Should You Keep Trying To Find a Fujifilm X100VI or Go With an X100F?

There are only two certainties in life, as the popular saying goes. One, that everybody on Earth seems to want a Fujifilm X100VI, and two, that they’re rather difficult to find.

Oh yeah, and that thing about death and taxes. Ok, four certainties in life.

the king and the grandpappy

The Fujifilm X100VI’s high-quality sensor and lens combine to offer vivid, realistic colors and sharply defined images, and the sleek chassis oozes retro appeal. “The focal length on the X100 is 23mm (35mm full-frame equivalent), which is sometimes regarded as closest to what the human eye sees,” says Andy Bisdale, of Andrew Bisdale Photography.

“Beyond that, it’s small, inconspicuous, and stylish, which is helpful if you’re looking for candid moments from strangers.” The Ricoh GR III (and GR IIIx) and GR IV are smaller and even more inconspicuous, if you prioritize that over the Fujifilm cameras’ incredible image quality and colors.

Control freaks can rejoice at the well-positioned controls to manually set camera settings when they don’t trust the (admittedly, quick and accurate) autofocus. Many point-and-shoot digital cameras don’t let the shooter take the training wheels off, stifling them and their vision, but the X100VI is a playground for photographers who love to tinker with camera settings.

The catch? The lens, as good as it is, is of a fixed focal length. That means, if you want to zoom in and out, well, you’re going to have to use your legs. Plus, it’s still hard to find, even if the most severe era of stock drought has eased up in the past few months.

If you just can’t bear the thought of hopping onto a waitlist, placing a backorder, or paying an inflated price, there’s another, easier Fujifilm alternative.

The Fujifilm X100F ($1,295) isn’t the previous generation in the X100 family, but rather two generations back. However, as the saying goes, cameras don’t know years. It’s still a damn good camera with a sharp (albeit also fixed-focal-length) lens and image sensor that nails high levels of detail with accurate color.

Used examples of the discontinued, last-generation X100V are also largely sold out and, when you find them, are almost as expensive as ordering a new X100VI. All the kind things said about the X100 VI’s stylish, inconspicuous case apply to the X100F, too.