The Fujifilm X-T30 ($899.95, physique solely) is the corporate’s newest midrange mirrorless digicam. It makes just a few modifications from the previous-generation X-T20 exterior, and overhauls the internals to set it effectively forward of the X-20 from a efficiency perspective. It cannot do completely all the things the higher-priced X-T3 can, but it surely’s not far off. We’ve solely been in a position to make use of a pre-production unit, and can comply with up with a full assessment after placing a manufacturing pattern by its paces. But learn on for particulars in regards to the new physique, together with our first impressions.
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Midrange for Enthusiasts
The X-T30’s body is about the identical measurement as the 2 fashions that preceded it, the X-T10 and the X-T20. It measures 3.3 by 4.7 by 1.8 inches (HWD) and weighs 13.5 ounces with reminiscence card and battery loaded.
Fujifilm is bringing the X-T30 to market in three colours. You can go for the all black physique, which we obtained for assessment, or the traditional silver and black look, each delivery in March. They’ll be joined in June by a model in charcoal silver, pictured under, which is kind of placing in individual.
I feel the X-T30 seems to be good in any of the three finishes, a mixture of sharp angles and rounded edges that give the physique its retro look. Most appropriate lenses can be found in a black end solely, with just a few zooms additionally bought in silver, so maintain that in thoughts in the event you care as a lot about how your digicam seems to be as you do in regards to the high quality of the pictures it is capable of seize.
If you have already got some XF lenses, you should purchase the X-T30 with no bundled zoom. If you’re simply beginning out, Fujifilm affords two equipment choices. One has the premium XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS for $1,299.95, or with the compact XC 15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS PZ for $999.95.
The regular array of Fujifilm options are included. The X-T30 helps commonplace Raw and JPG seize, but in addition contains various profiles for JPG shooters who need an analog look. You can select from completely different movie seems to be, together with the oversaturated Velvia (nice for sunsets and landscapes), the traditional Kodachrome (Fujifilm calls it Classic Chrome, however we all know what it’s), and the black-and-white Acros, amongst others.
Even in the event you shoot in Raw format, you’ll be able to apply any look to any picture in-camera, even after it has been shot, and up to date updates to Adobe Lightroom Classic CC additionally will let you apply any movie look obtainable in-camera to a Raw picture from the consolation of your modifying workstation.
Tactile Photography
Like the fashions that got here earlier than it, the X-T30 bucks the belief that photographers purchasing for an reasonably priced digicam need dumbed-down controls. Fujifilm cameras are all about bodily controls.
The X-T30 is small, however makes glorious use of the obtainable floor space. There are two controls accessible by way of the entrance panel, the entrance command dial and a toggle swap to vary between Single, Continuous, or Manual focus modes. It’s positioned on the backside left nook and is distinguished sufficient that you will discover it by really feel alone—helpful if you wish to make a change to the main target mode with out taking the digicam away out of your eye.
The prime plate features a trio of dials. At the far left you will discover the Drive management. Here you’ll be able to swap between Single or Continuous seize, swap to the film mode, play with artwork filters and in-camera panoramic seize, or arrange automated bracketing. There are two banks for bracketing settings, each of that are configurable by way of the menu. In addition to plain publicity bracketing, the X-T30 helps ISO, movie simulation, white steadiness, dynamic vary, and focus level bracketing—a great tool for macro images.
The lever to lift the built-in flash is nestled into the aspect of the Drive dial. You also can add an exterior flash—the X-T30 has an industry-standard sizzling shoe, centered above the EVF. To its proper is a traditional Shutter dial, with settings from 1 second by 1/4,000-second, in addition to Automatic, Time, and Bulb choices. The dial turns comfortably, however is not a 360-degree design—if you wish to transfer from one excessive (Bulb) to the opposite (Automatic), you will have to show it just a few instances.
The EV compensation dial turns all the best way round, and helps adjustment from -3 to +3EV in third-stop increments. It additionally has a C setting to maneuver EV management to the entrance command dial for extra in depth (+/-5EV) adjustment. The dial would not have any form of lock, however does require somewhat little bit of effort to show. Time will inform if it is liable to inadvertent changes when stowed in a bag.
