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So far, Fujifilm’s range of mirrorless cameras have all been impressive. Armed with the same sensor as the desirable X-T3, the far cheaper
(R10 500 less) X-T30 promises a whole lot of bang for your buck. The first thing that catches your eye is simply how good looking the X-T30 is. It also feels solid and durable when you hold it in your hand. The old-school knobs and dials provide plenty of tactile satisfaction, too.
Fujifilm knows that this is their little heartbreaker. It will make you miss an old flame without knowing why. By that I mean an old camera you used to have! They’ve even gone to the trouble of manufacturing it in three colours: black, charcoal and silver.
Handling? It handles like a charm. The X-T30 is designed for highquality still photography, and video. As with most cameras, the drive dial is on the left. On the right, you’ll find the shutter speed and exposure compensation dials. You set the aperture by turning a ring on the lens – this is very retro and you’ll have to get back into the habit. While the X-T3 has a dial to set the ISO, the X-T30 doesn’t, but you can programme either the front or rear command dial to do that for you.
If this all sounds too complicated, fear not – you can also set the camera to Auto and just enjoy the ride.
Fujifilm’s clever app allows you to post to social media directly from the X-T30 (when you have Wi-Fi). My favourite part of the app is that you can also use it as a remote shutter release – and you can change some of the camera settings directly from the app.
Niggles? The Quick Menu button gives you quick access to basic shooting info and settings. It’s useful, but the button sits in a funny position – right underneath where you’d normally rest your right thumb. This meant that I often accidentally pressed Quick Menu, which got annoying.
The touch screen also bothered me. If a camera has a viewfinder (electronic, in this case) then I don’t want to simultaneously be “pressing buttons” on the touch screen whenever my nose touches it. Next thing my focus point had accidentally been set elsewhere. I know, we live in the age of the touch screen and this one can also be programmed to give you access to different settings when you swipe left, right, up or down. Nifty. But if a camera has been fitted with all the buttons, dials and even a joystick (Fujifilm calls it a focus lever), then maybe the touch screen unnecessarily duplicates how you can access these functionalities.
The joystick is another thing you either like or don’t. I prefer a D-pad, which is flatter – the joystick juts out from the back of the camera and you’re more likely to accidentally give it a nudge, which might suddenly change your white balance.
Video star: The X-T30 shoots HD video at up to 120 frames per second (great if you’re a fan of slow motion) and at 4K resolution (up to 30 frames per second). There is, however, a 10-minute clip length limit at 4K. The max for an HD-quality clip is 15 minutes. You can work around this limitation, provided you connect the camera to an external storage drive.
The X-T30’s big trump card is that it can shoot in F-log format, which is to video what RAW format is to still photography. In F-log, you capture way more data and detail that can be valuable during the post-production stage.
Field test: I used the X-T30 during a recent hike in Namaqualand (see go! #161) and I was pleased that it was so lightweight to carry around. The landscape pics came out sharp, and thanks to the clever focus options, taking close-up shots of tiny succulents was a doddle.
Price: R12 495 body only; R16 995 with an 18 – 55 mm lens.