Fujifilm X70 Review
Introduction
The Fujifilm X70 is an advanced compact
camera with an APS-C sensor and a fixed 18.5mm F2.8 lens (28mm
equivalent). The X70 features a 16.3-megapixel APS-C sized X-Trans CMOS
II sensor with built-in Phase Detection pixels and no low-pass filter,
EXR Processor II image processing engine, a 180-degree 3.0-inch
1,040K-dot tilting touchscreen LCD, a lens control ring and an aperture
ring, 1080p movie recording at 60/50/30/25/24fps at a bit rate of
36Mbps, 49/77-point hybrid auto focus system with high-speed AF at
0.1sec, mechanical shutter and a silent electronic shutter for shutter
speeds up to 1/32,000 sec, built-in wi-fi connectivity, ISO range of
100-51,200, 8fps burst shooting, and in-camera time-lapse recording. The
Fujifilm X70 will be available in either Black or Silver for £549 /
$699. Four dedicated optional accessories are available - the BLC-X70
half leather case, the LH-X70 lens hood, the VF-X21 optical viewfinder
and the WCL-X70 wide conversion lens which gives a 21mm focal length.
Ease of Use
Available in silver and black or the more sober all-black version that we received for review, the Fujifilm X70 clearly inherits the classical DNA of its X-series siblings, with a pleasingly retro design that helps it stand out from the crowd.The Fujifilm X70 is a very well-built camera, with no discernible flex or movement in its chassis and sporting milled aluminium exposure compensation and shutter speed dials and aperture and focusing rings. It's the smallest and lightest APS-C sensor camera in the range, weighing in at 340g with the NP-95 battery and memory card fitted and measuring 112.5mm (W) x 64.4mm (H) x 44.4mm (D), making it well-suited to being slipped into a coat/jacket pocket.
The X70 sports a fixed 28mm-equivalent lens with a fast maximum aperture of F2.8. In combination with the extensive ISO range of 100-6400, the lens' 9-blade aperture and the large APS-C sensor, this makes it easy to throw the background out of focus and even achieve some lovely bokeh effects. The X70 is well suited to low-light shooting, allowing you to hand-hold the camera in places where you'd usually be reaching for a tripod (if allowed) or other support. Note that this camera does not feature built-in optical image stabilisation, although we didn't miss it too much due to the short focal length.
The clever ISO Auto Control setting allows you to set the default sensitivity, a maximum sensitivity (up to 6400) and a minimum shutter speed (1/30th is a good starting point), with the camera over-riding your ISO choice if it thinks you're being too ambitious whilst maintaining a shutter speed that won't introduce camera shake. The X70 also offers the ability to set three different ISO Auto Control settings, so you could customise one for landscapes, one for action, and another for low-light, and then be able to quickly change between them. Auto ISO is also available in the manual shooting mode, complete with exposure compensation, which has now been extended to +-3EV via the dedicated dial on top of the camera.
At the heart of the X70 is the 16.3-megapixel APS-C sized X-Trans CMOS II, a size that is used by the physically larger X100-series cameras. APS-C is a size that's more commonly used by the majority of DSLR cameras than by your average compact, being about 10x bigger than those found in most compacts, and also larger than those in most compact system cameras. It promises to deliver image quality at least on par with DSLRs, and as our test photos and sample images show on the next two pages, the X70 certainly lives up to that promise.
Front of the Fujifilm X70
The X70 is supplied with a push-on, lined metal lens cap to help
protect its lens, although there's no way to connect it to the camera,
leading to a few moments of "find the lens cap". There's a generously
sized hand-grip at the front of the X70 and a rubber thumb-rest on the
rear. Two small metal eyelets on either side of the body are used for
connecting the supplied shoulder strap, which isn't quite as luxurious
as the rest of the package. A metal tripod mount is positioned
off-centre from the lens towards the memory card / battery compartment,
so annoyingly you do have to remove the camera from the tripod to change
either of them.
The X70 utilises a leaf-shutter rather than the focal-plane shutter that DSLR cameras have. This is a small circular shutter that's built into the lens itself, the chief benefit being near-silent operation. To make the camera even less obtrusive, there's a Sound & Flash menu option which turns off the speaker, flash, AF-assist lamp and most importantly the artificially-created shutter-release sound, instantly making the X70 perfectly suited to candid photography.
The mechanical shutter has a top speed limit of 1/4,000th second, which means that we ran into some issues in bright sunlight when shooting in aperture and shutter priority modes at F2.8. The X70 doesn't feature a built-in Neutral Density filter, so you'll have to either stop-down the aperture and sacrifice some depth-of-field to avoid blowing out the highlights, or switch to the electronic shutter.
Fujifilm have added a completely silent electronic shutter to the X100T which provides a much faster top shutter speed of 1/32,000th second. This allows you to continue shooting at F2.8 in the brightest of conditions without having to resort to fitting a glass ND filter or using external flash and lights. There are some important caveats with the electronic shutter - the ISO range is restricted to 200-6400, you can't use the flash at all, and the slowest shutter speed is only 1 second, but overall it's a great addition that makes the X70 more versatile. The X70 also offers a a respectable close focusing distance of 10cms, so macro shooting certainly isn't out of the question.
The X70 utilises a leaf-shutter rather than the focal-plane shutter that DSLR cameras have. This is a small circular shutter that's built into the lens itself, the chief benefit being near-silent operation. To make the camera even less obtrusive, there's a Sound & Flash menu option which turns off the speaker, flash, AF-assist lamp and most importantly the artificially-created shutter-release sound, instantly making the X70 perfectly suited to candid photography.
The mechanical shutter has a top speed limit of 1/4,000th second, which means that we ran into some issues in bright sunlight when shooting in aperture and shutter priority modes at F2.8. The X70 doesn't feature a built-in Neutral Density filter, so you'll have to either stop-down the aperture and sacrifice some depth-of-field to avoid blowing out the highlights, or switch to the electronic shutter.
Fujifilm have added a completely silent electronic shutter to the X100T which provides a much faster top shutter speed of 1/32,000th second. This allows you to continue shooting at F2.8 in the brightest of conditions without having to resort to fitting a glass ND filter or using external flash and lights. There are some important caveats with the electronic shutter - the ISO range is restricted to 200-6400, you can't use the flash at all, and the slowest shutter speed is only 1 second, but overall it's a great addition that makes the X70 more versatile. The X70 also offers a a respectable close focusing distance of 10cms, so macro shooting certainly isn't out of the question.
Rear of the Fujifilm X70