Fujifilm X-T30 Mirrorless Digital Camera, Silver (Body Only)

4 reviews for Fujifilm X-T30 Mirrorless Digital Camera, Silver (Body Only)

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   – March 28, 2024 Alysa Jenkins II

   What a huge step up!This analog feeling camera makes photography so much more fun! It inspired me to learn more and expand my photography skills. It just makes you want to take it out and shoot.This camera is super compact and lightweight which makes traveling with it (Especially with airline weight and size limitations) so effective and easy. The build quality is incredible and it feels like a solid machine made out of superb materials. Fun to use! The film simulations are so beautiful. My favorites are Classic Chrome, Acros and Velvia.I use the Eterna profile for video both in 1080 and 4k and it’s fantastic. At first I was debating how it compares to the Canon ’colors’. But the customizability of the Fuji cameras in the color profiles will let you reach your desired look with the right tweaking. And once you do. It’s a high quality image. Much higher quality to my eyes than what I had with the M50. Not to mentioned the high end (for the price point) video features this tiny wonder has.But you will need to play with the settings a bit if you are looking for a specific look.Eye AF is amazing and accurate.Menus are very clear, easy to navigate and customizable.You have a physical dial for focus modes which is great for quickly switching.The lens lineup for the x system is fun. High quality. And somewhat affordable.Love this camera! Love the Fujifilm approach to making their costumers happy. I understand now the loyal following. They have earned another follower!Only cons for me in case Fuji reads reviews would be:- Wish the screen was a little bigger and maybe higher resolution on the next generation. Not having the fully articulated screen is actually better for me but I wish it could come up in portrait orientation like the xt3.- EVF does the job. But not incredible. Hopefully will get a bump up in the next generation.- If doing basic monitoring of the audio without headphones. The internal speakers are very very weak (specially compared t the M50). You would definitely need the usbc dongle to monitor properly with headphones.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   – April 18, 2024 Dianna Koch

