At the launch of the new Fujifilm cameras for 2016 held at the Discovery Suites in Ortigas last January 21, 2016, I managed to interview the Street Photography Princess / documentary photographer Xyza Cruz Bacani.
Fujifilm Philippines launch the X-Pro2, X-E2s and Xyza’s favorite, the X70 just after the worldwide launch in Japan a few days ago.
Fujifilm X70
One of the dream cameras of Fujifilm X photographers is the X100 series because despite its small compact size, the quality of the photos are second to none. The compact size + quality of photos + the looks makes it an ideal street and travel camera. However, the high cost of owning own is a big hurdle to owning one.
Fortunately, Fujifilm now offers the X70. It’s like an X100 series camera but without the hybrid viewfinder. Photos are framed via the LCD or the optional optical viewfinder that is hot shoe mountable. Price initially at Php 36,990 will not punch a big hole in your wallet.
SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
The X70 has a 16.3 Megapixels APS-C sized X-Trans CMOS II sensor and EXR Processor II image processing engine to deliver superior image quality and fast response. Capable of shooting up to ISO 51,200 on expanded mode.
The X70 has a FUJINON 18.5mm F2.8 lens (35mm format equivalent of 28mm) for a wide range of shooting possibilities from landscapes, environmental portraits, to snapshots. It did not inherit the old 27mm lens of the X100 series possibly to make it smaller, more affordable and suitable for the amateur consumers for selfies and groupies.
It is small and light weighing approximately 340g with the battery and memory card loaded. It is the lightest X-Series camera with an APS-C sized sensor.
The top-plate has the compensation and shutter speed dials, making it easy to quickly access key features. The dials, aperture and focusing rings are made from milled aluminum to make the camera lighter.
Apertures can be changed in 1/3 or 1 stop increments, plus the focusing ring doubles up as a control ring for quick access to a range of functions.
For the beginners, the X70 is also equipped with an Auto Mode Switch lever for selecting the fully automatic Advanced SR Auto mode so that the camera automatically sets the right settings for great photos.
With the touchscreen LCD, users can Touch Shot and Focus Area Selection when shooting. During playback, the familiar smartphone-style operations including swipe, drag, pinch in/out, and double-tap scaling can be performed.
Rotate the touchscreen to 180 degrees to take selfies or groupies or 90 degrees to take low or high viewpoint shots.
A new feature called Digital Tele-converter makes the X70 a sort of one body, three lenses capable. Its fixed lens offers only a 28mm angle of view (35mm equivalent) but with the Digital Tele-converter users can also select 35mm and 50mm options. It is set within the menu, or on the control ring on the lens barrel, enabling users to quickly check the image on the LCD with the set focal lenght before shooting. This is cool. I have to check if this feature does not affect the final output.
For social media updates, the X70s Wi-Fi transfer feature allows you to send photos and videos to your smartphone or tablet with an easy one-touch operation.
You can also control the camera with your smartphone or tablet devices using the free FUJIFILM Camera Remote app via Wi-Fi.
It also has Interval timer shooting for time lapse photography and is available with intervals of one second to 24 hours for up to 999 frames.
Other features includes film simulations, photo filters, changeable aspect ratios, multiple exposures and HD Video recording in full manual mode.
PERFORMANCE
Focusing is also fast! The on-sensor phase detection AF focuses in an ultra-fast 0.1 sec.
Its AF system has Zone and Wide/Tracking modes for effortless capture of moving subjects. It offers the standard 49-point Single Point mode for high speed and precision focusing, as well as the new Zone and Wide/Tracking modes that use a larger 77-point area to capture moving subjects.
The camera starts up in just 0.5sec always ready for action. The shutter time lag is only 0.01sec and the
shooting interval is 0.5sec.
This really makes the X70 an ideal street photography camera not only because of its size but also because of its performance.
The camera has a completely silent electronic shutter that is capable of exposures up to 1/32,000sec.
Photos with a shallow depth-of-field can now be shot with the aperture wide open even at high noon. In addition, as there are no mechanically operated parts, candid shots of animals and sleeping babies can be captured more easily.
ACCESSORIES
Four dedicated optional accessories are available for the X70:
- BLC-X70 half leather case for protection and to provide an extra grip
- LH-X70 lens hood to cut down flare and ghosting
- VF-X21 optical viewfinder for those who prefer to frame images through a
finder - WCL-X70 wide conversion lens giving a 21 mm view（ 35mm equivalent)
The X70 is also available in black.
VIDEO INTERVIEW
Here is the interview with XCB about her experience with the X70 and her current exhibits and projects.
Fanboy mode photo with XCB.
The X70 is quite capable for a small compact camera with a big APS-C sensor. With its improved performance especially in focusing compare to the previous X 100 series camera, the proven Fujifilm color and image quality, it is definitely worth the Php 36, 990 tag price.
As Xyza said, it she can used it for an important assignment, then it’s definitely a camera worth the look.
I look forward to doing a full review soon on the Fujifilm X70.
