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| The X-T5 is perfect for my kinds of photography. This is from a JPEG using the Nostalgic Negative film simulation. It is sharp with fine detail, highly textured and with a pleasant color palate. (click to enlarge) Fujifilm X-T5; 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @23mm; 1/140th sec. @ f/8; ISO 125 |
I've had my Fujifilm X-T5 for just over three months. I have made over 1500 exposures in a wide variety of situations and with several different lenses. Additionally, I've used ISOs from ISO 64 to 6400. I've even read the entire user's manual!
As I mentioned in a previous post, the X-T5 is pretty much the perfect camera for me and for the types of photographs I make. It has become my go-to camera and the one I pick up each time I go out to photograph any subject but birds, wildlife etc. However, it may not be the perfect camera for you as your needs and photography may be different from mine. You can read more about my in-depth thoughts about this camera here.
First, I'm very pleased with the quality of images I've made so far with the camera, both technically and aesthetically. This camera is giving me technically better images than any digital camera I've owned, with the exception of my Nikon Z7II and D850. In my opinion, they equal the Nikon images for technical excellence in almost all situations. The sensor and image processor render plenty of latitude, minute detail, fine textures, subtle shades of pleasing color as well as excellent sharpness. As far as 'looks' go, I think I think the X-T5 provides me with the best looking images I've ever made with a digital camera, bar none. I don't think there is anything lacking in the technical quality nor look of the images that I make with this camera.
As an aside, if you like to shoot JPEGs using the actual Fujifilm film simulations (not Lightroom’s version of them), the JPEG images from this camera are gorgeous. They are sharp, detailed and very editable if you don’t happen to get your images as close as you want them in-camera. There is a lot of room for manipulation, unlike JPEGs of years past. The key is to thoroughly understand your camera’s menu settings then configure them to produce the images how they please you most. The image at the top of this post is from a JPEG using the Nostalgic Negative (👍🏻) film simulation and when I also edited the accompanying raw file, it didn’t look any better.
As far as autofocus is concerned, I'm satisfied with the speed, accuracy and consistency of the autofocus but, that said, I would like to see the firmware upgrade Fujifilm provided for the X-H2S autofocus rolled out for the X-T5. There is a difference in speed when compared to the X-H2S (of course there is; the X-H2S has a stacked sensor and the X-T5 does not) but I don't think there is much of a difference when not using subject detect autofocus. In other words, overall the AF is fast and accurate and I have no complaints. I don't normally use this camera for bird, wildlife, sports or other photography where speed is essential so the slightly slower subject detect is not an issue for me. That's the job of my X-H2S.
I am also very pleased with the 40mp sensor along with the new X-Trans 5 image processor. They make a nice combination and I've been able to see minute detail and texture as well as being able to significantly crop if absolutely necessary. That said, I'm still a believer of getting the image as perfect as possible in the camera so cropping is not necessary. My images hold up very well when having to significantly crop.
As far as noise, dynamic range and editability of the image files, no complaints here either. If I am photographing at a very high ISO, I can always use one of the Topaz or DXO products to eliminate the noise while maintaining fine detail. The noise under normal use is nonexistent or negligible. So far, in every situation where I thought the dynamic range would exceed the ability of the sensor and I have bracketed, it turned out I was able to edit one file to bring down highlights and bring up shadows. I've not had to merge bracketed exposures to capture a scene.
I’ve experimented with the Pixel Shift Multi-Shot feature which combines 20 files into one 160mp file (in a separate piece of free desktop software from Fujifilm). I didn’t have a lot of success with the quality of the final images. Bluntly, they were unusable. I found a lot of cross-hatch type artifacts in the resultant 160mp images files. You can read the post and see the examples here. I don’t recommend using that feature until Fujifilm fixes it. As of now, I would recommend using Topaz Gigapixel AI of Photo AI to enlarge your files if needed as making a single image and then using one of those two programs doesn’t have any of the several drawbacks and restrictions using the Pixel Shift Multi-Shot feature forces upon you. IMHO.
For the last positive comment, I want to touch on the importance of haptics. All cameras today can pretty much allow you to create the images you want to make. Handling, ergonomics, menu formatting, button and dial layout as well as configurability, to me, have become of primary importance in my use of a camera. Most likely, since I photographed with similarly shaped cameras with the same kinds of dials, aperture rings on lenses make this camera feel so familiar and comfortable for me. Also, for me, the menus work well and I can easily find anything I need to find to quickly change a setting. Additionally for me and certainly not for many, this camera hits home runs in all aspects of these attributes. It just ticks all the important boxes for me. Your mileage may vary.
Now...all that good stuff said, the camera completely locked up on me about two weeks ago. I was photographing using my normal aperture priority settings. I set the camera down on my camera bag for about 30 seconds to do something, then picked it back up again to continue. The LCD screen showed nothing but green static. For you of a certain age, the static was similar to the old days when a television station went off the air, only in green. Just a constantly moving static. I've had lock ups before on almost all of my previous digital cameras but never the green static. Usually it has been whatever was showing on the LCD screen. Nothing functioned, including the off/on switch. The solution, of course, is to remove the battery and then replace it. That cleared the issue and I have not had another incidence of this. I'll let you know if this situation repeats.
Subsequently, I searched the web for anyone else with this specific issue with an X-T5 and I found one reference to this specific issue in a forum (I believe in DPReview but I'm not sure) with a photograph of their LCD. The user name of the author of the forum post is u/ard245. I am posting it here under Fair Use as an educational example of the lock up I suffered.
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| My screen was the same green but I didn't have the blue color. If anyone has had this same issue please comment, especially if you know of or found the cause. |
Just for the record, as sometimes memory cards can cause issues, I have been using Lexar 128gb 1667X SDXC cards in the X-T5. If I experience another lockup, I'll rotate cards from another camera to determine if the cards had anything to do with it. Contrary to what some people say from anecdotal evidence about Lexar cards being no good, I've used Lexar cards along with Sandisk and Sony cards since 2001 and have never had an issue with any brand.
Other than that lock up, the camera has been wonderful. It is a marvel of modern electronics and engineering. I can highly recommend it.
If you have any questions about my experience with the X-T5 you can either comment or email me privately.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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