In summary
A minor update to Fujifilm’s solid-performing X-T30 (which we reviewed in May 2019) with higher monitor resolution and expanded buffer capacity for continuous shooting.
Full review
Announced in early September, Fujifilm’s X-T30 II is a relatively minor update to the X-T30 (which we reviewed in May 2019) with a slightly higher-resolution monitor and an expanded internal memory. Like its predecessors, the X-T30 II sports a 26.1-megapixel APS-C X-Trans BSI CMOS 4 sensor and X-Processor 4 with Quad CPU image processor. It will be available in all-black or black and silver but the body lacks weatherproof sealing and the controls aren’t really suitable for novices or technologically-challenged users.
Angled view of the Fujifilm X-T30 II with the XF 15-45mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ kit lens. (Source: Fujifilm.)
The review camera was supplied with the XF 18mm f/1.4 R LM WR prime lens, which was announced in April and is reviewed separately. Because so little has changed since the original X-T30 – and because we have been unable to find a raw file converter that could open files from the X-T30 II satisfactorily when it was written – this review will, of necessity, be quite brief.
Unfortunately, we were unable to convert RAF-RAW files from the review camera into TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw, our preferred raw file converter. This seems counter-intuitive since the X-T30 II uses the same sensor and image processor as its predecessor; but that’s what we found, so we sought out some alternatives.
We will not use the Silkypix-based raw file converter Fujifilm provides because we’ve found it consistently delivers sub-standard results. But it’s unfortunate that even Capture 1 for Fujifilm, which is offered to Fujifilm customers, couldn’t handle the camera’s RAF.RAW files. Consequently, we have been forced to rely on JPEGs for all our tests.
What’s New?
The only physical difference between the X-T30 II and the X-T30 is an increase in the resolution of its LCD monitor from 1.04 million dots in the X-T30 to 1.62 million dots in the new camera. It’s nice to have – but barely perceptible unless you compare the screens under a magnifying glass.
Autofocusing sensitivity has been extended down to -7EV, compared with only -3EV for the X-T30. New AF algorithms have also improved tracking performance for subjects moving towards or away from the camera.
Internally, the buffer memory is slightly larger, with a claimed capacity of up to 105 JPEGs or 23 RAF.RAW files, compared with 90 JPEG / 18 raw in the X-T30. It’s not a huge improvement but may be significant for some potential purchasers.
The film simulation options have been expanded to 18 with the addition of Classic Neg and ETERNA Bleach Bypass. In addition, the algorithm for the Auto shooting mode has been updated and will now apply special processing to make landscapes clearer and more vivid, smooth skin tones, control highlight and shadow clipping and improve background rendition in portraits.
The main change to video capabilities is the addition of a Full HD 1080p/240p high-speed video mode. This enables users to record fast-moving subject for playing back at up to 10x slower speeds for motion analysis. In addition, the X-T30’s recording capacity is capped at 10 minutes with 4K or 15 minutes in Full HD whereas the X-T30 II goes up to 30 minutes per clip.
Finally, in line with an increasing number of cameras, the X-T30 II does not ship with a dedicated battery charger. Instead, the battery is charged in the camera via a USB-C cable, which is supplied. Battery capacity is slightly higher at 390 shots/charge compared with 380 in the X-T30.
Key Features
In all other respects, the X-T30 II is identical to its predecessor and details of the key features listed below can be found in our review of that camera. Key features are as follows:
- 1-megapixel (effective) APS-C X-Trans BSI CMOS 4 Sensor,
- X-Processor 4 with Quad CPU,
- DCI and UHD 4K 30p video with F-Log Gamma available,
- 36 million-dot OLED electronic viewfinder,
- 0-inch tilting LCD touchscreen,
- 425-point phase-detection autofocus,
- Mechanical and electronic shutter options,
- Extended ISO 80-51200,
- 8 fps continuous shooting or 30 fps shooting with 1.25x frame crop,
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi; Sports Finder Mode,
- Ultrasonic vibration sensor cleaning.
