I took three telephones to Europe, however solely used my Fujifilm pocket digital camera

Taking a trip — particularly in my line of labor — is usually simpler mentioned than completed. Not as a result of I’ve a very strict schedule or a demanding boss however as a result of the fixed stream of smartphone launches all year long makes it laborious to determine which one (or ones) to carry with me. Whereas most individuals sit all the way down to double-check whether or not or not they’ve sufficient pairs of underwear packed for a couple of days away, I sit all the way down to see what number of telephones I can pack earlier than the TSA thinks I’m a smuggler (I’ve but to determine the quantity, by the way in which).

So, after I headed off to Amsterdam for a couple of days off forward of working my second marathon, I made a decision I’d carry three nice digital camera telephones with me: the iPhone 16 Professional, which nonetheless held my private SIM; the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, which I used to be within the means of reviewing; and the Google Pixel 8a, which I had simply picked up for a six-month revisit. All advised, I used to be heading off with eight trendy digital camera sensors to seize my journey, which appeared like greater than I may need. And but, I just about ignored all of them in favor of 1 a lot less complicated, a lot much less versatile digital camera — my Fujifilm X100V ($2,120 refurbished on Amazon). Right here’s why.

Whether or not you like a Google Pixel 9, a Samsung Galaxy S24, and even an iPhone 16, trendy smartphone cameras are extra succesful than ever. Some can punch in for as much as 100x zoom (even when it doesn’t at all times look unbelievable), and computational pictures processes photographs nearly as quick as you possibly can say cheese. It’s like having a whole pictures studio in your pocket, and also you don’t must do rather more than press the shutter button. Nevertheless, with that a lot flexibility, it’s simply as straightforward to turn out to be overwhelmed by one digital camera or one other.

You may choose the Pixel colours, the Galaxy zoom functionality, and the iPhone video seize — all completely cheap decisions. Sadly, you (in all probability) don’t have three fingers with which to make use of all of them. Even when you did, you may want a fourth or fifth hand to set your focus or zoom in in your topic. By the point you shuffle between the telephones in your hand and determine your settings, the second is perhaps gone. My Fujifilm X100V, then again, is unattainable to make use of with greater than two fingers — and generally I’ll work it with only one.

One of many essential (and maybe controversial) causes I can get away with one-handing my X100V is that it’s a fixed-lens digital camera. Basically, meaning the 35mm equal focal size is what I’ve obtained — no extra, no much less. Positive, you should purchase an adapter to tighten it right into a 50mm equal or open it as much as a 23mm area of view, however I’ve skipped that thus far to maintain my digital camera gentle and versatile. By the way in which, a 35mm focal size is about the identical as what most smartphones take into account 2x zoom, which is how I shoot with my telephone more often than not.

In fact, as quickly as you’re taking an important digital camera function, like zoom, out of the image, you abruptly introduce a little bit of a studying curve. I rapidly realized that if I wished a selected composition, I might both have to maneuver my toes or turn out to be a grasp of cropping to make it work. It’s tempted me to stroll into visitors a couple of times, nevertheless it’s additionally taught me to take a look at on a regular basis scenes just a bit in a different way.

Together with not worrying about whether or not I can zoom in or out, reducing my setup all the way down to a single lens makes it a lot more durable to get misplaced in an extended, difficult set of menus and guide settings. Sure, there are nonetheless loads of methods to set your white steadiness, picture kind, dynamic vary, and extra, however I’ve observed that after I discover a mixture I like, I have a tendency to not dive into the menu to alter it for weeks. One other factor that retains me from fidgeting with the finer settings is Fujifilm’s movie simulations, however I’ll come again to these in a minute.

However, similar to Apple, Google, and Samsung supply totally different digital camera experiences, I may have grabbed loads of different fixed-lens cameras over the Fujifilm X100V. I may have sought out the Ricoh GR III, picked up a Sony CyberShot, or dropped a small fortune on a Leica Q-series digital camera. As a substitute, I discovered myself lured in by Fujifilm’s set of top-mounted dials. Moderately than having to double-check the rear show — or dig into an advanced smartphone menu — any time I wished to alter my shutter velocity, ISO, or publicity compensation, I fell in love with the truth that I may simply pull and twist a couple of easy wheels on the highest of my digital camera. Even higher, the settings keep simply how you permit them, which means I may pull my digital camera up and seize a shot with out worrying about issues resetting again to default.

But, I do know that Fujifilm’s guide dials and set-and-forget setup received’t be for everybody. I perceive that some folks love the flexibleness a smartphone digital camera affords, particularly after they can share a picture simply seconds after taking it. Personally, I prefer to dabble with a couple of edits after I snag a photograph, however that’s simply me. Sadly, every time I fall down the enhancing rabbit gap, I rapidly lose observe of time and may miss one other picture I might have cherished to seize. Fujifilm additionally has a solution for that — the movie simulations that I briefly talked about a minute in the past.

