Fujifilm X100VI Low Light Settings: ISO, IBIS and Noise

For low light on the Fujifilm X100VI, open the lens to its widest setting of f/2, lean on the in-body stabilization so you can use slower shutter speeds, and keep ISO at 6400 or lower when you can. Reviewers still got usable night photos at ISO 12800, so think of that as your ceiling for really dark places.

The three light controls, in plain words

Every photo is made from three choices. Here they are with a simple picture to keep in your head for each one.

• Aperture is like the pupil of your eye. A big opening lets in lots of light. A small opening lets in less.
• Shutter speed is a door opening and closing. A door left open for half a second lets in more light than one open for a quick blink. Anything that moves while the door is open turns blurry.
• ISO is the volume knob on a radio. Turn it up and the picture gets brighter, but you also hear more static. In photos, that static is called noise.

In low light, the plan is simple: catch as much light as you can with the pupil and the door first, then turn up the volume only as much as you need. If these ideas are new to you, that is completely normal. The exposure triangle guide walks through them one step at a time.

Where those controls live on the X100VI

The X100VI has a fixed 23mm f/2 lens, the same one used on the X100V. That f/2 is as wide as the pupil gets, so in the dark it is usually where you start. Digital Camera World's reviewer wished the aperture went a little wider for low light, which tells you f/2 is the limit you work around.

You set the aperture with the ring on the lens. Shutter speed has its own dial on top, and you lift and twist that same dial to change ISO. Each dial has an auto setting, so you can set some yourself and leave others on auto. That is how you get aperture priority or shutter priority.

You do not have to jump straight into full manual. In Fstoppers' write-up of a rainy London night, photographer OpticalWander started in auto and steered brightness with exposure compensation, then moved to full manual once the light dropped. That is a kind, gentle way to learn.

Good starting settings for dark scenes

Use this table as a first try, not a rule. Take a photo, look at it, and adjust one thing at a time.

Setting	Start here	Why
Aperture	f/2	The widest opening on the built-in lens
Shutter speed	Slow for still scenes, faster for moving people	Stabilization steadies your hands, not your subject
ISO	Up to 6400, up to 12800 when it is very dark	Photography Blog found RAW files very usable up to ISO 6400
Viewfinder	Electronic (EVF)	Stabilization is rated higher with the EVF than the optical viewfinder
Dynamic range	DR100	Higher settings add noise
ND filter	Off	It is built to cut light for bright scenes

ISO limits: how high you can go

Photography Blog shot the X100VI at every ISO and described how the JPEG files looked. Here is what it found.

ISO	JPEG result (Photography Blog)
64 to 3200	Noise-free
6400	A little noise
12800 and 25600	More visible noise
51200	Best avoided

The RAW files showed more noise than the JPEGs but still made very usable images from ISO 64 to 6400. The JPEGs look cleaner because the camera smooths them for you.

Why it is a touch noisier than the X100V

The X100VI uses a 40.2MP APS-C X-Trans CMOS 5 HR sensor, up from 26.1MP on the X100V. Packing in more pixels makes each photosite smaller, and Digital Camera World's lab tests showed higher-ISO noise took a hit compared with the X100V for that reason. The lab also measured around 1EV less dynamic range between ISO 3200 and 12800.

Real photos tell a calmer story. The same reviewer shot Tokyo's neon at night and said images at ISO 6400 or 12800 were perfectly usable, and side by side with the X100V they did not look noisier to the naked eye. In Fstoppers' rainy London piece, OpticalWander took the camera to ISO 12,800 somewhere he called genuinely dark and called the result very impressive.

Noise on this camera also has a pleasant look. PetaPixel's reviewer, who mostly shoots full frame cameras, saw noise appear sooner than he was used to but said he loved how film grain-like it looked. OpticalWander adds grain to his photos anyway, so high-ISO noise matters less to him.

A good habit: use ISO 6400 as your everyday ceiling and allow 12800 when the moment matters more than a perfectly clean file. A slightly grainy photo of a real moment is better than a clean photo you never took.

Watch the dynamic range setting

The X100VI has dynamic range settings of 100%, 200% and 400%, plus Auto. They pull more detail into shadows and highlights, with the side effect of more noise, and all three are available from ISO 500 upward. At night, when you are already near your ISO ceiling, DR100 is the quieter choice.

