Fujifilm takes on budding vloggers with its new $800 X-M5 camera

Although it continues to strive to catch up with demand for Extremely popular X100VIFujifilm regularly releases new cameras. The X-T50 was announced in May, and it was the first to feature a physical dial for switching between the company’s iconic movie simulations. This dial carries over to the new budget X-M5 that Fujifilm is announcing today.

The X-M5 is priced at $799.95 and is an affordable gateway to the company’s line of interchangeable-lens mirrorless cameras. Fujifilm positions it as a lightweight camera, ideal for everyday shooting and for “emerging content creators” who want to blog with it – despite a lack of in-body image stabilization (IBIS). At 13 ounces (355 grams), the X-M5 is the lightest body in Fujifilm’s current X-Series family. It’s available in silver or black, but the black version won’t ship until April. The money will be in store next month.

Fujifilm is getting the message across that as good as our smartphone cameras are, the X-M5 has a much larger sensor, capable of capturing more. At the top left of the camera is the film simulation dial, which provides quick access to eight film simulations and three custom slots where you can assign another favorite from the 20 built-in options. The X-M5 also has a PASM-style mode dial, a fully articulating rear LCD (although there’s no EVF), and the microphone input is in a single location on the back of the camera, near the hot shoe.

But even if you don’t have an external mic, the X-M5 is the first Fujifilm camera to include a three-mic system. “You can choose from four microphone directivity options: surround, front, rear, or front and rear, depending on the situation,” the company’s press release states. To help achieve clearer audio, the camera is also able to remove constant noises like air conditioning or other constant hums.

The X-M5 features Fujifilm’s proven 26.1-megapixel CMOS sensor and the company’s current-generation X-Processor 5. Fujifilm doesn’t seem to escape criticism over its system’s continuous autofocus performance, and so the company is rolling out a new and improved predictive autofocus algorithm that it says should fix the inconsistent hit rate that some customers have encountered with its recent cameras.

For video, the camera can capture 6.2K/30P 4:2:2 10-bit video, and in the age of vertical social media content, it also has a 9:16 “short film mode” that ends at Full HD resolution. .

Fujifilm had to make several compromises to reach the price of the X-M5. The rear LCD screen has a remarkable resolution of 1.04 million dots. (By comparison, the vlogging, it will be wise to carry a spare. And the SD card slot is still UHS-I. This shouldn’t be a big deal for the target market here, but it’s worth mentioning.

In addition to its latest body, Fujifilm is also announcing the second version of its very impressive XF16-55 f/2.8 lens. The new glass is significantly smaller and lighter than the original, which has become perhaps my favorite lens in Fujifilm’s arsenal. But it can definitely get cumbersome at times – especially on my X-H2 – so I’m looking forward to seeing what difference the downsizing has made. Fujfilm claims that the new model is even sharper and improves the resolution of the 40-megapixel sensor of the X-T5, X-H2 and X-T50. It costs the same $1,199.95 as before and will be available in December.

If you need even more reach, there’s also a new 500mm f/5.6 OIS WR lens designed for outdoor shooting. (Think wildlife, sports, birds, etc.) It costs $2,999.95 and will be available in December.