The X100 series has always been about a specific proposition: a fixed-lens compact with enough image quality to be your only camera, wrapped in a body that photographs as well as it takes them. The X100VI doesn’t break from that. It deepens it.
The jump from the V to the VI is bigger than the naming suggests. The sensor moves from 26MP to 40.2MP (Fujifilm’s X-Trans CMOS 5 HR, the same found in the flagship X-H2) and the processor is the X-Processor 5, running twice the calculation speed of its predecessor. More significantly, Fujifilm has fitted a five-axis in-body image stabilisation system into the X100’s familiar compact frame without meaningfully altering its dimensions or weight. That’s up to six stops of compensation from a camera that fits in a jacket pocket.
The lens is unchanged from the X100V: a 23mm f/2 (35mm equivalent) that was already excellent, and in front of a 40MP sensor holds up well. The hybrid viewfinder, switchable between optical and electronic, remains one of the best reasons to choose this camera over a phone. The LCD now tilts two ways, and the updated X-Processor 5 enables phase-detection autofocus with subject recognition for faces, eyes, and animals.
Film Simulations total 20 with the addition of REALA ACE, a new mode based on Fujifilm’s professional cinema film stock, producing natural colour rendition and subdued contrast that works particularly well for documentary and street work.
At $1,599 it costs more than the V did at launch, but the sensor and stabilisation alone justify the gap. The X100VI is the most complete compact camera Fujifilm has built.
$1,599 — fujifilm-x.com