   SHORT SUMMARY===============The X-T30 is, in my opinion, the best all-purpose camera under $1000 right now. The X-T30’s still image quality, video quality, ease of use, and good portability all add up to a winning combination. The only major negative about this camera is the lack of in-body image stabilization (IBIS), which is a sacrifice needed for both cost and weight savings. Arguably the Sony A6400, which is the closest direct competitor, has slightly better autofocus and a more versatile front-facing flip screen, but if you like some of the Fuji-distinctive professional features like manual control dials, film simulation modes, and clean output of 10-bit 4:2:2 over HDMI, you can stop looking right now and just buy the X-T30.Is the X-T30 good enough to tempt you from your current system of lenses to the Fuji ecosystem? I made this exact decision almost two years ago. Getting the X-T20 in late 2017 and using it for a few months led me to sell my 2 Canon bodies, 2 flashes, and 6 lenses because I realized Canon would never give me un-cropped 4K video at a great price. Now, the X-T30 is a vastly superior camera to my beloved X-T20, so you might be next into the Fuji fold!BACKGROUND===============I owned the X-T20 for a year before trading up to the X-T3, so this X-T30 is my third Fuji and I’ll use it as a second body for me and as a shared camera for my 14-year-old (I need a B cam for video and he needs a smaller camera to fit his hands, so we’ll both use it at different times). All these purchases give me insight into a big chunk of the Fuji lineup, so I’ll compare it to both the X-T20 and the X-T3 so that current Fuji owners or prospective Fuji owners can know where this new model sits in the ecosystem. I still use Canon bodies and the Panasonic GH5 extensively at work for video, so I’ll compare it to those systems as well.FEATURES I LOVE==================Here are the major standouts of the X-T30 that make it exceptional for the sub-$1000 price bracket:▶ 4K VIDEO with oversampling instead of binning or skipping, something that’s computationally difficult to do on a larger sensor like the 26MP APS-C found here; the X-T30 has the same quad-core processor as its bigger brother, the X-T3, so it can easily handle video tasks. The fast processor also makes the overall interface feel snappy and consistently quick (no lag).▶ The X-T30 yields beautiful, low-noise 26-MP STILL IMAGES from the X-Trans APS-C sensor. APS-C is quite a bit bigger than the Micro 4/3 sensors in this size and price range. This is the same sensor size as the entire X-mount lineup, and some sites claim that the detailed studio low-light noise tests show slightly worse on this model than its 24-MP predecessors, but in the real world I have found that the performance is superb. When paired with one of Fuji’s well-built X-mount lenses, the still images will hold up well to any DSLR under 30MP (and the video looks as good as any 4K camera PERIOD, matching units costing 3x-5x as much!). Check out the various demos online of the video quality, especially if you can download the original file and not rely on overly-compressed uploads like the ones you’ll see here or on a video sharing site.▶ Convenient HANDLING and extreme PORTABILITY: you can buy this camera and a Fuji pancake lens for portability that rivals a large smartphone (albeit too thick for most pockets), but with manual controls readily available at your fingertips that bring back the joy of photography. This carries over well from the X-T20 that I owned before and that brought back the fun I had lost after owning a succession of five different Canon DSLRs during the previous 12 years. The most obvious change is that the X-T30 eliminates the discrete selector buttons on the back in favor of a 4-way joystick, and in general I think this is an upgrade. The much-discussed Q-button placement that’s now directly under your right thumb takes some getting used to, but you may end up buying one of the grips or hand straps that allows you to fully customize the ergonomics, so this is always a very subjective discussion anyway. Ultimately I prefer the X-T3 with a battery grip because my hands are pretty big, but the X-T30 feels plenty secure when I use a hand strap to attach it to my right wrist.▶ Super fast, accurate, predictive AUTOFOCUSING in stills and videos (even beating the X-T3 until the T3 gets an update). I’m not a sports photographer, but I do have kids that dart around, so the X-T30 is a big improvement over the X-T20 and I’m eagerly awaiting the new firmware for the X-T3.▶ Absurdly fast CONTINUOUS STILL SHOOTING, up to 30 FPS or 20 FPS with no crop; the buffer will fill up ridiculously fast, but it’s nice to know this is available, especially if you have a fast SD card that can drain the image buffer quickly. The image buffer is on the small side; don’t plan on using the 20 FPS mode for more than a second!▶ Unrivaled PORTS and HDMI OUTPUT for a camera of this size: thankfully Fuji has embraced USB-C for charging, and the X-T30 adds the ability to use USB-C headphones as well so that you can have a microphone (via 2.5mm adapter) and monitor the playback on the USB-C port. Usually, this combo is only found on much bigger/pricier cameras and it makes the X-T30 a serious contender for a real video production camera (as long as you can work around the 10-min limit for 4K recording to the card). You can bypass the time limit via HDMI where you can output clean 4:2:2 10-bit footage (with or without the subdued color F-log setting) that makes this camera on par with professional Hollywood rigs for post-processing and color tweaking. Most of the time you’ll want clips shorter than 10 minutes anyway! By pro standards, a $900 body is disposable, so to get this level of color science and bitrate at this price would have been unthinkable even 3 years ago, especially for internal recording on an SD card. The Panasonic GH5 really changed the landscape when it launched 2 years ago, and the X-T3/X-T30 have continued that trend at even lower price points (with larger sensors that do better still images).FEATURES THAT I DISLIKE OR ARE JUST MISSING========================================▶ Where is the flippy screen!?!? The size and weight of this camera would be perfect for blogging, but you can’t see yourself because the screen only tilts and never flips up to face the front. Canon and Panasonic have this figured out and maybe they have strong patents or another way to scare off poor Fuji. The autofocus on the X-T30 is great at holding your face, fortunately, but it’s still unnerving to not see anything when the camera is pointed toward you. My cheap workaround is to use my phone (strapped to a Gorillapod leg) as a Wi-Fi live view, but there’s a small delay and it’s hard to tell focus accuracy.