Stabilization and shutter speed

The X100VI is the first X100 camera with IBIS. It is a 5-axis system rated at up to 6 stops. Fujifilm fit it in while adding only 43g and 2mm of depth compared with the X100V.

Think of a stop as one step on a staircase of light. Six stops of IBIS means you can hand-hold at shutter speeds six steps slower than older X100 models and still get a sharp image. You can also use those steps the other way: keep the shutter slower and drop your ISO lower, which means less noise.

Viewfinder	Rated stabilization
Electronic viewfinder (EVF) and rear screen	About 6 stops
Optical viewfinder (OVF)	5.5 stops

PetaPixel's reviewer also found that IBIS and autofocus were slightly worse in the optical viewfinder mode. For night work, switch to the EVF.

How slow you can hand-hold

PetaPixel's reviewer hand-held the X100VI for half a second and got sharp backgrounds. He found about a quarter of a second was easier to get right. Everyone's hands are different, so start around a quarter second, take three or four frames, and zoom in on the screen to check. Tuck your elbows in and breathe out slowly as you press the button.

IBIS steadies your hands, not your subject

In those half-second shots, the background was sharp but people moving in the foreground came out as ghostly blur. Shuttermuse's writer said IBIS would not help him much because he photographs his kids and friends on mountain bike rides and likes to keep his shutter speed up. So when people are walking, talking or dancing, pick a faster shutter speed and let the ISO rise instead. If a person looks smeared while the wall behind them is crisp, you have not made a mistake. You have just learned the door was open too long for them.

Long exposures and creative blur

Photography Blog notes the longest timed shutter speed is 30 seconds, with Bulb mode for longer exposures. For those, set the camera on something steady.

Blur can also be the point. At Elizabeth Tower, OpticalWander used a longer exposure so people walking through the frame blurred while the tower stayed sharp. He also opened the shutter for 1 second and moved the frame a few times, stacking offset copies of the scene into one image. Fstoppers calls this intentional camera movement and suggests starting between half a second and two seconds, looking for strong contrast between light and dark, and expecting to delete most frames while you learn the timing.

Check the ND filter is off

The X100VI has a built-in 4-stop ND filter. It is there to slow the shutter in bright light. At night it simply throws away four stops of light you need, so if your photos suddenly look much darker than expected, check this first.

Focusing when it gets dark

Fujifilm's autofocus uses an AI-based algorithm that it claims improves subject detection and tracking in a wide range of lighting. Even so, OpticalWander found the autofocus could sometimes be a little slow, so in the rain he focused on a fixed spot and let people walk into a frame he had already composed. At Elizabeth Tower he focused manually through a puddle so the reflection of the clock tower stayed sharp.

You can borrow both ideas. Focus on something with light on it, like a lit sign or a bright doorway, then wait for your subject to step into that spot.

Low light video

The stabilization works for video as well as stills. Photography Blog notes that some video settings will not let you choose a shutter speed slower than the frame rate. That means the slow-shutter tricks from photos do not carry over, so in video your light mostly comes from f/2 and ISO.

The X100VI records F-Log and F-Log2 for wide dynamic range. PetaPixel also warned that the slow-reading sensor can cause rolling shutter, and suggested the camera may be better suited to stills. Move the camera slowly when you film.

Shooting at night in the rain

Wet streets are great for reflections at night, and OpticalWander used a puddle on Piccadilly for exactly that. Fujifilm rates the X100VI as weather resistant once you add the AR-X100 adapter ring and PRF-49 protector filter. Without them, keep the camera under your coat between shots.

When a night photo goes wrong

Every blurry or grainy frame is a clue. Here is how to read the clues.

• Everything is blurry: your hands moved more than the IBIS could fix. Use a slightly faster shutter speed, or brace against a wall.
• Only the person is blurry: they moved while the door was open. Use a faster shutter speed and raise ISO.
• Too grainy: check the ISO and set dynamic range back to DR100.
• Much too dark: check that the ND filter is off.
• Focus missed: focus on something bright, then let your subject walk in.

More guides to keep going

For the rest of your setup, read Best Fujifilm Camera Settings for Beginners and Fujifilm X100VI: Fixed Lens, Endless Creative Potential. If you also shoot a Sony a6700 or a Canon EOS R6 Mark II, see the Sony a6700 low light guide and the R6 Mark II low light guide.