Performance
The review camera plus the Fujinon XF 18mm f/1.4 R LM WR lens delivered similar performance in our Imatest testing to the X-T30, which was tested with the Fujinon XF 16mm f/2.8 R WR lens. This is to be expected since the sensor and processor are identical in both cameras.
Unfortunately, as mentioned above, we were only able to evaluate JPEG files due to the absence of a satisfactory raw file processor. The graph below shows the results of our Imatest testing.
Resolution was a little below expectations and somewhat lower than we obtained from the X-T30. The fact a more expensive lens was used for that review may have played a role in the differences – although the original X-T30 had been available for several months more than the second-generation model used in this test could also have contributed to the results.
Low light performance was similar to the X-T30’s with little in the way of noise up to ISO 6400, followed by a gradual increase in graininess as sensitivity was increased. As before, exposure levels remained constant and both saturation and colour accuracy were retained throughout its sensitivity range.
Flash performance also resembled the X-T30’s, although with our tests, the use of an 18mm lens meant we were able to shoot from a little further away from the subject. Light distribution was a little better as a result, but metering tended towards gross under-exposure at low ISO settings. Otherwise performance was similar to the X-T30.
White balance performance was also similar to the X-T30’s. The regular auto setting produced close-to-neutral colours under fluorescent and flash lighting but, as expected, failed to eliminate the orange cast from incandescent illumination or warm-toned LED lighting – although the White Priority setting delivered neutral colours under the latter.
A warm bias remained with the Ambience Priority setting under both LED and tungsten lighting, although it was greater with the incandescent light. There’s no preset for LED or flash but the tungsten preset came close to removing the warm casts of LED lighting and no correction was needed for flash light.
The tungsten and fluorescent pre-sets slightly over-corrected both colour casts introducing a purple/magenta bias in each case. Manual measurement produced neutral colour rendition with all three types of lighting.
Autofocusing performance was difficult to gauge with precision due to the use of the fast, wide-angle lens. That said, we found no problems when shooting both stills and video, including in low light levels and with low-contrast subjects.
Movie quality was similar to the clips we obtained from the X-T30 although again, the lens supplied for our review was not ideal for shooting movies. Audio quality was also good, given the small size of the camera’s microphones and the location in which our clips were recorded.
We carried out our timing tests with the same 64GB Panasonic SDHC UHS-1 U3 card as we used when testing the X-T30 in order to compare the performance of the two cameras. Interestingly, despite assertions about improved performance in the new camera, we found no significant change in our timing figures. Although there may have been improvements in the handling of JPEG files the buffer capacity for RAF.RAW and RAW+JPEG files was effectively unchanged.
The review camera took roughly one second to both power-up but shut down almost instantaneously. We measured an average capture lag of 0.3 seconds, which was eliminated with pre-focusing. Shot-to-shot times for JPEGs averaged 0.6 seconds because the camera can’t record a subsequent shot until the last one was processed.
Going by the indicator light on the rear panel, it took just over half a second on average to process each JPEG file and just under one second for each RAF.RAW file and RAW+JPEG pair.
When the mechanical shutter was used in the continuous high-speed shooting mode, the review camera recorded 171 high-resolution JPEGs in 20.5 seconds without slowing, which is close to the specified maximum rate of 8fps. It took roughly 8.5 seconds to clear the buffer memory.
On swapping to RAF.RAW files, the camera paused after recording 18 files in 3.3 seconds in 2.2 seconds in the continuous high mode. Processing time for this burst was just over 11 seconds. With RAW+JPEG pairs, recording paused after 17 frames, which were captured in 3.2 seconds. It took 15 seconds to compete the processing of this burst.
