The Fujifilm X-H2S is NOT for Street Photography. I Kinda Love it Anyway.
As a Fujifilm street photographer who also happens to be a hybrid shooter and YouTube creator, I’ve been banging my head against the gear wall for years.
I ask myself, nearly any time I go out to shoot: “Which compromises am I willing to live with today?”
Cameras that excel at either photo or video usually make sacrifices in the other, and as someone who lives on the road with minimal gear, I can’t afford to have more than I absolutely need.
That’s caused me to think a lot about how I can get fantastic video without sacrificing too much of my still photography experience in the process, or if it’s even possible to do.
The Fujifilm X-H2s
Enter the H2s. What was my last-ditch effort to find a camera in the Fujifilm lineup that I find acceptable from a video and technical feature standpoint ended up completely changing my view of hybrid cameras and the modern SLR-style body in general.
I expected to hate it. Completely. For street photography and stills.
For context, my dream camera is the Fujifilm X-T5 as far as size/ergonomics go, only with acceptable autofocus/auto-exposure performance, better video features, smoother IBIS for video, and fewer megapixels.
If that existed, I’d buy 3 and never complain about a camera again.
So that’s why I thought I’d be disgusted using the H2s for stills, particularly street photography. It’s huge, it’s heavy, it’s missing the analog SS/ISO/Exp. comp dials I know and love, and it has the fully articulating screen instead of the tilt screen (yay video, boo photos).
Wasn’t Made for Me, or Street Photography
I knew full well that the Fuji H2s is NOT for street photography. This camera wasn’t made for me. It’s overkill in the video department, and not designed to be small or subtle or photography-first at all. It’s designed to do a job, and that’s totally fine.
I also knew I was deeply unhappy with the X-T5 in some pretty critical areas, and there was nowhere else for me to go within Fuji’s lineup that got me closer to their competitors’ offerings from a technical standpoint.
The X-H2s is my “I really don’t want to switch back to Sony, but I will do it if I have to” camera.
I buy all my gear used for both the planet and my wallet, and Fuji gear holds its value miraculously well.
So I figured, worst-case scenario, I’m “renting” the camera as long as I end up owning it, for just what I’ll lose in fees and shipping it out to a buyer on eBay.
Pretty sweet deal to test a cutting-edge, flagship camera for as long as you’d like for like $1-200, right?
Let’s Get This Out of the Way
If you can’t take a good photo with any of Fuji’s current cameras, that’s on you. No offense.
All of my critiques come from a place of deep love and appreciation. I want Fujifilm to be my everything camera. But I also realize that might be an impossible ask.
A camera that’s brilliant for video, enjoyable for stills, compact enough to carry all day, but doesn't skimp on pro-level video features?
That’s like asking for a unicorn with ND filters and film simulations built in.
MUCH to My Surprise…
I actually love the thing.
I will say…
I’d PREFER if it had different ergonomics.
I’d PREFER that it had the Sony A7RV ultra-flippy-deluxe screen.
I would LOVE if it were smaller and lighter.
BUT:
I can’t argue with the silky-smooth IBIS that was designed for video shooters and replaces the twitchy, jumpy IBIS I’d gotten used to from the T5.
I love how the AF-C actually works on this camera, not that I trust it completely in tougher situations yet.
I really like composing with the flippy screen. Low or high-angle shots are super easy, and I’m always sitting on some nasty patch of concrete somewhere trying to get weird compositions to work.
I am obsessed with the CFexpress card and how fast everything is.
I love that it mostly feels like what I’m used to from Fuji, just turned up a couple of notches.
I love the near-silent mechanical shutter (it also sounds cool as hell).
The custom shooting modes changed my life.
I have no idea who the little top LCD screen is for, but it looks cool, and it shows the battery charge level when the camera’s off, so that’s neat.
I love how I get all of the above without having to deal with overkill resolution. Honestly, anything past maybe 30MP is entirely unnecessary for me, and feels like it should just come in a different, higher-end stills camera geared toward landscape photographers and people who actually take advantage of it.*
*Ya know, like how every other camera brand positions the gear in their lineup??
Going Back to Sony Anyway/Switching Cameras Yet Again
If the T6 comes out sometime next year, it very well might bring me back to my absolute-favorite photography experience. Next time around, I just need it to shoot fantastic video, have passable autofocus/auto exposure…. and hopefully not even MORE unnecessary resolution.
Please, Fuji, I’m begging, and so is my hard drive.
Perhaps it’s because I expected to hate the H2s, but after a few months and thousands of photos, I’m in disbelief at how little I miss all the things I thought made me love Fujifilm’s cameras.
I think part of it is still owning film cameras and an X-Pro 3. I.e., not having to go entirely cold turkey on shooting with cameras that feel like cameras.
Or maybe I’m just getting more pragmatic about the way I view my gear.
The fact that the Fujifilm X-H2s is so far ahead of the rest of Fuji’s lineup tech-wise is such a relief, at this point, that it’s softened the blow I thought I’d be taking in the stills department.
Maybe I’m also utterly sick of looking around at camera gear and just want something that works, so I can stop thinking about it and just make stuff?
But if anything, the Fuji X-H2s makes me more willing to switch to Sony, ironically, because if I get on with this camera, I can most definitely learn to love an A7whatever.
Try and tell them apart. You can’t.
I’ve been joking that the H2s finally has similar autofocus to what I had in my Sony a6400, which came out in 2019, but it’s depressingly true.
The frustration I still hang onto, which Fuji has yet to overcome, is being able to even remotely compete with what Sony, Canon, and Nikon shooters have taken for granted for years.
I expect that frustration to be assuaged with the next few bodies that get released having used the H2s and knowing now that it IS possible for Fuji to make a camera that gets out of the damn way.
If it isn’t, I’ll simply go back to super-computer cameras and $2,000 lens land, but I don’t… really want to?
So, please let the next few releases be solid.
The Future: Probably Still A Two-Camera Setup
I think I’ll always own two cameras. Mainly for redundancy, but also partly for choice.
You just can’t get everything all in one place. I don’t expect camera manufacturers to create a camera for little old me, so it is what it is.
I think main camera + fun camera is a classic and super easy combo to justify, and opens up a ton of options/reduces compromises.
So I’ll keep doing that unless something out there proves me wrong, or Fuji contacts me directly to design their next camera.
So, What Compromise Do You Make?
There’s no perfect hybrid solution, at least, not yet. Or not for me, anyway.
But the X-H2S comes surprisingly close. It’s not a dream camera, but it might just be the most practical tool I’ve used for doing everything well enough.
For now, that’s a compromise I can live with.
Let me know: what are you willing to give up for a camera that does it all?
Smaller and lighter for better handling, or put up with the bulk to get the footage you want?
Sell all your gear and take up painting instead?
My inbox is always open.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
