Fujifilm X-T3

11 FPS, 26MP APS-C, DCI 4K/60p 10-bit, 2-SD slots

NEW: Fujifilm X-T4.

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Fuji X-T3

Fujifilm X-T3 (APS-C, 18.8 oz./534g with battery and card, two SD slots, about $1,299). bigger. I got mine at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. It comes in silver and many kit options at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H and at Crutchfield.

This 100% all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally-approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Fujifilm does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, non-USA, store demo or used camera. Get yours only from the trusted sources I've used personally for decades for the best prices, service, return policies and selection. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.

 

December 2019   Better Pictures   Fuji   Fuji Lenses   Sony   LEICA   Zeiss   Nikon   Canon   All Reviews

All Fujifilm Cameras Compared

Fuji X-T3

Fujifilm X-T3. bigger.

 

Fuji X-T3

Fujifilm X-T3. bigger.

Please help KenRockwell.com

Sample Images

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(more at High ISOs and throughout the review.)

I got my X-T3 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. It comes in silver and many kit options at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H and at Crutchfield.

These are all shot hand-held as NORMAL JPGs; no RAW files or FINE JPGs or tripods were used or needed.

Fuji 50mm f/2 sample image

Sun and Clouds, 16 February 2019. Fujifilm X-T3, Fujinon 50mm f/2 at f/13 at 1/4,700 at Auto Dynamic Range 200% at Auto ISO 320, split-toned print. bigger or full-resolution or camera-original © JPG file.

 

Zoey

Zoey, 15 February 2019, Friday. Fujifilm X-T3, Fujinon 200mm f/2 wide-open at f/2 at 1/550 at ISO 160, Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution or camera-original © JPG file.

 

Manhole Cover Fuji X-T3 Sample Image File

Seaside Patio, 30 January 2019. Fuji X-T3, Fujinon XF 23mm f/2 WR, f/5.6 at 1/850 at Auto ISO 160, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.

 

Home by the Sea Fuji X-T3 Sample Image File

Home by the Sea (catalog shoot), 30 January 2019. Fuji X-T3, Fujinon XF 23mm f/2 WR, f/5.6 at 1/500 at Auto ISO 640, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.

 

Introduction

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New   Good   Bad   Missing

Adorama Pays Top Dollar for Used Gear

Amazon

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

Crutchfield

This Fujifilm X-T3 is a pleasant change from other brands of cameras because it's much better made out of mostly all metal, and it has real, dedicated single-purpose individually marked dials for each of shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, advance mode, metering mode, as well as a dedicated autofocus mode switch and two more general purpose control dials. It feels great in hand to have a real metal camera with real dials rather than a plastic dog plop with a slew of mushy mode buttons and one dial.

Even the shutter sounds great, with a quiet, smooth sound as nice as a real 35mm LEICA or CONTAX G2 — as well as a completely silent mode if you prefer.

Fujifilm cameras are different from all others because they have very different sensors which strongly optimize their colors and contrasts for people photos, with smooth skin tones and soft contrast. I'm not a fan of Fujifilm cameras for vivid photos of places and things, while they are the best you can get for people pictures.

Fujifilm's special sensors have unusual color-filter arrays that really do increase their effective resolution and sharpness over other brands of digital cameras. The only downside to the special sensors is that it's more difficult to find software that can read Fujifilm raw files (I only shoot JPG).

Autofocus works great, finding eyes and focusing on them automatically.

I got mine at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. It comes in silver and many kit options at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H and at Crutchfield.

 

New

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com 26 MP sensor.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com 2.16M phase detection pixels

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com AF down to LV -3.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com 11 FPS with mechanical shutter with no need for a battery grip.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com 20 FPS with electronic shutter, 30 FPS with electronic shutter in 1.25x cropped mode, again with no need for a grip.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com “Sports Viewfinder mode” captures a subject in a 1.25x crop (16MP) marked in a smaller region of the viewfinder, while you can see what's going on outside the capture area. 