▶ Only one card slot. I’m being picky because no other camera in the segment has two cards, but I dearly love that feature of the X-T3.▶ 2.5mm mic jack. Why, oh why? I get that this non-standard small mic port doubles as a remote release, but Fuji please just throw an IR port shutter release on the front and call it a day. Every video person has to buy an adapter to get good sound from their external mic! Maybe include a nice adapter in the box?▶ No battery grip option. Even my old/cheap Rebel cameras had support for a battery grip, and this X-T30 is even smaller than those, so big hands may be really frustrated with the X-T30. Fortunately, my unit is always on a Gorillapod for stills or on a gimbal or tripod for video, so it’s not a big deal for me. It’s a great size for my 14-year-old.▶ Battery life is barely adequate for Fuji-brand batteries and terrible for other brands. Especially for video, you have to buy the fancy, expensive Fuji batteries because the knock-offs don’t hold up. The “S” on the 126S battery denotes some sort of better heat dissipation for 4K video, but none of the aftermarket makers have gotten the message on how to do this. Fuji even gives you a dire message when you’re using a knock-off, so consider yourself warned.X-T30 VS . . . .==============Vs. the Fuji X-T20 (previous model)▶ A small upgrade compared to my trusty little X-T20. If you only shoot STILLS, you’ll enjoy the new autofocus joystick and enhanced algorithm, but it’s probably not worth the money for only 2 extra megapixels. The image quality isn’t that much better and may actually be slightly worse in extreme low-light conditions (pixel peeping in the lab/studio).▶ For VIDEO, the new autofocus on the X-T30 makes a bigger difference. Video autofocus is actually fully usable now. Also in the video realm, the image quality at 4K is oversampled thanks to the quad-core processor, so you should notice a difference in fine details and noise because the X-T20 used line skipping to get 4K from the entire sensor width.▶ Headphone monitoring via a USB-C adapter. If you’re using the X-T30 for video, you can now monitor the audio levels with headphones directly in the camera and check that your external microphone is working well.Vs. the Fuji X-T3 (bigger brother/sister)▶ The X-T30 is very comparable in terms of image quality and video quality, so the additional $500 for the X-T3 is all about ERGONOMICS, size, and usability. The biggest exception is 4K at 60 FPS; if you need that, buy the X-T3.▶ They’ve reserved pro-level features, like the battery grip option, PC (studio flash) port, and larger viewfinder for people MAKING A LIVING from their daily camera use.▶ If you’ve got bigger hands, need more ports, want the best video rates (60 fps and 400 Mbps internally), prefer the larger viewfinder, or generally need the best Fuji has to offer in the small sensor space, get the X-T3.▶ If you need the smaller ergonomics and want to spend the $500 difference on a NICE LENS, you won’t sacrifice that much by choosing the X-T30.▶ There’s not nearly as much difference between the T30 and the T3 as there was between the T20 and the T2. It’s a great day to be shopping for a sub-$1000 Fujifilm camera!Vs. the Sony A6400▶ The Sony A6400 has the same sensor size and is priced head-to-head with the Fujifilm X-T30. The choice will come down more to your preference for which manufacturer and system of lenses you want to commit to than the actual camera body. Sony, thankfully, now has a wide array of bodies in this size and price range, which was their differentiator until they disrupted the full-frame scene with their mirrorless strategy.▶ I had this exact choice, Sony vs. Fuji, when I went to Fuji two years ago. I actually sold a Sony Handycam and Canon EOS DSLR (and a bunch of lenses) to buy into the Fuji X-mount system of bodies and lenses. I chose Fuji because:▶ Sony’s menu system on the mirrorless cameras confuses me. I’ve used Canon and Nikon extensively in the past and now use Fuji and Panasonic regularly, but Sony seemed to be way worse in my eyes. This is subjective, but it’s a constant thing I didn’t want to deal with. Ergonomics count, especially when you get used to Fuji’s excellent dial system–wow!▶ Fuji has made an all-in commitment to APS-C, the sensor size that’s smaller than 35mm full-frame but also quite a bit larger than micro-4/3 (MFT). I went with the APS-C sensor size when I purchased my first Canon digital Rebel in 2005 and I was pleased with Sigma’s lens choices (some meant for APS-C, some for full frame). I didn’t feel stymied at all enjoying the good balance between weight and grip size. Sigma does have many lenses for Sony, but Sony’s native APS-C lenses have a lot of feature and focal-length gaps. Fuji just doesn’t make a bad lens in the XF space, and there aren’t really any major gaps, which is a good thing since there aren’t many (any?) autofocus third-party lenses for the X-mount. Pro-tip–Sigma can convert existing lens mounts for a price, so you may be able to pay for permanent conversion or buy an adapter if you end up going from Canon to Sony or Nikon to Sony and want to bring your non-Sony lenses. That wasn’t an option for me, so I sold everything and bought Fuji gear.