Best Fujifilm X-T3 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020:

New sensor, new processor, new viewfinder … If in appearance, the X-T3 looks like two drops of water to the X-T2, it actually benefits from many improvements that make it a user-friendly, fast and efficient device . A treat to use.

Presentation

We will not go into detail on the characteristics of the X-T3, listed in our introduction . Far from being a simple evolution of the X-T2 , the APS-C hybrid from Fujifilm benefits from a major overhaul. At the heart of the device, Fujifilm placed a fourth generation Cmos X-Trans sensor, accompanied by a new X-Processor 4 chip. The definition climbs to 26 Mpx producing files of 6 240 x 4 160 px. Video recording is done in 4K at a rate of 60 fps maximum. The sensor now has 2.16 Mpts dedicated to autofocus analysis by phase correlation over its entire surface. Her sensitivity has also been improved.

The viewfinder inherited from the X-H1  is based on an Oled panel of 3.69 Mpts whose refresh rate at 60 fps can be increased to 100 fps for more fluidity in movement. We also note better use of the touch screen than on other brand devices and improved functionality. We tell you everything in the following lines.

Best Fujifilm X-T3 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020

1. Fujifilm X-T3 Mirrorless Digital Camera (Body Only) – Silver

2. Fujifilm X-T3 26.1MP Mirrorless Camera with XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS Lens, Black. Bundle with 32GB SDHC Card, Camera Case, 58mm Filter Kit, Cleaning Kit, Card Reader, PC Software Pack and More

3. Fujifilm X-T3 Mirrorless Digital Camera Body (Black) Essential Accessory Bundle

4. Fujifilm X-T3 26.1MP Mirrorless Camera with XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS Lens, Silver. Bundle with Case, 32GB SDHC Card, 58mm Filter Kit, Cleaning Kit, Memory Wallet, Card Reader, Mac Software Pack

5. Fujifilm X-T3 Mirrorless Camera Body, Silver – Bundle with 32GB SDHC U3 Card. Camera Case, Cleaning Kit, Memory Wallet, Card Reader, Mac Software Package

Getting started

From its predecessor, the X-T3 takes overall ergonomics, the vintage look and the dials to access the different settings. On the top, the exposure compensation dial has been slightly reduced to avoid accidental manipulation. A change that we have seen in the field. The ergonomics of Fujifilm cameras will probably not please everyone, but personally, we very much appreciate being able to entrust the adjustment of the aperture to the ring of the lens and to choose the setting of the sensitivity and speed on the upper rollers, the central button of which provides effective blocking. 

The menu unfortunately does not evolve much. If some random translations of previous models have finally been corrected, we would have liked Fujifilm to rethink its ergonomics with clearer names, better organization of functions and why not a contextual help which would help to understand the interest of certain adjustments.

The Q menu is practical enough to quickly access certain settings and, great news, it is now compatible with the touch screen functionality. Too bad it is not the same for the general menu of the device.

The touch screen can also be used during shooting, to select the autofocus area or to shoot. If you place the eye to the viewfinder, you can also use it to move the AF thumb collimator as with the system used by Canon on its EOS R . But the X-T3 still has a joystick which we think is much more practical and responsive. It is our preferred method of acting quickly.

More

Another point that particularly appealed to us on the X-T3, its electronic viewfinder is one of the best that we have had the opportunity to use. It is an Oled slab of 3.69 Mpts with a magnification of 0.75x. Its luminance has been increased to 800 cd / m² maximum and its fluidity can be improved by switching to Boost mode at 100 fps. The contrast is particularly well managed and allows to reliably appreciate the final rendering of the images. Finally, note that glasses owners should appreciate the comfortable eye relief and the large eyecup.

Among the little extras that brought us a lot of pleasure in use, we should also mention the management of the aiming detector which automatically deactivates the electronic viewfinder when the screen at the rear is tilted. Thus, one can aim with the camera at the level of the belly without deactivating the display on the screen each time one approaches the viewfinder. It’s clever and very practical. As on other models of the brand, the screen can be oriented vertically, but also horizontally with a double hinge system which lacks a bit of practicality in our opinion.

The device has like its predecessor a double memory card reader in SD format UHS-II compatible, as well as a synchro-flash socket on the front and mini-jack microphone and headphone jacks, HDMI and USB-C on the side. The USB-C socket can be used to charge the device, which still comes with an external charger. The battery does not change and always displays an average autonomy of 390 views; this is little.

More

The device is equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections, but as we had already pointed out in the X-T100 test , the system lacks user friendliness. The wireless connection is lost in the menus and sometimes proves capricious. The device does not offer continuous loading of images, but above all requires reconnection each time it is turned off. The Fujifilm app isn’t the most user-friendly either.

Finally, note that the camera does not have a built-in flash but that it comes with a small external flash which we appreciated the good management of the exposure, but whose recharge time between two flashes is extremely long.

