Feeling like Bresson? Here are the 6 best Fujifilm cameras for street photography so that you can shoot that decisive moment, every time. Selection based on how well the cameras performed in the streets with image samples when available.
What makes a great street photography camera?
If you just want the list of the best Fujifilm street photography cameras, that is below. If you want to know the rationale behind the selection, read on.
One of the first things to know is camera form factor, there are two that lends themselves really well wo the streets: Compact cameras and rangefinder type cameras. With rangefinders and their viewfinders being in a corner, it allows half of your face to be free so that you can anticipate while one eye is in the viewfinder.
The smaller the better because it is not fun to lug around gear after a few hours in the streets. Lastly it’s also about focal length, street photography is usually done at wider 28mm and 35mm angles.
When it comes to focusing while you can use autofocus, most street photographers prefer to use manual zone focusing so the cameras need to have some indicator of what is in focus. With that being said here’s the best Fujifilm cameras for street photogrtaphy that ti cks all the boxes
Best Fujifilm cameras for street photography
| Name | Sensor | Lens (Eff) | Megapixel | Get it |
| 1. Fujifilm X100V | CMOS | 35mm | 26.1 | Check Price |
| 2. Fujifilm X100F | CMOS | 35mm | 24.3 | Check on ebay |
| 3. Fujifilm X-Pro3 | CMOS | Interchangeable | 26.1 | Check Price |
| 4. Fujifilm X-E4 | CMOS | 41mm | 26.1 | Check Price |
| 5. Fujifilm X-E3 | CMOS | Interchangeable | 24.3 | Check on ebay |
| 6. Fujifilm XF10 | CMOS | 23 to 69mm | 24 | Check on ebay |
Now that we’ve seen the selection of the best Fujifilm cameras for street photography here’s more details about them.
| Reasons to buy | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔️ Best viewfinder EVER ✔️ Great focal length ✔️ Fast lens ✔️ Great Bokeh ✔️ Everything in one package ✔️ Versatile | ❌ Not stabilized ❌ Needs adapter for 28mm |
The Fuji X100 is the best of the best Fujifilm cameras for street photography, period. There is a good reason for that: It is MADE for street photography and that is why it shines. It’s compact and yet can rival DSLR images with its large APSC sensor. It’s quite the looker too.
But the beauty here is the lens, it is a fast 35mm f2 and coupled with the large sensor means you can do beautiful, Bokeh filled street portraits. You can put it on auto but it really shines in manual with dedicated shutter speed dial on the top. You can change the aperture directly on the lens.
Use manual focus and you have a distance scale so that you can set things up to be in focus from 1 meter to infinity for example. What’s special about this camera is probably the viewfinder.
It’s a normal digital viewfinder but flip the front switch and you see an optical image with data superimposed on it, it is like augmented reality and it is still to this day one of the most impressive things I have seen. It brings in the clarity of optical viewfinders and the usefulness (settings, historgram, etc) of a digital viewfinder.
There’s the film simulation modes that allow you to shoot with simulated iconic Fuji film like Velvia and others. This makes it fun to shoot and experiment and have usable images right out of the box.
The 35mm is the goldilocks focal length, it is wide enough for street photography and yet long enough for portraits, making this the perfect all around camera too. If you want wider, there is a 28mm adapter that can transform the lens into a wide angle, or if you prefer 50mm you can either get the telephoto adapter or simply use the excellent built in digital zoom that crops without losing detail (Fuji’s propriaty algorithm).
Lastly it is weather sealed but it requires the extra filter screw-on sccessory. Great to have in case it starts getting dicey outside. If you are looking for the best Fujifilm cameras for street photography, this is the top, no-brainer choice.
Fujifilm X100v street photography examples:
| Reasons to buy | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔️ Hybrid viewfinder ✔️ Great focal length ✔️ Fast lens ✔️ Great Bokeh ✔️ Everything in one package ✔️ Versatile ✔️ Cheaper | ❌ Not stabilized ❌ Needs adapter for 28mm ❌ Discontinued, buy used |
Just because there is a new model doesn’t stop the old model from being good. If budget is an issue, then look at the older models of the X100. The X100F is the fourth one (F for fourth). there’s 2 less megapixels, a lower resolution and fixed screen.
This is the previous generation sensor, the hybrid viewfinder is still there but the X100V allows you to put the electronic image in a corner while framing with the optical image. It is not weather sealed either. But what you get is an excellent camera with eveything that makes the X100 line great.
Stunning lens and image quality, compactness, and that hybrid viewfinder. The newer model is improved in many aspects but if you are on a budget you cannot go wrong with the X100F. If you are on an even tighter budget, you can go down the previous generations: X100T X100S. But these can only be found used because they are discontinued.
Fujifilm X100F street photography examples:
| Reasons to buy | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔️ Top of the line ✔️ Stunning IQ ✔️ Hybrid viewfinder ✔️ Focus on photography not screens ✔️ Dials, dials, dials ✔️ One of the best M lens shooters | ❌ Weight and size ❌ Most expensive on this list |
When Fujifilm came out with the X100, one of the biggest wishes was that it could take lenses. Then came the X-pro that was essentially an X100 with a lens mount: Wish granted. But it came at a cost because the X-pro with lens is bulkier than the X100.
