22.12.2020 Tristan Shu

My Experience with the FUJIFILM X-T4

My name is Tristan Shu, I am French outdoor photographer based in the French Alps. My love story with the X series started with the X-T2 and I’ve been heavily using X-T2, then X-T3 and now X-T4 professionally. Having used for 7 years and for another 7 years, in total 14 years, other DSLR brand, my first mirrorless camera was the X-T2 and I’ve fallen in love straight away.

X-T4 & XF10-24mmF4 R OIS WR

The size, the weight, the incredible ergonomics (I got a physical contact with all my settings, no need to dive into menus), the burst mode and the image quality got me addicted straight away.

Then came the X-T3, I was wondering at first what could they possibly improve, but they did and I loved it. With the X-T2, I would say 50% of my assignments were shots with it (I shoot commercial campaigns for outdoor brands and tourist destinations in the French Alps), the rest with DSLRs, with the X-T3 that proportion went to more than 80%, and I don’t think I will touch nor use a DSLR again now that the X-T4 exists.

That camera just make my life easier on the field. Taking good photos has never been as easy and as fun, it just expand my horizons. In addition, the same could be said for the video, for me it is now a perfectly balanced camera, photo or video have never been easier to make.

In particular, I was eager to have an in-body stabilization, it is a game changer for me for photo and video. For photo, I often shoot before sunrise or after sunset, light changes very quickly at those times, and I highly appreciate to be able to get sharp photos even when I am dropping my shutter speed dangerously low to get well-exposed photos.

 

X-T4 & XF10-24mmF4 R OIS WR

In video, the stabilization at sensor level allows more flexibility when you shoot; there are so many shots that you can now do handheld. Movements that were requiring additional equipment (gimbal, cranes, sliders…) are now doable handheld to a certain extent.

X-T4 & XF10-24mmF4 R OIS WR

I also love how easy it is to switch from video mode to photo mode, the camera remembers your settings, the button are where they should be, and there are few nice shortcuts that save you so much time. Like that clever Q menu that recalls your mostly used settings which you can change on the fly, and who are saved and different whether you’re in photo or video mode.

X-T4 & XF10-24mmF4 R OIS

The improved autofocus is very welcome, and gave new life to some older lenses. That autofocus and the eye and face detection feature let me shoot with great confidence wide open on all my lenses. Once you had the taste of it, it is almost impossible for me to go back to a DSLR.

X-T4 & XF10-24mmF4 R OIS WR

The autonomy of the new batteries is very impressive and that is another worry free feature, if I do shoot in the cold or in a place where it is not easy to change batteries, I just do not need to think about it.

X-T4 & XF10-24mmF4 R OIS WR

Overall I am very impressed and happy with all those innovations (I did not list them all here!) over the already excellent X-T3. Fujifilm cameras are for me, very well thought cameras, made by photographers for photographers. They are fun, versatile, incredibly compact, and light without any compromise on features, ergonomics nor image quality. There is simply no equivalent on the market.