The Fujifilm X-E5 as an X100VI alternative: which 23mm lens?

I owned the X100VI. I loved it for a while, and then I sold it. I kept the Fujifilm X-E5 instead. I still have both 23mm lenses on my shelf, the little f/2.8 pancake and the older f/2, plus a few other focal lengths, and I shoot them all. This is not a spec sheet from someone who read the brochure. This is what I learned after living with these cameras and lenses, and why, when I had to choose, the X-E5 stayed.

Why I sold the X100VI

Let me be fair to the X100VI first, because it is a special camera and I do not want to talk it down. It has a fixed 23mm f/2 lens, which is a 35mm view in full frame terms. It has a hybrid viewfinder that switches between optical and electronic. It has a leaf shutter that is very quiet, a small built-in flash, and a built-in ND filter. These are real tricks, and the X-E5 does not copy all of them. If those things are your world, keep reading, but you may already know your answer.

I will say one honest thing about the leaf shutter, though. Everybody admires it, and for good reason, it is almost silent. But I am strange, maybe, because I actually like the clicky mechanical shutter of the X-E5 more. That small click tells me the photo is taken. It is feedback my hands and ears can feel, and on the street it puts me in a rhythm. The X100VI is so quiet that sometimes I was not sure if I got the shot. So the thing many people love about the X100VI is a thing I was happy to trade.

For me, three things pulled harder in the other direction, and they are the reason my X100VI is gone and my X-E5 is still in my bag.

One, I wanted to change lenses. The fixed 23mm is the whole point of the X100VI, and it is also a wall. Some days I want 35mm on my subject, some days I want the wide feel of 18mm, and some days I want the soft portrait look of the 56mm. On the X100VI I could only stand there and crop in my head. On the X-E5 I just change the glass. I am not the only one who feels this way. Tim Coleman at TechRadar put the small truth of it very well.

"For many, I think simply having the option to use another lens is enough of a pull to opt for the X-E5 over the X100VI. Sure, it might just be for five percent of your shots, but that's still enough, especially if it will be your only camera."

Two, the film simulation dial. The X-E5 has a new dial on the top plate with a tiny window that shows you which look you are shooting. It sounds like a small thing. It is not. I turn it to Classic Chrome for the street, to Acros for a grey day, to REALA ACE when I just want honest colour, and I never dig into a menu. The X100VI has the same film simulations, but you scroll to them in software. The X-E5 puts the choice under my thumb, and it changed how much I play with the looks.

"There's a cute window on the top of the camera that displays which look you're shooting with, that's a new feature, and a dial for making your selection."

Three, and I know this one is only my taste, the X-E5 simply looks better to me. The clean top plate, the flat rangefinder shape, the way the dials sit. It feels more like a small, serious camera and less like a fashion object. TechRadar felt the same and called it more premium than the X100VI, almost a baby version of the expensive GFX100RF. I hold it and I want to take it out. That matters more than any spec.

What stays exactly the same

Here is the part that made the choice easy. When you give up the X100VI for the X-E5, you do not give up the pictures. Both cameras use the same 40.2 megapixel X-Trans 5 HR sensor. Both have in-body stabilisation, the X-E5 rated a little higher at 7 stops. Both run the same X-Processor 5 with the same colour science. Put a 23mm lens on the X-E5 and the files look like X100VI files, because they basically are.

"Under the hood, there's essentially nothing to choose between the X-E5 and X100VI, they have pretty much the same image-making capabilities and processing power."

There is a weight surprise too. The X-E5 body is 445g. The little 23mm pancake adds only 90g. That is about 535g together, almost the same as the 521g X100VI with its fixed lens. So I kept the compact feeling and gained a lens mount. I did not have to choose between small and flexible.

The real question is the lens

This is where most people get stuck, and it is the question I get asked the most. Fuji makes two small 23mm primes, and both are weather resistant and cheap by camera standards. I own both. I did not buy one and return the other. I keep both because they do different jobs, and once I explain how I use them, the choice may get clearer for you.

The 23mm f/2.8 pancake, my daylight lens

The XF 23mm f/2.8 R WR is the new pancake, and it is the kit lens Fuji sells with the X-E5. It weighs 90g and is about 23mm long. It is tiny. This is the lens that lives on my camera in the daytime and outdoors. When the light is good, f/2.8 is plenty, and the small size means the camera disappears into my jacket. This is the lens that makes the X-E5 feel like an X100VI, and reviewers keep saying the same. Mike Mander at Beau Photo tested the pair and was surprised.