Conclusion
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SPECS
Image sensor: 23.5 x 15.6 mm X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor with 26.1 megapixels (effective)
Image processor: X-Processor 4
Lens mount: Fujifilm X-mount
Focal length crop factor: 1.5x
Image formats: Stills: JPEG (DCF 2.0, Exif Ver. 2.32), 14-bit RAF.RAW, RAW+JPEG; Movies: MOV: MPEG-4 H.264, Linear PCM (Stereo sound 24bit / 48KHz sampling); MP4 (MPEG-4 H.264/ AAC; Long GOP compression
Image Sizes: Stills 3:2 aspect- 6240 x 4160, 4416 x 2944, 3120 x 2080; 16:9 aspect – 6240 x 3512, 4416x 2488, 3120x 1760; 1:1 aspect – 4160 x 4160, 2944 x 2944, 2080 x 2080; Panorama – 9600 x 2160 (V) / 9600 x 1440 (H); 6400 x 2160 (V), 6400 x 1440 (H); Movies: DCI4K(17:9) 4096 x 2160 & 4K(16:9) 3840 x 2160 at 30p/25p/24p, Full HD(17:9) 2048 x 1080 & Full HD(16:9) 1920 x 1080 at 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p at 200Mbps/100Mbps, Full HD(16:9) High speed rec. 1920 x 1080 at 240p/200p/120p/100p 200Mbps
Image Stabilisation: Lens based
Dust removal: Ultra Sonic Vibration
Shutter (speed range): Focal plane shutter (Mechanical shutter (15 min.-1/4000 seconds in S/M modes plus Bulb to 60 min.; Electronic shutter: 15 to 1/32,000 second in S/M modes plus Bulb at 1 sec.)
Exposure Compensation: +/- 5EV in 1/3EV steps (+/- 2EV for movies)
Exposure bracketing: 2, 3, 5, 7 or 9 frames in 1/3EV increments across +/- 3EV steps
Other bracketing options: Film Simulation, Dynamic Range, ISO sensitivity, White Balance (3 frames for each), plus Focus Bracketing (Auto/Manual)
Self-timer: 2 or 10 seconds delay
Interval recording: Yes (Setting : Interval, Number of shots, Starting time, Interval timer shooting exposure smoothing)
Focus system: Intelligent 435-point Hybrid AF (TTL contrast AF / TTL phase detection AF)
AF selection: Single point AF: 13×9 / 25×17 (Changeable size of AF frame), Zone AF: 3×3 / 5×5 / 7×7 from 117 areas on 13×9 grid, Wide/Tracking AF (AF-S: Wide / AF-C: Tracking); Face / Eye detection available
Focus modes: AFS (Single) / AFC (Continuous) / MF
Exposure metering: TTL 256-zone multi-pattern system with Multi, Centre-weighted, Average and Spot metering patterns
Shooting modes: Program AE, Aperture Priority AE, Shutter Priority AE, Manual Exposure
Film Simulation modes: PROVIA/Standard, Velvia/Vivid, ASTIA/Soft, Classic Chrome, PRO Neg.Hi, PRO Neg.Std, Classic Neg., ETERNA/Cinema, ETERNA Bleach Bypass, ACROS, ACROS + Ye Filter, ACROS + R Filter, ACROS + G Filter, Black & White, Black & White + Ye Filter, Black & White + R Filter, Black & White + G Filter, Sepia
Filter modes: Toy camera, Miniature, Pop colour, High-key, Low-key, Dynamic tone, Soft focus, Partial colour (Red / Orange / Yellow / Green / Blue / Purple)
Other in-camera processing modes: HDR Mode, Multiple exposures (max. 9 frames with Additive / Average / Bright / Dark settings); Monochromatic Colour, Grain Effect, Colour chrome effect, Colour chrome Blue, Dynamic range (Auto / 100％ / 200％ / 400％), Clarity (+/-5 steps)
Colour space options: sRGB and Adobe RGB
ISO range: Auto (x3), ISO160 ~12800 with extensions to ISO80 / 100 / 125 / 25600 / 51200
White balance: AWB, AWBc, AWBw, Fine / Shade / Fluorescent Light-1 / Fluorescent Light-2 / Fluorescent Light-3 / Incandescent Light / Underwater, Custom (x 3), Colour temperature setting (2500K~10000K)
