The Price of Nostalgia? | Fujifilm X100VI
With its retro design and throwback film look, Fujifilm’s X100VI is the internet’s trendiest camera. It might be one of the best looking cameras of all time.
But I was here before the hype.
I bought the X100T on my first trip to Japan, upgraded to the X100F, then graduated to the V. Across the span of three separate Nippon adventures, these X100 cameras taught me three street photography philosophies but these cameras aren’t mine, not anymore.
They’re all long gone, part of a non-stop camera upgrade cycle over the past ten years. Turns out I’ve been chasing a ghost, a fleeting memory of that first shooting experience.
So here I am, back at the start.
Fujifilm’s latest X100VI is seemingly made out of Unobtainium, and has taken off again like Wildfire. But am I (and are you) over-romanticising these cameras? Is the cool retro design alone worth it? How much are you willing to pay for nostalgia?
Today let’s look back before moving forward.
LESSON 1 Wabi-sabi
“Living life as an artist is a practice.
You are either engaging in the practice
or you’re not.”
― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being
The fixed 35mm equivalent f2 lens and APS-C sensor of the X100 cameras keeps the whole camera small and lightweight - around 400 grams, not quite pocketable like the Ricoh GR, but light enough to be around your neck without feeling it. If you’ve mainly shot photos on your phone though, wearing a camera all day long still takes some getting used to.
In my first outing with the X100T in Tokyo, I would keep the camera in my bag, and only take it out when something was “photo worthy”. I just didn’t take that many shots, because I was looking for the perfect frame, but I was a complete beginner - everything should have been photo worthy. The first street photography lesson the X100T taught me was that there is no perfect frame.
Oddities are king - imperfections that reveal how a city and its people change over time.
Wabi-sabi - nothing lasts, nothing is perfect, and nothing is ever finished, so you need a camera always at the ready to capture the impermanence of moments around you.
Having a camera around my neck all day long was a quiet declaration:
“I am a photographer, and I need to get better.”
The only way to get better was to take more photos without preconceived notions of what looks good. The X100’s optical viewfinder really helps with this - you don’t get as much information as with an Electronic ViewFinder or the LCD screen, the white balance might be off, the composition not so perfect, but you learn to fill those gaps by using your imagination. Your line of sight isn’t restricted by tunnel vision of the final exposure, and it’s a quite a unique selling point for cameras on the market today? A throwback to shooting film on SLRs and rangefinders back in the day.
LESSON 2 The Nostalgia Effect
“All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.”
― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being
Don’t let the X100VI’s retro design fool you. The optical viewfinder toggles to a bright EVF at the flick of a switch. The manual controls - aperture ring, shutter speed dial, ISO dial - all work just fine in auto mode. Phase-detect autofocus, joy-stick, touch-screen, decent (but not great) battery life. This really is an ultra modern camera disguised as your granddad’s film camera. Even the last generation - the X100F is more camera than most people ever need.
That was when processors in Fujifilm cameras started to become more advanced. They were snappier to use, quicker to operate, and the rendering of JPEGs using in-camera film simulations became more feasible. The APS-C sensor paired with a f2 lens gave me clean raw files up to ISO3200, usable up to 12800. The dynamic range is really impressive - 2 stops of highlight recovery is more than most people ever need, but none of that matters if you rely on the JPEGs.
When I took the X100F on that next trip to Japan, I’d taken the “spray and pray” approach. I was getting better at composition, but still not slowing down enough to get better shots. I was rubbish at editing, so shot only JPEGs, thinking the Fuji colors and Classic Chrome “film look” would make any boring photo look good. And this is the second street photography lesson I learnt from the X100F - The Nostalgia Effect.
Holding on to the past can make us over-value things that we need to let go of to move on. Relying on the film simulations too much delayed my understanding of colour theory by 4 or 5 years. I didn’t take the time to learn white balance, contrasting colours in the shadows vs highlights, how to crush or lift mid tones, I just let the nostalgia of the film look do the heavy lifting. I couldn’t tell if I liked a photo just because of its colours - which I had nothing to do with - or if the the composition actually works - a part I did have something to do with.
It wasn’t until I chose to shoot only in RAW, and tried to replicate the look of film stock one painstaking slider at a time when I figured out my own style, and looking back at the X100F photos from that trip, none of them are that interesting? This tracks, because I spent most of that trip chasing the excitement of that first Japan trip, but could never quite recapture the magic. The locations were the same, but different, everything had moved on a little.
Wabi Sabi - and the ambience wasn’t quite how I remembered it. I had a good time, but couldn’t help feeling that something was missing.
LESSON 3 - The Art of Focus
“Look for what you notice but no one else sees.”
― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being
On my third trip to Japan, armed this time with the X100V, my framing did get better. Even with the wide 35mm field of view I had gotten smarter, choosing scenes that had more ambience, more visual interest. But it still lacked something?
The three biggest upgrades from the X100F to the X100V were the new lens, weather sealing, and autofocus. The X100V can shoot wide open at f2 for perfectly sharp close-up results, no more haziness. If you buy the right adapter ring and UV filter the whole camera is now weather sealed, and coupled with a basic LCD screen protector you’re set for a full day of shooting. No need to go crazy with other accessories - a good camera strap and USB-C powerbank is all you need.
The new sensor and processor meant the autofocus had improved as well. Is the tracking auto-focus best in class? No but the problem with my photos wasn’t missed autofocus, but that I didn’t understand the Art of Focus. They were perfectly fine as holiday snaps, but I didn’t have a natural point of focus, where people should direct their gaze.
My point of view as the photographer was nothing special, my shots had nothing to say.
I spent the next 3 years experimenting with different cameras, lenses, and focal lengths. I figured out what interested me most - the common thread that binds those of us bound by the 9-5. Once I found this focus I could get an interesting image no matter what camera or lens I used, thanks to these lessons learnt from each X100 camera. At this point I’d accumulated a small armament of cameras and lenses, so it seemed silly to keep this premium compact around.
I thought I’d outgrown it, so I sold it.
I chose to move on from the nostalgia.
Nothing lasts, nothing is perfect, and nothing is ever finished, and like clockwork - the X100VI is now here. More resolution, IBIS, new film simulations - none of that matters - the best ability is availability. I wish more photographers could try the X100 series as it has been my first and best photography teacher.
If the retro look and feel is your thing you may want to consider manual focus lenses, which can be relaxing and frustrating in equal measure.
More on the Fujifilm X100 series in the next post.
Happy shooting everyone, talk soon.
Jack.
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