Fujifilm X-S20
Big test
PRICE: £1249
FUJIFILM-X.COM
Beautifully formed, powerful and stacked with awesome stills and video features, the Fujifilm X-S20 is sure to find its way into the hands of discerning creators of all levels. Will Cheung had the pleasure of its company for a couple of days’ photography in Malta
new, will soon find their way around the layout. I don’t think newcomers to the system will struggle much with the clearly identified controls and easily navigable menu either. The one part that’s anonymous is the control dial on the body’s left side. This can be assigned to various functions, but at default it changes the Film Simulation setting – of which there are 19 to choose from. The X-S20’s extra length and slightly chubbier handgrip enables use of the NP-W235 battery – this is used, among others, in the X-T5, X-H2 and GFX 100S models. The larger battery has greater capacity, which is very welcome. It claims to give 750 shots in normal use and 800 in economy mode – compared with 325 from the X-S10 in normal mode using the NP-W126S cell. On my two shooting days, starting with a fully charged cell each time, I came away with 935 and 827 still pictures respectively (about half with the electronic shutter), plus a few video clips. I finished both days with two bars of battery remaining. That was impressive – and even if you get low on juice out on location, the X-S20 can be recharged from a power bank via the USB-C port. The exposure mode dial is just like any other, with the usual suspects of PASM, movie and auto. There are four custom modes, too, where you can assign an array of settings
WORDS & IMAGES BY WILL CHEUNG
ALL CAMERA BRANDS put a great deal of effort into developing product ranges to cater for different budgets and audiences. Fujifilm certainly does, and from its first X Series camera – the X-Pro1, which came out in 2012 – it has been brilliant at delivering targeted models, often using the same sensor and processor. So, we have the X-Pro family, with its classic rangefinder styling; the X-T series with traditional controls and faux-pentaprism design; plus the hybrid-focused X-H series. A relatively new addition is the X-S series, with the X-S10 coming out late in 2020. The concept was for a small and lightweight camera blessed with professional-level stills and video features in a body styled differently from existing products. The X-S10 is available at around £929 body only and has been joined by the X-S20 – which will be hitting the shelves at £1249 body only. They both sport the same 26.1-megapixel X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor, but the X-S20 uses Fujifilm’s latest imaging engine, the X-Processor 5. That has enabled a rich and impressive array of video features – and its appeal to stills photographers has been beefed up, too. The X-S20 has a definite Fujifilm look and feel; it’s almost identical to the X-S10. Its body is 1.7mm longer, to accommodate a larger NP-W235 battery, but the dimensions of its height and depth are the same. The exposure dial is also slightly bigger. By contrast, this model has fewer controls and buttons compared to the latest X-T and X-H cameras that house the fifth-generation sensor, so users of the brand’s X Series, old and
“THERE’S ONE SETTING NOT SEEN ON ANY FUJIFILM CAMERA: VLOG” macro, macro and motion, sky, portrait or a moving object. You can scroll through and manually choose subjects by using the front input dial. There’s plenty of available user customisation – thought not as much as the X-T5 and X-H2. To give you an idea of the versatility, the Rec, ISO, Q and Fn buttons can be set to 77 options, including off; the four swipe directions on the touch monitor have 66 options each; plus the left-hand function dial has 39 features that can be dedicated to it. An extra physical function button or two would have been nice, but there are no complaints about the X-S20’s customisation potential given its price point. For this test, I used the X-S10 and a production X-S20 with the latest firmware side by side. With their near-identical layouts, swapping between the two was no issue. The
for specific subjects and occasions – and filter, which takes you into a fun world of creative JPEG filters including toy camera, miniature and dynamic tone. There’s one setting not previously seen on any Fujifilm camera: vlog. With this active, a touch on the monitor brings up a six-window set of options: self-timer, face detection, product priority, IS mode, high-speed recording and background defocus mode. It lets you adjust core settings while you’re in front of camera. Add the optional TG-BT1 Bluetooth- operated tripod grip for £169 and filming yourself is easier than ever. Another useful facet of the X-S20 (in these days of virtual meetings) is that it becomes a webcam via its USB-C port, supporting live streaming up to 4K/60p just by plugging into a computer. There’s no need for additional software. Most cameras have a green square or fully auto mode, and the X-S20 has auto too, but this is more advanced than usual. Yes, you get an automated camera with exposure, focus and ISO all taken care of, but here you also get auto subject detection. In this mode, a pop-up message tells you whether the camera has detected
push buttons on the new model were more positive, with an obvious but still discreet click in use. When it comes to imaging performance, the X-S20 employs Fujifilm’s X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor, with a resolution of 26.1 megapixels. This works together with the latest X Series imaging engine, the X-Processor 5, the same unit used in the top-of-the-range X-H2 and X-T5 models. The processor’s more efficient performance has blessed the X-S20 with improved AF, using a new algorithm for faster operation and more accurate tracking – not to mention there’s deep-learning AI
ADD DRAMA The X-S20 has a range of creative JPEG filters. For this shot of the Cathedral of the Assumption in Gozo’s Cittadella, the dynamic tone filter was used. Exposure was 1/850sec at f/5.6 and ISO 160
PEAS IN A POD The X-S20 body (top) is 1.7mm longer than the X-S10, and the handgrip slightly modified to enable use of higher-capacity NP-W235 batteries
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