Andy Westlake takes a first look at the popular X-T1's new little brother

Product Overview

Fujifilm X-T10

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Fujifilm X-T10 Review – First Look

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At a glance

  • 16-million-pixel X-Trans CMOS II sensor
  • 2.36-million-dot OLED viewfinder
  • 3-inch 920k-dot tilting LCD
  • ISO 100-51,200
  • New 77-area AF system
  • £499 body only

 

There’s little doubt that Fujifilm’s X-T1 was one of the standout cameras of last year, lauded by reviewers and users alike. We certainly were fans, scoring it 93% in our review and praising it as the camera the Nikon Df should have been.

Now Fujifilm is aiming to follow up its success with a simplified, more affordable model – the X-T10. Available in a choice of black or silver, it will be available from June for £499 body only, £599 with the XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, or £799 with the XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens.

While it has a similar SLR-like design to the X-T1, the X-T10 is a noticeably smaller camera that’s similar in size to Olympus’s OM-D E-M10 – a camera with which it will doubtless be closely compared.

Like the E-M10, it hides a pop-up flash at the front of its viewfinder prism, and forgoes the weather-sealing of its higher-end sibling. However with Fujifilm’s familiar 16-million-pixel X-Trans CMOS II sensor, EXR Processor II, and film simulation colour modes, it promises to offer the same excellent image quality as the X-T1.

In typical Fujifilm fashion the X-T10 is based around traditional analogue controls, with top-plate shutter speed and aperture dials complemented by an aperture ring on most Fujinon lenses. In addition there’s a top-plate drive mode dial, plus twin electronic dials embedded into the front and rear of the body.

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The X-T10 in-hand

These can also be clicked inwards to function as buttons, with the rear dial engaging manual focus aids, and the front one being user-configurable. Indeed this is just one of seven user-customisable controls, along with the top-plate video button, the four buttons of the d-pad, and an additional rear Fn button.

The viewfinder is the same 2.36M-dot OLED unit previously seen on the X-E2, that offers a very decently-sized view with 0.62x magnification and 100% coverage. It has dioptre adjustment, and an eye sensor that can be used for automatic switching with the rear screen.

This is a 3-inch, 920k-dot LCD that tilts upwards by 90° for waist-level shooting, and downwards by 45° for high-angle shots. But like all tilt-only screens, it becomes much less useful when shooting in portrait format. Incidentally it’s not touch-sensitive.

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The screen tilting downwards

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Tilt but no touch – the X-T10 once again has no touchscreen functionality

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Though it tilts, it is, remarkably, not a selfie screen

With a boxy, high-shouldered design the X-T10 can look a bit odd from some angles, especially front-on, but it brings some real advantages.

The tall body gives both more area for controls, and more space for your right hand to grip. Indeed with a cleverly sculpted handgrip and grippy rubberised coating, the X-T10 feels impressively secure in-hand for such a small camera. With die-cast magnesium alloy top- and base-plates and aluminium dials, build quality is impressive too.

Notably, the X-T10 comes with the same autofocus system built-in that Fujifilm recently announced in a firmware update for the X-T1. This adds new modes for focusing on moving subjects – a weakness of previous X-system models.

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When shooting with the X-T10, users will be able to track moving subjects much more easily with the new AF modes

Wide Tracking mode can follow subjects moving across the frame, while Group mode can use sets of AF points positioned in a user-selected area of the frame to keep subjects moving relative the camera in focus at up to 8 frames per second. There’s also eye detection AF for portraits. Our first impressions from the using a pre-production camera are that this all works pretty well.

Other features include Full HD movie recording and built-in Wi-Fi. Overall the X-T10 looks like it will be a very capable camera at an attractive price, and we’re looking forward to getting hold of a production model for a full review.

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Could the price of the X-T10 tempt some more photographers to the X-series?

The Fujifilm X-T10 will be available from mid-June 2015. It will be available body-only for £499, or in combinations with the XC16-50mm lens (kit £599) or the XF18-55mm (kit £799).

New XF90mm lens

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Fujifilm’s new fast prime

Fujifilm also announced a new Fujinon XF90mm f/2 R LM WR lens to the X-series lineup. Constructed of 11 elements in 8 groups and offering an equivalent focal length of 137mm, the fast prime should prove well tailored for portrait and sports photography.

A newly developed Quad Linear Motor delivers fast and accurate autofocus, while a weather- and dust-resistant build allows it to work in temperatures down to -10°C.

The Fujifilm XF90mm lens will be on sale in the UK from late July 2015, priced £699.00.