The 4K Fuji X-T2 is here

[kidzrevil]

Im starting to lose interest in the Fuji. Its been out and I see no real video coverage

[Frankie]

I had the opportunity to play with it today... nothing to show but I can say that it just rocks as a stil camera and the new af tracking is a estonishing surprise. The 4k footage looks wonderful and from my todays' experience the af in video mode seems to work pretty well. It could be the allrounder cam to go for me if the gh5 gets its price past 2000€

[Andrew Reid]

1 hour ago, Lothar said:

Hi,

I am a Newbie and I am new to this forum, so, please bear with me.

I have a theory, why we see bad footage on the internet. There are two kinds of people out there. Fuji camera owners, who are photographers in the first place and videographers who either are not familiar with Fuji-settings or they had the camera to a time, where the firmware didn't allow those settings.

The first kind of people are used to expose to the final result (due to the impressive jpeg-engine of the Fuji cameras). This results in crushed blacks and sometimes blown out highlights (sometimes because no ND-Filter was at hand).

In the fist incarnations of the firmware the settings for Highlight Tone and Shadow Tone were disabled. So, the second kind of people could not try it out and didn't know what will happen if it is enabled.

I have the camera now since Friday and I am pretty impressed with the footage (of course, I'm a Newbie, so what do I know). I use the following settings.

Film Sim: Pro Neg Std.
Highlight Tone: -2
Shadow Tone: -2
Color: -4
Sharpness: -4
Noise Reduction: -4
Fixed White Balance

Occasionally, I use other Film Simulations like Provia or Classic Chrome. And I use a variable ND-Filter to adjust to the highlights with the histogram in photo mode, then I switch to video mode. I usually focus manually, but I also tried auto focus. Right now I just checked with two lenses. With the 18-55 with OIS the autofocus was kind of ok. With the 56 (which is known for slow auto focus) AF was bad, so I focused manually with it.

In Resolve you can get a lot of information out of the footage and grade as you like. My footage is kind of embarrassing (just got out of bed, etc.) so I can't share anything now. I think it's worthwhile to wait for good footage from experts like Andrew to see nice Fuji colors and nice dynamic range.

Lothar

Nice write-up.

I just bought an X-T2 (in a small shop in Venice where I am shooting and holidaying!)

We'll see what it can do here, as it's a pretty photogenic place, quite demanding on dynamic range with all the narrow walkways and bright sun.

I find Pro Neg Std does seem to lift the shadows nicely and sharpness all the way down + using 180 degree shutter helps with cinematic motion candence.

The footage out there so far hasn't been very impressive as not many people are buying it for video.... yet?

The only annoyance I have so far is that they removed the video record button and to switch between video & stills mode is now on the drive lever, which is an awkward bastard of a dial to say the least - not sure what they were thinking ergonomically with that one!! You cannot assign video to a funtion button or enter video mode in the blink of an eye. It takes a fiddle with the lever and an accidental turn of the ISO wheel...hmm.

Am shooting via a passive Canon EF adapter at the moment, don't have my NDs or Fuji glass with me but at night I'll be shooting wide open at 1/50 anyway.

What this thing offers over the Samsung NX1 appears to be a few advantages -

- Fuji glass

- Not discontinued

- Better at high ISOs

- Better EVF

- Smaller

- Speed Booster compatible (although a third party one is in the making for NX I've yet to see what the performance is like)

That last point is very important as it turns the X-T1's 1.74x crop factor to 1.23x - similar to the Canon 1D C, with a huge range of full frame glass - A Mount, Nikon, Contax Zeiss, Canon FD, etc.

So if we consider the X-T2 as a near-full frame A7R II replacement with the colour science and ergonomics fixed, for half the price, I think it's looking like a front runner.

I'm off to shoot and find out!

[no_connection]

I was hoping you would get one. Now I don't have to look for any other review anywhere for video.
Please get some samples to this guy http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?303559-Measuring-rolling-shutter-put-a-number-on-this-issue!

[Andrew Reid]

Have my NX1 with me so will be interesting to compare

And 1D C too

[Dean]

19 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

Have my NX1 with me so will be interesting to compare

And 1D C too

Looking forward to seeing the comparisons. Was in Venice a few weeks ago and took a ton of footage on the NX1. You're spot on ... the bright sun, dark alleyways and sun shining off the water make it very challenging to shoot. Have fun !!

