FUJIFILM X-E4
Fujifilm’s X-E4 is attractively compact and unobtrusive, but what is the company’s latest 26.1MP camera like to use? ANGELA NICHOLSON investigates
It’s attractively compact and unobtrusive, but what is the company’s latest 26.1MP camera like to use? Angela Nicholson tests it out for size
The X-E4 is Fujifilm’s most compact interchangeable lens camera with the 26.1MP X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor and X-Processor 4 processing engine. As the latest in the X-E series of mirrorless cameras, it has a rectangular rangefinder-like design rather than the mini DSLR-styling of the X-T series.
As well as increasing the resolution by 1.8MP, switching from the 24.3MP X-Trans CMOS III sensor in the X-E3 to the fourth generation sensor in the X-E4 means that there’s an upgrade to a backside-illuminated design, which helps to boost the image quality.
Nevertheless, the X-E4’s sensitivity range is very similar to the X-E3’s; the native values are ISO 160-12,800, and they can be expanded to ISO 80-51,200. The X-E3’s range is ISO 20012,800, expandable to ISO 100-51,200.
The X-E4 can also shoot at up to 8fps (frames per second) when the mechanical shutter is in use and 10fps at full resolution with the electronic shutter. If you don’t mind a 1.25x crop, the electronic shutter can be pushed to shoot at 30fps.
Another benefit of the X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor is that it has more phase detection pixels to enable Fujifilm’s Intelligent Hybrid Autofocusing system and the X-E4 has up to 425 user-selectable AF points covering the whole sensor. Also, when the Fujinon XF 50mm f1.0 R WR is mounted, the system is sensitive down to -7EV – great for low-light shooting.
While the X-E4 has a very capable autofocus system, without the optional grips (see Talking Point) the camera isn’t a natural pairing for lenses like the XF 50-140mm f2.8 WR OIS or the XF 16-80mm f4 R OIS WR that make the most of it. As well as measuring just 121.3 x 72.9 x 32.7mm, the X-E4 has a flat front and back, which doesn’t make for a very assured grip with large lenses. It’s much more suited to use with Fujifilm’s smaller prime lenses, especially the new Fujinon XF 27mm F2.8 R WR pancake lens which has an effective focal length of around 40mm. When that optic is mounted, the X-E4 seems a lot like Fujifilm’s APS-C format X100V compact camera, albeit without the optical aspect of the hybrid viewfinder and with a slightly longer lens.
Although it looks like a rangefinder, the X-E4 has the same 0.39-inch 2.36million-dot OLED electronic viewfinder as the Fujifilm X-S10. As before, it performs well, giving a clear view and an accurate preview of the captured image, taking into account the camera’s exposure, white balance and Film Simulation settings.
Apart from in bright sunshine, the same can also be said of the 3-inch 1,620,000-dot touchscreen on the back of the X-E4. This is mounted on a bracket that enables it to be pulled out from the camera body and angled up or down for landscape orientation viewing from above or below head-height. It can also be tilted upwards through 180° to make it visible
The X-E4 is Fujifilm’s most compact interchangeable lens camera with the 26.1MP X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor and X-Processor 4 processing engine
from in front of the camera. That’s helpful for shooting selfies or vlogging, and because the screen tilts above the camera, it can be used when the X-E4 is mounted on a tripod. However, this function also leads to a problem when the screen is tilted for viewing from below head-height. If your hand strays near the eye-sensor that’s designed to activate the viewfinder when the camera is held to your eye, the image on the screen flips upside down because the camera thinks it’s in selfie mode. It’s not possible to turn this off, but I’m hopeful there will be a firmware update to fix it.
The X-E4 has traditional exposure controls including a shutter speed dial and an exposure compensation dial. The aperture is adjusted using a ring on the lens. There’s also a single command dial on the front of the camera, which is useful for adjusting settings.
The back of the X-E4 has an uncluttered appearance and the use of a joystick rather than a navigation pad means there’s a decent amount of room for your thumb. Strangely, while the three buttons above the screen (Drive/Delete, Playback and AELAFL) stand reasonably proud of the back of the camera, making them easy to locate when you’re looking in the viewfinder, the Display and
Menu buttons below the joystick don’t stand out enough and they’re hard to locate. The action of these buttons is also a bit squishy.
With its high-quality sensor and processing engine, plus Fujifilm’s great colour science, the X-E4 can deliver attractive images in a wide range of conditions. It can also produce highquality video, but with no stabilisation built into the body or the 27mm kit lens, there’s a limit to what you can achieve hand-held.
The use of a joystick rather than a navigation pad means that there’s a decent amount of room for your thumb