THE EMPIRE
Hey Team
So with all the Cameras we’ve been playing with and the Photograhpy we’ve been doing, we’ve been getting our hands on a few new bits and pieces lately. Today we’re taking a look at the Fujifilm X-T20 combo with 18-55mm F2.8 lens
Lets kick off with a few base stats
Camera Format APS-C (1.5x Crop Factor)
Pixels 24.3 Megapixel
Max Resolution 6000 x 4000
Aspect Ratio 3:2
Sensor Type / Size CMOS, 23.6 x 15.6 mm
File Formats Still Images: JPEG, RAW
Movies: MOV, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
Audio: Linear PCM (Stereo)
Now given the stats, sensor and size I somewhat compared this to my personal Sony a5100 Camera – granted however I have recently upgraded the glass dramatically so image comparisons will be compared against the kit lens it came with.
One of the great things about Cameras this sort of size with this level of performance is you’re more likely to use them, in that if its small enough to fit in a backpack, purse etc then its not a bulk to carry around with you. The idea being you’l get much nicer images than relying on your mobile device like a phone, sure phone cameras have come a long way lately but lets be fair there is no substitute for real glass – Perhaps thats a comparison we can look at closer soon.
One of the first things I noticed with these cameras, and its a kinda cool think Fuji are doing; The Style! – I love the classic two tone scheme on these and specifically asked for that when they contacted us to review this camera. lets face it, what you buy says a lot about you – we make assumptions about people ( admit it or don’t) by what the show up in, and the photography world is even more elitist than that – So being a bit different and funky certainly adds cool points!
Useability
As I said, this is a smaller camera, which means you’re more likely to take it with you, but someone like me with rather large hands it can be a little tricky to hold right – It does sit a little nicer in the hand than my a5100 but neither are ideal, Give me size and confidence in grip any day – that being said we’re happy that its small so its a trade off for me however if this is for someone with smaller hands it should be far less of an issue. Whats nice is how many options are adjustable via dials, once you get to know what knobs do what it becomes very easy to make adjustments without having to dive through a maze of menu’s. The menu system isn’t the easiest to work through nor is it overly elegant.
As a fairly newbie photograhper I still like to try out preset scenes where possible and then start messing around with things from there – this has not shortage of presets however they don’t always give the expected results, the low light I feel could have been better being mirrorless but we were also shooting handheld so it was a risk to start with but the results weren’t really useable you’d want a tripod still. Action shots we’re a little tricky – even in the hands of a proper photograhper fast moving targets didn’t get the full clarity. There were also a decent number of options for video aswell
Video
This does produce nice video – I didn’t get enough to make up a showreel with but it did come out nice – 4k/30fps or 1080/60fps – I didn’t bother with the 4k, personally I reserve 4k for things like timelapses or things I know I’m going to need to zoom in on – I’ve not found the demand for 4k content near where I would want it to produce 4k content. the 1080p was nice – crisp – the auto focus was a little dithery but not unexpected with quick changes to depth of target. The X-T20 does however come with a 3.5mm input and show mount on top for better audio which you would 100% want if you were planning on taking footage you intend for youtube or social media – you’d nicely fit a little rode videomic go on top and yeild dramatically better results than onboard – the preamps inside are not unexpectedly a bit of a let down but if you were that serious about Audio I doubt this is the camera you’d be looking at anyway. – no 180 flip screen but it does come out and tilt a fair amount – great for getting those slow shots and the screen is easy to see in daylight and automatically switches when you pull the camera up to your face to use the view finder.
Images
The real thing I see people using this for is a stylish accessory to get better images than what they would off their mobile phones camera. Which in essence is exactly why I have the @5100 from sony to which I am comparing these images
It strongest points seemed to be portraits and landscapes
The landscape image is just a shot of my farm – completly unedited to show what base results can offer – the picture of me is lightly edited with lightroom to give an idea of what you can get out of the X-T20
The weaker points from what I found was trying to track fast moving things like people on bikes as shown above. You can judge the results for yourself
Conclusion
So who do I think this camera is best suited for?
As I said eariler its almost as much of a stylish accessory as it is a tool – It does both well however for the money at almost twice the price of my @5100 with the same sensor and megapixels is it worth the extra? – well if you really want that size camera with 4k video then maybe. I see this being attractive and useful for those instagramers who want to have something light weight and portable to throw in a bag and get those nice shots of lunch or that new outfit or tourist destination. Fuji seem to be very assertive with their marketing of late and they have a huge range – so I’d really want to see more of their range before making a final say on ” this camera suits X person” but I think I’m confident in what I’ve put so far.
on a personal note It’s not a camera I would buy – the 4k is something I’ve got covered with other cameras but on that point – having many cameras I have many more options and thus more gear to lug around – this is a decent unit albeit on the expensive side that will look very cool on the table at the cafe. That said It’s something you’l want to spend a bit of time with to learn how to get the best out of it – I would have liked a little more time with it however being so busy I didn’t really get a change to really put it through its paces and get to know it.
Any questions feel free to ask in the comments
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