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com “Pre-Shoot” function with electronic shutter in which the camera starts shooting a scene when the shutter button is half-pressed, and records it at the moment when the shutter button is fully pressed.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com The connector door comes off for use with video rigs.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com World's first mirrorless camera capable of recording 4K/60fps 4:2:0 at 10 bits to an in-camera SD card.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com World's first mirrorless camera with at least an APS-C sensor capable of HDMI output at 4K/60p 4:2:2 at 10 bits.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com New included BC-W126S battery charger oddly uses a clumsy plug stub instead of the previous charger that accepted any standard unpolarized power cord. It's redundant; the battery also charges in-camera via USB.

 

Good

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Image quality highly optimized for fantastic people photos under any kind of lighting.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Brilliantly precise all-metal construction.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Dedicated single-purpose dials for each of ISO, Shutter Speed, Exposure Compensation, Advance Mode and Metering Mode.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Free included EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash is powered directly from the camera's own battery.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Dedicated lever to select Continuous, Single or Manual focus.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Square (1:1) and 16:9 crop modes.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Magnificently quiet and refined shutter sound.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Also works completely silently.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Full 1/250 flash sync speed.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Locking diopter adjustment.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Wi-Fi

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Bluetooth

 

Bad

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Flash doesn't fire in continuous advance modes.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Slow scrolling around zoomed-in playback images, and always takes a half second for playback images to become sharp.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Same bizarre menu system as other Fujifilm digital cameras.

 

Missing

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com In AUTO ISO if you select AUTO to select the minimum shutter speed based on focal length, there is no way to shift that automatically selected speed. Sony, Nikon and Canon all allow us to select an offset from this value.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Incomplete ISO dial. Inexplicably Fuji forgot to include ISO 100, 125 and 51,200 on the dial, so to get them you have to go into a very well hidden menu to reassign the L or H positions to your choices — and you have to go back into those same hidden menus to get back to their default ISO 80 and ISO 25,600 if you change them!

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No battery percentage indication; only a multisegment battery icon.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No color histogram available while shooting (playback only).

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No GPS.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Rear LCD flips here and there, but not 180.º

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Exactly like every LEICA, no in-camera stabilization.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No built-in flash, but includes a free tiny EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Bluetooth, but no NFC.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No deeper detent at zero exposure compensation; instead of setting zero by feel you have to stop and look at it.

 

Specifications

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I got my X-T3 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. It comes in silver and many kit options at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H and at Crutchfield.

 

Lens Compatibility

Fuji X-T3

Fujifilm X-T3. bigger.

It works with any of the Fujifilm Fujinon X-mount lenses, or lenses made for this mount.

You can get cheap adapters to let you use almost any brand of SLR or DSLR lens, however autofocus will not work and you will have to move the aperture manually and they offer questionable exposure accuracy. I don't suggest adapters.

 

Image Sensor

Fuji X-T3

Fujifilm X-T3. bigger.

26 MP CMOS.

APS-C: 15.6 × 23.5 mm.

14-bit quantization.

3:2 aspect ratio.

1.53 × crop factor.

Ultrasonic cleaner.

Marketed as "back-illuminated X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor."

 

Film Simulation Modes

PROVIA/Standard

VELVIA/Vivid

ASTIA/Soft

Classic Chrome

PRO Neg. Hi

PRO Neg. Std

Black & White

Black & White + Yellow Filter

Black & White + Red Filter

Black & White + Green Filter

Sepia

ACROS B&W film

ACROS film + Yellow Filter film

ACROS film + Red Filter

ACROS film + Green Filter

ETERNA/Cinema

B & W

Color balance adjustment: -9 ~ +9

Color Chrome Effect: Strong, Weak or Off.

 

ISO

ISO 80  ~ 51,200.

ISO 160 is optimum.

The regular range is ISO 160 to ISO 12,800.

Your choice of only one of ISO 125, 100 or 80 is programmed in the menu system to the "L" mark on the ISO dial.

Your choice of either of ISO 25,600 or 51,200 is programmed in the menu system to the "H" mark on the ISO dial.

 

Auto ISO

Three AUTO ISO settings.

Each is adjustable for high and low limits from ISO 160 to ISO 12,800 in third stops.

Each allows the slowest shutter speed to be set anywhere from ¼ to 1/500 or AUTO, which varies it based on focal length. There is no way to shift the automatically selected minimum shutter speed in AUTO.