Also up prime is the shutter launch—it is an old-school design with a thread so you should use a mechanical launch cable or tender launch button. The On/Off swap surrounds the shutter. There’s one other lever, subsequent to the Shutter dial, that switches from guide to totally computerized operation. If you understand what you are doing with the digicam you will wish to keep away from the Auto setting, but it surely turns out to be useful when passing the X-T30 off to a pal or member of the family to seize a fast shot.
Finally up prime is the Fn button. It’s in a clumsy place, somewhat too near the EV dial, but in addition somewhat too near the sting of the physique. It’s programmable; by default, it activates Boost Mode, which makes the EVF somewhat brighter and ups its refresh price from 60fps to 100fps, a profit when monitoring fast-moving topics.
Delete and Play buttons are positioned on the prime left nook of the rear plate, subsequent to the EVF. The viewfinder is flanked by a diopter, to regulate its focus to match your eyesight, and a View Mode button to toggle between it, the rear LCD, or to make the most of the digicam’s eye sensor for computerized switching. The rear command dial is in the identical row, however to the fitting of the EVF. It doubles as a button and is flanked by publicity and focus lock buttons (AE-L and AF-L, respectively).
The large change in controls, versus the X-T20, is obvious whenever you look to the fitting of the LCD. The four-way directional pad is gone, changed by a small eight-way joystick used for menu navigation and to regulate the energetic focus space. Menu/OK and Display/Back buttons sit straight under it.
The rear thumb relaxation is a bit deeper—the nub that initiatives from the rear of the physique is extra distinguished. Fujifilm says this enables the X-T30 to pair higher with large lenses, just like the XF 100-400mm telezoom. I have never had an opportunity to attempt the X-T30 with a giant lens but—Fujifilm supplied a 15-45mm zoom and the brand new XF 16mm F2.8 together with the digicam for analysis, each of that are fairly small and lightweight.
There is one facet of the redesign that’s readily helpful. The Q button, which brings up a customizable on-screen management show, has moved to the rear protrusion. It makes it simpler to search out and press by really feel, which is an effective factor because the Q menu is a helpful and highly effective interface.
The Q display has change into a well-known interface for Fujiflm photographers. It’s a easy interface—a grey background with 16 banks of settings. The association and choices proven will be set to match your preferences, so in the event you’re not pleased with the default format you’ll be able to fine-tune it.
The rear LCD is a 3-inch panel with contact help. It’s somewhat thinner than the one discovered on the X-T20, so it sits flush with the physique. The display is articulated—it might probably tilt to face up or down. But it would not have the sideways articulation you get with the pricier X-T3, neither is at as versatile because the swing-out vari-angle show Canon makes use of for its EOS M50 mirrorless digicam.
The X-T30’s digital viewfinder is an OLED panel with a 2.36-million-dot decision—fairly par for the course on this worth vary. Even with out the Boost Mode enabled, the 60fps refresh price is speedy, and tremendous for many disciplines of images. Turning on Boost ups the show to 100fps, which is helpful when photographing sports activities, children, wildlife, and different fast-moving topics.
I’d have preferred Fujifilm to make the EVF a bit greater to the attention. It’s one of many areas the place the Sony a6400 betters it. The X-T30 has a 0.62x magnification score, which feels somewhat dated in 2019. The a6400’s EVF equals the X-T30 in decision, however is somewhat bit bigger to the attention (0.70x).
Connectivity and Power
The X-T30 contains Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. You can pair it with an Android or iOS machine for distant management and picture switch, each by way of the free Fujifilm Cam Remote app. The addition of Bluetooth does make pairing a smoother course of than with older Fujifilm cameras that do not have it. I used to be capable of join the X-T30 to my iPhone in underneath a minute.
The digicam has a single SD card slot. It helps the SD, SDHC, and SDXC codecs, however solely at UHS-I speeds. We see the identical limitation with the Sony a6400. Both Fujifilm and Sony reserve quicker UHS-II help to pricier our bodies.
