Fujifilm X half: Is it the perfect family camera? • Hacker News Board

Re: Fujifilm X half: Is it the perfect family camera?

#31

Post by criddell » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 5:44 PM UTC

thejarren wrote: post #23

naet wrote: post #20

I actually have a ton of toy cameras and I love them, so I bet I would love that Fuji too. It's right up my alley in terms of what I like: something a little silly and fun that is easily portable and can take pictures. The only thing is price is way too high for what it is. As much fun as I would have with it, $800 is too much for what it is. And that is definitely too high for something you're handing to your kids.…

Just a word of warning, thermal printer paper has dangerous levels of BPA.

Is that actually true? There are millions of cashiers in the US who handle receipts all day. Is the BPA exposure causing problems for them?

Re: Fujifilm X half: Is it the perfect family camera?

#32

Post by Karrot_Kream » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 5:45 PM UTC

giraffe_lady wrote: post #13

chamsom wrote: post #9

According to this essay, the options for his kids are a $50 toy "camera" and an $850 niche camera possibly targeted at people who usually own the $2,000 line of the same brand. Surely there's something in between? I can't help but wonder if this is a purchase for himself.

Photography nerds rarely bring this up but pretty obviously the best camera for kids is an old smartphone. A 2020-era iphone has a better sensor and is cheaper than this thing, assuming they don't already have one around. Photo transfer problem is solved, and the interface is already familiar to kids for better or worse.

Folks who are into photography and want to introduce it to their family/kids want to gently introduce the skills of photography while enabling their interest in taking pictures. Smartphones are great at just "taking pictures" but don't offer a lot of creative input. Table stakes like depth-of-field and color balance are either impossible to configure or very difficult on a smartphone. Controlling exposure is very difficult as most smartphones try to just aim for neutral exposure. Software can change exposure settings, and on Android I use a paid camera app that gives me control of shutter speed and ISO to control exposure.

But you're correct that if picture quality and ease of use are the main points of contention, a used iPhone or used Pixel phone is probably all you need to get sharp pictures and decent auto-HDR.

That's not to say that an $850 Fuji body is the only way forward. I'd probably buy a younger kid a used point-and-shoot and buy an older kid one of those cheaper compacts. That Fuji body is almost as expensive as a real mirrorless that I shoot with for paid work.

Re: Fujifilm X half: Is it the perfect family camera?

#33

Post by Karrot_Kream » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 5:48 PM UTC

PaulHoule wrote: post #14

chamsom wrote: post #9

According to this essay, the options for his kids are a $50 toy "camera" and an $850 niche camera possibly targeted at people who usually own the $2,000 line of the same brand. Surely there's something in between? I can't help but wonder if this is a purchase for himself.

He says he doesn't collect cameras but instead he sells them. My take is that the bottom tranche of cheap cameras is awful but that you have a huge selection of used cameras on Ebay, in his shoes I would have expected to get something used but good for $200 or so. One of the reasons I go around with two Sonys in my backpack is that I can go to an event and take action shots while I put the other body with a 90mm lens…

Do you let guests shoot the 90mm in full auto mode? Personally I've found that the general population has a really hard time operating a camera. My partner and I can both do photography though I'm more serious about it and we frequently travel with cameras. When we want someone else to take pictures, even on Auto mode I find others have a hard time. If we're in a hurry and want a picture taken by someone else we just hand them a phone.

Re: Fujifilm X half: Is it the perfect family camera?

#34

Post by mbreese » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 5:54 PM UTC

duxup wrote: post #2

I was curious so I looked at the price, it's absurd. $850, that price point is dead in the water to me. I may as well move up to other Fuji cameras that provide far more for not that much more money. It's a "perfect family camera" if you don't consider the price...

Exactly. Phone cameras have completely absorbed the middle-ground for cameras. You either can find a cheap one where you don't care as much about the quality (for kids, or times when the phone could get damaged). Or you can find expensive ones like this where the fact that it's not a phone is the main feature. Any middle-range point and shoot has been out competed by the the phone you probably already have with you. That leaves the higher end DSLR style camera as the only other market segment for a standalone camera.

My kid recently asked about getting a stand alone camera. I found this one, but at that price, they needed to have a really good reason. In the end, I told them to use their phone anyway.

