I’ve been using the Fujifilm X-T30 II since July, primarily for photography, and it’s been a great experience overall. The camera’s retro look and lightweight and compact design make it almost perfect for everyday use, because sometimes it’s just still “big” (while being very small). Unfortunately, the best everyday carry camera is always a compact,
and probably the best at this moment is the Ricoh GRIIIx, which I’d really like to try one day.
But let’s start with the review.
Design
The Fuji X-T30 II looks the same as the X-T30, X-T20 and X-T10, in one word amazing. It looks exactly like old SLR film cameras from Nikon, while being extremely small and light, especially when paired with Fuji’s small f/2 prime lenses, unofficially named Fujicrons because they look like Leicas summicron lenses and perform similarly at a fraction of the price. The main feature of the Fuji X-T line of cameras is manual control of ISO, aperture and shutter speed. While iso in this model has to be control through one of the two control dials present on the front or on the rear of the body, there’s an amazing shutter speed dial on the top, that it’s just great to use. Great is also the exposure compensation dial and all the buttons, while not everyone of them is in the right position, feel good. It also has a small flash which can be useful.
Lenses
I’ve paired it with the Fujifilm XF 35mm f/2 and 50mm /f2 lenses, both of which are sharp, compact, and solidly built, with quick autofocus that complements the body’s features, even though the camera’s focusing isn’t quite top-tier. One thing I love about these lenses, and in general many lenses made for the Fuji system, is the fact they have an aperture ring, which makes the experience that much more tactile and gives me confidence when shooting.
Image Quality and Film Simulations
The 26.1 MP APS-C sensor produces beautiful images with fine details and vibrant colors. The photos are sharp and contrasty, with good dynamic range and even at “high” ISO, like 6400, you can get usable photos. NO, of course the low light performance is not as good as a full frame camera like the Sony A7 series, but it’s a good performer. Fuji bakes in the software of his cameras the film simulations, which are great and real powerful. My favorite one is Classic Negative, which gives a kind of understated look to the photos, a bit unsaturated but with heaps of contrast and overall a very vintage and retro look. At the end of the review I’ll post some of my favorite shots I took with this camera. A big highlight for me has been experimenting with film simulation recipes from sites like Fujixweekly.com. These custom recipes really make the most of Fujifilm’s film simulations, giving photos a distinct, film-like aesthetic straight out of the camera, which minimizes post-processing.
Performance, Autofocus and Software
The camera is a real fast. It turns on very quickly and it’s fast at doing almost everything. One limitation is the autofocus, which doesn’t reach the level of Sony’s system. Despite the lenses’ fast focus, the body can struggle slightly with moving subjects or in low light. It’s worth keeping in mind if you need precise, fast focus in every situation, but in my experience has been pretty usable, even though sometimes I lost some shots. Especially I don’t really trust the performance in Continuous AutoFocus mode.
The software of the camera is simple an minimalistic but well made, even though sometimes finding the right setting in the menu is a bit hard because it’s not the best menu. It’s a bit overcrowded and not every setting is in the right place. I love the fact that it has 7 customizable presets, which I use to bake film simulation recipes into the camera, and I works like this: I choose a base film simulation and I change parameters like white balance, contrast, highlights and shadows, clarity, it’s also possible to add grain to the photos.
Video and Usability
While the 4K video quality is impressive, I’ve barely used it, as video isn’t my main interest. For those curious, though, the footage at 200 Mbps seems to be of excellent quality for casual and maybe also for video made for the internet. If you’re interested in professional stuff, you should consider the newer X-S20 or the X-H2, which are hybrid cameras more suited for video. Maybe the best for everything would be the X-T5 which is also stabilized and has many great features, despite, as an X-T series camera, being mainly designed for photos.
Final Thoughts
The Fuji X-T30 II, paired with the 35mm and 50mm f2 lenses, offers an exceptional setup for anyone focused on photography. With the added fun of film simulation recipes, it’s a versatile and stylish choice. Although the autofocus doesn’t quite match Sony’s, this camera is ideal for those who value image quality, portability, and creative options in a compact form.
I think it would be great for HeyUp to add some tryouts related to the video and photography world, as we’ve been kind of lobotomized by smartphone camera and being able to try a real one is a great experience for sure. I’ve been shooting with Sony cameras since 2016 and now I’m in the Fujifilm family, and it’s great thus far. I know I have the capabilities to review cameras and I’d like to tryout something new!
This camera scores a 4,5/5 for me. It’s been great, and it would be perfect if it had better autofocus and in body image stabilization.
