Fujifilm X half Review

Introduction
The X half (actual model name X-HF1) is a Fujifilm digital camera released in 2025 that's quite unlike any other model in their extensive range.
It utilises an 17.7 megapixel, 1-inch CMOS sensor orientated in the vertical format to mimic the experience of using a classic half-frame film camera, which coincidentally makes it very well-suited to sharing on social media and to phone users who by default take most of their photos in the vertical orientation.
The optical viewfinder and rear LCD screen are also in the 3:4 vertical format to match the sensor. There's a 32mm equivalent fixed prime lens on the front with a maximum aperture of f/2.8, complete with an aperture dial and manual focus ring.
You can either shoot in the default vertical format or use the 2-in-1 option to combine two images into a diptych, or side-by-side frames, either by using the Frame Advance Lever, during image playback or via the X half app.
There's a small sub-screen alongside the main 2.4inch LCD screen which provides quick access to Fujifilm's range of Film Simulations and Advanced Filters.
The Film Camera mode simulates the experience of using a proper film camera, from only being able to use the optical viewfinder to compose, then winding on between each shot using the Frame Advance Lever, to developing the images via the X half app.
The X half has a single AF point in the centre complete with Face and Eye Detection.
It can record video but only at 1080/24p quality in the 3:4 vertical format or up to 48fps slow-motion.
It supports direct connection to Instax Link series printers equipped with Bluetooth for instant, direct printing.
It has an exposure compensation dial, a cold shoe, a built-in LED flash, tripod mount, USB-C port and a single UHS-I SD card slot.
The Fujifilm X half / X-HF1 is available in three different colours - Black, Silver and Charcoal Silver. It costs £699 in the UK and $849 in the US. It is made in China.
Ease of Use
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It's probably best to start this review by considering what the X half isn't, rather than what it is, so that you can quickly decide if this camera is a good fit for you or not.
The X half is not a mini X100, despite clearly being styled to look very much like one. It has a different sized sensor that's smaller than the APS-C one in the X100 and offers a much more simplistic shooting experience with far fewer features and options.
It's not a film camera, despite clearly being modeled to act like one, from the 3:4 half-frame shooting experience to the frame advance lever and the full-on Film Camera mode (thankfully optional).
It's not a toy camera, despite being made entirely of plastic and weighing in at a mere 240g including the battery and memory card. The build quality is mostly fine given the materials used in its construction, although it's certainly not on a par with an equivalently priced regular camera from the Fujifilm range.
It's not a mirrorless/interchangeable lens camera, with the fixed 32mm equivalent lens and 1-inch sensor making it a digital compact camera, albeit one that shoots vertically rather than horizontally.
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It's not going to be most people's main camera, whether they are coming from a phone-only background or are a more serious enthusiast. The X half will likely be an additional companion to whatever device you usually use to take photos.
It's not a camera for serious enthusiasts, lacking more advanced features like continuous shooting, RAW file support, AI-driven autofocus, weather-proofing, image stabilisation and some common external controls.
It's not a video camera, with the extremely modest specs looking somewhat out of place on any photographic device from 2025, even one that's so stills-focused.
It's not a camera for pixel-peepers, with much more of a focus on creativity and sharing rather than delivering the best image quality.
It's not an Instax camera, although in my view this is the device that the X half most closely resembles, offering a very similar experience that focuses on fun rather than features and out-and-out quality.
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It's not particularly good value. The asking price seems rather too high, pushing it out of being an impulse buy into a much more considered purchase.
So what is the Fujifilm X half? It's a very unique, well-realised and stylish camera that blends together a little something from all of the above "isn't" categories into a surpisingly cohesive whole. There's quite simply nothing else like it on the market.
The X half is a very small, lightweight camera, measuring 105.8 v 64.3 x 45.8mm and weighing 191g body only. You can easily carry it around in a small bag or large pocket without noticing it and it won't draw too much attention thanks to its diminutive stature, making it well suited to every-day and travel photography.
It is entirely constructed from plastic, right down to the tripod mount, hence the low weight. Despite this, it feels well constructed enough, although certainly not on a par with the other X-series Fuji cameras. It's not weather-proof so you'll need to protect it in anything other than a light shower.
There's no hand or thumb grip, just a fairly grippy leatherette textured surface to hold on to, but given the lightweight nature of the X half, that's enough to make it feel secure in your hand.
