Photography News 80 WEB

FujifilmX-T200 The Fujifilm X-T200 is a small, lightweight camera aimed at the mirrorless newcomer and boasts a speedy, responsive AF system and one of the biggest, most impressive touchscreens we’ve seen – and it sells at a competitive price, too FUJIFILM.EU/UK

Big test

PRICE: £749

WORDS AND IMAGES BY WILL CHEUNG

FUJIFILM HAS ENJOYED great success with its X Series cameras. A fabulous lens system, a traditional knobs-and-dials design, great features and innovation and, of course, cutting- edge performance have all played their part. The top-of-the-range X-T4 and X-Pro3 show what the brand is capable of. But Fujifilm isn’t just about the expert users; it caters for less-experienced camera users and newcomers to mirrorless shooting with products like the X-T30 and the model featured here, the X-T200. The X-T200 with the XC15-45mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ zoom lens is priced at £749, and for that money you get an enticing array of key features that include 24.2 megapixels of resolution, enhanced autofocus, 11 Fujifilm Film Simulation modes, 4K video and a large articulating 16:9 widescreen touch monitor. Better yet, this combination weighs in at a tad over 500g (370g body, 136g lens) making it ideal for users who want to travel light, without limiting creativity. PERFORMANCE: ISO Our ISO test shots of a church were taken on the X-T200 with the XC15- 45mm mounted on a Manfrotto Befree GT XPRO carbon tripod with the shutter released using the self-timer. At ISO 200, the base exposure was 1/3sec at f/8. The two top expanded speeds of ISO 25,600 and 51,200 are available in JPEGs only, so these two frames are shown straight out of camera. The remaining images started life as Raws and were processed in Lightroom with default noise reduction. We have grown used to the excellent noise performance of Fujifilm X-Trans sensors at higher ISO speeds. However, although the X-T200 features a conventional Bayer-pattern sensor, its noise performance proved to be equally impressive. At ISO 400 and slower, there was no sign of any noise in the shadows, but it is visible at ISO 800 in areas of smooth tone and in

At the X-T200’s heart is an APS-C format CMOS sensor, and while this is not an X-Trans-type sensor found on more expensive Fujifilm cameras, it is still a first-class sensor, as you can see from the ISO test images shown here. Our test shots showed excellent detail rendition at medium ISOs and a lively colour reproduction, with the out-of-camera JPEGs shot in standard Provia Film Simulation mode looking vibrant. Taking shots of a colour test chart confirmed that the camera’s reproduction was slightly rich. On outdoor shots taken on a sunny day, the blue sky looked rich and occasionally very slightly magenta, although the overall effect was not unpleasant. To be fair, in its launch press release about this camera, Fujifilm did say that it was aiming to “recreate ‘memory colours’ or colours as one remembers in one’s memory, such as naturally beautiful skin tones, vivid lush greens of early summer and deep blues of the sky on a bright sunny day”.

SPECS

›   Price/s £749 body with the XC15- 45mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ. Vlogging kit at £799 also available and the camera comes with the same lens, 16GB card, Gorilla Pod and Rode microphone ›   In the box Body, strap, NP-W126S battery, USB-C microphone adapter, USB cable ›   Sensor resolution 24.2 megapixels, 6000x4000pixels ›   Sensor format 23.5x15.7mm, APS-C CMOS ›   Lensmount Fujifilm X ›   ISO range 200-12,800, expansion ISO 100, 25,600, 51,200 JPEG only ›   Shutter range Mechanical 30secs to 1/4000sec, electronic 30secs to 1/32,000sec, B (up to 60min), flash sync 1/180sec ›   Drivemodes Up to 8fps in continuous ›   Exposure system TTL 256 pattern in multi-zone, spot and average modes ›   Exposure compensation +/-5EV stills, +/-2 EV movie ›   Monitor 3.5in 2760K dot touch monitor ›   Viewfinder 0.39in 2360K dot EVF ›   Focusing system 117, single spot (six sizes), wide, zone (3x3, 5x5, 7x7) and all. Face/eye detect ›   In-body image stabilizer No ›   Video 4K 3840x2160 29.97p/25p/ 24p/23.98p. Full HD 1920x1080 59.94p/50p/29.97p/25/24p/23.98p ›   Movie format MPEG-4, H.264 compression ›   Connectivity USB-C 3.2, HMDI Type-D, 3.5mm jack for microphone/remote release, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi ›   Other key features Advanced filter (13 options including toy camera, partial colour and fish- eye), 11 Film Simulation modes, 11 Scene Position modes. ›   Storagemedia 1xSD slot ›   Dimensions (wxhxd) 121x83.7x55.1mm ›   Weight 370g body with battery Contact: fujifilm.eu/uk

It’s fair to say Fujifilm has achieved this particular goal. Of course, you can use the camera’s Film Simulation modes with JPEGs to help achieve the sort of colour rendition you prefer and options includes Astia/Soft, Classic Chrome and Pro Neg. Std. There’s the option of Advanced filters (again for JPEGs) for creative effects, so you can get a miniature look, or replicate using a toy camera or a partial colour effect. Autofocus is responsive in a wide variety of lighting situations, including in subdued interior lighting, and the on-sensor phase detect pixels show their worth here, as they do with tracking moving human subjects

during still shooting. The camera is capable of continuous shooting at 8fps – you get 17 Raws at that speed before the camera slows down – and the responsive AF helps to achieve a decent success rate with moving subjects. There’s a good face/eye detect performance, too. The X-T200’s AF options will be familiar to current Fujifilm users. There’s the default of 117 AF points (9x13 grid) in single-point, zone and wide modes and the option of 425 points (15x25 grid) in single-point mode. The single point itself has six size options and the focus point can be moved around with the focus stick

200

800

the deep shadows. However, quality remained high and the noise did not detract greatly, with fine detail looking crisp and the tones smooth. At ISO 1600, you could see noise having more of an impact on fine detail, but critical results and big prints are still possible, especially with a little more editing. As you’d expect, image quality dropped off further up the speed scale, although the ISO 6400 shots didn’t look too bad. If you had no option other than shooting at the top native ISO 12,800, you probably wouldn’t be too disappointed by the results.

6400

12,800

22 Photography News | Issue 80

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