I love photography and more often than not, I'm the person behind the camera because I love taking photos and videos of my friends and family to hold on to for posterity. I usually capture these memories with one of the best instant cameras or one of the best mirrorless cameras. Bringing the camera up to my face to look through the viewfinder brings me a lot of joy, but I've just tested a camera that may have convinced me that I don't always need a viewfinder. That's the new Fujifilm X-M5.
What's not to love about Fuji's latest offering? It's a petite camera that doesn't compromise on quality. It's perfect to travel with and take 6.2K/30P or 4K/60P videos and 26.1MP stills on. You can even shoot in F-Log2 to capture a wide dynamic range for more creative control.
But of course, it doesn't have a viewfinder. So did I miss having one when I was reviewing the X-M5? Not really. The X-M5 has so much potential that after testing it for a while, I didn't even notice the lack of a viewfinder — which is why this is the only camera you need to buy this year.
Your new travel BFF
The Fujifilm X Series lineup consists of some of the best cameras around, for all genres, and the X-M5 lives up to the name. For a camera of its size, the X-M5 is seriously powerful. It measures just 4.4 x 2.62 x 1.49 inches, making it the most compact X Series model. Its weight is negligible too as the camera clocks in at 10.82 ounces (without battery). This means that, if you don't have the lens on, you can easily slip the body into your pocket or, if you do have the lens on, it can still fit into a small bag.
It looks awesome too. If, like me, you love the look of the pricier X-T50 ($1,399) or the X100VI ($1,599) but want a cheaper alternative that looks just as good, then the X-M5 is perfect for you. The X-M5 sports the classic Fujifilm look with faux leather covering most of its body — and boy does it look and feel premium. It's very easy to use thanks to a responsive LCD touchscreen and customizable dials. Who wouldn't want to take this little guy on holiday?
Filters never looked so good
One of the biggest selling points of the Fujifilm X-M5 is its dedicated film dial that first debuted on the X-T50 earlier this year. Located on the left-hand side on the top plate, the dial lets you choose from 20 film simulation recipes, such as Acros, Monochrome, Vivid, Classic Chrome and more. All of these look fantastic, and there's something for everyone. You can see a few examples in the gallery above and below. The 26.1MP APS-C X-Trans CMOS 4 captures sharp stills with plenty of detail, and its hybrid autofocus system is capable of tracking humans, animals, birds and even motorcycles, planes, trains and cars, so it should suffice most shooting situations.
What's even better about the film recipes is that you can apply them to both stills and video, so this is great for those who like to share the content they create instantly with their online followers. This way, you don't necessarily need to spend time in post-production.
The camera also shoots in 10-bit to capture a wide color gamut with a total of 1.07 billion individual hues. I love how the colors have been faithfully reproduced, especially on the pigeon's neck, in the video above (which also shows how well the X-M5's hybrid autofocus system works). The creative possibilities are endless with the X-M5.
Jack of all trades
Okay, I know how important a viewfinder is, and I don't mean to ruffle feathers. You need it to frame your shots as it can be a pain to solely rely on a camera's LCD screen, especially when shooting in bright conditions. But considering how good the Fujifilm X-M5 is at stills, video and vlogs, I'm not complaining about the lack of a viewfinder. The 3-inch fully articulating LCD touchscreen lets you shoot at practically any angle — whether you're crouching or point the camera straight up to get a shot of the sky or a tree canopy.
What might put some people off is that the X-M5 has just a 1.04-million dot display which means it isn't as high-res as the Canon EOS R10's ($979) 2.36 million-dot display but you win some, you lose some as the EOS R10 doesn't have nearly as many video features or creative looks.
The X-M5's touchscreen is still extremely responsive and I had no issues using it. This means you can choose to shoot in F-Log2, for example, which can capture up to 13 stops of dynamic range. I love color grading raw footage, and you can see an example above.
The X-M5 is one of the finest cameras I've had the pleasure of getting my hands on. It's compact and portable, it takes fantastic photos and 6.2K/30P video, and it even lets you shoot 15s, 30s and 60s videos for quick sharing to social media. Is it worth sacrificing the viewfinder and getting the X-M5? Yes. At $799 / £799, it's an affordable camera for vloggers and content creators.
And even though I am neither of those, I can't wait to get one just for the tasty film recipes. This is the one camera that could make me ditch my smartphone for photography.
More from Tom's Guide