These simulations, that are exactly what they sound like — particular settings that make your digital camera mirror the look of a traditional movie inventory — take virtually all the guesswork out of the way in which I wish to edit a photograph. They solely work with JPEG information, which don’t supply as a lot room for enhancing as RAW photographs, so I can’t spend as a lot time tweaking and altering even when I wished to. On high of that, it’s merely simpler to cook dinner up a movie simulation that mirrors how I’d edit a photograph than it’s to recreate that actual edit in Lightroom. Usually, I discover that the movie simulations I take advantage of time and again are likely to behave higher than a few of Lightroom’s presets, anyway.

To this point, I’ve discovered go-to simulations for Kodak’s Tri-X 400 and Portra 400 and a 3rd simulation that pulls items from different movie shares however doesn’t fairly match any of them. And, when you’re questioning why I don’t shoot movie as an alternative, nicely, it’s costly. I’d reasonably construct up a set of photographs on a reminiscence card that I can entry from my MacBook Air than ship particular person rolls of movie off to a lab and pay for processing — wouldn’t you?

Nevertheless, Fujifilm’s simulations abruptly don’t appear as sturdy an argument for spending cash on an costly mirrorless digital camera as they used to, and it’s all due to Apple’s Photographic Kinds. Apple has determined to frivolously copy Fujifilm, which has been frivolously copying precise movie for a number of years, by providing totally different colour profiles you could rapidly swipe between utilizing the Digital camera Management. From there, you possibly can modify the Photographic Kinds with totally different Coloration and Tone preferences for a singular look.

Truthfully, Apple’s types are simply as versatile as what Fujifilm has created with its movie simulations, however my hangup comes with the truth that the iPhone digital camera app appears to reset to the Normal profile each time I open it after not utilizing it for some time. The opposite profit to Apple’s Photographic Kinds is that they’re not fairly as tightly bonded along with your authentic picture file. Whereas I couldn’t hop again into a photograph taken with my X100V and swap between two movie simulations, I can achieve this with Apple’s Photographic Kinds, giving me a number of totally different variations of the identical shot.

In fact, I’m not simply right here to match photographs from my Fujifilm X100V to these from Apple’s newest iPhone. I’ve had my mirrorless digital camera for approaching two years now, so I’ve a fairly good really feel for the way in which my photographs will come out. In actual fact, I’ve in all probability taken it on extra journeys than every other smartphone digital camera, largely as a result of I can carry residence photographs just like the gallery above (although, in fact, not all of those pictures are from my days in Amsterdam). In addition to, it’s simpler to connect a reminiscence to the press of a bodily shutter than it’s to recollect each single faucet of an on-screen button.

If there’s one method to sum up every part I like in regards to the Fujifilm X100V, it’s this — I’m not utilizing a telephone. Don’t get me incorrect, I like my telephone and I’m as hooked up to it as anybody else can be, however I don’t essentially wish to be. If I’m on trip and being all touristy, I’d a lot reasonably keep within the second and recognize the museum, restaurant, or park I’m visiting. Meaning maintaining myself off social media, and it often means utilizing the Motion Button to set my telephone to Do Not Disturb, too. It’s a lot simpler to try this after I’m capturing recollections with a digital camera that may’t bodily entry Instagram, not to mention submit to it.

Exterior of the apparent incontrovertible fact that I can’t use my Fujifilm X100V to doomscroll, utilizing it for many of my pictures signifies that my iPhone 16 Professional stayed safely in my pocket except I wanted it. By that, I imply I couldn’t burn by way of its total battery by lunchtime. I’ve already talked about being lower than impressed by Apple’s newest battery and charging setup and going overseas with a brief data-only eSIM didn’t assist issues. No, I may not have been utilizing knowledge fairly as rapidly as a result of I solely had 4G LTE protection whereas in Amsterdam, however I additionally forgot that I’d want separate chargers for my time in Europe, which restricted me to solely recharging my telephone from my lodge’s built-in USB-C outlet. It was a rookie mistake that in the end stored me off my telephone, so I suppose it labored out.

In addition to, social media would nonetheless be there after I returned to my lodge room. There wouldn’t be a submit or a narrative so essential that I needed to see it whereas wandering the Rijksmuseum or a university soccer rating so vacation-altering that I’d wish to see it whereas dodging between cyclists. Residing life six hours forward of my family and friends, I wouldn’t have to fret about posting a punctual replace, both — primarily as a result of I’d be consuming lunch by the point they awakened for the day.

And no, I do know none of that’s actually an incredible purpose to let you know to seize a point-and-shoot digital camera to make use of over your iPhone, your Pixel, or no matter else you’ve gotten in your pocket, however I feel all of it comes all the way down to the way in which you wish to seize your recollections. When you’re grabbing them for social media, by all means, proceed to make use of your telephone — it’s simply simpler. Nevertheless, if you wish to hold a few of these recollections only for your self and seize them in a colour profile that feels slightly extra private, I don’t know the way you’ll find a greater digital camera than the Fujifilm X100V, aside from possibly its successor — the X100VI ($2199 on Amazon).