Poor video capabilities 

Quick Verdict

The Fujifilm X100F is where the X100 series really came into its own, arguably the model that turned it into a modern classic. The X100F’s excellent image quality still holds up and is more than enough for the majority of users' needs. The compact size, plus a fantastic 35mm equivalent lens, is particularly suited for travel and street photographers and should be a strong consideration. Considering everything it offers, the X100F might just be the best value for money in the whole series.

Design and Handling

The Fujifilm X100F inherits the classic rangefinder-style design that the X100 line is known for. It has a retro aesthetic with solid build quality, featuring an all-metal body and lens construction that feels robust.

The camera’s compact size makes it easy to carry around for street or travel photography, yet it isn’t so small that it feels fiddly. Fujifilm has thoughtfully refined the layout here. The X100F retains the vintage dials (for shutter speed, aperture on the lens, and exposure compensation) that enthusiasts love, and even adds an integrated ISO dial on the top plate, reminiscent of film cameras. 

Overall, the X100F feels great to use. I especially like the nostalgic look paired with a nice leather strap; it’s a satisfying and tactile experience. 

In terms of handling, Fujifilm made several improvements over previous models. On the back, the 3-inch screen has been shifted to the left side, with all the buttons now on the right. This makes it easier to shoot one-handed, which I end up doing a lot. Paired with a nice thumb grip attachment, the X100F provides a fun point-and-shoot experience if that’s what you’re after. When I’m casually snapping photos, I tend to be in this mindset. 

Notably, the X100F introduces a focus joystick (or focus lever) near the thumb grip, which makes selecting autofocus points quick and intuitive. I genuinely use this feature nonstop — it works incredibly well and is a welcome upgrade from older X100 models that lacked it.

Tip: If you have bigger hands, you might want to invest in a metal hand grip. The camera is quite compact, and that little extra grip can make it feel much more comfortable.

Hybrid Viewfinder 

One of the X100F’s standout features is its hybrid viewfinder, a defining trait of the X100 series since the beginning. This genius system gives you both an optical and an electronic viewfinder in one. 

In OVF (optical) mode, you’re looking through a bright frameline viewfinder that feels similar to a classic rangefinder; you get a wide field with bright frame lines projected to show roughly what will be in your shot. The optical view is clear and lag-free, letting you see movement in real-time — even slightly outside the frame — which helps in composing street shots and anticipating subjects as they enter the scene. It’s especially handy in low light too, since an optical finder doesn’t get grainy or dim when the lighting conditions drop.

Flick the front lever, and the camera switches to EVF (electronic) mode, giving you a live digital preview. The X100F’s EVF is a 2.36-million-dot OLED, which means it's sharp and accurate enough for judging exposure and colour. You can overlay helpful tools like a histogram, a level gauge or focus peaking.

Then there’s the hybrid option, which, in my opinion, really makes this system unique. In optical mode, you can call up a small electronic sub-window in the corner of the OVF to magnify the focus point or preview exposure. This is called the dual optical viewfinder/electronic range finder (ERF) display. It is the best of both worlds.

Leaf Shutter

The decision to go with a leaf shutter design for the lens on the X100 series was an inspired one. It allows for flash sync at all shutter speeds up to 1/4000, meaning you can use fill flash even in bright light conditions without being limited to the typical 1/250 sync speed of focal plane shutters. 

For example, this feature lets you balance the foreground of the picture against a bright sky or sunset, creating a look that would otherwise be impossible to achieve. Even better, if you want to shoot wide open to create some depth of field and also use fill flash, you can, thanks to the leaf shutter design. With a traditional focal plane shutter, this would lead to overexposure. On top of that, the leaf shutter is also much quieter than a standard shutter, making it ideal for discreet street or wedding photography, where camera noise might be disruptive.

The Fujifilm EF-20 TTL and Fujifilm EF-X20 flashes are by far the best flash units for the X100F and all of the X100 series. I personally own the EF-20, though I’ve also used the more premium EF-X20. The limitation of the EF-X20’s flash is that it is fixed, whereas the EF-20 can tilt up and down, allowing you to use the ceiling as a bounce surface. Both are super compact but surprisingly powerful. I love using them to create weird images, but they are also fantastic for when you need fill flash on a subject and the built-in flash just isn’t enough.

