Big test
THE TOUCHMONITOR PRESENTS FOURMOREMETHODSOF FEATURE SELECTION, WITHDIRECTIONAL SWIPES
edit the focus area. Its push down function can be set to alter the focus point or bring in the focus check magnifier. For my thumb, it would suit me better if this lever was slightly higher up the body, so usage doesn’t require it adjusting my grip and thumb too much. The X-E4’s monitor is a touchscreen, with 1.62m dot resolution. Pushing the Disp/Back button scrolls through three options: image free of data, image with data and info only. Options to vary the settings on view to suit different tastes are available in the menu. There’s also touch shooting and touch AF, but no touch and drag AF when the eye is at the viewfinder eyepiece. If you enjoy candid shooting, having the option of touch AF or touch shooting – in combination with the tilting monitor and face detect AF – is a seriously good benefit. A nice refinement would have been the EVF/monitor auto eye sensor automatically turning off when the tilt monitor is brought into play. As it is, with no dedicated view mode button, it means setting this mode to a function button or monitor swipe. The attraction of the X-E4, however, is that it boasts enough features to be considered a system camera as well, capable of successfully tackling most subjects. The body is by no means a one-trick pony. For this test, some of the lenses used on the X-E4 included the 10-24mm, 55-200mm and 100-400mm – all Fujifilm XF lenses. However, for much of the test, I went with the new-style XF27mm
AEL/AFL, Q and a general function button that sits unmarked next to the shutter button. These three buttons offer the choice of 61 camera features, plus switching off. The touch monitor presents four more methods of feature selection, with directional swipes. Here, the options number 56. Pushing the Q button, you bring up the default menu grid of 16 options, but it’s possible to alter this to 12, 8 or four. During a shoot, selecting items in the Q menu can be done with the touch monitor, or you can use the focus lever and front input dial to fine-tune the setting. The focus joystick moves the point as you would expect, with options to pick out faces in group shots or
down in the C position and use the front dial. The shutter speed mode dial also does not have a lock, but its positioning makes unintentionally moving it less of a concern. Nonetheless, I still managed to move it from A to 1/4000sec on one occasion. There’s also a P functionality, so setting the lens to A gives you program AE mode. Fujifilm is rarely mean with its function buttons and customisation options. The X-E4 is less well endowed in this respect compared to other models, but there is still a decent degree of flexibility for configuring button functions. The body boasts three that are customisable: the
BLOOMING GOOD SHOTS Out-of-camera JPEGs are impressive. Plus, you can enjoy Fujifilm Film Simulation modes, such as Velvia (above), producing powerful colours
photography when you want to travel light. With the X-E4, the combination is the size of a large compact camera, perfect for outdoor jacket pockets and small bags. I enjoyed the X-E4’s company and found it a lovely camera to use. On top of that, I was very happy with its output. But as an X-E3 owner, I couldn’t help making comparisons between the two, especially in terms of handling. The X-E3 is my go-to street camera, and while the X-E4 test didn’t result in much street work, I did take it out in the landscape and on shopping trips, to understand how it would work in different locations. I came away with a very favourable impression. The X-E4 has the
f/2.8 R WR pancake lens. It features the same optical configuration as the original 27mm, proving a capable lens that is very sharp at wide apertures, but the new model has gained weather resistance, an A lock, plus an aperture ring. The lock is a recent arrival to Fujifilm lenses, with most of the range lacking it. The addition is welcome – and once locked, the aperture ring stays in position until the locking button is depressed. On the other hand, you can still easily slip into A from f/16. That’s something I would prefer the lock to prevent. With its moderate wide-angle focal length (40mm in the 35mm format), the lens is an ideal candidate for street shooting, scenic and general
PERFORMANCE: ISO
colour saturation looks similar, too. There’s barely any change at ISO 1600, but looking critically, you can see faint graining in the mid-tones. Nonetheless, the colours look rich, while small details remain crisp. You could still use ISO 3200 for high-quality shots and big prints, if some noise reduction was applied, but it remains an impressive showing obvious and detail begins to suffer. Overall, it’s an excellent showing from the X-E4 sensor, but that’s no surprise, given we have tried the same sensor/processor in other current Fujifilm X bodies. from the sensor. It’s only at ISO 6400 that grain is more
The X-E4, with its back-side illuminated sensor, has a native ISO range of 160-12,800, expandable to ISO 80 at the bottom end, as well as 25,600 and 51,200 at the other extreme. This scene was shot using the XF50-200mm f/3.5-4.8 lens, with in-camera noise reduction set to zero. The sun had set and the exposure for the ISO 160 shot was 3secs at f/11. The Raws were processed in Lightroom, using the default settings. Image quality is very impressive. At 200% on a 4K monitor, there’s barely any difference between the ISO 160 and 800 shots. Intricate detail records very crisply, there’s no digital noise to speak of and
JUDGED IN ISOLATION You get very clean files from the X-E4. Digital noise levels are low, even when you reach ISO 1600 and 3200. There is no problem using such high speeds for exhibition-quality prints. Check out our ISO test shots below
160
800
400
1600
3200
6400
25,600
51,200
12,800
Issue 89 | Photography News 35
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