Fujifilm X-T30 review: Best Mirrorless Camera !!
Fujifilm's X-T30 brings the same 26MP sensor, processor and much of the feature set of the high-end X-T3 at a more reasonable price. If that sounds familiar, it's because the relationship between the X-T20 and X-T2 was the same.
With the X-T30 you get Fujifilm's latest AF system, along with plenty of direct controls and a tilting touchscreen, all in a smaller body. The X-T30 also comes at a significantly lower price than the X-T3, with the body priced at $899, versus $1499 for the X-T3. We'll discuss what features were cut in order to make the X-T30 the less expensive of the two options a bit later in the review.
Key specifications
- 26.1MP APS-C X-Trans BSI-CMOS 4 sensor
- X-Processor 4
- Hybrid AF system has 425 phase-detect points spread across the entire frame
- Burst shooting at 30 fps with no blackout (but 1.25X) crop using electronic shutter; 20 fps without crop
- 2.36M-dot OLED viewfinder w/0.62x equiv. magnification and 100 fps refresh rate in boost mode
- 3" tilting touchscreen display
- Dedicated drive, shutter speed, and exposure compensation dials
- Joystick for AF point selection
- Eterna Film Simulation mode
- DCI and UHD 4K/30p capture using the full width of the sensor
- 4:2:0 8-bit internal recording or 4:2:2 10-bit HDMI output
- USB-C socket with headphone support
- Single SD card slot (UHS-I only)
That's a lot of camera for under $900, body-only. If you'd like to add a lens, you can get the camera and the 15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS Power Zoom lens for $999, or with the excellent 18-55 F2.8-4 lens for $1299. The camera is available in silver, black and the graphite silver version shown in this review.
Despite its low price, the X-T30 is a very well-built camera, and its numerous direct controls make it a pleasure to use.
Key takeaways
- For its price, the X-T30 is surprising well constructed, although it's not weather-sealed
- The X-T30 has traded the four-way controller from the X-T20 for a small, somewhat fiddly 8-way joystick and swipe motions on the LCD
- Dials for shutter speed and exposure compensation connect you with the camera and make it easy to adjust these settings
While other sub-$1000 tend to feel a bit cheap and plasticky, the X-T30 feels like a more expensive camera. The chassis is almost entirely metal and so are the three dials on the top plate. Those dials have just the right amount of resistance, which prevents them from turning too easily. On the other hand, the front and back control dials are plasticky and easy to accidentally rotate.
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The X-T30 fits well in the hand, and the fact that it's not a 'tall' camera allows your fingers to support it from underneath the grip. The grip itself isn't large, but it does the job. In most respects, controls are well laid-out, though some people may find the joystick (new to the X-T30) is too small and placed too low on the back of the camera.
Control overview
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One of the things that makes the X-T30 a pleasure to shoot with are the dials on its top plate, which makes you feel more connected to the camera than having to use menus. The X-T30 has a mode dial (of sorts) that lets you quickly access continuous shooting, bracketing and movie modes (and more). The switch under that dial raises the built-in flash, which has a working range of roughly 6m/20ft at ISO 160. The flash can't be tilted back for bouncing.
On the other side of the hot shoe are dials for shutter speed and exposure compensation. While the shutter speed dial does what you'd expect, there's a neat trick it can do in the dedicated movie mode. If set the dial to, say, 1/60 sec, you can then use the rear dial to choose from video-friendly shutter speeds, like 1/48 sec. While the exposure comp dial stops at ±3, by setting it to the 'C' position you can access the entire ±5 range.
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The adjacent Fn button is small and hard to reach and is one of four physical buttons that you can assign functions to (the fourth button being the rear dial, which can be pressed). One of the nice things about Fujifilm cameras is that you can change what function is assigned to a button by holding it down for a few seconds.
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Fujifilm removed the four-way controller from the X-T30 and replaced it with directional swipes of the touchscreen. However, you also gain the joystick mentioned above. It's an eight-way 'stick, which makes navigating through all those AF points a bit easier. The placement of the joystick isn't great, as your finger rests on it, making it very easy to accidentally press.
Speaking of which, the location of the Q.menu button is probably the most frustrating 'feature' on the entire camera. It's incredibly easy to unintentionally press... again and again. Everyone in the DPReview office who used the X-T30 was in agreement about this one.*
Electronic viewfinder
The EVF on the X-T30 is an OLED panel with 2.36 million dots: pretty standard these days. By default, the refresh rate of the EVF is 60 fps, but by switching on 'boost mode' it rises to 100 fps. Fujifilm claims that's the EVF is 'blackout-free' when shooting high-speed bursts, and we'll aim to validate that in our review.
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The 'Sports Finder' mode from the X-T3 is here, as well. This mode applies a 1.25X crop (lowering the resolution to around 16MP) and puts a frame around the area that will be captured. This feature helps you see when a subject is approaching or leaving the shooting area. Sports finder can only be used with the mechanical shutter.
As one would expect, there's an eye sensor attached to the EVF. Something from the X-T3 that didn't make it to the X-T30 is how the eye sensor is disabled when the LCD is tilted. This prevents the sensor from being triggered when you're shooting at the hip.
Ports
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The X-T30 has a trio of ports under a door on its left side. They include a 2.5mm mic input along with USB-C and micro-HDMI sockets. Since the X-T30 supports USB-PD, the camera can be charged by portable power banks. In addition to charging and transferring images, you can also connect headphones to the USB-C port.
Battery and memory card
The X-T30 uses the venerable NP-W126S lithium-ion battery, which stores 8.7Wh worth of energy. That translates into 380 shots per charge using the LCD (per CIPA testing), which is respectable (and you'll likely get many more, depending on your shooting style). Battery life numbers using the EVF weren't provided by Fujifilm.
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A rating in the range of 300-400 shots should let you shoot an event, or last for the duration of a fairly photography-focused weekend. As you'd expect, your experience will vary depending on your use of burst mode, Wi-Fi and video, and how much time you spend reviewing the images.
Next door to the battery is the camera's SD memory card slot, which supports UHS-I media.
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