Fujifilm’s X100VI persists in being a sell-out around the world. This interest is reflected in the success of Mike Evans’s review of the camera in August. It’s significant that, despite this site being mainly Leica-oriented, the Fuji test was the fourth-most-read article in the third quarter of 2024. But there is more to the quest for a compact camera. Is the Fujifilm X100 the only game in town?
Alternatives to the X100VI
It appears that the main reason photographers are not selecting the Fujifilm as their favourite is that they can’t get hold of one. DPReview has fielded four alternatives that you can lay hands on immediately. It’s rather predictable, however, with the old Fujifilm X100V being the next best option. This is followed by the Ricoh GRIIIx, a used X100F (popular, the X100 range, isn’t it?) and a used Sony RX1R II.
Pocket Lint takes a wider view with its choice of five X100VI alternatives. At the bottom of the list, in fifth position, comes the Fujifilm X-T50 with the Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 R WR lens. In fourth position is the Ricoh GRIII HDF, the only true pocket camera among ’em. Third is the Nikon Z fc, an affordable Nikon with retro charm, as the author says. In second place is another Nikon, the Z f with 40mm lens kit. Top of the tree is the OM System OM-D E-M10 Mark IV with the 14-43mm f/3.5-5.6 II R kit lens.
Maybe I’m missing something, but this mix of fixed-lens and ILC cameras doesn’t quite fit the bill. I presume most potential X100VI buyers are looking specifically for a fixed-lens, fixed focal length compact. So, while the Ricoh is my choice from this list, the Nikons and the OM represent a different market segment and a different target audience.
Ricoh GRIII and the lack of a viewfinder
British Vlogger David Fleet provides a good run-down of the competitors, but also includes ILC alternatives such as the Fujifilm X-T5. He is a great fan of the Ricoh GRIII, with its film simulations, ND filter and snap-to-focus street mode. He misses the viewfinder, and I have to agree that this is the main reason the GR range isn’t higher up the tree.
See: Bloomberg — the camera that went viral two years ago, and you still can’t buy one
For Digital Camera world, the Ricoh GRIII heads the list of Fujifilm X100VI alternatives, and it is perhaps no surprise that the Ricoh is also on backorder around the world. These compacts are just so much in demand this year, after the social media blitz set off the craze for Fujifilm, first with the X100V, the predecessor of the current hit.
The second camera on the Digital Camera World list is, surprisingly, the Leica Q3. This isn’t because it doesn’t deserve a place (it is actually the best of the lot), but because most of the other reviewers ignore it completely. It’s a price thing, of course: if price is no object sort of thing. If you want the best, perhaps you have to pay for it. At the bottom of this list we get the Sony a6700 (another ILC camera, which is rather cheating)
…but one camera that keeps cropping up is the little Ricoh GRIII or GRIIIx
What do we learn from all this? If you are a real Fuji fan, nothing will do apart from the X100VI or, perhaps, an X100V to keep the pot bubbling until a Six falls into your lap. But the one camera that keeps cropping up as the main alternative to the Fujifilm is the little Ricoh GRIII or GRIIIx. In my view, it is a real alternative to the Fuji (and, even, the Leica Q) if we go back to basics and consider what we are looking for. It is the only pocket camera here. It is let down according to many by the absence of an electronic viewfinder and, undoubtedly, it would sell in even greater quantities if it did have one. But, in its favour, a GRIII with a viewfinder wouldn’t be a true pocket camera.
We can’t have everything. While I love both the Leica Q series and the Fujifilm X100 series, it is the Ricoh GRIII that occupies a special place in my heart. I think every photographer should buy one, even as a supplement to an X100 or Q. It is the camera you take with you when you don’t want to take a camera. And the results will surprise.
What was Fuji’s naming strategy for the X100 series
This explanation has been around for years, but I do not believe that the Fujifilm X100 nomenclature was agreed from the start. It developed, and the explanation has been adapted to match the facts. So here goes:
- Fuji X100 — 0 the zero
- Fuji X100S — S the second
- Fuji X100T — T the third
- Fuji X100F — F the fourth
- Fuji X100V — V the fifth
- Fuji X100VI — VI, the sixth
Convenient, isn’t it? But it is wishful thinking, or did Fujifilm’s marketing gurus sit around a table in 2010 and devised this little progression? I think not, but it’s a nice story. And will they have the courage to do a VII and VIII? Shades of ‘Enery the eighth, that was. But perhaps too many Is for the eyes.