"Basically the interchangeable lens X-E5 with the new 23mm is just as compact as the fixed lens X100VI, which is quite a feat."

The sharpness is the part that surprised me the most. For a lens this small, it is very sharp, and I am genuinely impressed every time I zoom into the files. Beau Photo found it sharp corner to corner at every aperture, and Digital Camera World said the centre is excellent wide open. Hillary Grigonis at DCW called it the travel lens for the system, and I agree with her for daylight work.

"The Fujifilm XF 23mm f/2.8 R WR is the ideal travel lens for the X System."

Now the honest part, because I promised you my real experience. The pancake is slow to focus. It uses an older DC motor, not the quick, quiet stepping motor of the faster lens. Beau Photo said it plainly, that it is definitely slower than the 23mm f/2. Keith Wee noticed the motor makes noise you will hear in video. In good light, on calm subjects, none of this bothers me. When the light drops or my subject moves, I feel it, and that is exactly when I switch lenses.

"The internal focusing mechanism powered by a DC motor delivers quick and generally accurate autofocus, though there is audible noise that may be noticeable in video recording."

There is one more thing I want to warn you about, because it caught me off guard. This pancake can make the camera feel slow to start up and slow to shut down. The reason is in the design. The whole lens moves as one group to focus, and it physically retracts when you power the camera off and pushes back out when you power it on. So there is a little wait while the glass travels. I am not imagining it, and I am not the only one. Amateur Photographer's Andy Westlake, who used to be the technical editor at DPReview, describes the same mechanism.

"Like many pancake designs, the entire optical group moves back and forwards for focusing. The lens retracts automatically when the camera is turned off."

Beau Photo felt the same drag on the other end. Mike Mander noticed the lens is disproportionately slow to reset to infinity when you switch to playback or shut the camera down, with about two seconds of whirring and shuffling before it lets you in. Put any other lens on the X-E5 and it is nearly instant. So this is a pancake trait, not a broken camera. It is the price of that flat little shape, and once you know it is coming, you learn to live with it.

"There is about two seconds of whirring and shuffling as the lens resets before the camera will enter playback mode, which in practice is actually a frustratingly long delay."

The 23mm f/2 R WR, my low-light and blur lens

The XF 23mm f/2 R WR is the older lens, and it is the one I reach for when the sun goes down or when I want more blur behind my subject. It weighs 180g, so double the pancake, but it is still small. It opens one stop wider at f/2. That one stop is the same aperture as the X100VI's fixed lens, so if you truly want to match the X100VI, this lens is the honest match, not the pancake. It focuses with a stepping motor that is faster and much quieter than the pancake.

This is the lens I use for my kids and for video, and the two go together. Kids do not hold still. With the f/2 in continuous autofocus, the camera locks onto a small running child and stays glued to them as they move, so I get a keeper instead of a blur. The pancake can do continuous autofocus too, but it hunts more, it lags a little, and you hear that DC motor whirring the whole time. The f/2 is fast and nearly silent, so it keeps up with a moving toddler and it does not put motor noise into my video clips. If you shoot family life or any video at all, that quiet, quick focus is worth more than the smaller size of the pancake.

The extra stop is not only about light. It is about the background. Tim Coleman at TechRadar shoots the X100VI a lot and said the thing I feel every time I open up to f/2.

"I've used the X100VI a lot, and gravitate to its f/2 aperture, particularly to defocus backgrounds. You'd be surprised at the difference between f/2 and f/2.8."

One thing the X100VI had that I did miss is the built-in ND filter. It lets you shoot wide open in bright sun without blowing out the picture. The X-E5 does not have one. So I solved it the simple way. I screw a variable ND filter onto the 23mm f/2, and I turn it until the light is right. Now I can shoot f/2 at noon and keep that soft background, the same as the X100VI gave me for free. It is one small extra thing to carry, but it gives me back the last trick I was missing.

The cost of the f/2 is size. It is longer, it wears a little hood, and it breaks the flat pocketable shape that made the pancake feel like an X100VI in the first place. So the f/2 gives me speed, light, and blur, and asks for a bit more space in the bag. For me that is a fair deal, on the right day.