But everything is a tradeoff, while the X-pro is much heavier than the X100 line, what you get is the ability to add lenses so it offers versatility. That is not all, one of the best accessories for any X interchangeable camera is the Leica M adapter, so you can transform the X-pro into a Leica M camera.
Let the fanboys plug their ears, the hybrid viewfinder allows you to have the most Leica-like experience without the price tag and without dealing with the stuff they don’t tell you like having their rangefinders fall out of alignment. There is however a x1.5 crop factor.
Even if you don’t go the M route the Fuji lenses can hold their own with any Leica. A lot of the wide angles are compact and have the aperture selection ring in front. There is the shutter speed dial on top and magically the hybrid viewfinder is still there and works.
There is weather sealing in case in rains and this camera has a titanium frame, so it can survive quite a lot.
This also has a different way of shooting, behind the camera is a window-looking screen that displays what film simulation you are currently on, just like those film cans back in the day. If you want to see the screen, you need to flip it down so that you can see it. While this is Fuji’s way to force street photographers to focus on shooting and not the screen, this can be frustrating. The X-pro 2 simply has a normal screen on the back.
Fujifilm X-Pro 3 street photography examples:
| Reasons to buy | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔️ Like an X-pro without the bulk ✔️ Top-of-the-line sensor and processor ✔️ Smaller and slimmer ✔️ Dials for controls | ❌ No hybrid viewfinder |
When the X-pro came out, the bulk wasn’t unnoticed, so Fuji came out with the X-E line. There’s basically two things you need to know about this line: First it is smaller than the X-pro so there’s less bulk and (because everything is a tradeoff) there is no hybrid viewfinder but a regular digital viewfinder.
The X100 is the king of the streets when it comes to fuji can because of the size this is like an interchangeable lens x100.
If you want the versatility of interchangeable lenses but don’t want to carry a heavy camera, the X-E4 might be one of the best Fujifilm cameras for street photography for you. If you can live without the viewfinder then this is a really interesting option, especially given that this is about half the price of the X-pro 3 with comparable image quality (they have the same BSI-CMOS and latest processing engine).
It is both lighter than the X-pro in terms of weight (About 150g lighter than the X-pro’s 497g) and price without compromising the image quality, making this q7uite the steal for street photographers.
| Reasons to buy | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔️ Like an X-pro without the bulk ✔️ Great IQ ✔️ Smaller and slimmer ✔️ Dials for controls | ❌ No hybrid viewfinder ❌ Discontinued, buy used |
This will be the last interchangeable lens recommendation for this list of the best Fujifilm cameras for street photography. Simply said, if you really want a camera that can change lenses but you are under a tight budget, this can be had for a steal in used form.
It’s the previous generation sensor technology, and the previous processing engine, and you lose about 2 megapixels. For the rest, it is still the same rocking camera that came out of the factory. Smaller profile, beautiful viewfinder and the ability to put in X mount lenses.
The new one is better with the upgrades (flipping screen, BSI-CMOS sensor, etc) but if you are on a budget, this happens to be one of the cheapest Fujifilm cameras you can get where the lens can be changed, all of this while having stunning image quality.
Fujifilm X-E3 street photography examples:
| Reasons to buy | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔️ Like a pocketable X100 ✔️ Stunning handling ✔️ Great image quality ✔️ Fast 28mm f2.8 lens ✔️ Very versatile with digital teleconverter | ❌ No viewfinder possible ❌ Lack of external controls ❌ Discontinued, buy used |
There’s two cameras that most street photographers chose for their images: The x100line and the Ricoh GR. This is a pocketable APSC sensor camera with a fast 28mm. The Fuji XF10 is Fujifilm’s answer to Ricoh with a camera that feels and looks both like a Ricoh and an X100. It’s absolutely gorgeous and not well known.
Unlike every other camera on this list of the best Fujifilm cameras for street photography, this one can slip in your pocket so it is essentially a pocket Fuji X100 with a 28mm f2.8 lens. That makes it perfect for the streets.
It’s probably more versatile too. Because the X100 cannot go wider than 35mm, it needs the 28mm adapter. With this, it starts with 28mm and can go all the way to 50mm with the digital teleconverter that crops the image and uses a powerful algorithm to keep the image quality top notch.
So on paper this is a triple focal length shooter. the Ricoh GR has one of the best camera handling of any camera for street photography ever, and Fuji took note of this with their excellent grip that mimics this. The top dial is only a menu dial and not a shutter speed dial and there is an overall lack of them, therefore control. But the front lens can be twisted and settings can be changed that way on the fly.
The camera is too small for a viewfinder and there is no hotshoe so no flash besides the built-in one and no possibility for a viewfinder, but for a camera this size it’s asking too much. this is one of the most underrated and best Fujifilm cameras for street photography. Just make sure you are dedicated because it’s made for the streets and everyday reportage.
Fujifilm XF10 street photography examples:
Conclusion
I hope you have enjoyed this article about the best Fujifilm cameras for street photography. The top choice is the X100V, and the wide angle or telephoto adapter if you want more versatility. If you really want interchangeable lenses the X-Pro 3 will fit the bill, or if you want a lighter camera (both in terms of size, weight and pocket) then the X-E4.
If you are on a budget the older models might be more suited: X100F, X-pro2, X-E4. Finally if you want a pocket Fujifilm camera that will own the streets, the Fuji XF10 is unbeatable. Happy shooting!