X FUJIFILM -T30 GOOD TO GO
If you want to take the middle ground in the debate about sensor size, there’s no better to place to land than Fujifilm’s use of the ‘APS-C’ format with its X mount mirrorless system. The best current interpretation of the brief is undoubtedly the X-T3 – which balances performance and portability brilliantly – but it is a top-end camera and priced accordingly. And, realistically, you might well be paying for features that you don’t need, even if the X-T3 is close to mirrorless camera perfection.
Once again, Fujifilm has read your mind and come up with a ‘junior’ X-T3 in the shape of the X-T30. It did the same thing with the X-T2 and X-T20, cherry-picking some of the higher-end camera’s best bits and repackaging them in a more affordable form.
Right now, the price difference between the X-T3 and X-T30 (body only) is in the order of $900, which could buy at least one extra X mount lens, but what does it represent in terms of what you don’t get? Well, before that, let’s look at what is carried over from the X-T3 and it’s all the good stuff, starting with the fourth-generation ‘X Trans’ CMOS sensor which ups the effective pixel count to 26.1 million, made possible by adopting a backside-illuminated (BSI) design. This puts all the circuitry on the back of the sensor, freeing up more space on the front to pack in additional pixels.
Additionally, of course, the ‘X-Trans’ 6x6 colour filter array eliminates the need for an optical low-pass filter which also enhances the resolution. The 6x6 RGB filter pattern – versus the standard Bayer’s 2x2 – minimises the occurrence of moiré effects because the subject frequency (such as the fine weave in a fabric) is less likely to match that of the pixels. The X-T30 also gets the later-generation quad-core ‘X Processor 4’ which delivers quite a number of enhancements, including faster continuous shooting for stills, 4K video recording in the cinematic DCI format and resolution (actually at 6K and then downsampled) and upgraded autofocusing with more phase-detection pixels to give full-frame coverage. In fact, the X-T30 has an improved AF control algorithm compared to the X-T3 so, in particular, the subject tracking is yet more reliable