[Inazuma]

Finally arrived from Park Cameras today after they kept inexplicably delaying its dispatch!

I've sold all my other cameras now except the Nikon D5500 so can't do any direct comparisons but the rolling shutter at 4k definitely looks better than it did on the a6300

Some quirks I've found so far:

• Dynamic Range and Noise Reduction options are locked to defaults in video mode.
• When in manual focus mode, can autofocus using the AF-L button before recording but not during. 
• Can't set a custom whitebalance in movie mode (as in, the mode where you point the camera at a white/grey object). 
• No bitrate options. All recordings are at 100mbps.

That's it for now. Looking forward to doing some shooting with this camera! 

[Mark Holmes]

9 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Nice write-up.

I just bought an X-T2 (in a small shop in Venice where I am shooting and holidaying!)

We'll see what it can do here, as it's a pretty photogenic place, quite demanding on dynamic range with all the narrow walkways and bright sun.

I find Pro Neg Std does seem to lift the shadows nicely and sharpness all the way down + using 180 degree shutter helps with cinematic motion candence.

The footage out there so far hasn't been very impressive as not many people are buying it for video.... yet?

The only annoyance I have so far is that they removed the video record button and to switch between video & stills mode is now on the drive lever, which is an awkward bastard of a dial to say the least - not sure what they were thinking ergonomically with that one!! You cannot assign video to a funtion button or enter video mode in the blink of an eye. It takes a fiddle with the lever and an accidental turn of the ISO wheel...hmm.

Am shooting via a passive Canon EF adapter at the moment, don't have my NDs or Fuji glass with me but at night I'll be shooting wide open at 1/50 anyway.

What this thing offers over the Samsung NX1 appears to be a few advantages -

- Fuji glass

- Not discontinued

- Better at high ISOs

- Better EVF

- Smaller

- Speed Booster compatible (although a third party one is in the making for NX I've yet to see what the performance is like)

That last point is very important as it turns the X-T1's 1.74x crop factor to 1.23x - similar to the Canon 1D C, with a huge range of full frame glass - A Mount, Nikon, Contax Zeiss, Canon FD, etc.

So if we consider the X-T2 as a near-full frame A7R II replacement with the colour science and ergonomics fixed, for half the price, I think it's looking like a front runner.

I'm off to shoot and find out!

So glad you're going to see what this camera can do Andrew - I visit your site daily and have much respect for your work and opinions. I traded in my NX1 and Samsung lenses, and some older Nikon gear to go all Fuji, at least for stills, but see real potential for the video out of this camera. Nothing impresses me the way this X-T2 along with my 35mm F2 and 56 1.2 do - everything is built like a tank, and the image quality, at least for stills, is unmatched, imho.

[squig]

We can get some accurate rolling shutter figures if somebody can do a quick test and upload the footage for Samuel http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?303559-Measuring-rolling-shutter-put-a-number-on-this-issue!

You can send me a link and I can pass it on to Samuel. A 1080p test would be good too.

I've done these tests myself, only takes a couple of minutes, you just need a perfectly levelled tripod. I shot the edge of a tall black bookshelf beside a white wall. Thin things like poles don't work, they turn to mush when you do the whip pan.

[Hanriverprod]

 

[Marco Tecno]

10 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Have my NX1 with me so will be interesting to compare

And 1D C too

Great news! I hope you'll use the nx1 hack to get the most of it (especially with high bitrate, eg 180mb/s in 4k and 120mb/s in 2k@120fps).

Also please compare high iso (1600-3200) from the two. In stills, I see the NX1 still a bit better even here (if X-T2 is same as X-pro1):

https://***URL removed***/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr144_0=samsung_nx1&attr144_1=fujifilm_xpro2&attr144_2=samsung_nx1&attr144_3=fujifilm_xpro2&attr146_0=100_5&attr146_1=200_4&attr146_2=100_6&attr146_3=200_5&attr177_1=on&attr177_3=on&normalization=compare&widget=351&x=0.3133021077283373&y=-0.6673365079365081

 

I still think nx1 is a better overall camera but fuji is getting near.

P.s. Samsung S lenses are very good, at least fuji level.

