Fuji X-T2 – Announcement (Short Overview)

by Leo Hoang · Jul 7, 2016

I woke up this morning to see my YouTube feed spammed with news of the Fuji X-T2 from various photography channels.

I haven’t personally focused my attention on Fuji for the past 1.5yrs as I have been in love with the Sony A7 line of cameras.

However, after watching a few of the YouTube videos discussing this Fuji X-T2, I have to say it’s quite impressive.

In short, I am quite impressed with Fuji as a company more specifically, as they have clearly listened to customer feedback and added new features to address the issues from their previous models of cameras.

Screenshot from The Camera Store TV (TCSTV) – Fuji X-T2 Preview

First off, they have included a second SD Card slot and for me this is huge as I do like to shoot to back-up. This has been my complaint for years regarding mirrorless systems as I have had 2 memory card failures in my 5yrs in photography and when you consider that photography is invaluable in the sense some photos cannot be recreated etc. having back-ups to me is vital. Especially if you are doing professional work.

They have also added 4k video recording. Now I am no videographer, however I do love documenting my life where possible and having 4k video allows me to future proof whatever I capture. It’s personally important to me as I went through some old videos which I had recorded many years back on old mobile phones and digital cameras where I see the resolution is only 640×480 and it is painful to see how pixellated the footage is. Granted I captured it with the best tool I had available to me at the time, whether it be limited by technology or my finances, it was the best I had and footage was captured. However, by today’s standards I do think we’re entering a time when 4k becomes a standard for most people. With my phone being able to capture 4k and my TV being 4k resolution, I definitely want to capture everything as high quality as possible.

The sensor has now also been upgraded to 24.3mp which is much more competitive by today’s standards. I believe this is the same sensor from the X-Pro 2, so it’s a proven commodity. 24mp I feel is the sweet spot which is great for large printing and cropping.

Screenshot from The Camera Store TV (TCSTV) – Fuji X-T2 Preview

The rear LCD now not only tilts up and down, it does flip sideways to the right also. This feature does confuse me as I think it would have been more effective to reverse the hinges and then allow the screen to flip front ways for selfies. I do believe Fuji have missed a trick here.

However, the feature that has been added which impresses me the most, well… it’s a feature/add-on purchase… it’s the battery grip! I think this feature is great! – Some of you may be thinking “More money to get what should have been already implemented”, however from a business standpoint, and even as a consumer, I think the way they have released this camera is exactly what Sony should try to mimic with some of their cameras.

Screenshot from DP Review – Fuji X-T2 Overview Video

The reason why I feel this battery grip is a great idea is cost. Yes, as consumers and reviewers we can all kick up a fuss and say “We want this… we want that”, however the cost of the product will inevitably just go up when you bung EVERYTHING into the camera at once.

A quick short example… most consumers don’t need to shoot high continuous frame rates, however this camera does have a very practical 8fps. If you add on the grip, you now can get 11fps! Current cost of the Fuji X-T2 is £1399.00 and the Nikon D500 is £1899.00. So assuming the X-T2 grip is £200, the overall package is cheaper still, but a lot cheaper if you decide to live without the extra 3fps. Likewise for 4k video, limited to 10min without the grip and for my personal use, 10min clips is perfectly fine, however if I did want to unlock a longer recording time, I could invest. I know some of you would argue that the Sony A6300 has those features built in and is also much cheaper. I would also have to agree and Sony vs. Fuji would be a whole other discussion. For the moment, we’ll just leave it as I like the fact they have an option to add features not every consumer would need/want, by simply adding an accessory.

These are just my quick thoughts on the topic as I rush to post this before I head out!

I have not yet personally had a hands-on with this camera so I cannot say for sure whether it’s a great camera or not. What I will say is that when I owned the Fuji X-T1 I did love it, I just only switched to the Sony System as I love Full Frame and Bokeh way too much. The Fuji X-T2 seems to have improved a lot on what has already been, and still is, a great little camera.

For more info. I have embedded a few videos I watched this morning.