 

Image Sizes

6,240 × 4,160 pixels Large (native, 25.96 MP).

4,416 × 2,944 pixels Medium (13.00 MP).

3,120 × 2,080 pixels Small (6.5 MP).

 

Cropped Aspect Ratios

1:1 square and 16:9 HDTV.

 

Still Formats

JPG and/or raw.

sRGB and Adobe RGB.

 

Video

File Format

.MOV

 

Data Coding

Video: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 or HEVC/H.265. (DCI 4K at 59.94p or 50p doesn't work with H.264.)

Audio: Linear PCM Stereo; 24bits at 48 ksps.

 

Frame Sizes and Rates

All Intra/Long-GOP

All-Intra can be used with following settings: DCI 4K and 4K at 29.97p, 25p, 24p and 23.98p: 400Mbps.

2,048 × 1,080 or 1,920 × 1,080 at 59.94p, 50p, 29.97p, 25p, 24p and 23.98p: 200Mbps.

 

Maximum take lengths

Regardless of formats, the maximum video file size is 4GB. Go over that and the X-T3 simply starts a new file for you to import into your editor which will cut together with no loss.

DCI 4K 4,096 x 2,160 at 59.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p 400Mbps/200Mbps/100Mbps 59.94p/50p: up to approx. 20min. 29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p: up to approx. 30min

4K 3,840 x 2,160 at 59.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p 400Mbps/200Mbps/100Mbps 59.94p/50p: up to approx. 20min. 29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p: up to approx. 30min

2,048 x 1,080 at 59.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p 200Mbps/100Mbps/50Mbps up to approx. 30min.

1,920 x 1,080 at 59.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p 200Mbps/100Mbps/50Mbps up to approx. 30min.

1,920 x 1,080 at 120p / 100p 200Mbps(recording) up to approx. 6min.

 

Card suggestions for video

Use at least a UHS Speed Class 3 card.

At 400Mbps (DCI 4K or 4K at 29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p), use at least a Speed Class 60 card.

 

Audio

Recorded only along with video.

Stereo microphones built in.

Mic-in jack with plug-in power overrides built-in mic.

Headphone jack.

 

Stabilization

None.

 

Autofocus

2.16M phase detection pixels

 

Light Meter

Multi-Zone, Average, Center-Weighted or Spot.

 

Finder

0.5" 3.69-million-dot OLED.

0.75× magnification with 33mm lens (50mm equivalent).

100% coverage.

5 ms delay.

100 FPS refresh rate. 

23mm eyepoint from the eyepiece lens.

-4 ~ +2 diopters, locking.

38º diagonal angle of view, 30º horizontal.

Eye sensor selects EVF or rear LCD (VIEW MODE button on right side of finder hump for manual selection).

 

Shutter

45 ms lag.

 

Mechanical Shutter

1/8,000 ~ 900 seconds.

 

Silent Electronic Shutter

1/32,768 ~ 900 seconds.

 

Bulb

Up to one hour.

 

Remote Release

Standard $6 threaded cable releases

or

$40 RR-100 2.5mm electric release.

 

Continuous Frame Rates

Flash doesn't fire in any of these settings.

 

Continuous High

30 FPS with silent electronic shutter and 1.25x crop.

20 FPS with silent electronic shutter.

11 FPS with standard mechanical shutter.

 

Continuous Low

5.7 FPS.

 

Buffer (Burst) Sizes

At 30 FPS electronic shutter with 1.25x crop: 60 frames JPG, 35 frames lossless compression RAW or 33 frames Uncompressed RAW.

Pre-shot mode at 30 FPS electronic shutter with 1.25x crop: 20 frames maximum with shutter half pressed and 20 frames maximum after full press, total 40 frames.

At 11 FPS mechanical shutter: 145 frames JPG, 42 frames Lossless compression RAW or 36 frames Uncompressed RAW

At 5.7 FPS mechanical shutter: unlimited JPG, 62 frames Lossless Compression RAW, 43 frames Uncompressed RAW.

 

Flash

1/250 sync speed.

 

Built-in Flash

No, but Fuji includes a free tiny EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash shown below.

