I haven't written about photographic equipment in far too long. I hardly get any emails from agencies anymore that want to get their products or at least links in my blog. And my Amazon affiliate account is crying too... Time to write about a pocket camera that has been with me every day for almost two weeks now: the *drumroll* Fuji X70!
Long-time blog readers are now rightly asking: “Fuji? Didn’t you sell all your Fuji stuff a few years ago?” Exactly! At that time, however, I was looking for a professional camera that would do my daily jobs. Fuji failed me there. For the same reasons as back then, I put the Fuji X-Pro 2 aside after a few minutes, shaking my head, when I saw it at Probis could test. Of course, buying a camera is always a matter of taste. Therefore I can write without a doubt that Leica my photographic ideas Best implemented because I hardly have to deal with the technology. Nikon makes a lot of things easier for me when I'm doing fast action lousy weather or when there is hardly any light. My analogue treasures allow me to delve deeply into the situation.
A camera is just a tool. And there are use cases where I was missing a suitable tool. The Fuji X70 was just right for me. It's so small and light that I can always have it with me. It's quick to use, offers reasonable image quality and has autofocus that I can turn off 🙂 The Fuji X70 is the perfect pocket camera!
The Fuji X70 has an APS-C sensor. It is large enough for good images and small enough to provide a larger focus range even with larger apertures. Despite the large sensor, the camera is smaller than an iPhone. Of course the X70 is thicker, but not nearly as thick as a slim Leica.
The aperture is set with third apertures on the lens, I can set the usual full steps on the time dial (from 1s to 1/4000s and bulb for long exposures), and I can access the intermediate steps on the command control with my thumb.
Without a viewfinder?
The camera does not have a viewfinder, but has a folding display with touch function. This is helpful and quick. I can even trigger it by tapping the display. This actually works very well. Or I determine the focusing field. I can turn off the touch function, but unfortunately not the display. I would like that to be able to save battery. However, I can also simply switch off the camera during breaks. The X70's duty cycle is very fast - at least when the high performance is switched on in the power management.
The display is easy to read. Of course, this becomes more difficult when the sun is shining. The subsequent image assessment on the display also suffers in strong sunlight. Nevertheless, I haven't missed any viewfinder on the camera. And if you do need one: There is an optical viewfinder as an accessory for the hot shoe.
Unfortunately, the folding display can only be swiveled properly in landscape format: very low shooting positions are just as easy to get out of hand as overhead shots. The only time I can use the display upright is to take photos around corners. Or for selfies...
18.5mm f/2.8 fixed focal length corresponds to approx. 28mm f/4.2 on XNUMXmm format
The focal length used, 18,5mm, corresponds to approximately 28mm converted to 1.5mm format. But of course not only the focal length is multiplied by the crop factor of 4, but also the aperture. This results in advantages in terms of the size of the field of focus (others call this depth of field or depth of field - I find the term field of focus more understandable and correct). At aperture 1,5 and a selected distance of 1m, I have a sharpness range of just under 2m to a good 1,3m: a total of 6,3m sharpness range. In 7mm format I need aperture of 43 with a comparable focal length. With my beloved Mamiya 20II (I'll write something about that again) I only have a 1,3mm lens in the wide-angle range. This corresponds to around 8mm in XNUMXmm format. Despite the significantly larger viewing angle, I still need aperture XNUMX for the focus range of XNUMXm.
I chose the Fuji Especially in my daily attempts at everyday photography, I wanted the chance to get results faster. And have an easy option for color images :)
But the bokeh?
Is available. And for a wide-angle lens, that's perfectly fine. On the left you will find example images, which, like all images on this page, you can view larger by clicking on them. The cropping also works despite the small aperture. However, the camera forces you to get close to your subject. The Fuji X70 is the camera for right in the middle and not just there.
In my opinion, the camera's range of up to three meters is the best choice. Most of my pictures were taken at a maximum distance of 2 meters.
Lens flare?
Haha, forget it. Unless you like stripes in the picture.
What can the lens do really well?
Well, unlike many other optics in cameras of this size, focusing works from 10cm to infinity without the need for any switching. The sharpness is also absolutely fine, although not at the Zeiss level. Pixel peepers will definitely find a lot of nooks and crannies, I think the quality and resolution of the lens is absolutely fine for the pocket.
