Fujifilm’s designers and engineers must be working overtime this year. Hot on its heels with the launch of X half, Fujifilm just announced the X-E5.
Looks wise, the X-E5 is essentially a carbon copy of the superb fixed-lens camera X100VI (Review here). And that’s good news. It is a beauty whether it is the silver or black model, from what I can see the product pictures (since I haven’t touch the camera yet). The X-E5’s top-plate is said to be carved from a single piece of metal. On this top plate, it features a newly-designed Film Simulation (FS) dial that lets you quickly toggle through the various FS settings.
The X-E5 shares many similarities with the X100VI including the same 40.2-megapixel APS-C X-Trans CMOS image sensor, X-Processor 5 image processor, sensor-shift image stabilisation as well as the same number of 425 autofocusing (AF) points. In fact, they even use the same model of battery.
The biggest difference is that X-E5 lacks the hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder (EVF) found in X100VI. The X-E5 only has an EVF with a lower 2.36-million-dot resolution compared to X100VI’s 3.69-million-dot. In addition, the X-E5’s rear display has a lower resolution of 1.04 million dots compared to X100VI’s 1.62 million dots.
But the X-E5 is an interchangeable lens camera supporting Fujifilm X-mount lenses, unlike the fixed 35mm lens of X100VI. Thus, you will have access to the vast library of X-mount lenses to up your photography game.
Additionally, the X-E5 has more video recording options compared to the X100IV. Not to mention, the X-E5 can only goes up to 20 frames per second (fps) while X100VI can shoot up to 11fps.
Pricing of Fujifilm X-E5 starts at S$2,099 (body only) and S$2,399 with an XF 23mm F2.8 WR lens. The pricing is quite reasonable and cheaper than the X100VI (S$2,499). However, there is no word on the local availability. I think the X-E5 is going to be another Fujifilm camera that goes out of stock pretty quickly.