The reminiscence card slot is positioned within the battery compartment, accessible by way of the underside plate. The X-T30 is rated for 385 pictures or 45 minutes of video per cost with Boost disabled; we do not have but have an thought of what number of pictures to count on with Boost turned on.
A trio of ports sit underneath a panel on the left. There’s USB-C for knowledge switch and energy supply—the X-T30 is ready to function whereas the battery costs by way of USB. There’s additionally a Mic/Remote port, but it surely makes use of the oddball 2.5mm measurement, so you will have to get an adapter for many microphones.
The X-T30 would not have a headphone jack for audio monitoring, however does ship audio out by way of its USB-C port to appropriate headphones. There’s additionally a micro HDMI output port.
Performance, Imaging, and Video
I’ve had the X-T30 in my fingers for lower than a full day, so I’ve not been capable of put it by its full paces. On paper, it guarantees to ship velocity on par with the pricier X-T3—the 2 cameras use the identical picture sensor and processor, and the identical primary autofocus system. (The X-T30 has just a few tweaks to enhance efficiency, that are coming later to the X-T3 by way of a free firmware replace.)
The X-T30 can monitor and focus topics at 8fps utilizing the mechanical shutter, simply shy of the 11fps you get with the Sony a6400. It additionally has an digital shutter choice that may push the velocity to 20fps at full decision, or to 30fps with a slight sensor crop (1.25x) and 16.6MP output. Both high-speed seize modes work when taking pictures Raw, however remember that the X-T30’s buffer is small. Fujifilm charges it for about 17 pictures when taking pictures at 20 or 30fps, and 18 pictures at 8fps.
The digicam additionally helps a pre-shot buffer when utilizing the digital shutter. Holding the shutter down midway not solely engages autofocus, however constantly retains the final ten photos in reminiscence—a full press data these ten pictures to reminiscence, and continues to shoot one other 12 images at 30fps. The period extends to 22 pictures at 20fps and 68 photos at 10fps.
We count on the autofocus system to carry out very a lot in step with the X-T3, which is among the many finest in its class. The identical is true for imaging—the 2 cameras use the identical 26MP APS-C picture sensor and quad-core processor.
Fujifilm has definitely stepped up its video high quality over the previous yr. It began with the X-H1, nonetheless the one X digicam with in-body stabilization. The X-T30 would not fairly match the X-H1 or X-T3 in options, though it isn’t far off. Its inner recording is restricted to 4:2:0 at 8-bit high quality, although its HDMI port carries a clear 4:2:2 10-bit sign so pro-level, exterior recording is an choice.
The X-T3 can do 10-bit internally, and it additionally helps 60fps seize at 4K—the X-T30 tops out 30fps when reocrding in 4K UHD or DCI decision. Despite some limitations when put next with its pricier siblings, the X-T30 may be very succesful, even when it would not have IBIS. It helps 4K recording at as much as 200Mbps, however does restrict clips to 10 minutes. You also can report at 1080p, for as much as 15 minutes at a time. If recording long-form clips is required, the Sony a6400 is ready to report constantly till it runs out of battery or your reminiscence card fills up.
First Impressions
I just like the method that Fujifilm has taken with the X-T30. Instead of artificially limiting options, it has put virtually all the things from the pricier X-T3 right into a smaller, extra reasonably priced physique. You get the identical sensor, picture processor, and autofocus system, which implies you’ll be able to count on picture high quality and efficiency to be near an identical.
There are some variations. The X-T3 has a deep buffer, twin card slots with quicker write speeds, climate safety, and another luxuries that you simply’d count on from a digicam priced at $1,500. That the X-T30 will get a lot of the manner there for $900 isn’t any small feat
The digicam’s closet competitors in worth, design, and capabilities, is the Sony a6400. It’s additionally a brand new mannequin—it was introduced final month—which we’re nonetheless within the strategy of testing. We count on to start out working with the ultimate X-T30 hardware in just a few weeks—verify again nearer to its on-sale date for a full assessment.