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Everything is geared towards the vertical, half-frame film format, digitally replicating half-frame film cameras that split a 36mm x 24mm frame into two 18mm x 24mm frames in order to yield more exposures from a roll of film.
Fujifilm have taken the concept beyond simply cost-cutting to making it easier to share on social media - most photos from cameraphones are vertical, so why not those taken with a "proper" camera?
You can take horizontal photos and videos by tilting the X half on its short side, but this feels rather strange given many years of doing the opposite, and also defeats the main purpose of using this particular camera in the first place.
In addition to the vertical sensor, there are two main ways of composing your images that are also vertically orientated.
There's a very simple optical viewfinder, rather than an electronic viewfinder or no viewfinder at all. It's pretty dim, has no markings of any kind, isn't particularly accurate, and suffers from barrel distortion, making it something to use in a pinch rather than all the time.
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There is an eye-sensor alongside it that automatically switches between the OVF and the LCD screen and a small LED that flashes green to indicate successful focusing.
On the rear is a 2.4-inch LCD screen with 0.92million dot resolution in the 3:4 aspect ratio. It's also small, not very bright and rather low resolution, but does at least show a 100% accurate view of the scene and a preview of any film simulations or effects that you've chosen.
Alongside the main LCD screen is a much smaller lozenge-shaped sub-screen that by default shows an icon-based representation of the current film simulation. You can actually interact with it to scroll through the various film simulations and filter effects and to move through the main menu system. It's quite a neat, tactile dual-screen setup that adds to the camera's charm.
Rather surprisingly given the X half's modest video capabilities and Fujifilm's history of burying it away on previous cameras, there's a dedicated button on the rear for switching between stills and movies, alongside the Playback button.
Most things are accomplished by swiping up, down, left and right on the touchscreen LCD, from accessing the Quick menu and Main menu to toggling between film simulations and filters to pairing the camera with a smartphone and accessing the the Film Camera mode.
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The X half doesn't actually have that many options compared to a regular digital camera so it quickly becomes second nature to use.
On top is a cold shoe which doesn't accept a flashgun or support a mic, making it rather redundant, alonsgide the chunky exposure compensation dial into which is set the threaded shutter release button. This will accept a screw-in soft release but not a cable remote release, as you can't use any form of remote release with the X half, not even through the dedicated app.
Towards the front of the exposure compensation dial is a knurled On/Off switch that has a distinctive click and there's a very retro film advance lever at the rear.
As there's no actual film, this is predominantly used to engage the 2-in-1 mode. Simply take a photo, pull the lever, take the second photo and voila!, the X half will automatically create a composite horizontal image containing both images side-by-side, with the camera also storing the two vertical images seperately on the memory card.
You can combine two stills, one still and one video, and even two videos, and if you don't want to do it in-camera, the X half app also allows you to create 2-in-1s.
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If you press and hold the film advance lever inwards, the last image that you took is displayed until you let go of the lever. In the film camera mode, the lever almost lives up to its name by digitally winding-on after evey shot is taken.
As its name suggests, the film camera mode turns the X half into a fully-fledged film camera, albeit one with no actual film inside it.
The LCD screen is turned off, instead displaying the remaining frames, so you can only use the rudimentary optical viewfinder for composition and your images aren't displayed, you have 36, 54 or 72 exposures with the settings fixed at the first frame, and you use the app to "develop" a contact sheet of your photos when the film is complete.
You can cheat and interrupt the film camera mode by removing the battery or memory card, and the images that you take are accessible from the meory card, so you're not completely locked out of the digital experience!
The 32mm-equivalent focal length lens is encircled by a physical aperture ring whith whole-stops running from f2.8 to f/11, complete with an A (Auto) setting if you want the camera to take control and a knurled lever which makes it easy to locate and change even when looking through the optical viewfinder.
There's also a generously sized manual focus ring at the end of the lens barrel, although given how low-resolution the LCD screen is, we're not sure that relying on anything other than auto-focus is a particularly good idea.
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Disappointingly there's no filter thread on the end of the lens barrel and the lens is protected by a rather simple push-on rubber cap that can be attached to the camera eyelets with a thin strap, as can the supplied wrist strap.
The AF system is pretty basic, being just a Single Point AF 3×3 system locked to the middle of the frame with Face and Eye Detection on hand for human subjects. It's pretty fast and reliable, but the inability to track a moving subject, detect something other than humans or even move the AF point is rather startling on a 2025 camera.
