I’ve been going through cameras for almost ten years and I’ve never seen anything like Fujifilm X100VI. The Premium Compact camera landed just over a year ago and sold immediately everywhere, resulting in extraordinary six-months waiting lists. It only recently came back in stock at retailers before he again made a Houdini-style vanishing action.
The X100VI back story is already well known. It was one of the rare technological moments when the cultural zeitgeist – suddenly obsessed with film and compact cameras – lit its limelight on something that apparently had elements of both. The fuse was turned on with the X100V’s viral Tiktok moment in 2022, before the big explosion with its successor last year.
I am now less interested in whether the X100VI deserves its hype (no matter what, it is a brilliant little camera) and more in the influence it has had on the used premium compact cameras prices. When I was Techradar’s camera editor a few years ago, the return of this genre seemed about as likely as an Oasis gene association – but here we are in the strange world in 2025.
To see how Fujifilm X100VI has affected the used prices of the best compact cameras and small mirror -free alternatives since it landed in February 2024, I asked MPB for some data to help. MPB uses a dynamic pricing engine to prepare its used valuations-if you are on the market for a premium compact camera in 2025, the results below give fascinating (and hopefully helpful) reading.
Later, I reveal what I buy instead of an X100VI and what our current camera editor Tim Coleman recommends doing. But first, here is what happened to the used prices of its most important rivals in the US and UK …
USA: X-PRO 2 takes the baton
In the United States, not only has it been Fujifilm’s X100 series that has seen an increase in demand in the past year appetite on cameras that are small, powerful and echo classic movie cameras have also wasted over to the company’s X-ProRo and XE series.
E.g. Has Fujifilm X-Pro 2, which has just been nine years old, seen its used price rise by approx. 15% since October 2023. It’s not something you see with smartphones, laptops or smartwatches that are almost a decade old.
Given that the X-Pro Line is like an X100 with interchangeable lenses, this is not too surprising-but to what extent X-Pro 2 has surpassed and closed the gap on the newer X-Pro 3 (from 2021) it is determined. This is probably down to some reported problems with the life of X-Pro 3’s screen.
What about Fujifilm cameras? While there is undoubtedly some seasonal voting in the summer tail in the middle of the chart above, MPB told us that this was also down to a perfect storm of market shortages, the renewed popularity of compact and an increase in prices of new cameras. This means that most premium compact cameras – retro or not – have had something of an Indian summer.
Eight out of the ten cameras for which MPB gave us the award history is more expensive today than they were in the end of 2023. The X100 Series’ Nearest Rivals, Ricoh’s GR series, have followed in its slipstream-with GR III, GR IIIX (which has a 40 mm equivalent focus length, rather than 28 mm) and GR II, all with higher hands prices.
A slightly more surprising case is the Panasonic Lumix LX100 II, which I think is an excellent camera, but now is approaching seven years old. It is now 18% more expensive than in October 2023, according to MPB’s data. No wonder rumors persist that Panasonic can one day launch a full -frame version.
The last lesson of this data? Maybe don’t buy a used compact camera during the summer months-this year this year follows the same path as above (which may not be), it is now a good time to get ahead of the seasonal price increase.
UK: Ricoh Gr II and Sony RX1R Mark II
In the UK, the largest used price rises among the X100VI rivals been Ricoh Gr II (now about 13% more expensive than in October 2023) and Sony RX1R Mark II, which is not in the graph above, as its high price would break the scale.
You could buy Sony’s regular lens full-frame compact (which was launched back in 2015) in ‘excellent’ state at MPB for £ 1,899 in 2023, but high demand means it will now set you back £ 2,219 (an increase of 17%).
It is not too far away from its original price of £ 2,600, which explains how honored the 35 mm f/2 lens and 42.4MP sensor is – and also how popular premium compact cameras have become.
As in the United States, Fujifilm X-Pro 2 (but not the newer X-Pro 3) has also seen its used award rise since the X100VI landed. It is now about 17% more expensive to buy used than in the end of 2023, unlike X-Pro 3, which has reported screen problems and then its price fall slightly during the same period.
Interestingly, there was not the same increase in the summer in used prices in mid -2024 as there were in the United States, suggesting that other factors such as low stock have been a factor. Also, only five out of the 10 cameras above are more expensive now than at the beginning of the period in the UK, which means the X100VI effect has not been as pronounced there.
Nevertheless, the relatively stable nature of premium compact prices – especially as the average age of the cameras above well over six years old – shows that it is a very popular space, even when the best camera phones continue to take impressive progress that was once expected to make compressed outdated.
What I would buy instead
Buying a premium compact camera is a more personal decision than buying a larger camera. Unlike larger working horses, they are designed to be characterful companions that are about pure fun-like a two-person sports car that you tear around the railways. This also means that your mileage may vary.
