I’ve shot just about every Fujifilm APS-C sensor generation, and I have a conclusion that surprised even me: the best black and white Fujifilm camera is the X-Pro2. A camera from 2015. Almost by accident.
Let me be clear about what I’m not saying. I’m not saying it’s the best Fujifilm camera. The newer bodies run circles around it in every measurable way. I’m saying that for monochrome, specifically, something about the X-Trans 3 sensor and its 24 megapixels just renders. The tones, the contrast, the way faces separate from backgrounds. It’s the least digital-looking digital black and white I’ve shot.
And here’s the part that will annoy the recipe crowd: the winning setting is not Acros. It’s not a recipe. It’s the plain Monochrome film simulation with the red filter. That’s it. Two menu choices. Faces pop, contours separate, and the contrast is wonderful straight out of camera. No 47-step recipe. No secret sauce. Just Monochrome and red.
I need to say something about the word filmic, because I dislike it. If you want filmic, shoot film. I have film cameras. What I want from a digital black and white camera is one that doesn’t get it all right. A little grit. A little attitude. The X-Pro2 has that. The newer sensors are technically better and somehow less interesting in mono. Progress is weird.
My X-Pro2 is ten years old with around 250,000 actuations. Never been serviced. Still perfect. It’s a tank. Used prices hover around a thousand dollars, which I think is overpriced for a ten-year-old body, but that’s the market telling you something: people who know, know. Hunt Facebook Marketplace and be patient. Under a grand is the target.
It’s also, in my opinion, the best camera for learning manual. ISO dial, shutter dial, exposure compensation dial, aperture on the lens. Everything you need is under your fingers and nothing is buried. Beginners should start here, not in a menu.
My street setup is the X-Pro2 with a 23mm lens, the 35mm equivalent. I’ve owned three or four X100 cameras including the X100VI, and I keep coming back to the Pro2 with the 23. The X100 series is wonderful. The X-Pro2 with a 23 is better. Fight me. (Don’t fight me.)
One more thing: the files have aged beautifully. Shots I took ten years ago hold up next to shots from January. That’s the real test of a camera, and most cameras fail it.
The honest caveat: the autofocus is not fast by 2026 standards. Run and gun with it and you’ll miss shots. I don’t shoot it that way anymore. I find a spot, I wait, I let the shot come to me. The camera rewards patience and punishes hurry. Frankly, so does street photography.
For the record, I kept the X-Pro2 and sold the X-T4 and the X-E2. GAS is a real condition and I may buy them back. But the Pro2 stays. It’s earned its shelf space by never needing the shelf.
My pinned comment on the video says it best: this isn’t about best camera ever. It’s about the least interference between light and feeling. That’s the whole philosophy. And apparently Fstoppers agreed, they featured the video in their piece on Fujifilm sensors for black and white. Nice to be noticed. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a ten-year-old camera to go shoot.
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