 

External Flash

Dedicated hot shoe.

Standard PC (Prontor-Compur) flash sync terminal under a screw-in cap under the front "X-T3" marking as seen on the right below:

Fuji X-T3 with included EF-X8 Flash

Fujifilm X-T3 with included EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash. bigger.

 

LCD Monitor

Fuji X-T3

Fujifilm X-T3. bigger.

3.0" (76 mm) diagonal LCD.

1,040,000 dots.

3:2 aspect ratio.

Tilts up 90,º down 45º, 60º right, but not to the left.

 

Connectors

Fuji X-T3

Connectors and removable terminal cover, Fujifilm X-T3. bigger.

From top: 3.5mm microphone, 3.5mm headphones, USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 (also power the camera and charger) and HDMI Micro-D.

Above the card slots on the other side is a 2.5mm jack for a remote behind a rubber cover.

The cover comes off. If you lose it, Fuji sells a set of all the covers used on the XT3.

 

WiFi

IEEE802.11b/g/n infrastructure.

WEP / WPA / WPA2 mixed mode encryption.

 

Bluetooth Low Energy

Version 4.2

2.402 ~ 2.480 GHz.

 

GPS

None.

 

Storage

Fuji X-T3

Fujifilm X-T3. bigger.

Two card slots.

Each works with SD (up to 2GB), SDHC (up to 32GB) and SDXC (up to 512GB) cards, UHS-I, UHS-II and Video Speed Class V90.

Above the card slots is a 2.5mm jack for a remote behind a rubber cover.

 

Body

Mostly metal.

 

Quality

Fuji X-T3

Fujifilm X-T3. bigger.

Made in China, shamefully hidden on a sticker on the back of the pivoting LCD. You have to pull-out the LCD and look behind it to read that and the serial number!

 

Power & Battery

Rated 390 shots per charge.

Fuji X-T3

Fujifilm X-T3 battery door. bigger.

 

Battery

Fuji NP-126S

Fuji NP-W126S. bigger.

New NP-W126S Li-Ion. Same as used in the X-100F and X-T2; it's a newer version of the NP-W126 used in the X-Pro1 and X-E1.

 

Charging

It charges via USB-C, or with the goofy included charger that has not a folding plug, but instead an idiotic modular plug:

Fuji BC-W126S Battery Charger

Fujifilm BC-W126S Battery Charger and plug. bigger.

 

Fuji BC-W126S Battery Charger

Fujifilm BC-W126S Battery Charger and plug. bigger.

 

Size

Fuji X-T3

Fujifilm X-T3. bigger.

3.65 × 5.22 × 2.31 inches HWD.

92.8 × 132.5 × 58.8 millimeters HWD.

 

Weight

18.845 oz. (534.3g) with battery and card, actual measured.

Rated 19.0 oz. (539g) with battery and card, 17.2 oz. (489g) stripped.

Shipping weight rated 3.2 pounds (1,452g).

 

Operating Environment

-10º ~ 40º C (14º ~ 104º F).

10% to 80% RH.

 

Included

Camera:

Camera body

Body cap (shipped on body)

Hot shoe cover (shipped in hot shoe)

Connector cover (detachable, shipped on the body as you'd expect)

Flash sync terminal cover (unscrews, shipped installed as you'd expect)

Vertical Grip connector cover (pulls-out, shipped installed as you'd expect)

Shoulder strap

Strap clip

Clip attaching tool

Protective cover

Cable protector

 

NP-W126S Li-ion battery.

Fujifilm BC-W126S Battery Charger and plug.

EF-X8 shoe mount flash.

Two printed manuals: one in English and one in Spanish.

 

Announced

06 September 2018.

 

Promised for

20 September 2018.

 

Packaging

Fuji X-T3

Box, Fujifilm X-T3. bigger.

Microcorrugated cardboard box.

Pulp cradle for the camera body.

White microcorrugated folding box holding all the accessories.

Box size: 8 × 6½ × 5½ inches (20 × 17 × 14 cm).

Shipping weight: 3.2 pounds (1,452g).

 

Price, USA

$1,299, December 2019.

$1,399, January 2019.

$1,499, September 2018.