The above and below images are examples of fun ways you can use flash on the X100F. The above image is exposed for the blue sky behind the flowers and tree, with the on-camera flash illuminating the foreground. This creates a balanced and interesting image with a clearly defined foreground, midground and background. 

The image below is a bit different. I wanted a flat and pale look to show off the interesting flowers on the balcony. Setting the flash to full power will get this effect and wash out the frame if you are close enough to the subject. It creates an almost ghostly effect, which I like. 

These two effects are very easy to achieve on the Fujifilm X100F, and I appreciate that. It took me a while to understand flash, but the TTL feature makes it fairly easy. 

Shooting with the 23mm Fujifilm X100F Lens

When you boil it down, the X100F is really about its compact 23mm f/2 fixed lens, which provides a 35mm full-frame equivalent field of view on its APS-C sensor. Shooting with this lens is a distinct experience. In an era dominated by zooms and interchangeable lenses, there’s something liberating about using a fixed prime lens—you learn to frame with your feet and learn to love the limitation. 

Fortunately, the 35 mm equivalent is a very versatile focal length. It’s wide enough for landscapes and street scenes, yet still tight enough for environmental portraits or detail shots. As a result, the X100F ends up being a wonderful walkaround camera.

As for the lens’s optical performance, I can’t say it has ever let me down. It’s a lens that is simply marvelous because of its compactness. It is very sharp at f/4.0, which is where I usually like to shoot, and even wide open at f/2.0, it is impressive. Corner sharpness wide open suffers, as you would normally expect, but the subject renders beautifully with a nice out-of-focus fall-off. At very close focusing distances (in macro type shots), the lens can exhibit some softness and a “glowing” flare wide open at f/2—essentially a touch of spherical aberration. At normal distances, however, this softness is not an issue; in fact, real-world subjects at a few meters away appear perfectly sharp at f/2 on the X100F. 

The X100F's built-in lens has bags of character and capability. It plays a big role in what makes shooting with this camera so damn enjoyable. 

Autofocus

Fujifilm made significant improvements to autofocus in the X100F, bringing it much closer to the performance of their other X-series mirrorless cameras of the same generation. The X100F uses a hybrid autofocus system that combines phase detection pixels with contrast-detect autofocus. In practical terms, this gives you the best of both worlds: phase detection provides a quick initial lock in decent light, while contrast detection steps in to confirm precise focus, especially in low-contrast or low-light scenes.

When it comes to autofocus speed and accuracy, the X100F is notably snappier than its predecessors. In good light, focus locks on quickly, often near-instantly for static subjects. The autofocus is more than capable of street photography and everyday shooting.

The camera also introduced new focus modes, including Zone autofocus and Wide/Tracking, which can be useful when tracking a moving subject within a specific area. That said, you shouldn’t expect sports-camera performance. Continuous autofocus on the X100F is competent but not class-leading. The main limitation is the lens’s focus motor, which, although improved, is still not as fast as the motors found in professional interchangeable lenses. It performs reasonably well for casual tracking (for example, someone walking slowly towards you), but may struggle with fast or erratically moving subjects.

Face and eye detection are available on the X100F, but they’re a bit hit-and-miss. I didn’t find myself using it much as it tends to hunt or pick the wrong subject, especially in dim lighting. Fujifilm improved this in later models, but on the X100F, face detection works best when your subject is prominent and the scene isn’t too chaotic. 

In low light, the X100F’s autofocus slows down a little. That’s to be expected. The camera’s phase detection pixels have a limited light threshold. Beyond that, contrast detection takes over and may hunt briefly before locking focus. The good news is that the X100F can still focus down to around 1EV. The camera also features a built-in autofocus assist lamp, which helps focus at close ranges in the dark. It can be an absolute lifesaver. 

