Fuji X-T2, A New Very Useful Feature That Has Largely Gone Unnoticed

Twins (click to enlarge)

X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 48.5mm; 1/160th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

In reading the User's Manual for my new Fuji X-T2 (yes, it is a good idea to actually read your gear's user's manual!) I discovered a feature that I believe will become very useful to me and maybe to you as well.  It is a feature that was not available on the X-T1.

This new feature is the "Copy" feature that is available on the top of the second page of the "Playback" menu.  What does it do? The "Copy" feature allows you to copy the images from one memory card to another—in either direction—from card 1 to card 2 or from card 2 to card 1. This can now be done on the X-T2 because of the dual card slots.  Here is how I will use it.

If I'm on a trip and I am restricted as to what I can bring with me, I now have a safety feature in making sure I don't accidentally lose my images.  If I have not, or cannot, take my laptop and the two USB 3.0 bus powered portable hard drives with which I normally travel and to which I normally copy my images for backup, I can use the camera's "Copy" feature to give me the same insurance that my images are backed up sufficiently and won't be lost.  I normally have 8-10 extra memory cards with me at all times (over prepared, maybe?) anyway, so I already have sufficient means in which to back up my files.

If I'm photographing locally and am only out for the day, I will set my card slots on the X-T2 for "sequential," in other words, when one card fills the camera automatically starts writing to the second card.  That also can be done from 1 to 2 or from 2 to 1. However, if I'm on a road trip and am away from home, I normally set my second card as a "backup" card, writing to both cards simultaneously so I have an automatic backup to the images recorded on card 1.  To extend this one more level, I can now take the second card out of my camera, utilized the "Copy" feature and copy all of my images from card 1 to the card I just inserted.  That gives me three copies while in the field.

If I want to reformat the card that normally resides in slot 1 to use again (usually my newest and fastest card), I can take another card and copy to that one as well.  I like to have three copies of my images, all kept in different places, to feel as though there is no danger of losing them.

How fast is the "Copy" feature.  It depends upon which cards you are using as well as the electronics in the camera.  But with a Lexar 2000X card in slot 1 and a Sandisk Extreme Pro cards, rated at 280mb/sec. in slot 2, I was able to copy 136 RAW (losslessly compressed) + 136 JPEG FINE images in 126 seconds to another card in-camera.  (Don't forget to format the card to which you are copying your images in your camera before you execute the copy command.)  That works out to 2.15 images per second.  I can live with that in the field or on a trip.  Fast enough, so to speak, for me.

This feature is extraordinarily useful in the field and I intend on using it when necessary. It is a lot easier to carry several extra SDXC cards with you instead of a laptop, extra hard drives or even one of the small, portable external hard drives that allow you to directly load your images into it without a computer.

Just passing on more good things about the X-T2.  The more I use it the better it gets.  I do suggest reading your User's Manual if you haven't already done so as there are gems in there that go unnoticed which can be very useful to you as a photographer.


Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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