Fujifilm X100VI is a street photographer’s perfect pocket camera
Meanwhile, over at DIY Photography, there’s another outbreak of Fuji love. The Fujifilm X100VI is the “street photographer’s perfect pocket camera” according to the author. While not there may be other opinions, there’s no disputing Alessandro Michelazzi’s affection for the compact X100VI.
Since that day, the camera has always been with me: it is comfortable to carry the X100VI around and train your eyes to take pictures daily.
Alessandro’s message is clear. The X100VI is the one to have. If you can’t get one, place an order and wait for salvation. Perhaps that’s a good recommendation for Macfilos readers who have their eye on this gorgeous retro compact. It ticks all the boxes. Even the price is right — if you can get one. But, if price is no object, think seriously about the Leica Q3 or Q3 43.
Mike’s review of the Fujifilm X100VI
Macfilos archives on Fujifilm X100 series
Catch up with the Leica Q series
A cup of coffee works wonders in supporting Macfilos
Did you know that Macfilos is run by a dedicated team of volunteers? We rely on donations to help pay our running costs. And even the cost of a cup of coffee will do wonders for our energy levels.
Just read all of these comments – what a treat!
My camera bag is not worth stealing at the moment, so save the cat burglers for early next year!
all the best
Anyone else think the 40mp sensor Fuji is currently using in the VI isn’t suited to low light photography? Too many pixels. The autofocus is great but the high iso performance isn’t as good as the 24mp sensor in the V. I’ve prefer that model for this version.
I haven’t tried the Fuji, but 40mp these days certainly doesn’t write off low light photography. The Q3 is 60mp and is great for low light.
I used a Ricoh GR (16 MP) for many years and sold it for a Ricoh GR III. However, for street I was missing a viewfinder and a tilting screen. Now I landed at the 7 year old Lumix GX9 and have all the flexibility now for less money and the possibility of changing lenses. Other than street I use my 9 year old Leica SL 601. No need for the latest gimmicks.
I have a GX9 somewhere in the bowels of the famous Macfilos cupboard. I agree, it is a great little camera and I might be persuaded to top up the battery and give it an outing.
And of course names can sometimes be a result of inadvertent typos – I quote:
” Rumour has it that Mercedes-Benz claimed ownership of E, so Musk had to settle for SE3Y.”
in one failed stroke of the keyboard you have renamed the Tesla 3 an E and the X a 3!
That’s what comes of typing quickly and not checking. Of course you are right. It was the E that had to become 3, otherwise the Model 3 would have been the Model E. So, let’s try again… S3XY
“the Ricoh GRIII that occupies a special place in my heart. I think every photographer should buy one”
In this particular case, the limited availability is an advantage. If your optometrist has a six-month wait list, you’ve plenty of time to get that custom prescription for bifocal glasses, and the extra time to have the lenses and frames made.
Of course, it might double the cost of buying into the system, but surely it’s worth the time and money, to avoid that nasty rangefinder/EVF?
—> tongue-in-cheek warning <—-
Such a useful little camera… in the pocket. I’m not so sure that a version with an EVF would be all that popular, however. Perhaps the next version will have a hotshoe capable of accepting an accessory EVF. Now that might keep everyone happy.
Well said! That would be an excellent solution. Reading MACFILOS’ stable of excellent photographers, I’ve come to appreciate how very good the camera is; I’ve become petulant that it isn’t for my eyes.
