Compact camera prices are climbing. But Fujifilm has dropped the list price of the retro X Half to what I think it should have been at launch

As compact cameras became one of the biggest trends in camera tech, I’ve gotten accustomed to seeing prices climbing above list price. Imagine my surprise then, when I looked at the Fujifilm X Half to see a lower list price – suggesting not a sale price, but a long-term price change.

The Fujifilm X Half launched at $850 in the US and £699 in the UK. But Fujifilm Rumors noticed that the list price had dropped – and both the US and UK official Fujifilm websites show a new price, without a sale indicator, suggesting that the new lower list price isn’t a rumor at all.

In the US, the X Half is listed at $649 – $200 less than the original list price – and Fujifilm doesn’t use any of the markers that usually indicate a temporary sale. In the UK, the camera is listed for £549 – £100 off the list price at launch, again without the typical advertisements that the price is only for a limited time. Several retailers in the US and UK have already followed suit and dropped the price without the temporary sales indicators.

In Australia, the camera that listed for AU$1,349 at launch is $1,299 at one retailer and $1119 at another, without the sale markings. Best Buy Canada has two color variations of the camera listed at $868, when the list price was $998 at launch.

The price change came without fanfare or a traditional announcement, but the way the price is listed suggests the price change is a new list price, not a seasonal discount.

I think the price drop puts the camera at the list price that it should have launched at. Price is one of the biggest complaints about the X Half, as, at launch, the price was nearly the cost of the brand’s most affordable mirrorless, the X-M5, yet the X Half has a one-inch sensor.

At the original list price, the X Half wasn’t the budget X100VI that I was hoping for – but the new price drop, if it is in fact a permanent change, could change that. It's a far better price that makes the lack of raw files feel less like a major disappointment.

While a welcome change, the price drop does seem rather abnormal. Some manufacturers have increased the cost of compact cameras, as the point-and-shoot trend has resulted in a demand that far exceeds the supply.

In the US, Fujifilm increased prices in response to the US tariffs. Some of those new tariffs were turned down by the Supreme Court, but were quickly met with orders for another round of tariffs for at least 150 days.

At launch, the X Half had a price that didn’t quite match up with its features – the new lower list price makes the retro compact camera a far more tempting option.

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