Flash: Manual pop-up flash (Super Intelligent Flash), GN ~7 (ISO 200)
Flash modes: 1st Curtain / 2nd Curtain sync., TTL Auto / Standard / Slow Sync. / Manual / Commander / Off
Flash exposure adjustment: +/- EV in 1/3EV steps
Sequence shooting: Max.30 frames/sec. with electronic shutter, 1.25x crop or 8 fps with mechanical shutter
Buffer capacity: Max. 105 Large/Fine JPEGs, 23 RAW files at 8 fps
Storage Media: SD, SDHC, SDXC cards (UHS-I compatible)
Viewfinder: 0.39 inch OLED EVF with 2,360,000 dots; 100% FOV coverage, 17.5 mm eyepoint, -4 ~ +2m-1 dioptre adjustment, 0.62x magnification, built-in eye sensor
LCD monitor: 3.0 inch 3:2 aspect ratio Tilt-Type Touch Screen Colour LCD with 1,620,000 dots
Interface terminals: USB Type-C (USB3.2 Gen1x1), HDMI Micro (Type D), 2.5mm, stereo mini connector (for Microphone and Remote Release) / Hot shoe
Wi-Fi function: IEEE802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth v4.2 (Bluetooth Low Energy)
Power supply: NP-W126S rechargeable Li-ion battery; CIPA rated for approx. 390 shots/charge
Dimensions (wxhxd): Approx. 118.4 x 82.8 x 46.8 mm (excluding protrusions)
Weight: Approx. 378 grams with battery and card
Distributor: Fujifilm Australia; 1800 226 355
TESTS
Based upon JPEG files directly from the camera.
SAMPLES
All shots taken with Fujinon XF 18mm f/1.4 R LM WR lens.
Auto white balance with incandescent lighting.
Auto white balance with incandescent lighting, ambience priority.
Auto white balance with incandescent lighting, white priority.
Auto white balance with fluorescent lighting.
Auto white balance with warm-toned LED lighting, ambience priority.
Auto white balance with warm-toned LED lighting, white priority.
Auto white balance with flash lighting.
30-second exposure at ISO 80, f/2.
15-second exposure at ISO 160, f/2.
10-second exposure at ISO 800, f/2.8.
5-second exposure at ISO 6400, f/5.
5-second exposure at ISO 12800, f/6.3.
2-second exposure at ISO 25600, f/8.
1-second exposure at ISO 51200, f/8.
Flash exposure, ISO 80, 1/60 second at f/2.8.
Flash exposure, ISO 160, 1/60 second at f/2.8.
Flash exposure, ISO 800, 1/60 second at f/2.8.
Flash exposure, ISO 6400, 1/60 second at f/5.6.
Flash exposure, ISO 12800, 1/60 second at f/8.
Flash exposure, ISO 25600, 1/75 second at f/11.
Flash exposure, ISO 51200, 1/60 second at f/11.
Close-up at f/4, ISO 160, 1/850 second.
Wide brightness range scene, ISO 400, 1/15 second at f/16.
Mixed lighting, ISO 320, 1/25 second at f/8.
Mixed lighting, ISO 800, 1/5 second at f/16.
ISO 160, 1/250 second at f/5.6.
ISO 160, 1/150 second at f/8.
ISO 800, 1/75 second at f/5.6.
ISO 51200, 1/250 second at f/16.
ISO 25600, 1/50 second at f/16.
ISO 2500, 1/80 second at f/9.
ISO 3200, 1/80 second at f/8.
ISO 1600, 1/20 second at f/13.
Still frame from DCI 4K 17:9 video clip (4096 x 2160 pixels) recorded at 25p, 200Mbps.
Still frame from 4K 16:9 video clip (3840 x 2160 pixels) recorded at 25p, 200Mbps.
Still frame from 2049 x 1080 pixel Full HD video clip recorded at 50p/100Mbps.
Still frame from 1920 x 1080 pixel Full HD video clip recorded at 50p/100Mbps.
Additional image samples can be found with our review of the XF 16mm f/2.8 R WR lens.
Rating
RRP: AU$1599; US$899 (body only)
- Build: 8.9
- Ease of use: 8.7
- Autofocusing: 9.0
- Still image quality: 8.8
- Video quality: 8.8
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