 

Optional Accessories

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Accessories   Performance   Compared

User's Guide   Recommendations   More

I got my X-T3 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. It comes in silver and many kit options at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H and at Crutchfield.

 

Vertical Battery Grip VG-XT3

Specifically designed for the X-T3, this grip is dust-resistant, water-resistant and works down to 14ºF (-10°C).

It holds two batteries, so along with the one in the camera the system is rated for 1,100 shots per charge. It has automatic changeover as each battery dies so you don't lose a shot even during a video take or continuous shooting.

It has a shutter release button, focus lever, AE-L button, AF-L button, command dials, Q button and Fn button.

The grip can charge its two batteries with the included AC-9VS AC adapter in about 2 hours.

 

Leather Half Case BLC-XT3

A nice leather half case. It only covers the camera bottom, so there is no top to get in the way while you're shooting.

There's a hole so you can change the battery with the case on.

It comes with a "cloth wrap" so you can throw this all in your bag as-is.

 

Metal Hand Grip MHG-XT3

This is a grip for use with bigger lenses, or if you just like a bigger grip. The X-T3 has pretty good grips as it is.

You can change the battery and cards with this grip attached.

It has an Arca Swiss dovetail on the bottom.

 

Cover Kit CVR-XT3

This is a set of replacement covers for the X-T3. It includes:

Connector door.

Screw-in PC sync terminal cover.

Slide-in hot shoe cover.

Vertical battery grip terminal covers (one in black and one in silver; these are the rubber plugs in the bottom plate).

 

2.5mm Remote Release RR-100

This locking electronic release does exactly what a standard $6 threaded cable release does, for 8 times the price. Both work fine on the X-T3.

 

Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD and Anker PowerCore Speed 20000 PD

These are big USB power banks. Same as plugging the camera into USB for charging and operating, use any of these USB power banks to run for long periods in the field.

These banks also include 30 watt AC adapters to charge themselves, and using these AC adapters you can run forever as well as charge the power banks at the same time.

No news, just USB power banks.

 

Performance

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Specifications

Accessories   Performance   Compared

User's Guide   Recommendations   More

 

Overall   Autofocus   Manual Focus

Ergonomics   Exposure   Finder   Flash

Frame Rates   High ISOs   Auto ISO

Auto White Balance  Mechanics   Sharpness

Playback   Data   Power & Battery

 

I got my X-T3 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. It comes in silver and many kit options at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H and at Crutchfield.

 

Overall

Performance          top

The Fuji XT3 is a smooth and quiet camera that's a joy to shoot. Its images are super sharp and the autofocus system works wonders finding faces and eyes and just focussing on them automatically so you can concentrate on catching that fleeting perfect expression.

As always with Fujifilm digital cameras, colors and tones are highly optimized for superb people photos at the expense of the vivid, saturated colors you'd want for landscapes and photos of places and things.

 

Autofocus

Performance          top

Autofocus is fast and sure. It finds and tracks faces and eyes extremely well — much better than the Nikon Z system, for instance.

With multiple faces, it finds the correct face automatically, no manual inpout required. Photographing groups of people? Just point and shoot. I can pay attention to people's expressions and not have to worry about fiddling with my focus system.

 

Manual Focus

performance          top

Manual focus is even better than usual, as Fujifilm adds a default "nonlinear" option with brilliantly varies the speed of manual focus as you change distance. It's more precise at far distances where we need it, and speeds it up at close distances where we also need it. Fuji finally solved a 200-year-old problem which limited us in the days of mechanical focus.

 

Ergonomics

Performance          top

Fuji X-T3

Fujifilm X-T3. bigger.

The X-T3 excels here. Its little grips feels great.

While the menu system is just as foolish as ever for Fuji (card format is hidden at MENU > Wrench > User Setting > Format for instance), once you set your menus, on-set or in-field shooting is perfect because all our settings are made on real dedicated dials.

There is no need for an exposure mode dial. Just set the lens' aperture ring or shutter speed dial to A and that function is set automatically. Set both to A and you're in program mode. Take either ring to a set value, and you're in aperture or shutter priority, and set both to a marked value and you're in manual. Easy, and FAST as you're shooting rapidly developing events.

