Fujifilm X100vi - to buy or not to buy?

Is it worth the hype? Is it worth buying? I'm no longer a Fujifilm ambassador so I have no skin in the game and I’m completely unbiased - but Fujifilm has lent me one of these cameras to try for a month or two. I'm not going to use the word 'review' or 'test' here - because I don't believe I'm qualified to review or test a camera and I certainly won't be boring you with lots of tedious techy info - I'll just give you my initial thoughts.

My first impression is that it's a little heavier than the outgoing V, which gives it a much-needed feeling of more solidity. Ergonomically it's pretty much the same as the V which I guess is slightly disappointing as I think we were all expecting more innovation - but on the other hand you could say why change a winning formula? It's certainly a good looking camera, presumably a big part of the appeal to Ticktockers and influencers (I suspect many of them don't even take pictures with it, but that's for another article).

The biggest change is that it has a 40-megapixel sensor and 6 stops of IBIS. The pixels don't concern me all that much but I can see the IBIS being useful in street photography, especially in low light. But what about the shooting? There are no big surprises here and this camera performed exactly as I expected. The film simulations are pretty good if you like that sort of thing - and I'm not fussed about them to be honest - although I did quite like the look of 'Nostalgic Neg' and of course the Acros with red filter if I'm shooting in black & white.

Overall it's a pretty fine camera. One gripe is that you have to pay an extra £50 or so for the very useful weatherproofing and I think they should have made weatherproofing as standard - but I guess this won’t be a deal-breaker. Battery life seems improved - great - and the AF is certainly better although that's something I wouldn't use much on the camera as I'd be zone focusing most of the time.

So . . . is it worth buying? It depends. If it were me and I had the X100F then this would be a significant upgrade in most respects. But would I upgrade from the X100V? Probably not - I'd hang on for the next iteration - or maybe even wait for the Xpro4 - when and if that ever comes! But if you do plan to buy one, good luck - I spoke to a couple of major retailers this week and they're talking about delivery in July so, if you intend to buy one, get your order in now.