Fujica AX-5
Fuji · Fujica X mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film, hinged back, interchangeable with the Fujica Photo Recorder data back · 1979
single source, unconfirmedAlso known as: AX5 · AX 5 · Fujica AX5 · FUJICA AX-5 · フジカ AX-5 · フジカAX-5 · Porst CR-7
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AX-5 | Fujica X | 1979 | — | No figure published |
- The AX-5 instruction manual on butkus.org contradicts itself on the slowest speed: the specification line reads "from 1/2 second to 1/1000 second", while the shutter speed scale in the same specification runs B, AEL, AE, 2S, 1, 1/2 … 1/1000, and the AX-3 manual, whose text is otherwise identical, says 2 seconds. Camera-wiki, cjo.info, the awane-camera museum page and Wikipedia's table all give 2 seconds. Recorded as disputed and 2 seconds adopted.
- Weight is 500g body only in the manual (695g with the 50mm f/1.6), 525g on cjo.info, whose figures otherwise match the manual line for line. The manual's AX-3 figure is 520g for the same-sized body with fewer functions, so the AX-5's 500g may be a misprint. Recorded as disputed; the maker's figure is adopted.
- The manual's metering range is EV 0–19 at ISO 100; Wikipedia's table gives EV 0–18 and cjo.info EV 0–19. The manual is adopted.
- The DM requirement is stated by camera-wiki, by English Wikipedia's X-mount article and by both CamerAgX pieces: only X-Fujinon DM lenses give the program and shutter-priority modes, and the X-Fujinon and X-Fujinar lenses without the suffix work in aperture priority and manual only. The manual lists the standard lenses as DM types.
- The awane-camera museum page calls the AX-5 Fuji's first multi-program AE camera and dates it March 1980, which is the domestic date; Fujifilm's history has it on export sale from September 1979.
- The shutter-speed knob lock on black bodies only rests on camera-wiki alone.
- No list price was found in any readable source. CamerAgX says only that it was priced well above the Canon A-1 and that working examples now fetch over $150. No image of an AX-5 with a usable licence was found on Wikimedia Commons, so this page has no photographs.
How to tell them apart
- Fujica X bayonet: 65° turn, 43.5mm flange back; M42 Fujinons need the Mount Adapter X-S
- No shutter without a 6V battery: electromagnetic release, every speed electronically timed
- Body 135 × 86 × 54mm; 500g by the manual, 525g by cjo.info
AX-5:
- Shutter speed dial with P and S positions as well as AE, AEL and the manual scale; an LED exposure-mode indicator in the finder
- AX-5 on the front of the prism housing; separate main switch on the top plate that also arms the self-timer
- Black bodies have a lock on the shutter speed knob against accidental turning (camera-wiki); chrome bodies do not
- A meter button as well as the half-press, and an LED aperture scale in the finder
- AX-5: The flagship. Program and shutter-priority modes work only with X-Fujinon DM lenses; the earlier X-Fujinon and X-Fujinar lenses give aperture-priority and manual only. Porst sold it in Germany as the CR-7.
Specifications
- Format
- 24×36mm on 35mm film, hinged back, interchangeable with the Fujica Photo Recorder data back
- Finder
- Fixed silvered pentaprism, −1 dioptre, three-way screen (split image, microprism, ground glass); LED exposure-mode indicator, shutter-speed scale, aperture scale, over/under warning and battery check; built-in eyepiece shutter. · 0.86× magnification · 92% coverage · no rangefinder image
- Shutter
- horizontal cloth focal plane, electronically controlled throughout, electromagnetic two-step release · 2s – 1/1000 stepless in the automatic modes (1/4-step digital control) and in click stops manually; B; AEL · flash sync 1/60 at the hot shoe; automatic shutter-speed setting and flash exposure with the dedicated Auto Strobe AZ and 300X · self-timer
- Film advance
- single-stroke lever, 144° throw, 25° stand-off; several short strokes allowed
- Back
- hinged, opens with the rewind crank; removable for the Fujica Photo Recorder data back
- Meter
- TTL centre-weighted averaging, silicon photocells; programmed, shutter-priority and aperture-priority automatic through a three-magnet electronic control interlocked with both selectors, plus manual against the LED aperture scale; EV 0–19 at ISO 100 by the manual (EV 0–18 in Wikipedia's table), ISO 12–3200 in 1/3 steps, AE lock by holding the release halfway, one stop of compensation. Program and shutter priority need a DM lens. One 6V silver-oxide (4SR44), alkaline (4LR44) or lithium cell, which also fires the shutter.