Overall, the autofocus performance is significantly improved compared to earlier X100-series cameras. The X100F’s autofocus is more than good enough for many types of photography. I find it helps to use the autofocus joystick to place the focus point exactly where I want it.

Image Quality

Now, the meat and potatoes. The X100F delivers excellent image quality with its 24.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS III sensor (APS-C size). 

Colours are a matter of personal taste, but Fujifilm's default look is generally vibrant while still true to life. If anything, it leans towards a film-like aesthetic (hence the film simulations), with a depth and richness that I find especially appealing for travel and people photography. And if you prefer a different look, you’ll find all the colour data to edit in the RAW files. 

The secret sauce of the X100F—and the entire X100 series—is the delicate pairing of the lens and sensor. Together, they create a bit of magic that creates impressively sharp, punchy results for the camera’s compact size. There’s a touch of photographic dark arts happening inside that lens and sensor marriage. 

Dynamic Range 

Dynamic range is another strong suit. The camera preserves plenty of detail in both bright skies and shadowed areas of high-contrast scenes, especially at base ISO, giving you flexibility in post. 

Fujifilm’s in-camera Dynamic Range modes (DR100, DR200 and DR400) can help protect highlights in JPEGs by adjusting the tone curve. These modes underexpose the image and then brighten the shadows. If you shoot RAW, though, you’ll find there’s plenty of headroom to recover details.

ISO Performance

When it comes to ISO performance, the X100F again punches above its weight. The normal ISO range is 200 to 12,800, with extended options down to 100 and up to 51,200. Throughout the normal range, noise is well controlled. In fact, I can hardly tell the difference between ISO 800 and ISO 3200 on this camera. 

High ISO shots retain ‘true’ colours and contrast well, which means they respond nicely to a bit of noise reduction in post if needed. By ISO 12,800, noise is certainly noticeable and dynamic range drops (highlights start to clip more readily, and shadows may get muddy). But remarkably, the X100F’s JPEG engine still produces a usable image at this setting for casual purposes.

The extended ISOs (25,600 and 51,200) can show what the sensor can manage in a pinch, but Fujifilm disables RAW at those levels. On the X100F, ISO 25,600 and 51,200 are JPEG-only because the image quality takes a noticeable hit. You’ll see washed-out colours and finer details getting smudged by noise reduction at the top end. The picture below was taken at 8000 ISO, and there is a lot of noise in the shadows.

Built-in 3 Stop ND Filter

One feature that comes in handy in certain bright-light situations is the X100F’s built-in 3-stop Neutral Density (ND) filter. The internal ND filter reduces incoming light by three stops, which is incredibly useful if you want to use the camera at a wide aperture (f/2) in bright daylight or in conditions where the camera would otherwise overexpose. 

For example, imagine you’re on a beach at noon and you want to shoot a portrait at f/2. Normally, even 1/1000s might blow out the highlights. Flicking on the ND filter is like magically reducing the exposure to the equivalent of 1/8000s.

You can use the ND filter creatively, for long exposures, too. If you want to blur motion—getting the milky water effect in a waterfall or streaking clouds in the sky—the 3-stop reduction helps you use slower shutter speeds without overexposing your image. And because the ND filter is built-in, you can toggle it on/off on the fly. Really convenient.

Fujifilm X100F Sample Images

Fujifilm X100F vs X100V

The X100F successor, the Fujifilm X100V came with a number of upgrades. Here’s how they compare in key areas:

Lens: The X100F and all its predecessors used the same 23mm f/2 lens design, whereas the X100V introduced a newly redesigned 23mm f/2 lens. We tested it in our Fujifilm X100V review and concluded that beyond f/5.6, both lenses are practically indistinguishable. However, the improvements at f/2 and f/2.8—in terms of contrast and eliminating haziness—can be better in certain situations.

Sensor and Image Quality: The X100V uses a newer 26.1 megapixel X-Trans IV sensor, the same found in the Fujifilm X-Pro 3 and Fujifilm X-T4. Read more about them in our Fujifilm X-Pro 3 review and Fujifilm X-T4 review. The X100F uses the 24.3 megapixel X-Trans III. The difference in resolution is modest—about 1.8 megapixels— and in real-world use, you’re unlikely to see a major jump in detail. Both cameras produce highly detailed images.

