Name: Is the Fuji X-E5 the Best Tiny Camera for Travel?
Uploaded: 2025-07-24T17:20:56.000Z
Duration: 8 min 44 s
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There is one thing that made me really enjoy using this camera and it is...

Adverbs of degree

Adverbs of manner

I know it's seemingly very minor, but I've been using the X106 for such a long time that each time that I hear that mechanical shutter go off, it just kind of feels good and it sounds really nice.

So, this is the XC5, Fuji's tiny powerhouse, and despite me using almost every Fuji out there, this was actually my first time playing around with any of the XC line of cameras.

A line of cameras that is often described as an X100, except with an interchangeable lens.

But there is so much more to talk about when it comes to the XC5.

Right now, there are five cameras in the Fuji lineup using the exact same 40 megapixel CMOS 5 sensor as the XC5.

For the most part, your images will look mostly the same across all these cameras, so picking the right one for you becomes a choice between more specific differences.

How much do you care about video, stabilization, IO ports, EVF, flippy screen, battery life, and so on.

But also, ultimately, your decision might just come down to form factor.

The XC5 is a gorgeous, petite, and classy looking camera with sharp lines throughout the body, with an occasional concave edge for some extra flair and distinctive look.

It is small enough to hide in plain sight, but hard to take eyes off of when noticed.

So many people will just notice this camera out in the wild, and a couple people even asked me if that was a Leica.

It is a crowd pleaser, you'll get noticed.

It is ever so slightly shorter and thicker than the X106, but weighs about the same when paired with a smaller lens like this 27mm lens, which is also one of my all-time favorite lenses.

This camera's build feels incredibly solid, more than some of the other Fujis that I own.

The dials are super satisfying to use, the buttons are very clicky, the hinge on the flip screen feels sturdy, and yes, the screen flips all the way around so you can do some vlogging as well.

All these little details matter and make the camera feel premium, which it should, because it is $1700, and for a Fuji body, in this economy, that is quite a lot.

The big not-so-new feature, but a new feature for this camera, is a dedicated film simulation dial.

More and more Fujis are adding these, but this was my first time using it.

I rarely shift between film simulations, since I have a few of my own that I stick to 99% of the time.

But it does make saving these sims easier, and because of that, it also made me experiment with different looks a lot more than before.

I started off this video talking about the shutter up top, and despite its nice and tactile feel, it also has some downsides.

The X-E5 uses a more common focal plane shutter.

That mechanism works with two curtains opening and closing simultaneously, traveling from top to bottom of the sensor, and exposing it to the light.

The X106 uses something called a leaf shutter, which looks almost like aperture blades, and it converges on and from the center.

The benefits are, one, gets you faster flash sync speeds, and two, my favorite part, an internal ND filter.

And that's something that I learned to love and utilize more with my X100.

So for example, I recently went to cover the No Kang's protests, and in 2025, you sort of have to think twice about including faces in your photos when it comes to protest coverage.

I had my X100, so I turned on the ND filter, and I started experimenting with dragging out my shutter, and doing just more abstract work while hiding people's identities.

And of course, a built-in ND filter comes in handy with video too.

On the X-A5, you'll just have to bring physical ND filters.

And in video, you get 6.2K 30, 4K 60, or 1080p up to 120 frames per second.

You get both F-Log and F-Log 2 color spaces, so if you want to experiment with some post-processing, there's plenty of latitude to do that.

The rolling shutter isn't the greatest, but it's not bad at all.

You also likely won't use this camera as a primary video camera.

But if you need it for occasional video clips, it's there, and the quality is really nice.

Just keep an eye out on battery levels, because it is unforgiving, and it is the thing that actually makes me not want to use the X-A5 in video mode too much.

Recently, I went to an event, shot a bunch of photos and some videos, but the battery was done within like two hours.

Okay, I want to go back to those five cameras that I listed that are using the exact same sensor, and try to make sense of which camera fits who.

So let's start with the Fuji X-H2. $2,000 DSLR-style body.

This camera can shoot video up to 8K 30 frames per second, and also has the 160 megapixel pixel shed for high-resolution photos.

This camera is also known for its look and its many dials.

This camera can shoot video at 6.2K 30, and it also has the 160 megapixel shape for photos and the 7-stop IBIS.

Next up, I'll go with the Fuji X-T50, which is the cheapest camera on this list, and it's also the one that has the film simulation dial.

And the Fuji X100 VI. $1,600, same video specs, same IBIS.

Hard to find, and it is a fixed lens camera.

And yeah, it's basically an interchangeable X100.

It also has the film simulation dial, and video specs and IBIS specs are the same.

Oh, by the way, camera is overheating after 14 minutes in 6.2K.

And yeah, just going through those specs, you can see that so many things are very similar here across cameras.

So it really comes down to form factor and what kind of a photographer or videographer you are.

Whichever one you're going to choose, you're going to get some really good photos.

I really like this sensor, and I've been using it for a while, and it's slowly becoming one of my all-time favorite Fuji sensors.

But I do think because of its size and the fact that it's interchangeable, the X-E5 really is the perfect travel camera.

I brought this camera with me to Mexico, paired it with my favorite lens, but I still knew that I had an option to just swap it out if I want to use something else.

And yeah, that's Becca on the screen, so everyone take a moment and say hi to Becca.

But despite how much I love my time with the X-E5, all these cameras above, ultimately at its core, are almost becoming too similar to each other when it comes to performance.

Most of these cameras on that list excel in some way, and the X-E5 is a classic jack-of-all-trades.

But once you start looking at the prices, you might have some second thoughts.

So for reference, when the X-E4 came out, it was 850 bucks.

It was seen as a hidden gem in the Fuji lineup, but not anymore with its new steep price.

At $1,700, it will be extremely hard to look at all those Fujis and pick this camera.

But if you do pick this one, be assured you're picking a brilliant camera.

Might not be a hidden gem, but it is still a gem.

Okay, the Fuji camera also has one more little hidden feature.

This is the classic mode for the viewfinder.

So you can switch between the old one here, and then this is the new one.