Last Updated on 07/27/2018 by Mark Beckenbach
One of the most perfect film point and shoot cameras should find new life in the digital world: The Fujifilm Natura Black.
While I’m still a big lover of the Hexar AF, I have to admit that the Fujifilm Natura Black has always been a camera I’ve lusted over for fantastic reasons. With much talk about Fujifilm and their point and shoot lineup, I decided that I’d look back in their history. Obviously the T-X2 is on the list of cameras that folks think about, but circles of photographers in the know perhaps have kept the Fujifilm Natura Black a secret for years. If you find them on eBay, they’re often in good condition or heavily discounted due to the slightest ding. But those slight dings aren’t to worry over, especially when you consider just how great this camera is.
The Fujifilm Natura Black was designed to work with the now defunct Fujifilm Natura 1600 film. That was a gorgeous film with a low grain factor for a high ISO color negative film. That doesn’t mean it won’t work with other film emulsions though. In fact, if you load CineStill 800T into it, you’ll get some glorious results if you take it into Tungsten lighting. In fact, you’ll be in awe. CineStill 800T has to now be the best high ISO film out there in the color negative department, although what you can get from Lomography CN800, Superia 1600 and Portra 800 are also very nice.
Obviously though this isn’t even one of the best reasons to go for a Fujifilm Natura Black.
Moving up the line, there is also the simplicity of the camera. It has a digital readout screen on the back that gives you a whole lot of settings and the ability to change them rather easily. The camera was made for the Japanese market and to that end you’re most likely going to find one with Japanese writing on it.
Add onto this that the Fujifilm Natura Black is small, compact, can fit into your jean pockets, has a nice flash on it that won’t wash out the scene that you’re shooting, and is an autofocus camera. It’s a winning combination!
But would you believe me if I said that’s not even the best thing about it? Indeed, one of the best things about the camera is that it maintains a small, slim size and has a 24mm f1.9 lens. That’s faster than the Hexar AF’s 35mm f2 and is also quite a bit wider. With little distortion, you can shoot portraits with the Fujifilm Natura Black until you simply can’t do it anymore. In the same way that other photographers have romanticized the Contax T2, the Fujifilm Natura Black deserves even more praise.
So, why don’t you make a digital version Fujifilm? It would pair very nicely with your already great film simulations!