Above the lens is the LED flash unit, activated by a sliding switch on the left-flank of the camera that sits above the covered USB-C port. The flash isn't very powerful at all but might prove useful close-up in a very dark environment.
The USB-C port is the only one on the camera and as well as letting you recharge it from mains or a powerbank and transfer images to another device, it also doubles up as a headphone connection for monitoring the sound.
A familar NP-W126S battery that provides 880 frames of CIPA-rated life sits inside the shared compartment on the bottom of the camera alongside the single UHS-I speed SD card slot. Next to this in-line with the lens is a standard plastic tripod mount.
As this is a camera with film leanings, Fujifilm have added the ability to directly print to an Instax Link printer, something that X-series users have been asking for for ages. The currently supported models are: instax mini Link 2, instax mini Link 3, instax SQUARE Link, instax Link WIDE.
Image Quality
All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 17.74 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.
The Fujifilm X half produced images of above average quality. It records noise-free images from ISO 200 up to ISO 800, with a little noise at ISO 1600 and progressively more visible noise at the faster settings of ISO 3200 and 6400 (ISO 12800 is best avoided).
The extensive range of Film Simulation modes hark back to a bygone era, the Advanced Filters allow you to have a little fun in-camera, and the Grain Effect adds film-like grain to your images.
Noise
There are 7 full ISO settings available on the Fujifilm X half, ranging from ISO 200 to ISO 25600. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.
ISO 200 |
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ISO 400 |
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ISO 800 |
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ISO 1600 |
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ISO 3200 |
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ISO 6400 |
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ISO 12800 |
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Film Simulations
The Fujifilm X half offers 13 different film simulation modes to help replicate the look of your favourite film stock from the past.
Provia / Standard
Velvia / Vivid
Astia / Soft
Classic Chrome
Reala Ace
Classic Neg.
Nostalgic Neg.
Eterna / Cinema
Acros
Acros + Yellow
Acros + Red
Acros + Green
Sepia
Advanced Filters
The Fujifilm X half offers 19 different creative filter effects with some having several options.
Toy Camera
Miniature
Pop Color
High-Key
Low-Key
Dynamic Tone
Soft Focus
Partial Color (Red)
Partial Color (Orange)
Partial Color (Yellow)
Partial Color (Green)
Partial Color (Blue)
Partial Color (Purple)
Canvas
Retro
Vignette
Blur
Fisheye
Color Shift
Mirror
Double Exposure
Light Leak
Halation
Expired Film / Green
Expired Film / Red
Expired Film / Neutral
Grain Effect
Off
Weak / Small
Weak / Large
Strong / Small
Strong / Large
Sample Images
This is a selection of sample images from the Fujifilm X half camera, which were all taken using the 17.74 megapixel JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.
1/125s · f/5.6 · ISO 1000
32mm
Download Original
1/125s · f/8 · ISO 400
32mm
Download Original
1/125s · f/11 · ISO 250
32mm
Download Original
1/320s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/550s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/500s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/500s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/450s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/420s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/320s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/125s · f/11 · ISO 640
32mm
Download Original
1/125s · f/8 · ISO 6400
32mm
Download Original
1/400s · f/8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/320s · f/8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/340s · f/8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/140s · f/4 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/1000s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/350s · f/5.6 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/340s · f/5.6 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/800s · f/4 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/1400s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/2000s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/250s · f/4 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/125s · f/8 · ISO 320
32mm
Download Original
1/300s · f/5.6 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/1500s · f/5.6 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/125s · f/8 · ISO 640
32mm
Download Original
1/300s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/300s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/1300s · f/5.6 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
1/250s · f/8 · ISO 200
32mm
Download Original
Sample Movies & Video
Product Images
Conclusion
The Fujifilm X half is an endearingly charming blend of old and new that clearly costs too much but is eminently desirable none-the-less.
Unlike anything else on the market, film or digital, past or present, it successfully blends all of those into one surprisingly coherent whole that is genuinely a lot of fun to use.
The X half bridges the gap between the disparate worlds of Instax and mirrorless, building on the social sharing aspects of the former and combining them with the retro styling of the latter.
After a while you forget about megapixels, screen resolutions, noise levels and even the half-film format itself, instead enjoying the film simulations, filter effects and sharing your creativity via the polished app.
