Fujifilm in 2025: the return of compact cameras and revisiting old family favorites

2025 has been a confident year for Fujifilm. It's not been a year for big spec-sheet leaps, but the company doubled down on what it does best: beautifully designed cameras with character.

We have seen genuinely new ideas remixing what has worked well for Fujifilm over the years into brand new form factors, as well as the return of much-loved favourites. Fujifilm’s releases this year show a brand comfortable looking both forward and back – and with new releases generating more buzz than perhaps any other brand right now, it is still very much in tune with photographers.

Bringing X-Series favorites up to date

In the X-series lineup, this year was all about refinement of some old favorites rather than major reinvention.

After a few years out, the X-E series staged a big comeback with the Fujifilm X-E5. Taking the beloved compact, interchangeable lens, rangefinder-style body, but improving build quality, adding a better grip, and new useful controls for a more well-rounded camera than the previous model.

Inside the X-E5 gains in-body image stabilisation, paired with the company’s latest high-resolution 40MP fifth-gen APS-C sensor and processor for the latest subject recognition autofocus and up to 6.2K video.

The X-T30 III continued the refinement theme later in the year, keeping the core of what made the X-T30 II so popular but bringing it up to date with Fujifilm's latest processor, enabling autofocus to compete with the very best in Fujifilm's range. It also becomes an unexpected video powerhouse with up to 6.2K/30p video – with open gate.

Half frame, more fun

The Fujifilm X-Half is easily one of the most interesting – and divisive – launches of the year. The X-Half is a digital “half-frame” camera with a vertical 1-inch sensor, a fixed lens, and a deliberately constrained feature set. On paper, it sounds mad, and I’ll admit I was sceptical at first, but the more I used it, the more the X-Half made sense – and it's the most fun with a camera I’ve had all year.

Rather than trying to replace your main camera, it exists to make photography feel playful again. Paired with Fujifilm’s coveted film simulations and film effects, the X-Half is a simple way to get Instagram-ready snaps straight out of the camera – and with the good looks of the X100VI, you can look stylish while doing so. Sure, it won’t be for everyone, but with it topping sales charts around the world this year, Fujifilm clearly has another monster hit on its hands.

Medium format gets compact

At the other end of the spectrum, the GFX100RF is another Fujifilm compact camera with a very different purpose – fitting a medium format sensor into Fujifilm’s smallest GFX body ever.

By creating a fixed-lens medium-format camera, Fujifilm stripped away much of the complexity that typically surrounds the GFX system and tapped into what has made the X100VI such a staggering success. The GFX100RF reframes medium format as something approachable – just a beautifully designed camera built around a huge sensor and Fujifilm’s colour science.

GFX steps into cinema

Fujifilm continued pushing the GFX platform beyond stills with the GFX Eterna. The Eterna isn’t a stills camera adapted for video, but a purpose-built large-format cinema camera designed around professional workflows. It was a clear sign that Fujifilm sees long-term potential for large-format sensors in video as well as photography – and that it’s willing to commit serious resources to that idea.

Instax continues to grow

If there’s one area where Fujifilm allows itself to have the most fun – it's Instax. This year saw a broader push across hybrid models, but each aimed at a slightly different kind of creator.

The Instax Wide Evo was a standout for me – for the first time combining digital capture with wide-format instant printing, in the most stylish Instax Wide camera to date. The Wide Evo brings far more control than a traditional instant camera, offering the ability to preview images before printing as well as print images from your phone in a panoramic format.

Alongside it, the Instax Mini LiPlay+ upgraded the screen, added dual cameras for selfies, and expanded into multimedia with sound recordings you can print onto your images. It feels like the most advanced hybrid camera that Instax has ever put out – but still, fun, uncomplicated, and unmistakably Instax.

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