Fujifilm X-S20 Overview: First Impressions

First Impressions

The Fujifilm X-S20 is an excellent digital camera at first look, squeezing vibrant pictures and 6.2K video out of a slim and light-weight bundle. The controls generally is a little fiddly, however the all-day battery and devoted vlog mode have me impressed up to now.

Introduction

Fujifilm lately up to date its mirrorless digital camera line with a brand new mid-range possibility designed to interchange the X-S10 that launched again in 2020.

The Fujifilm X-S20 can be significantly tempting for content material creators due to its 6.2K video assist and devoted vlog mode that brings to the forefront some nifty new vlogging options. It’s additionally tremendous slim and travel-friendly.

Fujifilm has confirmed that X-S20 will launch on twenty ninth June 2023, with a advisable value of $1299 / £1249.

I had the chance to check the X-S20 firsthand on the streets of Malta this week. Scroll down for my first impressions of the newest Fujifilm digital camera.

Design and options 

• The digital camera is slim and light-weight
• The monitor and EVF are vibrant
• The joystick could be fairly fiddly

The Fujifilm X-S20 visually appears to be like so much just like the X-S10 that got here earlier than it.

It has a slim, light-weight design with a deep rubber grip that feels comfy to carry. There are additionally refined ridges on the rear of the digital camera for the thumb to relaxation and on the entrance for the primary finger when it isn’t urgent down on the shutter, which helped me really feel I had a strong grip on the digital camera. 

On the again, there’s a really restricted variety of controls, together with a menu/okay button, a show/again button and a joystick for flicking by way of menus and transferring the main target level. I discovered that the small measurement of the joystick made it fairly fiddly to make use of at occasions, so I’d personally desire the choice of an arrow pad together with the joystick – one thing Fujifilm presently affords on the X-T5, X-H2 and X-H2S. Nonetheless, that is one thing that I believe will come down to non-public desire. 

Nearly all of the controls could be discovered on the highest fringe of the digital camera. This contains the (separate) photograph and video shutter buttons, mode dial, publicity compensation dial, flash set off, AF, ISO, burst mode and playback button. 

There’s an EVF that I discovered to be suitably vibrant, together with a pointy 3-way tilting show that flips out to snap selfies. That is additionally a useful function for vloggers (as is the built-in vlog mode which I’ll contact on additional down). 

The digital camera takes a single SD card, although you’ll wish to use a UHS-II card to take full benefit of the digital camera’s specs. 

The X-S20 additionally has a lens mount, making the digital camera extra versatile than one with a hard and fast lens. Different vlogging cameras which have a lens mount embrace the Sony ZV-E10 and the Nikon Z30, although you may typically discover cheaper fashions with a single mounted lens should you’re searching for a less complicated setup.

Specs and efficiency 

• The X-S20 options the identical processor because the X-T5
• It could seize 26.1MP stills and 6.2K/30p video
• There’s a built-in vlog mode with topic detection

The Fujifilm X-S20 is powered by the X-Processor 5 picture processor presently discovered contained in the X-T5, X-H2 and X-H2S. Nonetheless, it falls behind these cameras with a barely dated X-Trans 4 sensor – the identical discovered on the X-T4.

This mix allows the digital camera to seize 26.1-megapixel pictures and as much as 6.2K/30p, together with 4K/60p and 1080p/240p.

I discovered pictures and video produced by the X-S20 to be sharp and vibrant, with the colors popping straight out of digital camera and a strong quantity of distinction and depth. I paired the digital camera with Fujifilm’s new 8mm lens (seen above) and an ordinary 18-55mm (all different pictures).

Relating to video, there’s additionally assist for Apple ProRes RAW and Blackmagic RAW when recording through HDMI and, most curiously, a devoted vlog mode constructed proper into the highest dial.

This affords vloggers quick entry to new options like Background Defocus and Product Precedence that I can actually see proving helpful for YouTubers, product reviewers and TikTok stars, specifically. The Product Precedence mode seems to be Fujifilm’s reply to Sony’s personal Product Showcase mode, so I’d be all in favour of evaluating the 2 choices in our full evaluation.

The digital camera affords 7 stops of in-body stabilisation to fight shaky fingers and has an ISO vary of 160 to 12800, or 80 to 51200 prolonged.

I discovered the AF to be fairly snappy and the topic monitoring modes labored effectively when confronted with individuals and animals, together with a number of cats and folks at fairly a distance and in darkish shadows. Different topic detection choices embrace birds, vehicles, bikes, bicycles, planes, trains, bugs and drones, so there’s fairly a spread obtainable.

I did generally encounter bother adjusting the main target when the digital camera latched onto the flawed object, however the majority of the time it was spot on. Nonetheless, that is positively one thing I plan to discover additional in our full evaluation.

The X-S20 has an estimated battery lifetime of 800 frames which is twice that discovered on the X-S10, suggesting you’ll see a giant leap in endurance for the digital camera should you select to improve.

I took the digital camera out for a full day of taking pictures RAW pictures and 4K video and located it ended the day at 50%, which was very spectacular contemplating how a lot pressure it was underneath.

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