Review: Fujifilm X-E5 Mirrorless Camera

Also notable in the X-E5 is the addition of in-body image stabilization (IBIS), which used to be something reserved for the X-Pro series cameras (again, IBIS in the X-E 5 sounds like yet another death knell for the X-Pro 4). Fujifilm is claiming seven stops of IBIS, which feels about right based on my testing. I was able to shoot a lot of handheld shots of my kids on Christmas morning and never missed a thing due to camera shake.

The overall construction and build quality of the X-E5 is also a huge leap forward. Unlike the X-E4, which had a rather plasticky feel to it, the X-E5 is solid and well built. The top plate is now a single piece of aluminum, which goes a long way to giving the camera a sturdier, higher-end feel. If you throw a pancake lens on there, like the new 23mm f/2.8, it feels like an X100, which was not true of the previous model.

My favorite thing that the X-E5 has stolen from the X100 is the fake self-timer switch on the front of the camera. (The X100 series took this switch from, well, pretty much every film SLR ever.) On the X-E5, you get five control points out of this switch, which can be pushed left or right, long pushed (about 3 secs) left or right, and then the round part on front is a button. All five of these are customizable, which is good because, frustratingly, there is no ISO dial on the X-E5. I set the self-timer up as a shortcut to get me to ISO to solve that issue.

In other button updates, the X-E5 regains the twin, press-able command dials of the X-E3 (the X-E4 was missing the rear dial). The AF Mode switch is also back, allowing you to switch between manual focus, single-shot autofocus, or continuous autofocus via a button instead of heading into the menus.

Simulacra and Simulation

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

Then there is the new dedicated film simulation dial.

Let me say up front that if there were an ISO dial I would have less of a problem with this dial. It would still be embarrassing in some vague way I can’t put my finger on, but eh, I could stick a piece of tape over it and forget about it. But there is no ISO dial, and adding a hardware dial for something as frivolous as switching film simulations, while not having a dial for something you change all time (ISO), is unforgivable in my book.