Autofocus and Speed: The X100V uses the X-Processor 4 and a better autofocus algorithm, along with significantly more phase-detect points across the frame. Its autofocus is more capable for action or spontaneous shooting, though the X100F is still reliable for general use and static subjects.

Video: If video matters to you,  the X100V is a better choice. It can shoot 4K video and 120fps slow motion. The X100F's video features are far more limited and feel like an afterthought. 

Other Features: The X100V introduced a number of usability upgrades that go beyond image quality. It has a tilting rear screen, making it easier to shoot from the waist or overhead. It also brought weather sealing to the series, though it requires using an optional adapter ring and filter. The X100F, by contrast, has a fixed screen and no weather sealing, so you’ll need to be cautious in rainy or dusty environments. Something to consider. 

Overall, the X100V is more of a refined evolution than a revolution of the X100F. It is the better camera on paper and in practice, though the improvements are incremental in many everyday shooting scenarios. 

For photographers on a tighter budget, the X100F costs significantly less than the X100V, yet still offers excellent autofocus, great image quality and strong performance for street photography and general use.

Verdict: Is the Fujifilm X100F the right camera for you?

The Fujifilm X100F is a photographer’s camera. It’s great at reigniting your passion for photography. Perhaps, like me, you got bogged down in a lot of pro gear. The X100F unlocks the fun of photography again. 

The X100F focuses on the shooting experience. The fixed prime lens and manual-centric controls especially appeal to photographers looking for a tactile experience, closer to film photography. If you enjoy the craft of taking a photo—dialling in settings, focusing on composition and physically moving to get the shot—then the X100F will likely resonate with you, as it did with me. 

The X100F delivers on image quality. The colours are gorgeous, the lens has a unique charm, and the files offer plenty of flex for post-editing. The X100F is ideal for street photographers, travel shooters, or anyone looking for an everyday secondary camera to complement their main workhorse.

But, if you frequently need a variety of focal lengths or faster autofocus, the X100F probably isn’t the right choice. It isn’t general-purpose. While the 35mm-equivalent focal length is versatile, you still have to embrace the idea of “zooming with your feet”.  You have to get creative, particularly when the composition isn’t obvious. The X100F also isn’t suited to video, given its lack of 4K and limited video features, so I wouldn’t even bother with it for video. 

The Fujifilm X100F is really a camera designed for those who love a good long walk to see where their eyes take them. In that regard, it offers a lot: a portable yet solid build, an outstanding APS-C sensor, a fast prime lens, and unique features like the hybrid viewfinder and high-speed flash sync that encourage you to try new techniques. It’s fair to say the X100F is greater than the sum of its specs. It’s a camera you connect with, one that makes you want to go out and shoot for the pure joy of it. 

FAQs

Is the X100F still a good camera?

Yes, the Fujifilm X100F remains a very capable camera, especially for street and travel photography. Its image quality, classic design, and hybrid viewfinder continue to appeal to enthusiasts and professional photographers.

How old is the Fujifilm X100F?

The Fujifilm X100F was officially announced in January 2017, making it eight years old (as of 2025).

Is the  X100F discontinued?

Yes, Fujifilm discontinued the X100F in early 2020; it was succeeded by the X100V. However, the X100F is still available secondhand from MPB.

Is the X100V worth the upgrade from the X100F?

If you value faster autofocus, better close-up sharpness, a tilting touchscreen, weather resistance (with an adapter) and 4K video, then the X100V is a worthwhile upgrade. For photographers who mainly shoot stills and are happy with the X100F’s image quality and controls, sticking with the X100F is still a solid choice.

Is the Fujifilm X100F good for beginners?

While the X100F is not aimed specifically at beginners, it can be a great learning tool for those ready to explore manual settings and fixed-lens photography.

What is the shutter life expectancy of the Fujifilm X100F?

Fujifilm hasn’t published an official shutter life rating for the X100F, but leaf shutters generally have a particularly long lifespan.

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