Fujifilm X-T100 :: The New Best Deal In Photography?

Today we're looking at this, the Fujifilm X-T100. This is the entry-level mirrorless camera from Fujifilm, and unlike most of the other mirrorless cameras out there, this one is well under $1,000. And I do want to note that Fujifilm did send me this camera for review, but they are not sponsoring this video. All the opinions in here are my own. So Fuji contacted me a few weeks ago and said, hey, can we send you the X-T100? Would you like to check it out? I said, absolutely, and when I was waiting on this, my expectations were not as high as, let's say, when I reviewed the X-T2 or the X-Pro2 or the X-E3 that I ended up buying. They were a little bit different because I knew this was an entry-level camera and the price point kind of made me think, oh, it's just not gonna be as awesome as the other models are. I was wrong. The imaging quality on the X-T100 is outstanding. Now, we're gonna talk about some of the differences and why this ends up being a much less expensive model, but that's kind of the most important thing with any camera. And I was really surprised because I do know that the X-T100 does not use the X-Trans sensors that you find in the higher-end Fujifilm models. It uses a different sensor that does have a Bayer filter. Now, before you get into this myth of having a Bayer filter reduces sharpness, we're gonna look at some images in a second, and I was not disappointed. I was actually really impressed with this camera. There are some big differences between the X-T100 and cameras that cost more money, and some decisions were made on saving on the cost. So, for instance, it does not feature a magnesium alloy body like you'd find on other Fujifilm cameras. It does not feel cheap, though. It's very well-built. You'll also notice on the top of the camera you have considerably less dials than what you're probably used to with Fuji cameras. And they still make sense, and I didn't feel like this was very limiting at all. The only thing that was a little foreign to me is on the back there is no joystick, and because I use that all the time on my X-E3, and this camera's about the same size and feels a lot like the X-E3 sometimes, I'd reach for it and it's not there. But you can still use the dial pad to get around. Everything is still there. You can get to things. It doesn't have all the custom function buttons that you do on other Fuji models, but it's still pretty well laid out. On the top left-hand side of the camera, first you're going to see the flash release. There is a built-in flash on this camera, and I think for the price point and considering people who are more enthusiasts are gonna buy this camera for family-type photography, this flash is perfectly adequate and it works just fine. Next to that is really interesting. You have a mode selection dial, and you can customize and map this to whatever you want. But by default, this is set to the film simulation profiles if you're shooting JPEG. This is actually pretty cool, and you can map it to other things as well. And it's a really interesting dial that you don't actually have on other Fujifilm cameras. On the top right side of the camera, you have your shutter speed selection dial, your video record button, the on and off switch for the camera with the shutter release. There is one customizable function dial, which can be customized in the menus. And then the mode selection dial is a little bit different than what you're used to seeing on Fuji cameras. And this was a little bit of a weird thing for me because when I'm using a Fuji, I use it a certain way. And I think that this was probably done because most people who would get into this camera, it might be their first mirrorless camera, it might be their introduction to the Fujifilm system. And so having the DSLR type PSAM modes is probably a little more familiar to some people. But for me, it was confusing because one of the things that I love about Fuji and the way that they're set up is that these cameras typically have some kind of auto mode that you're in, and then you move out of that. So if it's the shutter switch, for instance, or the shutter dial, you're gonna move from auto to a specific shutter speed, or you grab the lens on the aperture collar and just move it from A into a specific aperture setting. So for instance, you might move it from A over to F2.8 or F4 or whatever that is. And you really aren't in this thinking of modes. And one thing that kind of hung me up on this camera is I found a couple of times it was in P mode, I would grab the aperture collar and move it over and it wouldn't make a difference. It was still in P mode. So you go over and select F2.8, well, it's going to shoot at F4 or 5.6 or whatever it's using with the program. That's the only complaint that I had on this. And that's really not so much a design defect as it is my understanding the way I'm used to using Fujifilm system. And this is just very different. The back of the camera is quite minimal as well, but all of the buttons that you need to get to certain functions are here and they are well laid out. The Q button for quick settings has moved up to the top. Interestingly enough, there is no front dial on this camera. There is a back dial for controlling aperture. And I found it really easy to get used to, even though I normally have that set up to the front of the camera, it's customizable on other cameras, but anyway, you get used to it here and it works just fine. There also is a fully articulating touchscreen. And this is a first for me in the Fuji system. For some reason, even the cameras that do feature an articulating screen, it's not fully articulating. And this one does flip all the way around to the front. So if you want to use this for a vlogging camera, let's say, it will work. The mechanism for the articulating screen is quite an interesting design, but it does give you a full range of motion and gives you quite a bit of versatility to various shooting angles that you'd want to use with this camera. Moving over to the sides of the camera, you have USB and HDMI connections. And on the left-hand side of the camera, you will find a mic jack for recording video. So other than my minor thing with the PSAM mode dial selection, which really isn't a complaint, it's fine. It's just, there's a certain way that I'm used to approaching a Fujifilm camera and this was very different. It actually, you get used to it very fast, but it's a very well thought out and very well-built camera. So what is the big compromise and why is this so much less expensive than models like the X-T2 or the X-Pro2? It comes down to speed and this is a much slower camera to work with. Now, I do want to note that over the last two weeks I've been shooting on this and before I started, I went into the menu system and put the camera into high performance mode because I really wanted to drive it and see how far I could take it. Want to see how this impacted battery life and all those things, and it did great. But the only thing is when you're shooting raw images, it takes a little bit of time for the image to process and then write to the card and it has kind of a limited buffer. So if you're in continuous shooting