The biggest two wierdnesses are the lock buttons on ISO and shutter speed. Each time you press them they toggle between locked (pushed in), or unlocked (popped up with a gray band around the bottom). This is very weird when you first get the camera, and makes sense as soon as you realize this is how it works.

The exposure compensation dial is easy to use, but lacks a deeper zero detent so you have to look at it to find the zero setting.

The flimsy card door is fidgety to open, and requires concentration and a fingernail — you can't just slide it back to open.

The red "A"s (automatic) are too dark. They aren't florescent, so they usually look much darker than the white markings.

 

Exposure

Performance          top

Exposures are usually quite good. It's unusual that I need to use any exposure compensation, and if I do, it's about -⅔ when I'm shooting things against black backgrounds.

 

Finder

Performance          top

The finder is excellent. While not quite as good as Sony (no other brand is), this Fuji's finder is superb.

The only real difference between current finders from Sony, Fuji, Canon and Nikon is how well they handle auto brightness control. All are about as sharp and have the same color rendition; but only Sony EVFs always are at the perfect brightness automatically. This Fuji is at the perfect brightness about 95% of the time. Nikon's Z7 is only at the perfect brightness about 70% of the time, and Canon's EOS R has no auto brightness control for the finder at all. When automatic control doesn't get it right, the finder is too dark or too bright and is very distracting or illegible.

Unlike DSLR optical finders where you're just looking through the lens at the actual image and subject, electronic finders like this have to work at calculating the correct brightness to make the finder look right. This Fuji does a great job most of the time.

The diopter adjustment locks. Pull out the tiny knob to adjust.

 

Flash

Performance          top

There is no built-in flash, but Fuji includes a free EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash:

Fuji X-T3 with included EF-X8 Flash

Fujifilm X-T3 with included EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash. bigger.

This tiny flash works better than nothing and it's easy to leave on the camera at all times, but sadly it recycles slowly. Expect only one shot and then you'll have to wait several seconds before it will fire again. If you use it, the first shot will be with flash, but your next few fast frames will be without flash.

 

Frame Rates

Performance          top

While the continuous frame rates are fast, they don't work with flash.

HINT: See my Fuji X-T3 User's Guide for how to set it to track autoexposure, which by default doesn't track.

 

High ISO Performance

Performance          top

High ISOs are remarkable. At reasonable print size as shown below, it looks fine up to ISO 25,600 or ISO 51,200.

If you need to use a crazy ISO like ISO 51,200 to stop action, use it. It's much better to use ISO 51,200 and get a sharp image than to have a motion-blurred image at a lower ISO.

Ryan at Benihana

Ryan at Benihana, 30 January 2019. Fuji X-T3 with Fujinon XF 23mm f/2 WR, f/2 at 1/125 at Auto ISO 10,000, Perfectly Clear. bigger. Notice also the colors; I shot this at +4 saturation, and even under the crummy mixed fluorescent lighting get great skin tones.

 

High ISO Image Sample Files

Complete Images

What's weird is that images shot between ISO 400 and ISO 12,800 look lighter than those at other ISOs. What happened is that I had Dynamic Range Priority (DR-P) set to AUTO (MENU > I.Q. > D Range Priority > AUTO) , and it only applies itself at ISO 320~12,800, and leaves dynamic range at 100% at lower and higher ISOs. Thus the ISOs that look lighter aren't a weird incongruity in the X-T3's exposure but rather that this feature is only working over that limited range of ISOs. No worry, shoot with Dynamic Range Priority (DR-P) set to OFF and this goes away.

Click any for the camera-original © files to explore on your computer (mobile devices rarely show the full resolution files properly):

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

 

600 × 450 Pixel Crops

While displaying complete images at reasonable sizes look great at all ISOs, losses at high ISOs with all cameras become visible at high magnifications as shown below. Unlike two decades ago when high ISOs meant more noise, today high ISOs mean more mottling and fewer details as the noise reduction removes details and subtle textures along with the noise.

These are 600 × 450 pixel crops that vary in size to fit your browser window. If they are about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at 42 × 62" (1 × 1.5 meters) at this same high magnification. If they are about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at 84 × 125" (2.1 × 3.2 meters) at this same extreme magnification.