And, at the risk of creating more mischief: the real issue is whether a camera is purse-able. For some of us, anyway 🙂
Kathy, I’m not sure how big your purse is. As you know, we use “purse” in a different sense over here. It’s a small thing for change and stuff. So if this is your purse, the X100VI is definitely not compatible. However, you might squeeze in the Ricoh if you have a particularly large purse. Now, if you are talking handbags in the British sense (that is, purses), some of them could outdo Billingham and Rock’n’Roll in capacity. In this case, you could carry an SL3 with the 24-90…
I think Ricoh should make a GR with a view finder as well as the current family of no viewfinder. There is an increasing hot market for truly compact cameras. I had owned a GR for about 6 months and hated the lack of viewfinder so cheerfully sold it.
I am so delighted with my X100 VI. I may at some point buy a Q43 to use in addition to the Fuji but for now I am content.
Brian,
One of the greatest burdens of running Macfilos is that I have to put up with both the Q3 43 and the X100VI. It’s all in the interests of bringing opinion to the notice of our faithful readers. But it’s a burden nevertheless. I sit looking at the shelf and wonder which beast to take out next. Tough life. And I haven’t even started on the M11-D, I’ve been too preoccupied behind the computer fettling the new Macfilos theme.
Mike
Same problem around here Mike. – but actually I do find it a problem! especially right now! It would be nice to settle down with one camera for a few months at least!
Your problem is that you have cameras which shall not be named. They are phantoms of the shelf. But interesting, nonetheless.
Hi Mike, do you know a midnight camera person that could pick me up Jono’s camera bag?
Not quite with you on this, Brian? Do you mean a person at Rock’n’Roll? Evris, for instance? I am sure he will be happy to supply.
It is a tough life picking a camera. 😀
Hi Mike, in Canada we have things like Midnight Auto which means stolen car parts. I am wanting a Midnight Camera person that can get Jono’s camera bag so that I can get next generation Leica equipment before it is announced. 😂
Ah, I see. Jono’s camera bag is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma (as Churchill said in 1939). His lips are sealed, and his camera bag is impenetrable.
Hi Mike, please get on with the M11-D 🙂 I have been waiting to read your views. I decided to get the M11-D and the steel rim reissue but haven’t done the deed (not my fault but that’s another story)
Strange, you should mention the Steel Rim. It is mounted on my new M11-D at the moment. I will familiarise myself with the camera next week if I can. Physically, it is a beauty, but then I’ve loved the previous versions of this camera. I don’t think you will make a mistake, even though I haven’t had much experience of the M11 version, After all, the results will be identical to those from the M11. And the format of a screenless camera is well known. If you like the idea, I’m sure you will be delighted.
We’ve had a flurry of new cameras this summer, including the D-Lux 8 and the Q3 43, to the point where I am feeling a bit punch drunk. And, in the middle of all these arrivals, the long-awaited Fuji fell into my lap. But you are right. I must get out and about now the new site is settled.
Thank you Mike. I feel the steel rim and even a summaron 28 are perfect lenses for M11-D. All small and discrete, except for the silver colour of these lenses. I wish Leica released black as the standard version and silver as a limited edition. The black versions of both these are beauties.
Q3 43 has distracted me for sure. The bokeh fall-off is to die for. But I cannot afford to buy 2 cameras, unless my weekend lotteries seal the deal.
As it happens, I also own the Summaron (modern version). Today (spurred by your chastisement) I walked down the River Thames bank with the M11-D and steel-rim Summilux in hand. Dull and dismal day, so I’m not holding my breath. However, I was reminded of one of the things I don’t like about both the Steel Rim and Summaron — the infinity lock. I know it’s got to be there because these are retro lenses, but it’s a serious hindrance when you lift the camera to take a picture and find the focus ring locked.
William Fagan (who knows about these things) did once explain the reason for the infinity lock. I thought it was maybe an aid to grabbing the old screw-mount lenses when mounting or unmounting. But that’s probably wrong.
Brian, I would LOVE a Ricoh GR with a viewfinder. Have never understood why they didn’t retain the optical viewfinder of the the original film GR series. It really didn’t take up much space and was quite usable. The lack of the finder is precisely why i haven’t bought a GR digital.
I have the tiny 28mm Ricoh optical viewfinder which, despite the size, is very useful. However, it does make the little camera rather awkward (no longer does it fit in the pocket of a pair of jeans) and it has a tendency to slide off. It’s so small, it’s easily lost. But, that said, it does make a difference.