“¯\_(ツ)_/¯“

Re: Fujifilm X half: Is it the perfect family camera?

#35

Post by smugglerFlynn » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 5:55 PM UTC

I think what most replies miss is the emphasis this article makes on the experience, not the pricing.

There might be whole new market in between X-half, toy cameras and iPhones. Try shooting anything except your phone, and you will drown in ISO settings, different photography modes, and dealing with sloppy "effects" if you want to adjust any colors in-camera. Experience just is not there.

If what author is describing hits home for more families, and someone can make the same package for quarter of the price, it could be an instant hit. Now it is just an empty niche with a single [and arguably overpriced] solution in it.

Re: Fujifilm X half: Is it the perfect family camera?

#36

Post by majormajor » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 5:55 PM UTC

giraffe_lady wrote: post #13

chamsom wrote: post #9

According to this essay, the options for his kids are a $50 toy "camera" and an $850 niche camera possibly targeted at people who usually own the $2,000 line of the same brand. Surely there's something in between? I can't help but wonder if this is a purchase for himself.

Photography nerds rarely bring this up but pretty obviously the best camera for kids is an old smartphone. A 2020-era iphone has a better sensor and is cheaper than this thing, assuming they don't already have one around. Photo transfer problem is solved, and the interface is already familiar to kids for better or worse.

A 2020-era iPhone has good default-setting software. That's good for learning about framing.

Beyond framing, though... The sensor is pretty meh; use an app like Halide to take fully-unprocessed raw shots (not still-Apple-processed Raw out of the camera app) to compare. The processing is good, with a caveat - it's good at producing a certain look, but there's limited ability to go beyond that with the default software.

Still, old iPhone + Halide will let you learn a decent bit about exposure and shutter speed and ISO. Not being able to control aperture is gonna be your biggest drawback in terms of learning about photography. But having a sensor that's a bit less forgiving than a Fuji one might be good for playing with - make the hard decisions about framing instead of just assuming everything will always be well-exposed. (I haven't used the X-half, but a considerably cheaper used X-whatever would be much better than a 2020 iPhone for non-computationally-processed shots).

Re: Fujifilm X half: Is it the perfect family camera?

#37

Post by LeoPanthera » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 5:55 PM UTC

I don't know about "family", but those looking for a camera for kids should consider an old iPhone with "assistive access" turned on. This is what the Camera app looks like in that mode:

https://support.apple.com/guide/assistive-access-iphone/came...

Assistive access is an amazing mode for kids and adults with accessibility problems and I'm constantly surprised that Apple doesn't promote it more.

Re: Fujifilm X half: Is it the perfect family camera?

#38

Post by dewey » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 5:56 PM UTC

ginko wrote: post #30

khalladay wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you expect digital cameras to provide cellular internet access for free?

Unironically why not? With how much high-end cameras cost, adding a single-purpose data-plan on top can't be _that_ expensive.

The battery life of a camera doing basically constant uploads of > 10 MB images over cellular, potentially even in bad reception areas will be awful. It seems much more sensible to just offer a good wifi experience.

Kindles offering global reception back in the days for downloading a few kb of ebooks every few weeks are a very different game.

Re: Fujifilm X half: Is it the perfect family camera?

#39

Post by MarkusWandel » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 6:08 PM UTC

My own kids are far from neurotypical, but I imagine this is universal: Their preferred photo taking device is any kind of old smartphone or tablet. Nothing can beat the huge viewfinder and frankly, the ease of use.

And that's not "monkey see, monkey do" either. Daddy still uses real cameras. This is their own, natural preference.

Re: Fujifilm X half: Is it the perfect family camera?

#40

Post by kylehotchkiss » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 6:09 PM UTC

It's so cute. I love the touch of analog on the rear display. I have a XPro3 myself, which was another line they tried these analog features on, and it has been a wonderful camera! If I had to upgrade, the X-E5 is the only other model that appeals to me for now.

Also: iPhone cameras don't seem like they're ever going to replace a hard camera for me. They can take incredibly photos, but the processing is just so HDR heavy and approaching Canon's sterile level of accuracy, they don't have the character I want in photos I'd print and display around my home.