Here are the 5 best Fuji camera for street photography with image samples. Fuji is an absolute favorite of street photographers everywhere and they are very keen on making their cameras street friendly.
My name is Olivier, a nomadic street photographer of over 10 years. I’ve been shooting Fujis for a long time both as an amateur and professional.
If there is one reason why I love shooting Fujis, it is because of their Mojo. There’s just something about them that is really appealing to the photographer’s heart. When Fuji released the original x100, the classic rangefinder look and experience got me hooked and got most of their cameras and I still shoot with them after all of these years.
That being said let’s look at the selection of Fuji cameras for street photography
Best Fuji Camera for street photography list
Here’s the list of the Fuji cameras. I made the selection both with current cameras and out of production cameras. A camera doesn’t stop being awesome just because it’s been discontinued! And there’s a few models that only have one version and no other follow up. Here’s the list:
| Name | Sensor Size | Effective Focal Length | Lens Max Aperture | Get it here: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Fujifilm X100v | APSC | 35mm | f2 | Check Price |
| 2. Fujifilm X-Pro 2 | APSC | NA | NA | Check Price |
| 3. Fujifilm X100 | APSC | 35mm | f2 | Check Price |
| 4. Fujifilm X70 | APSC | 28mm | f2.8 | Check Price |
| 5. Fujifilm XF10 | APSC | 28mm | f2.8 | Check Price |
Got it? Let’s get into the list of each lens with image samples where available.
| Reasons to buy | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Large sensor + Hybrid viewfinder + Dials + Great Focal length + Digital zoom + Adapters possible |
– Not 28mm |
When the Fuji X100 released, it was loved by street photographers everywhere. And now the latest and greatest version is the best Fuji camera for street photography, bar none.
There’s multiple reasons why, first of all it is a fixed compact camera. Sure, while interchangeable lens cameras allow for more versatility, having a fixed focal length allows not only for the engineers to juice every drop of sharpness they can, it also allows for a compact body.
The lens is a 23mm, but since this is an APSC sensor, it is the equivalent of 35mm f2. This is the Goldilocks focal length as this sits between wide angle and “normal” 35mm. It is wide angle enough for sweeping shots but not too much as it is stellar for portraits.
The lens is crazy sharp and the 35mm perfect for many street photographers, and it does stunning Bokeh to boot.
It is a matter of preference but since this camera is a 26 megapixels, I wish it was a 28mm instead. Because there’s a pretty nice digital zoom in this that allows you to shoot up to an equivalent of 75mm. You can’t of course go wider then 35mm.
One limitation of the digital zoom is that you CANNOT use raw while using it, which is a pretty petty limitation if you ask me.
But things are not lost. While this *is* a fixed lens compact camera, there’s two conversion lenses that allow to transform the camera into a 28mm or a 50mm, meaning this kit with two lenses be very well be the only camera you can every need for street photography or otherwise.
You you CAN get that 28mm that a lot of street photographers prefer, but you’ll need the wide angle converter. What’s great about this and what makes it the best Fuji camera for street photography is how it gets out of your way for shooting.
Want to change your aperture? Do so on the lens itself. Shutter speed? There’s a dial for that. And that hybrid viewfinder is still one of the most impressive photographic technology to date. It’s both an electronic AND optical viewfinder. You switch them with the flick of a switch.
In the optical viewfinder, data like histogram is superimposed on the viewfinder and it looks like something straight out of science fiction. When using it, it is the closest you will ever get to shooting a digital rangefinder without needing to break the bank. Fuji x100 sample images:
| Reasons to buy | Cons |
|---|---|
| + APSC sensor + Great lens selection + External controls + Hybrid viewfinder + Great IQ |
– Large – Needs lenses |
Yes, I am recommend the Xpro II as the the best Fuji camera for street photography for interchangeable lenses and not the follow up X-Pro III. The main draw of that camera is that the back is not the screen, if you want to shoot you need to drop it down.
While I am totally for that philosophy, in practice it’s more of and annoyance than anything. Cameras like the PEN F allow you to flip the screen and be left with an empty back, this one forces you to have no screen by default.