As much as I love the Fujifilm X100 series – I made Fujifilm X100V for our number one compact camera back in 2022, despite the reservations of calling it ‘compact’ – I find its fixed, 23mm lens too much of a restrictive stemblock, despite its practical crop conditions. It also controls me out of the Fujifilm X70, another Premium compact that is now more expensive to buy used than when it was launched in 2016.
Because I prefer longer focal length, I have considered Ricoh Gr IIIX and its 40mm lens. But the lack of a seeker discourages me. Which brings me to small mirror -free cameras with interchangeable lenses, such as Fujifilm XE and XT series.
These are no longer ‘compact’ cameras, but they are small enough for a big jacket pocket and to become part of my daily wear. With a Fujifilm X-E5 that is jerked for this year (making X-E4 a little less appealing), my choice would be Fujifilm X-T50. You can buy a new one for $ 1,399 / £ 1,299 Or at $ 1,249 / £ 1,019 at MPB, though I have recently seen its new prices fall below £ 1,000 in the UK.
The X-T50 is effectively a mini version of my X-T5 and for me it would be the ideal travel camera as I already own small prime as 35 mm f/2 and 50mm f/2. It is also about the same size and weight as X100VI, albeit a reasonably little deeper with a lens attached. It’s still a small price I’m willing to pay for interchangeable lenses.
But it is by no means the best option for everyone. Techradar’s cameras Editor Tim Coleman has another plan: “Spring Back I bought a Ricoh Gr IIIX instead of Fujifilm X100VI’s predecessor (or the latest iPhone) because it offered the best image quality from a camera that easily slides into a pants.
“Despite the fact that he was also a premium compact, an X100 camera was simply too big for my purposes-I wouldn’t have a camera that I had to build in my routine. That said, I used GR IIIX and X100VI side by side last year, and I wish my camera had some of the X100VI’s skills A tilt.
“I’m still glad I chose GR IIIX, I just wish it was more refined as X100VI. If I bought again today, I would have my fingers crossed for an improved ricoh in the same form – a potential GR IV that addresses my snag list.”
What is the next? Premium compact camera rumors for 2025
The other major influence of Fujifilm X100VI is that it apparently aroused other camera giants to the popularity of Retro’s compact cameras – at least according to the back mill.
A camera’s development cycle is usually about two years, so it’s not surprising that the X100VI remains unique (outside the amazing but painful expensive, Leica Q3). But there is a chance that it could get more competition in 2025.
One of the most likely sources is about the previously Olympus system. It recently launched the rather lovely OM-System OM-3 and has apparently lost hints that a new version of the classic Olympus Pen-F is in the works. It would really be an X100VI rival – but given that it has been rumored for years, I do not hold my breath.
Another camera to be filed in the same category is Ricoh Gr IV. While the demand for a successor to the five -year -old Ricoh Gr III is definitely there, rumors have become worryingly quiet. Those who want a really pocketable camera with a large sensor, plus modern autofocus, hope the speculation soon picks up.
Recently, we’ve heard whispers from them like Canon rumors that a Canon EOS Re-1-Retro-Styled Model based on Canon AE-1, which has long been considered one of the best movie cameras coming in either the end of 2025 or early 2026.
Even more up in the air is the possibility of a Sony RX1R III. The normally reliable Sony Alpha rumors said by the beginning of 2025 that it still had “no final confirmation that a new full frame fixed lens camera will be announced in 2025”, just that the camera is not impossible because Sony -Execs have said the RX line is not yet complete. Right now, there are no specific reasons to expect it, which is a shame.
All of this means that the most likely source of an X100VI alternative this year is Fujifilm itself. Unfortunately, it seems that a Fujifilm X-Pro 4 is still a bit gone, but a more likely arrival from our list of the most exciting cameras in 2025 is Fujifilm X-E5.
This camera has been rumored for mid-2025 along with a mysterious semi-frame model. The XE series has interchangeable lenses and is not as premium as the X100 series, so it’s a slightly different beast-but an X-E5 could represent a more affordable alternative for some.
Then there is the rumored Fujifilm GFX100RF, which appears to be a super -driven x100VI with a 100MP medium format sensor and a price tag to match (probably higher than $ 3,999 / £ 3,499 / AU $ 6,499 asking the award for the GFX50s when it landed in 2022).
In short, there is still nothing like Fujifilm X100VI – and that is likely to remain the case in large parts of 2025. This means we can expect the used prices of rivals as the cameras above will remain high. But at least some competition, in the form of new premium compacts and small mirror -free cameras, is now on the horizon, and this is good news for this unlikely camera Renaissance.