One honest weakness of the f/2 is close focus. When I get right up to the minimum focus distance and shoot wide open, it goes a little soft. This is well known about this lens, it has always been a bit dreamy up close at f/2. But I can work with it, and often I even like it. I take close-up photos of flowers and other small things at f/2 near the minimum distance, almost like a soft little macro, and the gentle softness fits the subject. If you want clinical, sharp close-ups, stop down or use the pancake. If you want a soft, glowing flower shot, the f/2 up close is lovely.

So which lens? I keep both, and here is my rule

I will not pretend I chose one. I did not. But I do not carry both every day, and my rule is simple. In the daytime and outdoors, the pancake stays on. It is small, it is sharp, it is enough, and it keeps the camera light and quiet on the street. When I know I am shooting in low light, or indoors, or when I want that soft, creamy background behind a face, the f/2 goes on instead. Daylight is f/2.8. Blur and dark are f/2. That one sentence covers ninety percent of my choices.

If you can only buy one to start, think about what you shoot. Mostly bright streets, travel, and daylight walks? Buy the pancake with the kit and be happy. A lot of evenings, bars, indoor family, or you love shallow depth of field? Buy the f/2. Both are cheap enough that most of us end up with both anyway.

A small flash brings back the last missing piece

There is one more thing the X-E5 dropped from the X100VI, and it is easy to forget until you need it. The X100VI has a tiny built-in flash. The X-E5 has none. On its own that is a small thing, but it matters most with the pancake. When the light gets low indoors and I do not want to swap to the f/2, a little pop of flash lets me keep the small f/2.8 on the camera and still get a clean, sharp frame. Fill flash in daylight is also lovely for faces against a bright sky. So a small flash is the accessory that fills the last gap between the X-E5 and the X100VI.

I use the Viltrox Vintage flash. It is tiny, it looks the part on a retro body, it does TTL so the camera works out the power for me, and it charges over USB-C. My only problem with it is me. I do not always carry it, and every time I leave it at home in the evening I wish I had it in my pocket. If you buy the X-E5 with the pancake, buy a small flash at the same time and just keep it in the bag.

If you want other small options, there are a few good ones that pair well with the X-E5 without adding real weight:

• Viltrox Vintage Z1 Pro or Z2 — retro-styled, TTL, USB-C charging, and cheap at around $60. This is the family my own flash comes from.
• Godox iT30Pro — very small, TTL, with a built-in rechargeable battery that recycles almost instantly. About the size of Fuji's own little flashes.
• Godox TT350F — slightly bigger, but full TTL, high-speed sync, and 2.4GHz radio if you ever want the flash off-camera. Runs on two AA cells.
• Nissin i40 — still compact, but more power when you need to bounce it off a ceiling for indoor family shots.
• Fujifilm EF-X8 or EF-X20 — Fuji's own tiny flashes, simple and native, if you want to stay in the family.

All of these are small enough that there is no excuse. A flash the size of a matchbox turns the pancake into a proper low-light and fill-light tool, and it is the cheapest way to close the last real gap with the X100VI.

What the reviewers and the community say

I did not want you to trust only me, so here is where the wider conversation lands. The clearest voice is Kevin Mullins, a former Fujifilm ambassador who has shot every X100 since the first one. He still loves the X100VI, and he is honest that for himself he would keep it. But when he is asked what most people should buy, his answer is the one I lived.

"For a lot of photographers, the Fujifilm X-E5 with a small prime will be the smarter, more versatile choice."

Fstoppers made the point that the fixed lens of the X100VI is not only a limit, it is also a teacher, because one focal length forces you to move and to look harder. That is true, and it is why I still love 35mm. But the X-E5 lets me have that discipline when I want it, and an exit when I do not.

"The fixed focal length forces movement and interaction with the subject, which can improve your shots."

On YouTube the debate is loud, and most of it points the same way I went. A few videos worth your time, from people who actually shot both cameras:

• Gordon Laing (Cameralabs) — "Fujifilm X-E5 REVIEW: X100 killer?"
• FilmedByFresh, an actual X100VI owner — "As an X100VI User, Here's What I Think About the X-E5"
• Wilkinson Cameras — "Why I'd Buy the X-E5 Instead of the X100VI"
• Louscapes — "Fuji X-E5 vs X100VI: Which One is Right For You?"

