There’s a new firmware update for the Fujifilm X half, and some of it is quite interesting. Before we dive in, let me briefly explain why I like the camera. There’s been a lot of negativity around the X half, mainly in Europe and especially America. Most of it has to do with the price, and also because you cannot shoot RAW or even Fujifilm Recipes. There are plenty of legitimate criticisms, but looking past that, the X half is a great “digital 110” pocket camera for casual snapshots. Last year, on an epic RV roadtrip up the east coast, the X half was my most-used camera. It’s so much fun, and we often fight over who gets to use it in my household. It offers a unique experience not possible with other cameras.
The firmware update offers a few new options. There are other improvements, too, but I’m just going to talk about the new features in this article. The X half has Film Simulations and Filters. The Filters are the Advanced Filters from X-series cameras, plus some carried over from Instax Evo. Well, Fujifilm just added a new Filter called Soft Glow, which is Provia but the bright highlights bloom. It’s kind of like a Glow Mist filter, or maybe a Pro Mist or CineBloom, but it only affects bright highlights and nothing else. Think of Clarity set to -5, except only applied to white or near white. I actually really like this, and would love to see it available for Recipes on other X-series cameras, with Off, Weak, or Strong as the options (as it is on the X half would be Strong on the X-series). Here are two examples of the Soft Glow filter:
With the update, in Film Camera Mode you can now choose 12 or 24 frames. Before, the minimum was 36, which was a good option to have, but a lot to commit to. The other two are 54 and 72—the former is a strange number, which I guess comes from that you can technically squeeze an extra three frames onto a 24 exposure roll of film (such as on disposable cameras), so two pictures per frame equals 54; the latter is two pictures per frame on a 36 exposure roll, which my kids nicknamed the 72 picture challenge because it takes a long time to complete. I’m really surprised that 24 wasn’t initially included, as it seems like the right length that you can commit to it yet not too long that it feels overwhelming (it’s Goldilocks), plus it is two pictures on each frame of a 12 exposure roll of film. The 12 frame option seems like for when you just want to try it out or demo it to someone, and not something you’d choose on the regular. I can definitely see the 24 frame option being the most chosen going forward. Below you’ll find my first attempt at using the 24 frame option in Film Camera Mode using Nostalgic Neg.:
A feature that I would like to see added is in the X half app: long press on the contact sheet, and it gives the option to save a selected number of frames (from 1 to 10) with the film strip border. So you could save a whole strip, two or three frames, or even just one picture. As it is now, you have to crop the contact sheet, which greatly reduces the resolution and is slightly a pain to do. This seems like it would be fairly easy to implement, and would be really cool to have available.
Anyway, if you have a Fujifilm X half, be sure to update the firmware to get these new options. You can do it from the X half app or the old fashioned way by putting it on an SD card.
This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.
Fujifilm X half in black:
Amazon, B&H, Nuzira
Fujifilm X half in silver:
Amazon, B&H, Nuzira
Fujifilm X half in charcoal:
Amazon, B&H