As I see it below, wood grain and details in the black wood of the clock start to go away at ISO 800. The minute marks on the clock start to disappear at ISO 3,200, at which point most of the wood grain and the details on the clock case are gone. ISO 51,200 looks great, as it has much more detail than I usually see at that high an ISO, especially with an APS-C camera. Bravo, Fujifilm!

Click any for the camera-original © files to explore on your computer (mobile devices rarely show the full resolution files properly):

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Sample Image File

Click any for the camera-original © files.

 

Auto ISO

Performance          top

Auto ISO has no way to shift the automatically selected minimum shutter speed.

Good is that Auto ISO has three programmable settings, AUTO 1, AUTO 2 and AUTO 3.

Each is adjustable for high and low limits from ISO 160 to ISO 12,800 in third stops.

Each allows the slowest shutter speed to be set anywhere from ¼ to 1/500 or AUTO, which varies it based on focal length — but the AUTO slowest shutter setting isn't adjustable.

 

Auto White Balance

Performance          top

Auto White Balance is extremely good, especially in weird mixed artificial light where many auto white balance systems give up.

 

Mechanical Quality

Performance          top

The X-T3 is nicer than most cameras from Sony, Nikon or Canon because it's almost all metal:

Metal: ISO dial, top cover, shutter-speed dial, shutter button, on/off switch, compensation dial, strap lugs, LCD pivots, camera back and bottom cover.

Plastic: ISO and shutter-speed lock buttons, advance mode control, meter mode control, LCD frame, left and right access doors and battery door.

Rubber: grip coverings, remote control socket cover.

Made in: China.

 

Sharpness

Performance          top

The X-T3's sensor's innovative color filter array eliminates Bayer interpolation, and really does give sharper images — but due to pixel dumping you'll never see any difference between cameras in actual photography.

As shown at High ISOs like all cameras, it's sharpest at the lowest ISOs.

Manhole Cover Fuji X-T3 Sample Image File

Manhole Cover, 30 January 2019. Fuji X-T3, Fujinon XF 23mm f/2 WR, f/5.6 at 1/480 at Auto ISO 160, as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

Camera sharpness has nothing to do with picture sharpness; every camera made in the past 100 years is more than sharp enough to make super-sharp pictures if you know what you're doing. The only limitation to picture sharpness is your skill as a photographer. It's the least talented who spend the most time worrying about lens sharpness. Skilled photographers make great images with whatever camera is in their hands; I've made some of my best images of all time with an irreparably broken camera! Most pixels are thrown away before you see them, but camera makers don't want you to know that.

If you're not getting ultra-sharp pictures with this, be sure not to shoot at f/11 or smaller where all lenses are softer due to diffraction, always shoot between ISO 80 and ISO 160 because cameras become softer at ISO 200 and above, avoid shooting across long distances over land which can lead to atmospheric heat shimmer, be sure everything is in perfect focus, set your camera's sharpening as you want it and be sure nothing is moving, either camera or subject. If you want to ensure a soft image with any lens, shoot at f/16 at ISO 1,600 at default sharpening in daylight through heat shimmer of rapidly moving subjects at differing distances in the same image.

 

Playback   

Performance          top

Big color histogram available in playback.

It moves among images very quickly as you hold the rear controller left or right to go forward or back, but sadly selected playback images are unsharp for the first half-second until they redraw sharply.

Slow scrolling around zoomed-in playback images.

 

Data

Performance          top

Cards are not formatted properly. They instead are titled as "Untitled," making it difficult to figure out which of many external drives is the card you shot in this camera.

 

Power & Battery

Performance          top

Battery life is typical, rated 390 shots.

The battery gauge is just a multsegment battery icon; there is no percentage indicator.

It charges via USB or the included external charger.

Charging via USB draws 867 mA and a green LED on the rear grip lets you know it's charging.

The LED turns off and it continues to draw 34mA when full.

 

Compared

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Specifications

Accessories   Performance   Compared

User's Guide   Recommendations   More

I got my X-T3 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. It comes in silver and many kit options at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H and at Crutchfield.