What r/fujifilm and the forums think

Reddit is where the real talk happens, so I read the long threads too. In a big one titled "Is the XE5 really just an X100VI with interchangeable lenses??", the calmest answers all land in the same place. It depends on whether this is your only camera or a second camera. This comment, from someone who owned the X100V, then the X100VI, then moved to the X-E5 like I did, matched my own thinking.

"The X100VI is an unbeatable second camera if you already have another interchangeable lens camera you primarily use. If you only plan to have one, the X-E5 is a more versatile single camera."

The honest people there also keep the X100VI's real edges on the table, and you should hear them. The leaf shutter, the built-in ND, the flash, the optical finder, and one practical thing I had not thought about. Because it has no removable lens, the X100VI often gets past venue security that bans interchangeable-lens cameras. Still, when people ask which to actually buy today, the room leans X-E5.

"The XE5 is the right camera for most people. The X100 is a great camera, but it is a niche camera that went viral."

The DPReview forums add a sharper, more technical version of the same story. In a thread titled "X-E5 for better AF than X100VI? 23mm F2.8?", a shooter named Lukas explained he wanted to trade his X100VI for the X-E5 for better autofocus and the freedom to change lenses, because the X100VI's slow lens motor kept missing his three-year-old in low light. That is the exact reason I switch to the f/2. A veteran member gave him the fair, cold answer, and it is worth knowing before you buy.

"I don't expect the X-E5 with the XF 23/2.8 lens to be better than the X100VI with its 23/2 lens for autofocus, as it is a stop slower. Both cameras are still in the same generation. Of course the X-E5 will be faster with the F2 primes."

So the community and the pros agree with what my own hands told me. The pancake matches the X100VI for size, not for focus speed. If autofocus in low light is your worry, the answer is not a different body, it is the faster f/2 lens. That is the whole reason I keep both. You can read these threads yourself:

• r/fujifilm — "Is the XE5 really just an X100VI with interchangeable lenses??"
• r/fujifilm — "From X100vi to xe5 - very happy"
• DPReview forums — "X-E5 for better AF than X100VI? 23mm F2.8?"

The honest verdict, from someone who owned both

Let me talk about money, because it is not a clean win. The X-E5 body is $1,699, and the pancake kit is about $1,899. The X100VI is around $1,599 when you can find one. So on paper the X-E5 costs a little more. But you are not buying the same thing. You are buying a camera you can actually get, the same sensor and colours, and a lens mount that opens the whole Fuji system. To me that is worth the small extra, and I paid it happily.

Here is my simple advice, after owning both. If you must have the hybrid viewfinder, the leaf shutter, and the built-in ND, and you never want to think about lenses again, keep the X100VI. It is a beautiful, coherent camera and nobody will blame you. But if you are like me, and the freedom to change lenses matters, and you enjoy turning that film simulation dial, and you want a camera you are proud to hold, the X-E5 is not a sad substitute. It is the camera I chose over the one everybody wants. Put the pancake on for daylight, keep the f/2 for the dark, and go make pictures.

If you want the full spec breakdowns, ratings, and sample-by-sample detail on each body, I reviewed both of them in depth:

• My full Fujifilm X-E5 review
• My full Fujifilm X100VI review

Where to buy

If this helped you decide, here are the pieces of the kit I talked about. These are Amazon links and I earn a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. It is a nice way to support the site.

The cameras

• Fujifilm X-E5The body I kept. 40MP, IBIS, film simulation dial.Buy →
• Fujifilm X100VIThe fixed-lens original, if the leaf shutter and hybrid finder win you over.Buy →

The two 23mm lenses

• Fujifilm XF 23mm f/2.8 R WRThe 90g pancake. My daylight lens, and the one that mimics the X100VI shape.Buy →
• Fujifilm XF 23mm f/2 R WRThe faster lens. My pick for low light, video, kids, and background blur.Buy →

Small flashes

• Viltrox Vintage Z1 Pro flashThe retro TTL flash I use. Tiny, USB-C, cheap.Buy →
• Godox iT30Pro flashVery small TTL with a fast-recycling built-in battery.Buy →
• Godox TT350F flashA bit bigger, adds high-speed sync and off-camera radio.Buy →
• Nissin i40 flashCompact but more power for bouncing indoors.Buy →