And what can the Fuji X70's autofocus do?
Well, I'm totally spoiled. I have the current top professional bodies from Nikon here and know what good and fast autofocus can do. And yes, that doesn't always work either. And I know how quickly I can focus manually with a Leica. The Fuji X70 is more or less far removed from both. The Fuji X70's autofocus is always particularly good when it can recognize faces. If a face is detected, the autofocus then tracks it and focuses reliably - and ignores which AF field I have selected. On smooth surfaces, however, the autofocus pumps back and forth quite a bit. Even if no clear edges or structures can be seen in the AF measuring field, the servomotor tends to move back and forth more often. Whether it then achieves the desired sharpness level is more a matter of luck. No comparison to digital SLR cameras.
Can you at least use manual focus?
Well, I'm totally spoiled. Manually focusing with a Leica is the best thing that can happen to a manual lens. Focus peaking - the electronic display of the plane of focus using colors - also works excellently with Leica, even with the electronic viewfinder, which feels like it's from the last century. With Fuji, far too much is marked as sharp. Almost all edges are marked as "in focus", but they may not actually be. And the setting wheel on the lens is a disaster, because it has no stop for minimum or infinity and the actual setting range is far too small. A little tip: don't get nervous, always turn slowly, because then the distance setting also changes slowly.
The big advantage of manual focusing on the Fuji X70 is that it doesn't change when the camera is turned off. As a rule, I set the optics so that the focus range is between 1,5m and 2m. Once set, I hardly have to worry about focusing. If I take a photo at a different distance, I switch the easily accessible control on the front left side of the camera back to AF and take my photo. Using the large display, I can also estimate the correct focus quite well because an enlarged display is automatically switched on.
The sensor needs light
The positive first: In good or medium light, the Fuji X70 takes good pictures with nice, round colors.
However, in bad or little light, the sensor quickly reaches its limits. Converted to black and white (or photographed accordingly), ISO values up to 3200 are no problem, up to ISO6400 they are tolerable. I wouldn't use these high values for colored images. The cat image above is absolutely fine for ISO1600, but there is visible noise in the shadows. I find it exciting that despite the rather green-weighted sensor layout, Fuji's X-Trans sensor also has the same red cast at high ISO values as Bayer CMOS sensors. In any case, I have never seen RAWs in which the color information breaks down into individual parts like Fuji's X70 and ISO6400 and above. To make matters worse, ISO6400 on Fuji is more like ISO3200 on Nikon. That doesn't mean Fuji is measuring incorrectly - rather Nikon. My handheld light meter for my Mamiya has tickets & info measured similarly to Fuji. But this only makes Fuji the moral winner…
In the example above, the X70 does well, but it doesn't come close to the color reproduction and contrast behavior of the 8-year-old Nikon D3. But this only applies under really bad lighting conditions. Up to ISO1600 these differences are not so noticeable. By the way, the comparison above shows that the old D3 is still a really great camera.
By the way, I have had good experiences setting the exposure compensation to +2/3. I should mention that I set the aperture and exposure time fixed and let the camera control the exposure using Auto ISO. The professional P mode, so to speak 🙂
There are three auto ISO setting options, of which I use two: one with an ISO value of up to a maximum of 1600 for color photographs and one up to ISO6400 for black and white photographs. This distinction is actually not important because, firstly, I can change the color of the images later, as the Fuji X70 of course offers me the option to photograph in RAW. Secondly, there is even a RAW converter built into the camera, but the camera also offers a menu for creating a photo book, which I would ignore at any time with confident clarity. BTW: Dear camera manufacturers, not every option that a CPU in a camera offers has to be used.
The built-in flash does a good job despite its barely there size. As a brightener in reporting, it serves its purpose. Switching it on and off is quite easy by assigning one of the buttons around the menu button. The flash exposure compensation should be placed on another button on the menu, otherwise it will only be difficult to find on the fourth subpage of the menu.
WIFI!