Which is a good thing, because taken individually the building blocks of the X half aren't all that. The image quality from the 1-inch sensor falls short of other comparable fixed lens compacts from Sony and Canon, the optical viewfinder is nigh on difficult to use, the build quality falls into the satisfactory rather than stellar camp, the hotshoe and flash are largely redundant, the LCD screen is small and low resolution, and modern features like continuous shooting, RAW file support, AI-driven autofocus, weather-proofing, image stabilisation and some common external controls are all absent.
Somehow, though, despite all of those drawbacks, the X half is a delight to use as a creative addition to your main photo-taking device, be that phone or camera. Which makes it a real shame that the whopping £699 / $849 price-tag will surely put off a lot of those would-be second camera owners who will simply opt for no purchase at all.
If you can afford it, though, the one-of-a-kind X half could add another string to your creative bow whilst also successfully expanding the Fujifilm universe to encompass a wider range of users, both of which are surely good things in a time of incremental camera upgrades...
Ratings (out of 5) | |
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Design | 4 |
Features | 4 |
Ease-of-use | 4 |
Image quality | 3 |
Value for money | 3 |
Main Rivals
Listed below are some of the rivals of the Fujifilm X half.
Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo
The new Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo combines a digital camera with an Instax printer to enable you to take photos and make instant prints from the same device. It also offers the ability to print images from your smartphone onto the Instax Mini film. Read our in-depth Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo review, complete with downloadable sample images, to find out if it's worth the £174.99 / S199.99 asking price...
Fujifilm X-M5
The Fujifilm X-M5 is a tiny, stylishly retro and attractively priced camera for vloggers, content creators, smartphone upgraders and stills photographers alike. Can it really meet the needs of all those users? Find out now by reading our Fuji XM5 review, complete with sample images and videos...
Fujifilm X-T30 II
The X-T30 II is the latest mid-range mirrorless camera from Fujifilm, boasting a 26 megapixel APS-C sensor, 4K/30p video recording, 30fps burst shooting and a stylish retro look and feel. Is the replacement for the two-year-old X-T30 worth considering? Find out now by reading our XT30 II review complete with full size sample photos...
Sony Cyber-shot RX100 VII
Sony's venerable RX100 compact camera series has now reached its seventh iteration with the launch of the RX100 VII. What could Sony have possibly added to make this already excellent camera even better? Find out now by reading our in-depth Sony RX100 VII review, complete with a huge gallery of full-size sample images and videos.
Review Roundup
Reviews of the Fujifilm X half from around the web.
cameralabs.com »
The X half is certainly an interesting camera, more about having fun and worrying less about specifications. It’s less a mini-X100 and more a maxi-EVO with the promise of better quality and some fun shooting modes. In fact I was struck by how similar the experience felt to a mini Evo with the vertical screen and wealth of effects.
Read the full review »
digitalcameraworld.com »
If you are just looking to take the best quality images, Fujifilm has a ton of those cameras. Instead, the X Half is designed for those just having fun with photography, and after spending some time with the Fujifilm X Half, I can confirm – mission accomplished.
Read the full review »
amateurphotographer.com »
The Fujifilm X half does a great job of emulating the experience of shooting film, without the ongoing costs. Yes it’s pricey, but it’s packed full of creative features, making it a lot of fun to use.
Read the full review »
Specifications
Model Name
FUJIFILM X half (FUJIFILM X-HF1)
Image Sensor
13.3mm x 8.8mm (1 inch) with primary color filter
Number Of Effective Pixels
17.74 million pixels
Storage Media
SDHC Card (-32GB) SDXC Card (-2TB) UHS-I *Please see the Fujifilm website (https://fujifilm-x.com/support/compatibility/cameras/) to check memory card compatibility.
