(Credit: Jim Fisher)
The Fujifilm X Half is one of the hottest compact camera releases of the year. It's sitting near the top of the sales charts and makes a direct appeal to young photographers who have embraced using small cameras for everyday photos instead of smartphones.
Despite some frustrations, I had a good time testing the X Half. But part of me kept wondering if I'd have even more fun with a much older Fuji, the X20 compact that I reviewed way back in 2013. It's a camera I haven't touched in a dozen years, but the X Half's optical viewfinder and retro chic exterior made me think about the X20 all over again. Is it worth seeking out and using today, and what if Fuji updated the camera for today's market? It might be a pipe dream, but considering Canon just reissued its Elph 360 HS and Panasonic rehoused existing internals for the recent ZS99, it's not completely out of the realm of possibility.
Since the used camera market is active, I figured it was worth checking to see if the X20 could be snatched up today. Lo and behold, I easily got my hands on the vintage compact. It holds up surprisingly well given its age, and includes a few features newer cameras can't match.
The Used Camera Market Is Active and Thriving
I pointed my web browser at KEH.com, the largest used camera store in the US, and typed "Fujifilm X20" into the search box. Much to my chagrin, the camera surfaced immediately. KEH had several copies in various states of repair, with excellent condition options hovering in the $600 to $700 range. The X20 cost $599.95 at its time of release, and given the weakening of the dollar and Gen Z's love affair with retro point-and-shoot cameras, that seems downright reasonable.
I reached out to KEH to see if it would be willing to provide an X20 for this story, and a week later, I had a silver version in hand (the X20 was also made in black). Note that while KEH provided me with a free loaner, it's going back once I finish the story. I've personally bought from KEH in years past and have always had a good experience, but this is not a sponsored piece.
You can also find the X20 on eBay. It recently sold for $300 to $700, and there are plenty of copies listed as I write this.
What's It Like to Use the X20 in 2025?
So, what makes the X20 stick out in my mind among the hundreds of other small cameras I've reviewed over the years? I'll call out its optical viewfinder and mechanically zooming lens as its two standouts, and its stylish exterior is an added bonus. Optical viewfinders (OVF) were common features on upmarket compacts at the time; contemporaries like the Nikon Coolpix P7100 and Canon PowerShot G16 also had them, but follow-up models like the Fujifilm X30 and Nikon P7800 switched to EVFs.
The X20's OVF is a treat to use today. It shows a decently large picture to the eye and zooms in and out along with the lens. Framing is far from precise: The camera's lens captures a wider view than what's shown in the finder, and the lens itself blocks out some of the bottom right corner. I'm used to using Leica M rangefinder cameras, so neither bothers me that much, as they are worthwhile trades to get a clear view of your scene.
The mechanical zoom lens is a rare feature. Most compacts have power zooms that use a rocker around the shutter to zoom in and out—if you've used a pocket camera, you're familiar. But the X20's zoom control is around the lens itself. To me, this is a better method as it provides real tactile feedback, and it's much quicker to change focal lengths. I'm used to interchangeable lens cameras with mechanically zooming lenses, so it's a positive to have the same tactile experience with a compact. The X20 covers a 28-112mm angle with a floating F2-2.8 aperture. It's no match for today's smartphones when it comes to low light or background blur, but no compact cameras from its era are.
The X20 has a leg up over smartphones when it comes to flash photography. It has an old-school xenon gas flash that fires in the blink of an eye to light up a scene and freeze motion far more effectively than a smartphone's LED flash. That also gives it a leg-up over the X Half, which is notably missing a xenon flash, the biggest feature young photographers crave. And since the X20 puts its mechanical shutter inside the lens, it supports flash at speeds as fast as 1/2,000-second, which makes it easier for the camera to fill in shadows and balance the ambient in bright sunlight, as well as to freeze subjects in time when using it to light up a scene in a dimly lit interior. On the downside, the X20 tends to fire its flash just a little too brightly, and it's not easy to adjust power in the moment. Instead, you have to dive into the menu to adjust its strength.
In addition to the built-in flash, the X20 has a hot shoe so it can work with a more powerful add-on or off-camera lighting. That's probably more versatility than you need in a pocket camera, but it beats the X Half, which has a built-in LED and no support at all for an external strobe.