Yay, the camera has a WIFI menu and there is a free app. This means you can even transfer geodata from your smartphone to the X70 and geotag your images for different use cases. The saving grace for Instagrammers, however, is that you can take pictures with the X70 and share them with the world in seconds via your smartphone. Only with a size of 1776×1184 pixels (who comes up with these values?), but that is of course enough for Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And food looks really good thanks to the macro function. Thanks to the folding display, you can easily showcase your sneakers. Internet, what more could you want?
Is there a conclusion?
I haven't tried out all the features yet and I won't. I don't need a miniature effect, a color key, or a fully automatic mode and I don't order photo books directly from the camera. I need a small, light, fast camera - that's what I got with the Fuji X70.
I think it's a shame that a charger isn't included. The battery can only be charged in the camera. It's also a shame that the display can't be turned off. This would significantly increase battery life. So a second battery is definitely necessary, which unfortunately I can't charge independently because there's no charger...
The camera fits well in the hand, there is a solid tripod connection for long exposures and the controls are sensibly arranged. Only the left button on the menu selector is difficult to press due to the protruding display.
Is the Fuji X70 better than the Ricoh GR? I can only answer the question for myself: yes, because although all the values for size, weight, optics used and sensor size are approximately the same, the Fuji X70 has the advantage that I have quick access to all the important controls. I can turn dials to adjust aperture, time and exposure compensation. If I'm not in manual focus, I can also set the ISO number on the lens. It's all very quick and super handy. In addition, the image quality is perfectly fine for a variety of uses.
Ultimately, the best camera is the one you have on hand. With the Fuji X70 you have a very good camera at hand.
@FujifilmDE Very interesting review! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you for your experience with the X70, I like to carry it with me and I love it too.
I already suspected something like that. Ergo: I stick with the phone if I have to put it in my pocket. If I have a jacket with me, there is a bit of Wetzlar in it 😉
You can only get the particle from Wetzlar for the Fuji price made from marzipan... 😉
You can probably make Stefan Groenveld, but it doesn't taste good 😉
@FujifilmDE Thanks Stefan for the helpful report, really helpful
The chatterbox chattered and complained, not very informative, not very objective.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment anyway. What did you want to read?
I have it with me in Sydney right now and I think it will go back to the store when I'm back in Hamburg. She doesn't kick me. Above all, it's far too bright here to see anything on the display.
Do you know that you can adjust the display brightness?
Clear. Still not really good for much unfortunately.
And such a good looking case too! I'll keep doing X30 for a long time.
Thank you Stefan, might actually try this one xxx
Wow, it has a Leica glow.
It was also photographed with a Leica :)
Class. However, this statement is unfortunately not true
18.5mm f/2.8 fixed focal length corresponds to approx. 28mm f/4.2 on XNUMXmm format
It is an 18,5mm and remains one. Only the image section changes.
You can read it in detail online.
"Corresponds to" does not mean "will". In order to reproduce the image section of an 18.5 focal length on an APS-C sensor with a crop factor of 1.5 on a 28mm sensor, you need a 2.2mm focal length on the XNUMXmm. And of course the aperture and ISO also change, but this is often ignored on the internet because otherwise the aperture of XNUMX on the iPhone doesn't sound so great anymore. 🙂
First of all, thank you for the great report.
Regarding WIFI and resolution during transmission:
I think the default setting in the wireless settings is a reduction to 3M pixels. If you turn this off, the images will be transmitted in full resolution.
Ah, that's where it's hidden. Many many thanks. Until now I had always looked in other places 🙂
If it had a viewfinder...
Oh yes. And f2 vs f2.8.
If it were a x100…
Stefan Groenveld no. 28 vs 35
So for me the "go" or "no go" of this neat Fuji camera (in silver, of course) is the missing viewfinder. When I was out in the Cyclades with the Leica X in glaring light a few years ago, I would have hardly been able to do anything without it! If you add the €200 Fuji 28mm BF-X21 viewfinder (with 21mm outer limit) for the WCL-X70 to the purchase price of the X70, currently (still) RRP: €699, this results in an investment of around €900. Not exactly a small amount, in my opinion.
At this price + a little more there is almost an X-E2s or the X-T10, each with the 18-55 on top.
You can see: compactness has its price. Therefore, in my opinion, the X70 is more likely to be seen as a supplementary camera to existing Fuji-X equipment.