File Format Of Still Image
Compliant with Design rule for Camera File system (DCF2.0) JPEG Exif Ver.2.31
Number Of Recorded Pixels
3:2: 7296 x 4864 2in1
1:1: 4864 x 4864
7296 x 7296 2in1
*1:1 FRAME COMBINED
3:4: 3648 x 4864
3:2: 4320 x 2880 2in1
1:1: 2880 x 2880
4320 x 4320 2in1
*1:1 FRAME COMBINED
3:4: 2160 x 2880
3:2: 2160 x 1440 2in1
1:1: 1440 x 1440
2160 x 2160 2in1
*1:1 FRAME COMBINED
3:4: 1080 x 1440
Lens
FUJINON single focal length lens Focal Length f=10.8mm (35mm format equivalent : 32mm) Max. Aperture F2.8 Lens Configuration 6 elements in 5 groups (includes 3 aspherical elements)
Aperture
F2 .8- F11 1/3EV step (controlled with 3-blade aperture diaphragm)
Minimum focus distance (measured from the front of the lens)
Approx. 0.1m
Sensitivity
Standard Output
AUTO2 AUTO3 ISO200~12800 (1/3 step)
Standard Output
ISO200~12800 (1/3 step)
Exposure Control
TTL 256-zone metering
Multi
Exposure Mode
P (Program AE)
A (Aperture Priority AE)
S (Shutter Speed Priority AE)
M (Manual Exposure)
Exposure Compensation
-3.0EV~+3.0EV 1/3EV step Movie -2.0EV~+2.0EV 1/3EV step
Shutter Type
Lens Shutter
Shutter Speed
30sec. to 1/2000sec.
15min. to 1/2000sec.
*Cannot choose slower shutter speed than framerate for some settings.
Drive Mode
Toy camera
Miniature
Pop color
High-key
Low-key
Dynamic tone
Soft focus
Partial color (Red / Orange / Yellow / Green / Blue / Purple)
LIGHT LEAK
HALATION
EXPIRED FILM (Green / Red/ Neutral)
Canvas
Retro
Vignette
Blur
Fisheye
ColorShift
Mirror
Double Ex.
Focus
Single AF
Continuous AF
MF
TTL contrast AF
Yes
Flash
Hot Shoe
Yes (Cold shoe)
Viewfinder
approx. 90%
approx x0.38
LCD Monitor
2.4 inch Touch Screen Color LCD Monitor
4:3
Approx. 0.92 million dots
Touch Screen Mode
Double Tap Setting (ON/OFF) Playback Mode
Pinch-in / Pinch-out Double-tap Drag
Movie Recording
MOV
MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, AAC
24p
50Mbps
20Mbps
10Mbps
24p
50Mbps
20Mbps
10Mbps
2160 x 2160 2in1
*1:1 FRAME COMBINED
24p
50Mbps
20Mbps
10Mbps
48p
36p
28p
50Mbps
20Mbps
10Mbps
48p
36p
28p
50Mbps
20Mbps
10Mbps
2160 x 2160 2in1
*1:1 FRAME COMBINED
48p
36p
28p
50Mbps
20Mbps
10Mbps
*Selectable bitrate will be changed depends on the setting.
*Recording time can become short depending on the temperature and/or shooting conditions
Film Simulation Mode
PROVIA/Standard Velvia/Vivid ASTIA/Soft Classic Chrome REALA ACE Classic Neg. Nostalgic Neg. ETERNA/Cinema ACROS ACROS + Ye Filter ACROS + R Filter ACROS + G Filter Sepia
Grain Effect
STRONG, WEAK, OFF Size LARGE, SMALL
Portrait Enhancer Lv
STRONG, MEDIUM, WEAK, OFF
White Balance
Auto
2500K~10000K
Daylight
Shade
Fluorescent Light-1
Fluorescent Light-2
Fluorescent Light-3
Incandescent Light
Underwater
Self-timer
10sec.
2sec. Movie 10sec.
5sec.
3sec.
Wireless Transmitter
IEEE802.11a/b/g/n/ac (standard wireless protocol) Encryption WPA/WPA2 mixed mode, WPA3 Access Mode Infrastructure
Bluetooth®
Bluetooth Ver. 5.2 (Bluetooth low energy) Operating Frequency (Center Frequency) 2402 ~2480MHz
Terminal
USB Type-C USB2.0 Others Cold shoe
Power Supply
NP-W126S Li-ion battery (included)
*Face detection is set to OFF
*Face detection is set to OFF
*Approximate number of frames or movie recording time that can be taken with a fully-charged based on CIPA Standard.
Dimensions
105.8mm
64.3mm
45.8mm
30.0mm
Weight
Approx. 240g Excluding Battery And Memory Card Approx. 191g
Operation Environment
0℃~+40℃ Operating Humidity 10%~80% (no condensation)
Starting up period
Approx. 1.7sec.
Accessories Included
Li-ion battery NP-W126S
Headphone adapter
Hand Strap
Metal strap clip
Protective cover
Lens cap
Cold shoe cover
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