When FujiFilm first announced the X Half, a new digital mirrorless compact camera designed in the spirit of analog half-frame, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.
It looked charming, sure, but also slightly self-conscious. Was it leaning too heavily on retro appeal? Did we really need a digital half-frame camera in 2025? I was on the fence. But after spending time with the X Half at the Wales & West Photo Show last week, I’ve changed my mind. This little camera is not just fun, it’s quietly brilliant.
The half-frame concept isn’t new. In film days, it meant two vertical images on a single 35mm frame, doubling your exposures and encouraging diptychs, sequences, and more spontaneous shooting.
Not long ago, I reviewed the Alfie Camera Tych+, a compact modern half-frame film camera that leaned into those qualities. I loved the experience of shooting freely, working in pairs, and never quite knowing what the roll of film would reveal. The FujiFilm X Half captures that same sensibility, but without the cost, waiting, or guesswork of film.
What sets the X Half apart is how far Fujifilm has gone to emulate not just the look of film with its renowned film simulations, but the process of analog photography. The camera features a physical film advance lever, a rewind button, and a film door latch; all cleverly repurposed for digital use.
Most impressively, it introduces a Film Roll Simulation mode. In this setting, you choose one of Fujifilm’s signature film simulations, such as Classic Chrome, Velvia, Acros, etc., and commit to it for the entire 'roll' of exposures. You can't change it mid-way. You can't delete images. You simply shoot. The mode even disables image review, letting you photograph with a sense of flow and focus that's rare in digital photography.
The X Half also embraces the format’s native rhythm of shooting in diptychs. Two vertical half frames are automatically paired together in-camera when you advance the lever to form one horizontal image. It’s intuitive, satisfying, and opens up creative storytelling in a way full-frame shooting often doesn’t.
For all its retro styling, the X-Half isn’t just playing dress-up. It encourages a different kind of engagement, one that is slower, more instinctive, and more open to chance. By lifting the best parts of the analog half-frame experience and translating them into digital, Fujifilm has created something genuinely refreshing.
It might not be for everyone, but for those who remember, or have recently discovered the joy of half-frame photography, the X Half feels like a natural evolution.
And above all, it’s fun. The kind of fun that reminds you why you picked up a camera in the first place.
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Check out our guides to the best Fujifilm cameras and the best film cameras.
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