- Motor drive
- Fujica Auto Winder X — 2 frames a second, four AA cells, single or continuous; shared with the AX-1 and AX-3.
- Weight
- 500 g
- Dimensions
- 135 × 86 × 54 (W × H × D), body only, from the instruction manual mm
- Country
- Japan
- Accessories
- Fujica Auto Winder X · Fujica Auto Strobe AZ and Auto Strobe 300X · Fujica Photo Recorder data back · Fujica Mount Adapter X-S (M42 Fujinon lenses, with automatic exposure) · Fujica Auto Extension Tubes X25 and X50, Auto Bellows X, Slide Copier X, Teleconverter 2X
Where sources disagree
- Speeds
- 2 seconds to 1/1000 — the manual's own shutter speed scale (2S, 1, 1/2 …), the AX-3 manual, camera-wiki, cjo.info, awane-camera, Wikipedia
- 1/2 second to 1/1000 — one line of the AX-5 manual's specification
Better supported: 2 seconds
The manual's own scale contradicts its sentence; every other source reads 2 seconds.
- Weight (grams)
- 500g body only — the AX-5 instruction manual (butkus.org)
- 525g body only, 695g with the standard lens — cjo.info
Better supported: 500g
The manual is the maker's figure. cjo.info's with-lens weight of 695g matches the manual's exactly, which suggests both derive from the same sheet and one body figure is a misprint.
What reviewers say
- xtalfu (CamerAgX) (blog) — Against the Canon A-1 the AX-5 is the smaller, lighter camera with the simpler controls, and it loses anyway: it feels less solid, reads as a souped-up mid-range body rather than a professional one, its electromagnetic release has not aged well (capacitor trouble after a few years), and the DM lenses it needs for program and shutter priority are scarce and dear. Not for an active photographer; buy only a tested body with fresh batteries.
- xtalfu (CamerAgX) (blog) — The AX-5 draws above its weight — too small and fragile to compete with the A-1 it was priced against — and the AX Multi Program that followed took away the overrides a photographer needs when the automation is wrong. Fuji left the SLR market in 1987.
History
The AX-5 was the camera the Fujica X mount was built to show off. Fujifilm’s own history calls it the five-mode AE flagship and puts it on export sale in September 1979 with the AX-1, three months before the AX-3, with Japanese sales from March 1980; the awane-camera museum page calls it Fuji’s first multi-program AE camera. On the same 135 × 86 × 54mm body as the AX-3 it offers programmed, shutter-priority and aperture-priority automation and full manual, with an LED in the finder to say which mode is set, an LED shutter-speed scale, an LED aperture scale, and a meter button in addition to the half-press. The shutter is the same electronically timed horizontal cloth unit, 2 seconds to 1/1000, with 1/60 sync at the hot shoe; the finder is 0.86× and 92 per cent with an eyepiece shutter; metering is centre-weighted silicon, ISO 12 to 3200.
The catch is in the lens. Program and shutter priority need the camera to set the aperture, and only the X-Fujinon DM lenses have the coupling for it; the plain X-Fujinon and X-Fujinar lenses give aperture priority and manual and nothing more. Fuji’s standard lenses for the AX-5 were all DM — the 50mm f/1.6, the EBC 50mm f/1.2 and the 43–75mm zoom — and today they are the scarce, expensive part of the system. The Auto Winder X, at two frames a second on four AA cells, the Auto Strobe flashes and the Photo Recorder data back are shared with the other two AX bodies.