Thanks for reminding me of the add-on solution.This also reminded me that I have somewhere in the back of the photo cupboard ( an almost forgotten) Voigtlander 25mm ‘snapshot’ Skopar which I once used on my M film cameras. It came with a similar little accessory viewfinder.I think I stopped using it though for all the reasons you mentioned – easy to slide off, catches on things in my bag, easily lost or misplaced. From what I remember both lens and finder got the job done but the color rendering of the Voigtlander was not up to standard compared to my Leica M glass ( as you might expect ) so I used it for Monochrome for a while.It might be a fun weekend experiment to mount this lens on my SL2s body and see what happens.
Fuji could not use F for fifth or S for sixth or seventh for obvious reasons, thus the switch to Roman numerals. But they could use E and N, then T comes up again, so back to Roman gives X. Oops, they already used that, too, in front. They’ll think of something as long as the cameras keep selling. Maybe start anew with X200?
Which thoughts brings me to consider this: When Nikon decided to ditch the F mount, why did they choose Z? They skipped a lot of the English alphabet and zoomed, if you’ll pardon the expression, to the end. The F mount reigned from 1959 to 2018, some 60 years. I am reading the tea leaves and concluding Nikon thinks stand-alone cameras won’t be around another 60 years. Z is the last mount they will introduce.
No?
It’s a mystery what goes on behind the doors of the Naming Committee. Not only do they have to consider their own particular brand, they have to avoid treading on the toes of anyone else in the photographic industry. And, in some cases, any industry. It’s well known that Elon Musk was frustrated in his desire to have his Telas in order as SEXY. Rumour has it that Mercedes-Benz claimed ownership of E, so Musk had to settle for SE3Y. [As Jonathan Slack points out (ibid), this should be S3XY. As the owner of a Model E, I mean Model 3, I should have checked this!]
It must be a minefield, and I have absolutely no idea why Nikon skipped from F to Z. As you say, it’s pretty final. They’d have been better at the end of the Greek alphabet with Omega.
I often wondered why Leica let Fuji get away with X100 when, presumably, Wetzlar had registered X1 a year or so before. But perhaps they didn’t, or didn’t care.
I recall reading that Nikon had to rename the Nikomat to Nikkormat to get past U. S. Patent office, because the name was too close to Zeiss Ikomat. Then why was the Nikon name itself OK? No one had heard of Zeiss Ikon?
Martin, Strange you should mention Zeiss Ikon and Nikon as being similar in sound. It had never occurred to me, but of course with the US pronunciation of Nykon it makes sense. With our Nickon it is less obvious, I suppose.
Mike, years ago I have heard some in the USA pronounce it Nickone or Nickonie (both with short I and long O). Your short I makes more sense when one considers it is based on Nippon. Nobody says Nypon. Of course once Paul Simon’s song came out, there was nothing that could be done.
Some Japan trivia for you. Nikon doesn’t mind if you pronounce it Nykon or Nickon depending on which part of the world you inhabit but Kneekon will probably get you closer to the correct Japanese sound.:) Same for the car – Kneesan.( Nissan) However if you say Mazda in Japan, no one will have a clue what you are talking about because all Japanese pronounce it as Matsuda and will write it that way if they use English despite the fact the logo says otherwise!
Stephen,
Wonderful that we have Macfilista in every corner of the world. I shall say Neeckon in future.
For those that don’t know, when it comes to a Z mount, at least in terms of nomenclature, Nikon were beaten to it by Mamiya which long ago had a Z mount for their range of lesser known film SLRs ( not the medium format cameras they were renowned for). I remember how curious I was at seeing those Z mount cameras stacked up on display in a Kyoto store window when they were still on sale back in the early 1990’s.There was also of course the Bronica Z camera devised by company founder Zenzaburo Yoshino. All photographic history now for those of us ancient or just old enough to remember such things. Martin, you could be right about Nikon thinking they may as well go straight to Z when choosing a letter for their digital series of cameras / mounts.We might just be cropping Leica Q style in the future.Who knows?