The rear screen is a letdown versus fresher cameras. I'm happy with the display when viewing it at eye level; even though its 460k dot resolution is paltry compared with today's releases, it shows a sharp enough picture. But off-angle viewing is tough, though, as is visibility in direct light, and the screen doesn't have any sort of articulation or touch control. It's one of the more dated aspects of the X20.
I have mixed feelings about the X20's picture quality. Its lens is sharp and bright, and images look very good in decent light, but show some grain when you hit the upper end of its automatic sensitivity range (ISO 1600-3200). The flash comes in handy for party pics and indoor snapshots and gets you the look that's in vogue at the moment, but I've no doubt that a newer sensor that does better in the upper register could cut back on the spotlight look that you get with the flash in a truly dark interior. Granted, smartphones now do a killer job in these situations thanks to their respective night modes, which take a bunch of short exposures in rapid sequence and stack them together in one image.
The X20 is also missing a lot of Fuji's newer Film Simulations. It only includes the original basic set (Provia/Standard, Velvia/Vivid, Astia/Soft, Pro Negative Hi and Standard, Monochrome, Sepia), so it lacks some of my favorite additions like Acros, Classic Negative, and Reala Ace, and it doesn't support simulated film grain either. Other camera brands have followed the trail Fuji blazed and added characterful, stylized picture profiles, so it's another area where the X20 feels like it's behind the times.
The X20 does capture images in Raw format, so you can use the editing app of your choice to give images a stylized look. I stuck to JPG for most images, and used Adobe Lightroom Classic's Camera Matching development feature when processing Raw photos. I leaned heavily on Pro Negative Hi for color and Monochrome+Yellow Filter for black-and-white.
And there's speed to consider. The X20 just feels a little slower than more recent compacts. There's a slight delay for nearly everything—power up, menus, and playback just aren't as snappy as with more recent cameras. It's also completely missing wireless communication, so you'll need to grab an SD card reader if you want to offload pics to a phone or tablet. Thankfully, there's not much autofocus or shutter lag, so you're not going to miss capturing the moment, but the overall speed reveals the X20's age. In-camera charging is also a no-go, but it's easy enough to buy third-party replacements for the original NP-50 battery and charger.
What I'd Like to See From an X20 Remake
I used the X20 for about a month, picking it up for walks around town, a couple of family events, a couple of photo outings, and snapshots around the house. It's not the latest piece of tech, and it shows its age when it comes to image processing options and speed, but its fundamentals are sound. I especially like its mechanical zoom lens and optical viewfinder, two uncommon features that define how you interact with the camera. If Fujifilm has the inclination to refresh the camera, I'd like to see both stick around.
As for upgrades, a tilting touch screen is at the top of my list for the exterior, because as it stands, the X20 is tough to use for anything but eye-level photography. The X30 (the most recent entry in the series, from 2014) has a tilting display, so Fujifilm already has the design ready to go. I'd also like to see an optical viewfinder with more accurate coverage. While an EVF would deliver a perfectly accurate preview, I think moving over to an EVF would take away from the X20's charm and style, and you can always use the rear display for scenes where you care about perfect composition. After all, Fujifilm touts the Film Camera Mode as one of the marquee features of this year's X Half, and an optical viewfinder is crucial to that experience.
Inside, I'd like to see a newer sensor with Fujifilm's full range of Film Simulation modes. The Type 2/3 format sensor in the X20 isn't made anymore, but it shouldn't be too hard for Fujifilm to rework the lens to cover the slightly larger dimensions of a Type 1/1.3, a format that's popular in smartphones and action cameras and is frequently combined with Quad Bayer tech. I wouldn't mind seeing a wider starting point for the zoom either—a 24-100mm F2-2.8 would be more useful than the 28-112mm F2-2.8.
I realize that I'm playing in fantasy land here, but it's fun to put a wishlist together, and I tried to stay within the realm of technical feasibility. In the meantime, you can still find the X20 at used camera stores, and if you prefer an EVF, the X30 is out there too, usually for around the same price as an X20. Of course, there are plenty of other vintage compact cameras out there that are worth picking up today. I highlighted some of my top picks previously, and after spending more time with the X20 am eager to revisit some old favorites. Feel free to chime in below in the comments section to tell me about your favorite old-school camera—perhaps it will inspire me to pick it back up one day.