Fuji X-T20: a review

[Peeb]

I've had the X-T20 for about 8 weeks now. Having run about 2,500 image thru it- here are my preliminary thoughts:

PRO

• Small and light
• mirrorless
• beautiful emulations (Acros makes me so happy!)
• lovely jpegs
• fuji glass is nice (even their entry level 16-50!)
• ability to shoot raw (but see below)
• focus peaking
• crop sensor (also a con- see below)
• cool 'retro' look (silver- I REALLY like the look of the silver)
• Nikon glass easily adaptable
• 4K is very nice.

CON

• Raw files not handled well by photoshop or lightroom (the infamous 'worms' when sharpened)
• Easy to start shooting, but steep learning curve to fully master (no PASM setting, per se)
• crop sensor (also a ‘pro’)
• My existing glass (Nikon) is usable, but no AF and no VR
• While I love the 'reach' of the crop sensor, I've become spoiled by FX low light shooting (in all fairness, not really a knock on the X-T20; just physics)

MY EXPERIENCE (so far):
I dearly love this little camera but I'm not sure I'll keep it. But maybe I will. The debate is ongoing.

If I'm shooting jpeg, this camera is, without question, the king. It is a jpeg monster! The Acros black-and-white emulation is breathtaking (both for stills and video). Just a wonderful image-making machine. Maybe it's silly, but I really get a lot of joy from the looks of this little-camera-that-could as well. Very retro and very cool.

Speaking of retro, I regret not getting a fuji lens with an old school aperture ring (I have the 16-50). There is no wheel that directs you to Aperture-priority or Shutter-priority or Manual or Program. That drives me crazy. The user experience (to this former Canon and current Nikon shooter) is eccentric. It is logical, but (to me) not intuitive. I hate that. It is MUCH easier from me to switch back-and-forth from my nikon film camera to my nikon digital camera.

I was pleasantly surprised that my nikon glass is by-and-large adaptable without trouble onto the fuji body. No vibration reduction and no autofocus, tho. The lack of AF is offset a bit by the nice focus peaking which illuminates the 'in focus' area with the color of your choice. Takes a little longer to focus but you can get the image. When the image won't wait, you certainly miss the AF. The adapter has an unmarked aperture ring that lets you manually adjust the aperture on the nikkor (but for some reason, my 200-500 stays wide open no matter how you twist). No exif data, of course. When the light gets low, you certainly miss VR. Of course, you can go all in- ditch your former system, and get all fuji glass and there you go.

I've really gotten frustrated by the handling of raw files in photoshop. Anyone who has tried knows what I'm talking about. When you sharpen the fuji raw files, you get 'worms'. I was told that these problems had been largely addressed before I jumped in, but 'largely' fixing a problem and ACTUALLY fixing it are not the same- the worms remain. I've downloaded a sample copy of Iridient X-Transformer that seems to help, but that adds a step to my workflow so I'm not really thrilled by this option. Dunno yet. I love DXO Photolab, but they outright refuse to open x-sensor raw files. Bummer.

WHAT NOW?
Glad you asked! Maybe keep on keeping on with the X-T20 and the D610. Logically, there is no reason to do this as the stark differences in the handling of the cameras makes switching quite challenging- more so than I had anticipated. Maybe sell both and get a D850. Maybe sell both when Nikon (finally) comes out with a full frame mirrorless. Absent a cure for the worms and a fuji full frame sensor, I WON'T be going all-in with Fuji, even tho I dearly love many things about their system. Apparently, you can get a medium format Fuji, but not a full frame.

I love so many things about this camera. We shall see,

 

[jcdeboever]

I don't get worms when I sharpen because I don't sharpen images. if anything, I think they are too sharp coming out of camera at default setting. I usually have my camera set to -1 on most subjects and -2 on portraits. I don't use PS or LR. The supplied fuji raw converter does sharpen an image without worms for what it's worth. I do notice non fuji glass is softer but fuji primes are biting sharp IMO. I have never felt compelled to sharpen an image other than in the beginning and quickly learned it wasn't my cup of tea.

 

[Fujidave]

I have the X-T20 and when I edit the Raw files I use Topaz Detail, as I do not use my LR6 to sharpen the files, I have never seen the worms on any of my shots, but I do not pixel peep at all.

 

[Derrel]

Good to read an honest assessment of a piece of equipment, with both positives and negatives given equal weight.

 

[Peeb]

I don't get worms when I sharpen because I don't sharpen images. if anything, I think they are too sharp coming out of camera at default setting. I usually have my camera set to -1 on most subjects and -2 on portraits. I don't use PS or LR. The supplied fuji raw converter does sharpen an image without worms for what it's worth. I do notice non fuji glass is softer but fuji primes are biting sharp IMO. I have never felt compelled to sharpen an image other than in the beginning and quickly learned it wasn't my cup of tea.

I can see that for native primes, but when shooting thru- say- a tokina zoom with a nikon F-mount that has been adapted to fit a Fuji x-mount body, the results are surprisingly good, but not absolutely pristine.

 

[Peeb]

Then I take the X-T20 out tonite, with adapted nikkor 200-500 and it does a beautiful job capturing venus and the moon in fading light:

Venus (upper left), getting cozy with the moon. Summer night: 7-15-18 by Peeb is OK, on Flickr

Relationship status: "It's complicated".