▶ At the time, I was giving up Sony’s better AF tracking, which has improved even further in this latest A6400 (borrowed mostly from more expensive Sony full-frame models). Fortunately, the X-T30 also has upgraded AF, so I think the Sony and Fuji options are now fairly equal, especially since you can get nice, fast Fuji XF prime lenses in either f/1.4 or f/2.0 flavors. The f/2.0 series especially won’t break the bank and are super lightweight, well-made and SMALL.▶ I am seriously wishing the X-T30 had the Sony’s front-flippable screen for vlogging. Canon, Panasonic, and Sony have all figured out ways to do this. What’s holding back Fuji?? The A6400 has a flip-up screen, but it’s a little hard to use if you mount a shotgun microphone on top of the camera. You’ll need a little bracket from Smallrig that moves the cold shoe mount over to the right side, thus exposing the screen to front viewers.Vs. Micro 4/3 (MFT)Wow, I’m categorizing a ton of great camera from Olympus, Panasonic, etc. into this one bucket. But, if you’re really starting out fresh with your next choice of a camera body (and locking yourself into a system of lenses), use this as a jumping off point for your research.▶ For STILL images, the X-T30’s larger sensor and higher pixel count will produce much cleaner, lower-noise images. It’s as much better than MFT as the full-frame cameras (like the Nikon D850 that’s over three grand) are better than the X-T30. The difference is that the X-T30 costs about the same, or often significantly less than, the MFT equivalents. The weird part is that even without third-party lenses, the native Fuji lenses are often similarly priced or cheaper than the MFT lens for an equal focal length. I very nearly purchased a G-series Panasonic MFT camera before going with Fuji, and lens selection was very heavy in my decision.▶ For VIDEO, Panasonic is really hard to beat. Their GH5 / GH5S duo is just stunning. With in-body stabilization in the GH5 and a 4K-centric chip in the GH5S, these rugged little guys are amazing. I use the GH5 at work (and the GH3 and GH4 before that) and it’s so cool to have pro-level features in a small, cheap body. I really love the auto-focus pull automation and the excellent stabilization on the GH5, both of which are best-in-class. Ultimately I chose the Fuji series because of the still image quality, and now with this latest generation in the X-T30 and X-T3 that support high-bitrate internal recording and F-log, I’m not really giving up much in the video space (other than IBIS). I wish Fuji would have waveforms built in, but for the extra cost of a GH5 over the X-T30, I can buy an Atomos 5″ screen that has all that, or upgrade to the recording version and record 10-bit 4:2:2 over HDMI with HLG. Wow, that’s a lot of technobabble, but the price/value ratio of the X-T30 gives you a TON of options for lenses and other pro-level accessories that you would still need to purchase with the GH5.Vs. Canon and NikonNeither big C nor N are willing to be serious about the mirrorless APS-C sensor size, especially when it comes to video features and native lenses.▶ Canon’s M series is OK for stills but still a joke for video quality and pro-features. You do get their excellent dual-pixel autofocus, but Fuji has mostly caught up in that arena and surpassed Canon in everything else related to video features.▶ I can’t even say that I miss the beautiful flash system that I enjoyed with Canon because the cheap-o Godox TTL flashes I bought for Fuji seem to produce the same results that I got with my expensive EX600 speedlites, at 1/4 the price.▶ The only saving grace for C & N in APS-C is the availability of Sigma lenses, like the excellent Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 that I owned for a few years. I would have abandoned Canon’s APS-C system and gone full-frame long ago (or just to a cell phone) if it hadn’t been for these Sigma DC HSM lenses that filled-in critical gaps. I’m very glad that Canon is making such amazing full-frame lenses for their new R body (and Nikon for Z), but it still doesn’t help when you want a small body with a 6-oz f/2 lens like my X-T30 and 35mm f/2.0. You have to invest $1100 in a new iPhone to get anywhere near this ratio of quality to portability, and the X-T30 is available at launch with this 35mm lens for just $999.I’ve attached 8 photos of the X-T30 by itself, and next to my X-T3. I hope you enjoyed reading this review! Please check out my profile and see the other reviews I’ve written as well.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   – April 22, 2024 Karlee Bailey

   Great for the casual shooter or as a backup / broll camera! I purchased this camera to compliment my Fuji X-T3. It’s definitely small in the hands and doesn’t have all the dials of the X-T3, BUT the image quality is just as good!! Probably one of the best compact cameras in the market for the price.

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   – November 17, 2024 Dr. Jonathon Altenwerth

   I own the A7iii as my “big” camera. It’s so great but its heavy and large. The X-T30 is tiny! I purchased it with the 23mm F1.4. Makes for the perfect go to camera for daily carry. My Sony will always go on vacation with me but this little Fuji will go everywhere else. Having the same sensor/processor as the X-T3 is killer in a body this small. Fuji color/style comes through so well. I would recommend a grip as the body is a little awkward to hold due to its small proportions. Build in flash isn’t the best but having it on the body at all times is so helpful in a pinch. “Auto” mode is pretty much terrible but you don’t buy a Fuji for auto mode. Fuji lenses are cheaper than Sony’s and are easily just as good. Make for a perfect Camera! Highly Recommend to anyone wanting Tiny and Mighty!