 

See All Fujifilm Cameras Compared.

 

User's Guide

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Specifications

Accessories   Performance   Compared

User's Guide   Recommendations   More

I got my X-T3 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. It comes in silver and many kit options at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H and at Crutchfield.

 

See also Fujifilm's X-T3 Owner's Manual.

 

Charging

Plug it into USB-C. A green LED lights on the back as it charges, and turns off when done.

I never use the external charger. Save it for if you get a second NP-W126S battery and want to charge both at the same time at the end of the day.

 

Card Formatting

Card format is hidden at MENU > Wrench > User Setting > Format.

A shortcut is to hold the TRASH button a few seconds and tap the rear dial. The FORMAT menu pops up and you may release the buttons.

 

Dial Locks

The lock buttons on ISO and shutter speed are weird. Each time you press them they toggle between locked (pushed in), or unlocked (popped up with a gray band around the bottom).

This is very weird when you first get the camera, and makes sense as soon as you understand how it works.

 

Diopter Setting

The X-T3 has a locking diopter adjustment.

Pull out the tiny knob on the left of the finder to adjust, and push it back in to lock.

 

ISO Settings

ISO is set on a dial, however a design flaw skips a few ISOs which aren't on the dial.

Inexplicably Fuji forgot to include ISO 100, 125 and 51,200 on the dial, so to get them you have to go into a very well hidden menu to reassign the L or H positions to your choices — and you have to go back into those same hidden menus to get back to their default ISO 80 and ISO 25,600 settings if you change them!

Set these at MENU > Wrench > Button/Dial Setting > ISO DIAL SETTING (H or L).

You can only set one value for each, and have to revert to this hidden menu to change them.

 

Exposure Modes

There is no need for an exposure mode dial. Just set the lens' aperture ring or shutter speed dial to A and that function is set automatically. Set both to A and you're in program mode. Take either ring to a set value, and you're in aperture or shutter priority, and set both to a marked value and you're in manual.

Easy, and fast to set as you're shooting rapidly developing events.

 

Flash

The tiny included EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash has no battery. It is powered directly from the camera's battery.

The EF-X8 flash has no power or ON/OFF switch. Even easier, flip it up as shown to activate it, and flip it down (forward) to turn it off. Easy!

Be warned that this clever little flash has little power (range), and that it also takes several seconds to recycle after every shot. If you take a picture before it's ready you'll get a picture, just without flash.

Fuji X-T3 with included EF-X8 Flash

Fujifilm X-T3 with included EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash. bigger.

 

Continuous Shooting

By default, exposure doesn't track from frame to frame during continuous shooting.

To track exposure in continuous advance modes, be sure to set MENU > Wrench > Button/Dial Setting > Shutter AE > AF-C > OFF. It's ON by default, which locks the exposure even if your subject moves from light to dark.

To track auto focus, be sure to set the front AF mode selector lever to "C," continuous.

Continuous advance modes are fast, but they don't work with flash.

 

Recommendations

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Specifications

Accessories   Performance   Compared

User's Guide   Recommendations   More

Fuji makes a lot of cameras. The X-T3 stands out as their top modern camera for fit and finish, and it excels for how it sounds and feels. If you appreciate the very best, you want the X-T3. However if price matters and you just want great pictures, also look at at the X-T20 which isn't as nicely made and doesn't have as many dedicated dials, but adds a built-in flash and does it all for half the price!

I use LEICA's standard 14312 strap. It goes on and off fast without damaging the camera's finish, and it's the perfect size for small cameras like these.

I got my X-T3 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. It comes in silver and many kit options at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H and at Crutchfield.

This 100% all-content website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Fujifilm does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, non-USA, store demo or used camera. I use the stores I do because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new camera before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken, Mrs. Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

 

More Information

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Specifications

Accessories   Performance   Compared

User's Guide   Recommendations   More

I got my X-T3 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. It comes in silver and many kit options at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H and at Crutchfield.

 

Fujifilm's X-T3 brochure.

Fujifilm's X-T3 press release.

Fujifilm's X-T3 Owner's Manual.

 

© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

 

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25 Feb 2020, 09 Dec 2019, 29 January ~ 03 February 2019