Big test
PERFORMANCE: EXPOSURE LATITUDE To test Raws from the X-T4, I shot exposure brackets (+/-4EV in 1EV steps) of a variety of scenes. The correct exposure of this scene was 1/400sec at f/8 and ISO 200, and the Raws were corrected in Lightroom. The +/-4EV shots are not shown here.
shots looked almost indistinguishable from the correctly exposed frame. The overexposed Raws looked almost as good, apart from the +4EV shot, where the highlights could not be recovered with any degree of success. It was a much better showing with the +3EV frame, where highlights andmidtones looked fine, although contrast and colour probably needed a little more editing tomatch the correctly exposed frame. The blue sky of the +2EV shot was also slightly different fromboth the +1EV and correctly exposed shots, but this was minor and, again, easily corrected.
Exposure latitude of the Raws proved pretty good, especially with underexposure. Viewing the results at 100%, all the underexposed shots recovered very well with accurate colours, satisfying saturation and rich blacks. The only downside was an increase in digital noise, although to be fair even the -3EV shot looked pretty good and perfectly acceptable. The -1EV and -2EV
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ABOVE The X-T4’s metering system handled shooting into the light, such as here, very nicely, but needed help when the light source was in frame
for easy tripod use, this type of screen is not ideal. For upright shooting, though, this screen type is great to use, whichever way you like to the hold the camera. It also makes life easier when you are using the touchscreen when it’s out to one side, because your fingers are away from the EVF/monitor auto switchover sensor that you always forget to turn off. That’s the key external changes covered. Turning the camera on, aiming it at a subject and pressing the shutter button reveals two more. First, the level of noise generated by the mechanical shutter is very low and there’s barely any vibration. This is thanks to a new shutter mechanism with improved damping, built to last 300,000 actuations. In a typical outdoor situation, the shutter noise is so quiet and low-pitched (Fujifilm claims it is 30% quieter) that you don’t need to switch to the electronic shutter if you want to be super discrete. It’s that quiet. The new shutter, with reduced lag, also helps deliver a 15fps continuous shooting rate – you get 30fps with the electronic shutter and a 1.25x image crop. Loaded with Lexar 2000x UHS-II SD cards, in lossless compressed Raw, I got 38 shots at 15fps (the shutter speed was 1/2000sec) before the camera slowed down and then the buffer took about 12 seconds to clear. During continuous high shooting, there’s no minimal blackout, which makes accurate panning with the subject a breeze. With the electronic shutter, I got 19fps with full image size. The other change is an improved autofocus system. I own an X-T2
and have regularly used an X-T3 and, while both have more than capable AF systems, within a fewminutes of using it, I thought the X-T4’s to be significantly better. It is more sure- footed in low light, it’s faster and it tracks moving subjects better thanks to, Fujifilm says, the system using colour and shape information as well as distance data. There’s no intelligent subject-oriented AF mode yet or the options of customisable focusing patterns like we’ve seen fromOlympus, but maybe that will come in the future via a firmware update. The AF system in terms of AF points is the same as other X-Tmodels: 117 points in 13x9 grid during wide/zone AF or 425 points in a 17x25 grid when single-point AF is engaged with a focus lever for moving AF zones/points around the image. In continuous AF, there are five case studies and one custom setting. Fujifilm says the X-T4 has an AF speed of 0.02sec, the fastest AF found in an APS-C camera, and in use you do get the distinct impression that focusing is very fast and the phase- detect systemmakes focusing positive. I tried the camera with a selection of lenses, including the 16-55mm f/2.8, 56mm f/1.2, 50-140mm f/2.8 and 55- 200mm f/3.5-4.8. The system’s skills, compared with older X-Tmodels, is more apparent with the telezoom lenses, where images very smartly snapped into sharp focus. I tested face/eye detect with the camera in movie mode with the 16- 55mm lens mounted on a tripod and with the screen facing forwards, so
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Issue 78 | Photography News 29
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