[Lothar]

Hi,

I just uploaded a little 20 seconds test on vimeo. It's my first publishing of video on the internet. So, I was a little cautious. I hope this helps a little.

https://vimeo.com/182682766

Switching back an forth between stills and video: (I really love the dials, but ...)
I find it ok how to switch from stills mode to video mode. The video mode is at the last position of the drive dial. So, you don't have to look at it. Leaving the ISO dial on 400 even for stills mode doesn't harm the picture quality (isoless sensor). Switching from auto shutter to T (where I stored 1/50) are only two positions. Compared to my X-E2 this is much better (there, I had to go to the other end of the dial). Switching to a stills mode, just to see the histogram is not a problem, because you can check the histogram in bracketing mode (just the next position on the drive dial). But switching back to the normal single shot stills mode is a little awkward, because this is an inbetween position on the drive dial and you can't do it blindly (maybe with training). All the other settings are stored in a custom profile and in a customized MyMenu you can put some video settings like AF mode, etc. By now, I didn't configure any function button.

[kidzrevil]

I cant wait for your test @Andrew Reid ! Im excited to see how the Fuji compares to the other options on the market. Right now I feel like the a6300 & NX1 are the best s35 options out. Im hoping the fuji blows em both out the water especially with the speedbooster

[Lothar]

1 hour ago, kidzrevil said:

I cant wait for your test @Andrew Reid ! Im excited to see how the Fuji compares to the other options on the market. Right now I feel like the a6300 & NX1 are the best s35 options out. Im hoping the fuji blows em both out the water especially with the speedbooster

An active EF-mount speedbooster would be awesome, so that you can be flexible regarding the body (e.g. share lenses between Fuji and Blackmagic cams). Out of the Fuji-perspective a passive Nikon speedbooster would actually make sense, because of the declicked manual aperture and the focus direction of Fuji and Nikon lenses is the same. In case of AF, X-mount lenses would do a better job, I guess.

Maybe, with the new video and AF capabilities of the X-T2 the number of customers who would buy an active EF/X-mount speedbooster would increase in a way that Metabones can't resist making one. 

[kidzrevil]

that would be cool ! I have high hopes for Fuji ! How do you like the xt2 so far ? @Lothar

[Lothar]

6 hours ago, kidzrevil said:

that would be cool ! I have high hopes for Fuji ! How do you like the xt2 so far ? @Lothar

I love it. But I need to say that I was a Fuji shooter already (X-E2). Regarding video, I started with a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, but I was in the market for a mirrorless camera, which can do both (stills and video). I was looking at the Sony A7 cams, but the higher price and colour issues with slog were making me rethinking. I know that Fuji can produce great skin tones and I personally like the Fuji colours at least for stills. Regarding video, one tries to copy the Kodak motion picture films. I am still trying to figure that out. But so far, I am really happy with the results. Regarding stills, I was shooting a soccer game lately and really hat a lot of keepers. I don't own the battery grip yet, I didn't buy it, because I am happy with the 10 minutes of 4k for now and I couldn't resist buying the 56 f1.2 APD lens, which is a killer lens. I already own the 35 and the 14, and the push/pull focus of the 14 is nice for focus pulling. The 16 and 23 f1.4 do have this focus clutch, too. But, I'm still investigating a speedbooster solution (or maybe Veydra considers making x-mount lenses?).

And then there is this personal taste: It's such a gorgeous camera. I admit, that it plays a big roll, too.

[Lothar]

I just uploaded a DR test. (Not really scientific.) You should keep in mind, that the camera settings (Shadow Tone: -2) push the shadows already. I then tried to push them again in Resolve. Of course, the result is noisy, but I think that it gives an idea of the limit of shooting with film simulation. F-log should do a better job. I can't try it, because I don't have an external recorder.

By the way, there is another test video on vimeo from Albedo Media, which includes F-log snippets.

 

[Phil A]

Rolling Shutter looks, like with nearly all current cameras, rather bad.

[Marco Tecno]

I don't see anything, in those video, to write home about. Nothing that NX1 or GH4 could not already do (possibly better).

[Mattias Burling]

Of the top of my head, bigger sensor than the GH4 and a system thats alive compared to the Samsung

But all in all its a matter of personal needs and taste. I dont see anything in Samsung that others cant do. We just have different needs.