mode and you're trying to follow some high-speed subject, the buffer's gonna fill up pretty quick. But again, this is not an X-T2, this is not an X-Pro2, this is a much cheaper model and considering you can get this with a kit lens for well under $1,000, it's a compromise that they've made. The other thing is the autofocus. The autofocus is very accurate, it's just not as fast as it is with my same lenses that I use on my X-E3, I just did notice a big performance difference on here. Autofocus is accurate though and it just depends on what kind of a photographer you are, what your skill level is. Some people, this will be the right camera for and for the price point is exceptional. Now, the most important thing that I wanna talk about is the image quality on here because I think this is the highlight and actually the selling point. So let's move over to the computer because we're gonna go into Lightroom and I wanna show you what I've got on the X-T100. So the first night that I had this camera, I was really excited because I had these awesome baseball seats and I thought I'll go to the game and I'll find a time to kind of get down towards the front and I'll get some really cool sports images and really get a chance to test out the X-T100. And as you can see, this is across the parking lot and you can see those clouds, that's actually Texas Stadium where the Cowboys play in the background, but it was indeed a rain out and it was pretty severe. The game never happened. So I spent a good hour under this overhang and not much to photograph here, but you can see that the dynamic range and the color rendition, I mean, everything looks really good with this camera. The second day that I had this, I changed things up a little bit and I went to the Water Gardens downtown, which here's an obscure little bit of trivia here. If you've ever seen the movie, Logan's Run, that was shot at the Water Gardens here in Fort Worth. There was obviously a lot of early CGI that went on that film. It came out in the 70s. Anyway, neither here nor there. I took the camera down here. It was a very high contrast situation. The sun was kind of like right up in the middle of the sky and I decided to kind of push the sensor to see what I could do with it. I have an image of the sign in front and here's a little before and after and you can see that there's a lot of recoverable highlights and shadow detail and having had experience shooting with the X-T2, the X-Pro2 and the X-E3, I thought that there would be a little more difference in the image quality, particularly with dynamic range with this sensor because it is much less expensive and there really isn't. In fact, I didn't really notice a difference with the sensor in the images that I took here. The color rendition is very similar. The sharpness is very similar. The dynamic range, you've got a lot of room to work with and it did a really nice job and I had a lot of fun shooting with this. Incidentally, I was also using, when I talked to Fuji, they said, well, what lens do you want with this? And I thought, oh my gosh, anything? And so I wanted to try the 16 to 55 millimeter F2.8 and then I realized after I'd requested it, they said sure and they sent it to me and I thought this is ridiculous because I'm testing this with a lens that costs twice as much as the camera but in the end, I think it really actually was a benefit because you're really able to see how far you're pushing the camera. And by the way, I do love that lens. I'm gonna talk about that in a separate video that I'm working on with Fuji lenses. But anyway, that's what I was shooting with and anyway, I was very impressed with this camera. One thing I'll show you here and this is not a great shot but this is a little A-B testing here is this is the same shot, same lens, same settings. The one on the left is taken with the X-E3 and the one on the right was with the X-T2 and I'm having trouble telling much of a difference between the image quality in these two shots. Now, this was a hazy day when I shot this and there's a train yard and you can see Fort Worth in the distance and this is a really pretty view when you have the right lighting and unfortunately, that's not when I was there but anyway, I'm really seeing a lot of similarity between these two. Now, this is not by any stretch of the imagination a scientific test at all and I'm sure that if you did a scientific test, you probably would find differences because they are two different sensors but Fuji didn't skimp on the image quality on this camera. I'm really impressed. Incidentally, I do have raw files that are available to download for channel members so if you're a channel member, you'll find a link to that over in the community tab. If you are not a channel member, and you are interested, if you're on the desktop, you'll see a little join button below the video here so click on that and it will give you further details. Another point that I wanna make about the X-T100, I'm obviously really happy with the results that I've gotten over the last couple weeks shooting with this. The image quality is outstanding. Really, no compromise was made there. Really, there are no features missing either and you might make the argument for 4K video because 15 frames a second is not enough to really be usable. 1080p video is just fine. If you're into video, you're probably not looking at this camera anyway but when you consider the price point and you're considering that you have excellent image quality, it's a 24 megapixel camera, it's an entry level mirrorless, the compromises that were made were in terms of speed and we talked about those earlier and just depending on your experience level as a photographer and how you shoot, that could or could not be a big deal but I wanna make another argument for the X-T100 here and to me, one of the most attractive things about the entire Fujifilm ecosystem is the lenses and when I first tried the X-T1 and I paired that up, I had the 18 to 55 kit lens and then I had the 16 millimeter F1.4 which I immediately purchased and the F2 23 millimeter which I also bought and I really knew that this was a system I wanted to start owning lenses of. Lenses are really important and lenses also hold their value a lot better than camera bodies do and I would make this point, if you were on a budget, I think this is one of the best deals in photography right now because you can get into a mirrorless system under $1,000 and use that extra money to start buying lenses with. You can get away with a couple of those prime lenses. The zoom lenses are incredible. I think this is one of Fuji's biggest strengths. They do cameras really well too but for me, the look of those lenses really sets them apart and it's something that's very unique. There is a look to Fuji and I absolutely love it and so that's an argument that I would make for the X-T100. Would love to know your thoughts as well so if you have tried this camera or have any thoughts about this, please drop me a comment below and I will see you in the next video. Thanks again to Fujifilm for loaning me the camera. Unfortunately, I have to send it back. It makes me kind of sad but I will see you guys in the next video. Until then, later.