I Love the Fujifilm XT50 — But These Things Frustrate Me

As much as I love my Fujifilm X-T50, it’s not perfect. After six months of regular use, I’ve gotten to know it better, and a few quirks have surfaced that sometimes make shooting feel less smooth than I’d like.

In this post, I’m doing something I usually don’t do. I’m sharing what frustrates me about the Fujifilm X-T50. Hopefully, this helps you if you’re thinking about buying this camera or have recently and need help.

Interested in buying the Fujifilm XT50? Check it out on Amazon here.

My frustrations with the Fujifilm X-T50

1. The Electronic Viewfinder

If you’re not familiar, the Fujifilm XT50 uses an electronic viewfinder (EVF) instead of an optical viewfinder (OVF).

Most mirrorless cameras have EVFs. They display a digital preview of your scene. As you adjust your settings, the EVF updates in real time to reflect how those changes affect your image. That’s different from an OVF, which shows you a direct, unaltered view of what’s in front of you.

Before buying the XT50, I read that the EVF wasn’t the best. But I wasn’t too concerned, because in the 4 years I had my Sony, I used the EVF maybe 5 times. I always relied on my LCD screen to shoot.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case with the XT50. And this is something I might’ve discovered if I were able to get my hands on the camera before purchasing it.

I often find myself struggling to use the LCD screen in certain situations, especially in the bright midday sun, which is when I’m often out shooting “street” photography.

The EVF on this camera feels… bad.

Like a tiny, low-res computer screen that never quite looks right.

Yes, there are settings to adjust the brightness and tweak the display, and I’ve tried adjusting them, but nothing has really solved the issue.

If you’ve found a way to improve it, I’d love to know. But for me, this has been a frustration.

Recommended read: Why I Got a Fujifilm X-T50 (and not an X-T5)

2. The Final Image Disconnect

Another thing that’s frustrated me with the XT50 is the disconnect between what I see on the EVF or LCD screen and what the final image looks like.

When I’m out shooting, the images on my EVF often look off. Sometimes they’re weirdly dark, overly bright, or just… funky.

I often find myself second-guessing if I’ve exposed things correctly. And it messes with my confidence.

When I first started, I found myself taking so many pictures and thinking, “Did I completely mess that up?”.

But then I would get home, load the photos onto my computer, and if I trusted my exposure meter to be correct, my images usually looked properly exposed.

I’ve started trusting the exposure meter more than what my eyes see on the screen, and again, maybe this is just a me issue, maybe I need to figure out how to calibrate my screen better.

But for now, it’s simply something that is frustrating me.

3. The Battery Life isn’t Great

Before buying this camera, I read that the battery life wasn’t great, but I thought, No problem. I’m the kind of photographer who turns the camera off when I’m not using it.

I usually only turn my camera on when I see a scene I want to capture. So I figured as long as the battery could last me through a day of shooting, I’d be fine.

And to be fair, 90% of the time it does last. But not always. Most times, I charge my Fujifilm XT50 after every use just to be safe!

Two months into owning this camera, I brought it on a backpacking trip and used a portable battery to charge it overnight, because by the end of our first 18-mile day, it was nearly dead.

Not the end of the world, and probably not a situation most people will put this camera through, but still. My Sony wouldn’t have needed to be charged at all.

At home, when I’m working on my Coronado photo project, I can usually go out 3-5 times before I need to charge it. It just depends on how much I’m using it while I’m out.

Yes, I know… you can buy back-up batteries. And semi-solve this “issue”.

So I know this isn’t a huge deal, but it can be frustrating at times.

Recommended read: Life in Coronado, California Photo Project

4. The Autofocus isn’t the Best

I know… this is the classic Fujifilm complaint.

If you’ve spent any time on Reddit or YouTube looking up Fujifilm cameras, you’ve definitely heard about the autofocus issues. So before buying the XT50, I didn’t expect it to be amazing.

And… yeah. It’s not the best. But it’s also not as bad as everyone makes it out to be.

At first, though? It drove me bonkers.

Personally, I love documenting real, in-the-moment scenes. I’m not big on posed images. Which means I’m usually snapping quickly, trusting my camera to keep up.

But with the Fujifilm XT50? I missed a lot of shots in the beginning. And not hard ones…

I’m talking people riding bikes, walking past, and doing ordinary things. In all these scenarios, my shutter speed was fast enough to freeze motion, but the autofocus just… missed.

But thankfully, I’ve found a way to work around this by experimenting with my settings and focus modes.

And it has helped me tremendously.

These days, I don’t miss focus as much. It’s still not perfect, but it’s better than I expected once I figured it out. You just have to work a little harder for it sometimes.

I talk more about how I “fixed” my autofocus issue at the end of this blog post here.

And on a positive note, the less-than-stellar autofocus has changed how I approach my street photography. In a good kind of way.

Recommended read: How the Fujifilm X-T50 has changed my photography

5. It’s Not a One-Handed Camera

When I’m out shooting, I like to be able to grab quick shots with one hand. But with the X-T50, it’s not super easy for me to do.

If I’m walking around with a coffee in one hand and my camera in the other (a common thing), I basically have to stop, put my coffee down (or hold it super awkwardly), and use both hands to take a picture of something happening around me. Which can be so frustrating at times.

