Fujifilm X-M5: a vlogging tool that might be an $800 cine camera

Fujifilm's X-M5, a compact new APS-C vlogging camera, is getting benign write-ups. Reviewers are impressed with its compact charm, high specifications and inexpensive pricing. Here's DPReview's Mitchell Clark:

It feels like Fujifilm actually spent some time figuring out what modern-day vloggers and content creators need in a camera. Despite its small size, it still has a microphone and headphone jack, which are critical for getting good audio in-camera. Vlogging mode and the suite of tools that come with it also strike me as well-suited for people trying to film themselves, and while the short vertical clip mode is easy to scoff at, I can see it truly being a big time saver for some creators. And, of course, the film simulation dial makes it easy to choose an aesthetic without messing around with LUTs in post – though the inclusion of F-Log means you can do that if you want. The X-M5 does come with some notable downsides, though. Like the Sony ZV-E10 II, it lacks a stabilized sensor, which will be a concern if you like to walk and talk to your camera. Fujifilm says its latest iteration of digital image stabilization should help deal with that and even correct for rolling shutter, but it comes with a hefty 1.32x crop. Shooting at 60fps in 4K also comes with an additional crop. If you stack them all together, you end up with a 1.44x crop, which may require a substantially wider lens – or longer arms – if you want to film yourself with sensible framing.

There are some obvious shortcomings here. It's small enough that the controls, soft and hard, are hard to fiddle with in use. Lack of stabilization might be a bigger turnoff for the vlogger crowd, though Fuji cameras are hot cakes right now and perhaps they'll make an aesthetic of it.

But there's a simple proposition here maybe getting wider notice: 6K 10-bit APS-C with 13+ stops offers a comparable grain, format and range of light and shadow to 35mm film stock and now you can get that digitally for less than $1,000 all in.

The relevant YouTubers have discovered it.

Here's Chris Nichols with a more measured look at the thing.