Photography News Issue 43

Photography News | Issue 43 | absolutephoto.com

Camera test 40

FujifilmX-T20 The Fujifilm X-series goes from strength to strength and the X-T20 is the latest arrival. It’s a mid-range mirrorless camera that has inherited many of the features from the flagship X-T2 and is competitively priced, too

Specs

Prices £799 body only Sensor 24.3-megapixels X-Trans CMOS III Sensorformat 23.8x15.6mmAPS-C, 6000x4000pixels ISOrange 200-12,800, 100-51,200 extended Shutterrange 30secs to 1/8000sec mechanical shutter, top speed with electronic shutter 1/32,000sec. Drivemodes 14fps with electronic shutter, 8fps mechanical shutter allowing up to 27 uncompressed Raws Meteringsystem 256 zone metering, multi, spot, average, centre-weighted Exposuremodes PASM Exposurecompensation +/-5EV in 0,3EV steps Monitor Tiltable 3in, 1040K dots, touch function Viewfinder 0.5in, 2.36million dots showing 100% image area Focusing Intelligent hybrid systemwith TTL phase detect and TTL contrast detect. Single AF, continuous AF and manual focus Focuspoints 91 or 325 AF points usable in single point AF (five sizes possible), wide- tracking AF up to 18 area, zone AF (3x3, 5x5, 7x7) Video 4K (3840x2160) 29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p 100Mbps up to approx. 10mins, full HD, HD Connectivity Wireless, USB 3.0/micro USB, micro HDMI (D), 3.5mmmini-jack (microphone), 2.5mmmicro remote release connector Otherkeyfeatures Dynamic range setting, advanced filters options, interval timer, 1st and 2nd curtain flash sync, auto FP (HSS) Storagemedia 1x SD/SDHC/SDXC card Dimensions(wxhxd) 132.5x91.8x49.2mm Weight Body 507g with card and battery Contact Fujifilm.eu

Words and pictures by Will Cheung

The FujifilmX-series has two distinct camera types within its range which share the same lenses and accessories, and with the identical sensor format deliver the same very high performance levels. The X-Pro2 offers handling in the style of a rangefinder camera a la Leica M while the XT-2, with its centrally placed viewfinder eyepiece, is more DSLR-like. The X-T20 is of this ilk, and offers a similar shooting experience to the X-T2 but in a more compact, lighter bodyform and at a cheaper price. Body only the X-T20 is £799.99 so it is targeted at prospective Fujifilm-X series owners but also temptingly priced as a back-up body to X-T2 owners. Putting the X-T2 and X-T20 side by side reveals that the size difference between them is significant, in body length as well as height. Given the shorter body you might think that the X-T20 is missing a control dial or two compared with the X-T2 but that’s not the case, and there is not much spare space across the top-plate. There are controls for drive settings, shutter speeds and exposure compensation but the one facility that has gone off the top-plate compared with the X-T2 to a menu or function button is the ISO setting. The Drive dial has the usual shooting speed options but there are plenty of modes. Here you can set panorama shooting, multiple exposure, video and more. Two Adv settings let you allocate any two advanced creative filters from the choice of 13 to them. There are also two bracket (BKT) settings and here you can choose from AE bracket, ISO bracket, film simulation bracket, dynamic range bracket and white-

Above The X-T20 is reminescent of a DSLR with its pentaprism hump that allows room for the high quality electronic viewfinder (EVF) even though it is a mirrorless camera. It is available in silver and black versions.

balance bracket. Having two bracket options is handy and saves delving into the menu to switch between modes. I had exposure and film simulationmodes bracketing set. There is a couple of top-plate features the X-20 has that the X-T2 lacks. The first is a pop-up flash. It’s low powered with a GN of 7 at ISO 200/m, and the cantilever design lifts it high enough not to have any lens casting shadow problems when used with the 18-55mm standard zoom at the 18mm end – unless you are focused really close up. Second is an Auto lever. The Auto setting is akin to the green square mode found on many DSLRs for point and shoot photography. Some features are locked down and greyed out in the menu so you can’t change them. For example, the AF system works on a 7x7AFpoint grid and you can’t change that. And some items such as face detection and auto ISO are active. The Qmenu is also greatly restricted, but the biggest thing is Raw shooting is disabled. The joint card and battery compartment has been situated right next to the tripod bush, which is not ideal – even with the smallest tripod plate attached you need to take

it off before swapping the card or battery over. The smaller body does make a secure shooting grip on the camera body slightly less comfortable if you have big hands and/or long fingers. This also means you need to rearrange your hand when you want to alter focus point using the four- way control pad. There is no focus joystick, nor can you use the touch screen to quickly select the single AF point when you have the camera up to your eye using the EVF. However, compose your shots using the monitor and you can use its touch functionality to select the AF point/zone. In Wide/Tracking mode, the camera takes control and where you touch on the screen has no effect. You have control of touch functionality –AF touch, shoot touch and off –without having to go into the menu; there is a virtual box top right of themonitor that’s active constantly. Navigating and selecting menu items is done via the four-way pad or front/ rear input dials, not via touch. The AF array is the same as the X-T2’s. There are 91 AF points arranged in a 13x7 grid and there is the option of switching on a 325 zone, 13x25 grid. The overall image area

covered is the same in both instances so with the 325 zones there are more just crammed in. The 325 option is only available in single point AF mode, and not in Wide/Tracking or Zone. In single zone operation, five sizes are available and the whole grid is selectable. The Zone option presents the choice of groups of 7x7, 5x5 or 3x3 AF points, and the selected zone can be moved around the 13x7 pattern; the actual active zones light up when you are shooting. In this setting, touchAF enables you tomove the selected zone around using the touchmonitor. Add five case studies for continuous AF and you have a highly featured AF system, especially when you bear in mind that the X-T20 is a mid-range model. The key thing is the AF system works well. I shot mostly in single point AF either navigating the points around using the four-way cluster, or the monitor. I liked using the AF shot setting, using the monitor for some candids, and of course with the electronic shutter you can shoot away with total discretion. Accuracy and sensitivity rate highly, with the usual provision that you pay attention to where the AF