Buying one comes down to the electronics. The release is electromagnetic and every speed is timed by the circuit, so without a 6V cell — 4SR44, 4LR44 or lithium — the camera does nothing; and the AX bodies have a reputation, in repair forums and in the one reviewer who has written about the AX-5 at length, for capacitor trouble that leaves the release dead or firing on its own. His advice is to buy only a body the seller has tested with fresh batteries. Foam and seals are the ordinary checks. Black bodies carry a lock on the shutter speed knob that chrome bodies lack, which camera-wiki reports and no other source confirms.
Against the Canon A-1 it was priced to compete with, the AX-5 is smaller, lighter and simpler to operate, and the verdict of the one detailed comparison is that it still loses: it feels less solid, reads as a mid-range body with extra modes rather than a professional one, and cannot be used to its full extent without lenses that hardly exist. Porst sold it as the CR-7. No production figure and no list price were found, the manual disagrees with itself about the slowest speed and with a second transcription about the weight, and no photograph with a usable licence exists on Wikimedia Commons, so the page carries none.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Live listings
Asking price, USD: a median of $75 across 9 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-20 (middle half $12–$130). First day tracked.
Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.
- PHOTO MAGAZINE N°10 VOYAGEZ AVEC LA REDAC / SYGMA-U.S.A / FUJICA AX.5 / FILTRES
- CAMs60 Annonce De Magazine 11X16 Pour FUJICA AX-5 Multi-Mode Automatique
- Fujica AX-5 analoge Kamera SLR Spiegelreflex Body mit Schutzobjektiv
- Fujica AX-5 Spiegelreflexkamera von 1980, schwarz inkl Akkus Top
- FUJICA AX-5 + Objectif EBC X-FUJINON 55mm f/1.6 DM dans l'état !
- Fujica AX-5 AX 5 AX5 Gehäuse Body SLR Kamera Spiegelreflexkamera
- Fujica AX-5 AX 5 AX5 Boîtier Appareil Photo SLR Reflexe
- Fujica AX-5 ax 5 AX5 Gehäuse Body SLR Kamera Spiegelreflexkamera
- Fujica AX-5 + Objektive + Blitz
- Fujica AX-5 AX 5 AX5 Boîtier Appareil Photo SLR Reflexe
- Fujica AX-5 AX 5 AX5 Fotocamera SLR Reflex Manual Focus Body
- Fujica AX-5 AX 5 AX5 Camera Body Case SLR Manual Focus Spiegelreflexkamera
- Fujica AX-5 Kamera plus Objektive
- Camera Fujica AX-5
- Popular Photography Magazine January 1980 Fujica AX-5 Contax 139 D-76 L47
- Popular Photography Magazine March 1981 Sunrise Over Walla Walla Fujica AX-5 MI
- Vintage Fujica AX-5 Camera Belt Buckle
- Fujica AX-5 35mm SLR Film Camera Body Black *UNTESTED* Made in Japan
- FUJI FUJICA AX-5, 50/1.6 X-FUJINON (DUST), FOCUS A LITTLE STIFF/227124
- Camera bag w/ 3 Cameras Fujica AX-5, Nikon N60, Canon EOS
Show 10 more listings
- Fujica AX-5 AX 5 AX5 Camera Body Case SLR Manual Focus Spiegelreflexkamera
- Fujica AX-5 35mm SLR Film Camera Body - Black W 2 Lenses And Flesh .
- Fujica AX-5 SLR 35mm Film Camera with X-Fujinon Plus Lens Black.
- CAMS52 MAGAZINE ADVERT 11X8 KENNETH WHITEHEAD: THE FUJICA AX-5
- CAMS95 MAGAZINE ADVERT 11X16 THE FUJICA AX-5 MULTI-MODE AUTOMATIC
- Rare Fujica AX-5 35mm Film Camera Body Only Rare Black
- Fujica AX-5 AX 5 AX5 Camera Body Case SLR Manual Focus Spiegelreflexkamera
- Fujica AX-5 SLR 35mm Film Camera, EBC X-Fujinon 50mm F1.6 Standard Lens
- Fuji Fujica AX-5 35mm SLR Film Camera, long lense auto winder & hugh bundle
- Fujica AX-5 Silver 35mm SLR Film Camera
Listings updated 2026-09-20. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.