The Fujifilm X Half finally made sense once I stopped treating it like a camera

There's an old adage which says that if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will spend the rest of its life feeling stupid. And, it turns out, that same idea can be applied to cameras.

When the Fujifilm X Half first came out, it was met with mixed opinions. On the one hand, a small, everyday carry camera seemed to fit the bill, and one which used a half frame ideology also felt very en vogue at the time.

But a £699 / €799 / US$849 / AU$1,349 price tag coupled with film camera emulating modes which disabled the rear display left a more soured taste in the mouths of others.

I first got to demo the camera the day it launched at a press event in London. However, that wasn't really the ideal setting to get to grips with it – the weather was a bit naff, we didn't have too long with it, and they were still on pre-production firmware which caused a handful of issues on the day.

Fast forward to when I got my hands on this review unit, and it's fair to say I was going in with a little scepticism. After all, what you read online would suggest this is merely a toy masquerading as a camera. But could that possibly be true?

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The Fujifilm X Half is not a toy

Okay, so let's kill this notion right off the bat. The X Half may be small, but don't misappropriate its size as a lack of hardiness. This camera is solidly built, with metal in all the right places to defy its lightweight nature.

You'll also feel the same reassuring click in the buttons and dials as you'd find with other models from the brand. It's solidly built and wont leave you feeling like you're holding something which isn't up to the task.

Fujifilm X Half: key specs

The Fujifilm X Half makes use of a one-inch sensor, marking the first X Series camera to do so. That offers just shy of 18MP resolution, and is vertically oriented in a 3:4 aspect ratio.

There's no RAW shooting on offer here, with only JPG files able to be created on the still shooting side. You do, however, get access to a full suite of film simulations, as well as a host of filters to emulate different analog photography processes on top.

Everything is captured through a fixed lens, with a 32mm equivalent focal length in full frame terms. That's pretty close to the 35mm equivalent found on the Fujifilm X100VI, and is beloved by photographers for its all-round shooting capabilities.

You can also capture video here, selectable via a switch on the rear of the body. That offers Full HD shooting, recording to either MOV or MP4 file types.

The rear panel is where the magic really happens. You'll find two displays on the back panel – a central, squared one which handles the bulk of the activity and a smaller pill-shaped one to the left, which allows users to select between different film simulations.

Fujifilm X Half: performance

When I got my hands on the Fujifilm X Half again, I instantly tried to use it like I would any other camera. That means manual control over every parameter and a thought-out approach to shots.

But where the magic really happens is when you disregard that entirely. I found the most joy with this device when I popped all of the settings into 'auto' mode, and started using it in the same way I'd use the camera on my phone.

Once I'd done that, everything felt much more intuitive, because I'd effectively stepped out of my own way. I was free to just enjoy the process of shooting, occasionally swapping between film simulations to throw some differentiation in there.

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The more I think about it, the more sense it makes. There really is no need to try and control a dinky little everyday carry camera in such a granular, manual way – in fact, I'd love a version which was fully automatic.

Why? Well, because control of anything which doesn't have a dedicated dial is quite tricky. That back panel is damn small, so you'll need to be pretty precise with your button pressing to get the right results.

The other thing I'd take from this is to be very gentle with the grain effect. I'm fairly used to shooting Fujifilm cameras and that means I can quickly throw on the presets I like – small grain size, weak grain roughness, usually.

What I forgot to factor in was that the smaller sensor size would render even a small piece of grain in quite a large way. It's quite a simple mistake to make – particularly if you're just copying preferred settings from another Fujifilm body – but it did make some of my shots a little too crunchy.

Fujifilm X Half: verdict

So, after all of that, would I buy a Fujifilm X Half? Surprisingly, I actually think I would. Okay, it wouldn't be my main camera, but as a second shooter which can slip into most pockets and offer a fun way of shooting without fuss, I think it has a place.

It's certainly being aided by the falling prices in some markets. As I write this, you can pick one up for as little as £549 at Amazon here in the UK, which is a step in a more palatable direction, for sure.

Just remember to judge it on its own merits, rather than through needless comparison, and you'll be good to go.