The Fujifilm X half Is a Retro-Inspired Digital Camera for Everyday Creativity

Fujifilm’s latest release, the X half, blends analog nostalgia with modern convenience, offering a compact, stylish, and highly tactile camera experience built for today’s casual shooters and content creators. Inspired by vintage half-frame film cameras, the X half brings back the fun of analog photography while leveraging digital technology to streamline creativity on the go.

While unmistakably part of Fujifilm’s X-series family – with its retro body, dial-based controls, and film camera sensibility – the X half distinguishes itself by shrinking things down. Weighing in at just 8.5 ounces (240g), it’s lightweight and portable enough to carry anywhere, making it ideal for spontaneous shooting sessions, travel adventures, or day-to-day life documentation.

It comes in three colors – Silver, Charcoal Silver, and Black – each with a refined, minimalist finish that adds to the timeless aesthetic. True to its analog inspiration, the camera uses an aperture ring, frame advance lever, and dual rear screens – one for photo settings and the other dedicated to film simulation previews.

One of the most distinctive aspects of the X half is its portrait-oriented sensor, offering a 3:4 aspect ratio tailored to how we naturally shoot and consume content on smartphones today. The 18MP 1-inch back-illuminated sensor is paired with a fixed 10.8mm f/2.8 lens (equivalent to 32mm), providing a versatile field of view for street shots, everyday moments, or even casual portraits.

The X half doesn’t shoot RAW files – instead, it delivers JPEG-only outputs, reinforcing its role as a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” creative tool. The emphasis is on immediate results, analog textures, and visual experimentation rather than post-processing flexibility.

At the heart of the X half experience are 13 classic Fujifilm film simulations, including Provia, Velvia, and Classic Chrome, plus three new filters that enhance its retro vibe: Light Leak mimics accidental overexposure for a dreamy, unpredictable look; Halation adds a soft glow around light sources; and Expired Film introduces grain and color shift for a nostalgic, imperfect finish.

These options are complemented by eight Instax-style filters, adding a playful, instant-photo aesthetic. There’s also a Grain Effect and a new Date Stamp feature, letting users imprint time and place just like on a roll of film from the ’90s.

Also notable is the 2-in-1 mode, which lets users capture diptychs or photo-video combos using the physical Frame Advance Lever. After taking one shot, wind the lever to capture the second, which gets paired with the first to create a single composite image. This can also be done retroactively through the dedicated X half app, where you can tweak dividing lines, swap sides, and share or print directly from your phone.

The camera’s dedicated smartphone app supports gallery browsing, editing, diptych creation, and direct printing to compatible FUJIFILM Instax Link printers. Whether you want to post directly to Instagram or make a tangible print, the app is built to bridge digital capture with instant sharing or analog output.

For users chasing the tactile magic of film, the Film Camera Mode digitizes the experience of a disposable camera. Select a simulation and choose a roll size – 36, 54, or 72 shots – and you won’t be able to review your images until the roll is “finished.” You even have to manually advance the lever after each photo, echoing the satisfying click of old-school wind-up cameras.

With up to 880 shots per charge, tactile manual controls, and built-in features designed to help users express themselves with minimal editing, the Fujifilm X half targets a generation that craves creative tools – but also wants to disconnect from their phones.

The Fujifilm X half comes in at $849.99, and is available via fujifilm-x.com.

Photography courtesy of Fujifilm.