Moment

Is the Fujifilm X-M5 Camera Worth Talking About?

After testing the Fujifilm X-M5, here's a brain dump of my first impressions. Spoiler: it's great for social media.

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7.5MomentScore

Honestly, the camera rocks. But this is because I love everything Fujifilm makes; you can't go wrong with their mirrorless camera setups. The brand continuously improves camera specs while looking into its customer fanbase to strengthen its shortcomings. The X-M5 opened my eyes to new shooting habits and molded itself as a top-choice camera for brand shoots, Instagram video carousels, or TikToks.

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Honestly, it's a good camera because everything Fujifilm makes is good.

When I first heard the specs about the Fujifilm X-M5, I didn't think it was necessarily something for me. I don't vlog, and I already have an X100VI and an X-S20, which are compact enough to use as an everyday video camera. When I got to playing around with it and seeing how small it really was, though, I got hooked.

I didn't think I needed 6.2k videos until I started making more content. I'm usually cropping to fit 9:16 in post-production for social media platforms, but this camera allows you to film vertically without turning the camera sideways. It's also perfect to use in tandem with the TG-BT1 tripod grip.

The microphone direction setting is truly impressive. It enables you to select the precise sound pickup location for your camera. The flexibility is there, whether you prefer surround, front, back, or front and back (excluding left and right). Through extensive testing, I found that it consistently captures clear sound without disruptions in most scenarios.

Should any adjustments be necessary, the sound quality will be significantly enhanced. For instance, I recorded a video near a busy highway, and with some editing, my voice came through crystal clear. I'm stoked with how well this feature performs in real-world situations.

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This is the most affordable way to get into camera-to-cloud with frame.io. At first, I didn't think most users would use this camera, but arguably, these features might be used the most. Vloggers could instantly upload their videos to their editors back home and have a full day's worth of vlog shots and edits by the end of the day.

I have a love-hate relationship with this camera's size. Its large size makes it difficult to hold with one hand, especially when using bigger lenses like the new XF 16-55mm f2.8 II. I had to hold it by the lens itself. However, I think a smaller grip would be great, and I've already spotted some aftermarket options that should work well.

The autofocus feature on the X-M5 camera has been performing exceptionally well for me. Despite recent threads about autofocus issues, I have yet to experience this problem. As soon as I enable tracking, the autofocus function works as it should.

This camera was made for streaming. All you need is a single USB-C cable, which can be used as a webcam without requiring an extra capture card.

Although I didn't have the opportunity to use the included 15-45mm lens, I mainly utilized the 8mm lens to test vlogging in 9:16 orientation and to capture as much content as possible within the frame.

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An image without an alt, whoops
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