Hello, I definitely see the X70 as an addition to existing equipment. I also hinted at that in the text. 🙂
...then we agree, Stefan.
So, for me, if then, only with a viewfinder.
Experience makes you smart...
But please tell me how I can interpret this:
“I put the Fuji X-Pro 2 aside after a few minutes, shaking my head, for the same reasons as before…”
For me, the key feature on the X-Pro 2 is the optical viewfinder. And it's just poorly solved. At least if you're used to Leica. How do you want to work properly with manual optics on the X-Pro 2? That's just not possible or it's so difficult that every motif is long gone...
Hi
Nice and interesting comments about a new camera that I have recently had in my hands.
What I don't like so much is the "selection rocker" which, in terms of ergonomics and material, doesn't match the otherwise high-quality camera. Unfortunately, it's second-rate. Apart from that, I don't like at all that the digital converter is only available in JPEG mode and not in native RAW!
Otherwise a good, practical camera.
The battery and sun visor can be taken from the X100 series.
Well, the digital converter doesn't do anything that you couldn't do afterwards on the computer with the RAW: cropping. So the offer is actually nonsense. They probably adopted this marketing gimmick from the Leica Q :)
Hi
Yes, the Leica has the feature too and it even makes sense at 24MP. I see the advantage of the function in LiveView. When composing the image, you can see what you want in the image section without having to correct it afterwards on the PC. The small Ricoh GR also has the "built-in" 35 and about 50mm focal lengths. And that also works in RAW.
It's a shame that the X70 doesn't have 35mm.
That would be more my thing.
28 is too wide for me personally.
Incidentally, this is also the main reason why quite a few Leica Q owners are parting with it or already have it.
I also believe that the lack of a viewfinder is a shortcoming of the camera in the long run.
You will miss it in the bright summer sunlight at the latest.
In my opinion, the X 70 is a niche camera, but with e.g. Currently almost 700 euros too expensive.
For the money, I would personally prefer a slightly larger X-E2s with EVF and the compact and very good 27 pancake. This would give me all the options up and down...
I think 28mm is great :)
…is a matter of opinion.
For me personally, 35 are enough for "permanently installed"
If you want a viewfinder camera with 35mm, then the X100T. Just simple!
If more compact, without a viewfinder, with a folding display and with 28mm, then the Ricoh GR or the X70, or even a Nikon A. If not, then...
And if necessary, there is 35 AND 50mm via internal "live crop". In RAW and/or JPEG, depending on the model. Otherwise... zoom, zoom, zoom...
*giggle* ... since last year I've been following the motto "keep it simple and smart" ... I absolutely love my x30. The perfect "always with you" device. The small sensor has its weaknesses, of course, but when you're out and about/on the street, that's irrelevant in 95% of cases.
...but you shouldn't compare apples with oranges here.
Stefan's blog is all about comments on the X70,
and not about any 'always with you', even if from Fuji.
For example, I can do not build a bridge from a Leica D-Lux to the Leica X,
and off to Leica Q! These are all completely different cameras, and each
of them has a preferred shooting position for their owner.
Of course, I can also produce beautiful images with a Leica D-Lux with a small fingernail sensor, but I have completely different tasks with a Leica X with APS-C or even with the Q and its full-format chip, despite only being 28 mm.
I've had mine since yesterday and I'm completely satisfied.
An expression in the image that I can only get into the photos with a lot of effort with my Nikons or the current Sony A7.
I no longer mourn the x100 I sold years ago :)
A great camera for unnoticed snapshots, for 35 or 50 mm all you need to do is turn the lens ring. Thanks to the APS format, the images can also be enlarged without any noticeable loss of quality.
I have been taking photos with the “little one” for a year now and I won’t give it up – the only thing it’s missing is the red dot.
Hello Bernd,
yikes. Thanks for the tip about putting the digital zoom on the lens ring. *andie forehead clap*
I hadn't even thought about it.
X70. The poor man's Leica Q… 🙂
I have been using the camera for street and reportage (taking pictures of operations by our volunteer fire department) for 1.5 years now. Just great! Sign your report. My full formats often stay in the closet (Sony & Leica M)