Contents
Conclusion
Pros
- Extremely solidly constructed body with full weathersealing
- Big and beautiful electronic viewfinder
- Dual-tilting rear screen
- Excellent controls and ergonomics
- Focus stick makes selecting focus points a breeze
- Excellent autofocus capabilities, including very impressive continuous AF
- Very good image quality: among the best in the APS-C realm
- Well implemented features and customizable interface
- 4K video
- WiFi connectivity works well
- Dual SD card slots
- High burst of 8 fps in mechanical shutter mode and 11fps with the optional grip
- Electronic shutter to 1/32,000 sec and 14fps (with locked focus)
- Can charge battery through the USB port
Cons
- Video experiences rolling shutter pretty easily
- Bracketing is still limited to 3 stops at +/- 2 stops
- The top function button is hard to reach
That’s a pretty darn short cons list above, but honestly, there’s really not a lot to dislike. If you love the direct dial controls that Fuji employs, then the X-T2 is really the culmination of Fuji design. The controls are well thought out and all easily accessible. The fiddly ISO dial from the X-T1 has been changed to a toggle locked dial that improves usability. The viewfinder is every bit as good, but with a faster refresh, and the now dual tilting rear screen combines the best aspects of tilt screens and fully articulated screens.
In addition to the feature and control set, Fuji made big strides in improving autofocus, putting it up there with the very best in the mirrorless space. They’ve addressed some of the operational quirks of the X-T1 with the toggle lock on the ISO dial and better rear button feel. The 24 megapixel X-Trans III sensor displays good detail, excellent dynamic range and good noise control for an APS-C sensor. Combine it all and you have a truly outstanding camera. The competition isn’t resting on their laurels either, with the excellent Olympus E-M1 Mark II, the Sony a6500 and of course the big boys in Sony’s full-frame camp, but the X-T2 is a wonderful machine that can compete with all of them.
Image Samples
Click on an image to enlarge
Thanks, Jordan. I have been following your site for years and I always appreciate your thoughtful reviews. One minor note–I believe the the X-T2 *does* support +/- 5EV on the exposure compensation dial. The ‘C’ setting supports the adjustments for +/-4 and 5. I just wish there was a locking toggle on that button!
Duh. I just reread your comment and saw you referred to bracketing, not compensation. Sorry!
I use electrical tape to secure my XT-2’sexposure compensation dial when it is set to “C” and controlled by a command dial dial. It does the job, and has no downsides (for me). It would have been better if Fujifilm would have included a toggle lock on the XT-2 exposure compensation dial like it did on the camera’s ISO and SS dials.
Regarding poor Capture One 10 results. What your Noise Reduction settings was?
In the Noise Reduction tool you should set “Detail” to 100 even if Luminance/Color sliders are 0.
That sounds weird, I know, but try yourself and you will see the difference.
Jordan, I have two things that I’m trying to figure out before I consider the X-t2. I had the X-t1 for a week and returned it, I just hated several details about it. First off, when set to continuous shooting mode, could not fire off just one frame. The X-T1 always fired two. Does the X-T2 have the same affliction? Secondly, I found it quite annoying that I could not turn off all the warnings in the viewfinder. For example when I had a shutter speed of less than 1/30th of a second the camera insisted in flashing a bright orange icon in the viefinder showing a shaking camera. This is supposed to be a Pro level camera. I don’t want idiot lights going off with no way to turn them off, it’s distracting and I’d like to think that Fuji has enough faith in me to not treat me like a noob like that. Does that still go on on this model? lastly, looking at the photos of the body, it seems to my mind that Fuji really missed a small but important ergonomic detail. If the Q button and the focus point selection were swapped it would seem to me that the layout would be perfect. The way it is, seems that it is a long thumb travel to selecting the focus point. I’ve not gotten my hands on an X-T2 yet to test this … how do you find the button placement in that regard. Thanks.
Thanks Jordan! Great X-T2 review (I own that camera too) and also a very interesting website! Nice landscape pictures, that’s a discipline I also like very much. I’m going to follow your publications closely. Cheers Job de Lange, from Holland.