Why does this cheap APS-C camera with no viewfinder or stabilization keep making Japan's top 10 sales charts?

A Fujifilm X-M5 camera with the screen extended outwards, held in a persons hands — (Image credit: Fujifilm / Zhao-Zhengxiong)

Japanese sales data firm BCN+R has released its roundup of the ten best-selling interchangeable-lens cameras for October. And this month’s ranking features an APS-C body so seemingly basic that you might wonder how it made the list – let alone numerous others throughout 2026.

The camera in question is the Fujifilm X-M5, an entry-level crop-sensor shooter packing a modest 26MP BSI CMOS sensor, while lacking things like an electronic viewfinder (EVF) or in-body image stabilization (IBIS).

These features, or lack thereof, could at first glance make the X-M5 seem like a weakling by today's standards. But it’s this basic functionality that has made the X-M5 a favorite with photographers in Japan.

BCN+R Top 10 Best-selling Cameras October 2026

Canon EOS R10 RF-S 18-150mm IS STM Lens Kit
Canon EOS R50 Double Zoom Kit (black)
Sony ZV-E10 II Double Zoom Lens Kit (black)
Canon EOS R50 Double Zoom Kit (white)
Olympus PEN E-P7 EZ Double Zoom Kit (silver)
Sony A6400 Double Zoom Lens Kit (black)
Sony A7 V Zoom Lens Kit
Fujifilm X-M5 XC 15-45mm Lens Kit (silver)
Nikon Z50 II Double Zoom Kit
Canon EOS R50 RF-S 18-45mm IS STM Lens Kit (white)

However, the X-M5's strengths only reveal themselves upon closer inspection – particularly when you get this truly tiny camera in your hands.

That's because this super-compact body is designed for travel and everyday shooting, and particularly content creation – packing 6.2K 30p 4:2:2 10-bit open-gate video into its featherlight 12.5oz (335g) frame that's small enough to take anywhere.

Basic but best-sellers

To create its monthly bestseller roundup, BCN+R tracks point-of-sale data from over 2,300 brick-and-mortar and online electronics retailers across Japan.

The big takeaway is that the X-M5 is far from alone, as the top ten is ruled by crop-sensor, beginner-friendly bodies that omit things like EVFs and IBIS.

Canon and Sony own the top four positions with the EOS R10, EOS R50 in black, Sony ZV-E10 II and the EOS R50 in white.

Fascinatingly, in fifth place is the Olympus PEN E-P7 – a Micro Four Thirds camera from 2021 that has been a perennial best-seller in Japan. Whether it will disappear, now that the OM System PEN has been launched (effectively replacing it) will be interesting to see.

The remaining places were filled by the Sony A6400 (sixth), Nikon Z50II (ninth) and the white Canon EOS R50 again (tenth) in a different kit lens bundle. The line full-frame camera in the chart, and the only one that could be considered a specs monster, is the Sony A7 V in seventh.

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I’m a writer, journalist and photographer who joined Digital Camera World in 2026. I started out in editorial in 2021 and my words have spanned sustainability, careers advice, travel and tourism, and photography – the latter two being my passions.

I first picked up a camera in my early twenties having had an interest in photography from a young age. Since then, I’ve worked on a freelance basis, mostly internationally in the travel and tourism sector. You’ll usually find me out on a hike shooting landscapes and adventure shots in my free time.