Ultimately, I think this frustration comes down to the ergonomics of the camera. If that’s not obvious.

I think the lack of grip on the camera makes it hard to hold onto the camera and change things with one hand.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE how small the camera is, and I don’t have a problem with the grip of the XT50. But I do think that contributes to my inability to move the joy stick around to focus or change the shutter speed effortlessly.

I know I could buy an accessory grip to improve this, and maybe I will. But for now, this limitation makes the X-T50 feel less fluid for one-handed shooting, which can be a bit frustrating when I’m trying to capture spontaneous moments.

6. The Retro Dials

I’ll admit… the retro dials were one of the things that made me excited to try Fujifilm. They look cool and feel nostalgic in a way that makes you want to love them.

But honestly? They kind of threw me off at first. I’ve ended up setting most things to the command dials instead, just because it feels quicker and easier to adjust while shooting.

The only thing I still adjust on a “dial” is the aperture on the camera’s lens, but even that feels a little slower compared to how I used to handle everything on my Sony.

So while the dials look great, I don’t actually use them much when I’m out shooting.

Sometimes, I find myself daydreaming about having a PASM dial again. You know, so that I could quickly switch between shooting modes or set my own “shooting mode presets”.

But I know, the retro dials are part of the appeal of the camera!

Recommended read: Fujifilm X-T50: First Impressions and Experience

7. Accidently Changing Settings

One of my biggest frustrations with the X-T50 is how easy it is to accidentally bump something and miss shots. Especially moments that only happen once.

I’ve unintentionally knocked just about every setting you can unintentionally knock at this point.

I’ve accidently bumped the focus mode selector button on the front of the camera and switched my autofocus mode from AF-S to AF-M a few times.

The first time, it happened while I was on a backpacking trip. While we were climbing our first uphill section of the hike, I decided to just shoot from the hip.

Well, I unknowingly bumped that focus mode button while climbing and it wasn’t until I tried to take a picture of the first mountain hut we encountered that I realized my camera wasn’t focusing.

I had to stop and troubleshoot what was going wrong. A very common thing in my first few months of owning this camera. Eventually, I figured it out, but that mess up cost me an hour’s worth of photos.

I’ve also accidentally bumped other dials, like the shutter speed dial and the front command dial I use to adjust ISO. And both have caused me to miss shots.

It can definitely be frustrating to feel like you can’t fully trust your camera to stay set at times. But the upside is that after making these mistakes once, you become a lot more aware of what to check when things aren’t working right.

8. The Front Command Dial

Another frustration I have with the X-T50 is how sensitive the front command dial is.

It’s way too easy to bump accidentally, and I’ve done it more times than I can count.

I have my front command dial set to control ISO, which is usually fine since I don’t adjust ISO often while shooting. Most of the time, I’m using an Auto ISO mode on the Fujifilm XT50 anyway.

But the problem is that even a slight brush against the dial can shift my settings without me realizing it, and that can ruin a whole set of images.

For example, I was recently photographing a skydiving demo on July 4th, just for fun. And my camera was doing great while the skydivers were in the air and landing.

But when I started taking photos of them posing afterward, I unknowingly bumped the front dial, which kicked my ISO from Auto ISO 1 to my camera’s highest ISO.

And because I was shooting in bright daylight using the Acros film simulation with my funky EVF view… I didn’t notice until I reviewed the images towards the end of shooting.

Most of those post-landing shots? Completely unusable.

I’d much rather control ISO and shutter speed from the rear command dial.

But as far as I know, the rear dial can only be assigned to one function. I would love if this camera allowed multiple functions on the rear dial or just swapped the flexibility between the two dials altogether.

Recommended read: Fujifilm XT50: Common Problems and Simple Solutions

9. The Choice Auto ISO makes

On my Sony, I mostly shot either full manual or auto when I was being lazy and trusted my camera with the lighting and situation. It was super straightforward.

But with the Fuji, because of everything I mentioned above and trying to make street shooting easier, I started experimenting with the Auto ISO settings.

And yes, the auto ISO modes work. But for some reason, my Fuji always wants to crank the ISO up before it touches the shutter speed. When I shoot in manual, I always try to keep my ISO as low as possible.

But with my Fujifilm, it will hit ISO 800 in the middle of the day when the shutter speed could easily be faster and keep the ISO down at 125?

And before you ask — yes, my other settings should easily allow for ISO 125.

I’ve checked the Dynamic Range percentages in the film simulations, thinking maybe that was it, but nope. Still no clue why it loves boosting ISO first.

Maybe it’s a Fujifilm thing. Maybe I need to break my habit of wanting to shoot at base ISO like I did on my Sony. I’m not sure yet. I just know I don’t love grainy images in broad daylight.

Maybe I’ll figure it out eventually… or maybe one of you reading this has the answer.

Closing thoughts

At the end of the day, I really do love this camera.

In just six short months, it’s changed my photography so much, pushing me to be more intentional and create more meaningful images. I love that it challenges me, and honestly, it’s fun in a way no other camera I’ve owned has been.

That said, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t come with frustrations. There are quirks I didn’t expect, little limitations that catch me off guard, and things that don’t always work as smoothly as I’d like.

But if you’re patient, you can work around most of them. It’s not perfect, but it’s a camera that makes documenting my life, travels, and the world around me exciting again.

And for me, that’s more than worth it.