Reactivity

The X-T3 has a new quad-core X-Processor 4 processor. Fujifilm says it has significantly improved the responsiveness of its device. Add to that a new 2.16 Mpts hybrid phase detection autofocus whose sensitivity has been improved by 2 EV to reach -3 EV and a burst announced at 11 frames per second in mechanical shutter, the speed of which can be increased to 30 fps in electronic shutter with 1.25x cropping. The size of the images is then 4 992 x 3 328 px, or 16.6 Mpx.

And unlike the X-T2 which required the use of a power handle to reach 11 fps in burst, the X-T3 allows these rates natively in the device.

In practice, we could not quite reach the advertised speed since in mechanical shutter, we barely reached 8.5 i / s during our lab tests. However, we appreciated the capacity of the buffer memory which allows to photograph on more than a hundred Jpeg and more than thirty Raw without giving sign of fatigue.

In electronic shutter, we also did not reach the 30 fps announced. Our counter is set at just over 21 fps on a maximum of fifteen photos before showing signs of fatigue.

Reactivity side, we were able to note a very good behavior of the X-T3. The ignition results are not very good, but they come in part from our test procedure which consists of measuring the time between the moment when the camera is turned on and the moment when it takes its first photo. . However, the X-T3 does not take into account the triggering of the release before it is energized. In practice, we were absolutely not bothered by this point.

Image quality

This is one of the main novelties of this X-T3. Its Cmos X-Trans sensor passes to generation 4 with a definition which progresses slightly to reach 26 Mpx against 24 Mpx on the X-T2. The sensitivity range extends from 160 to 12,800 Iso with a possibility of extension from 80 to 51,200 Iso. As before, these levels can be reached via the L and H positions of the dial. But you must choose in the menu which value of 80 or 100 Iso to assign to the L position and do the same for the H position between the values ​​25 600 Iso and 51 200 Iso. It’s a bit complex.

On the other hand, we note a notable evolution compared to the previous generations: all the levels of sensitivity, including in extended mode, can now be used in Raw.

The Iso climb is not the most impressive we have seen. The results change little compared to those obtained with an X-T2. The images remain very beautiful up to 1600 ISO with contained noise and smoothing only of the finest details. However, the quality drops significantly to 3,200 Iso and 6,400 Iso. The details are then erased by a significant noise correction. Besides this point, we still noticed a very good behavior of the device up to 12,800 Iso with a beautiful treatment of the colors which remain saturated. It is only in the area extended to 25,600 Iso and 51,200 Iso that the results become poor.

Obviously, these observations were made on Jpeg files created by the device. Raw is not yet supported by our processing software, we could not judge their potential.

Video

The X-T2 marked Fujifilm’s entry into the world of 4K UHD with a 25 fps mode. On the X-T3, we can now turn to a 4K DCI recording (4096 x 2160 px) in 60p and in 4: 2: 0 10 bits at 200 Mb / s. Using the HDMI output, it is possible to shoot in 4: 2: 2 10 bit while recording on the card. The new box also offers recording in H.264 or H.265 format in All-Intra (4K 29.97p / 25p / 24p / 23.98p 400 Mb / s and 2K / HDTV 1080 59.94p / 50p / 29 , 97p / 25p / 24p / 23.98p 200 Mb / s) or Long-GOP.

4K 60 / 50p recording is possible for 20 minutes, while the maximum duration is now 30 minutes for other modes. A HDTV 1080 mode at 120 i / s was introduced to achieve slow motion. It is worse than what the competition does.

The autofocus is active on video with good reactivity that we were able to check at the lab. The subject tracking mode with face recognition is also effective.

Just note that the 4K 60p recording is done on a cropped area of ​​the image which you can appreciate the magnitude on these two screenshots. Despite the efforts that Fuji indicates to have made to correct the rolling shutter , the latter is still very present.

STRONG POINTS

  • Superb viewfinder.
  • All weather finish.
  • Pleasant ergonomics.
  • Image quality.
  • Swift autofocus.
  • 4K 60p video.

WEAK POINTS

  • Limited autonomy.
  • Lack of user-friendliness of the menus.

CONCLUSION

Its superb viewfinder, its pleasant handling, its image quality and its reactivity are major advantages for this X-T3 which we took great pleasure in using. We don’t have much to blame him for. Fujifilm signs here a beautiful realization which has the good taste to be cheaper than the previous one at the time of its launch. As there is always to complain, we just regret the lack of stabilization by the sensor that had been introduced on the X-H1 as well as the progress menus in high sensitivity. But the device is really a success.

Related

1. Best Fujifilm GFX 50R Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020
2. Best Fujifilm Fujinon GF63mmF2.8 R WR Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020
3. Best Olympus OM-D E-M1X Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020