Today is my 40th birthday! I wasn’t going to say anything about it, but something happened that changed my mind. I had a different article that I had planned to publish today, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

My wonderful wife, Amanda, gave me an amazing surprise. Her gift to me this morning for turning the big 4-0 was a Fujifilm X100V. I couldn’t believe it! A Fujifilm X100V! Wow! This is the camera that I wanted even before it had been announced back in early February.

The Fuji X Weekly blog began as my Fujifilm X100F journal. Almost all of the early articles are about the fourth model of the X100 camera. I happily sold that X100F, not because I didn’t like it (I loved it), but because I used the proceeds to buy my wife a Fujifilm X-T20. A couple years ago she wanted a camera for her birthday, so I sold my X100F to buy her one. I’d do it again without thinking twice about it. Now, things have come full circle, and she bought me an X100V for my birthday.

I had a battery already charged, so I was able to quickly set up the camera, but just barely. There are a number of new features that I’ll have to spend some time playing with. I like what I see so far. The X100F is a great camera; it’s clear that the X100V is even better. You can expect many articles about this camera and the new features in the coming weeks and months.

I made a handful of exposures with the X100V this afternoon, which are the pictures below. They are all camera-made JPEGs using the new Classic Negative film simulation. I’ll likely create many new recipes from Classic Negative. The little that I’ve seen from this film simulation has left me very impressed. I can tell already that it’s a great film simulation, and I look forward to seeing what I’ll do with it. I hope you’ll come along for the ride. It’ll be a fun journey, and it’s all because my wife gave me a wonderful gift for my 40th birthday. Thank you, Amanda, for such an amazing surprise!