Like I said I can appreciate the philosophy but it practice, if you want a no frills interchangeable Fuji, get the X-Pro II. Where the X100v was compact the X-PRO II is a beast. This is a large camera and depending on your lens, things can get heavy in the streets.
It has that wonderful hybrid viewfinder and also dual SD slots, so you can make sure that your images are always backed up and duplicated. If the presence of dual slots and the “Pro” in the name wasn’t clear, this is a camera geared at professionals.
Not that amateurs can’t use it, it’s just that the X100V is so well suited for the task of street photography, I can only recommend the X-Pro II only if you want a camera that can do multiple things on top of street photography, like sports and bird photography.
For anything street related, like portraits, landscapes and night street photography the X100V should fit the bill nicely. Here’s some street photography with the X-pro2:
| Reasons to buy | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Sharp lens + Beautiful Bokeh + Great for day and night shooting + Quiet and fast + Lens markings |
– Can only get it used – Not too much megapixels |
If you think the Fuji x100v is nice but you simply don’t have the budget, the original x100 is still worth it even to this day. First the cons, you can only get it used and there’s only 12 megapixels to go around. So if you like cropping things are really tight.
Besides that it’s the best Fuji camera for street photography you can get on the cheap. Like 5x less then the latest X100v, so quite a steal. It revolutionized the industry when it was released and has the same excellent 35mm f2.
It also supports the wide angle and telephoto converter lenses, so you can get those for your street photography kit, and whenever you want to upgrade you can keep the lenses and get the new body (as of writing both of the converters (the II) support up to the x100v).
There’s that stunning hybrid viewfinder in there too, so you have all of what makes the latest one special. You’ll be missing on the latest and greatest features like wifi and 4k video but these have absolutely no bearing on making outstanding images. Gere’s some Fuji x100 sample images:
| Reasons to buy | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Like the x100 with a 28mm + Dials and aperture ring + Slimmer than x100 |
– Can only get it used – No viewfinder |
Let’s face it, the X-Pro and X100 get all the attention when it comes to the best Fuji camera for street photography. It’s a shame because the Fuji x70 is a gem of a camera. The x70 is what you get if the x100 had a little brother. For real as this is a much slimmer camera, and you could consider it the 28mm version of the x100.
It’s got the same aperture ring operation and shutter speed dial…but none of that hybrid viewfinder goodness. No viewfinder was ever released for it so you’ll need an optical viewfinder for that. It does have a digital teleconverter mode however up to 50mm in case you need it.
This also has a wide angle converter released for it taking the 28mm and turning it into a 21mm.
If you like the size and operation of the x100 and can’t live without that 28mm (but can live without a viewfinder!) the Fuji x70 might be the best option for you. Street photography with the Fuji x70:
| Reasons to buy | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Sharp lens + Pocketable + Large APSC sensor + Great design + Dials and control |
– Can only get it used |
The Ricoh GR is one of the most well regarded lines of camera in all of street photography. The Fuji xf10 is Fuji’s direct competitor to it. If I could summarize what makes the GRs so great it would be: Pocketable, larger sensor (APSC), 28mm and handling.
The XF10 hits all of those same notes. It is an APSC sensor that is pocketable (a bit larger tho), has a 28mm and has great handling. The overall camera looks like other Fuji cameras but one can really see that they were “inspired” with the grip.
There’s dedicated dials for aperture and shutter speed making it great for street photography and changing settings on the fly. Just like the Ricoh GR there are no viewfinders but really the glaring omission here is the lack of hotshoe.
The top of the camera has nowhere to put in a viewfinder, flash or even thumbgrip. If you like flash street photography, there is however a built-in flash that is powerful enough to do the trick.
If you like your 28mm out of the box, the best Fuji camera for street photography is either this that is pocketable, or the x70 that is compact size.
Conclusion
I hope you have enjoyed this article about the best Fuji camera for street photography. The best one is by far the X100v, and if you want more versatility, get the wide and telephoto conversion lenses. If you need the interchangeable lenses, then the X-Pro 2, but it’s on the heavy side and you’ll need to get a lens. If you are short on budget then the original kicks major butt even today. Since the x100 line is 35mm out of the box, if you like 28mm instead your choices are either the that can slip in your pocket or the much larger .