Fujifilm X-A5 was a good entry level in Fujifilm X camera line. It has great Bayer sensor, nice focusing system, and pretty good video quality. But, there’s a major lack in this camera: Viewfinder. So, to compensate this lack, the Japanese camera manufacturer released another model called Fujifilm X-T100; I know the name is similar, but just don’t be confused with X100T. Basically, Fujifilm X-T100 is a camera who sits in between premium and entry level class. It’s above the X-A5, but still below X-T20. And this is also not the successor of any model because it is purely fresh new camera.
Fujifilm X-T100 Camera Design
Embracing Fuji’s X series muse, the new X-T100 is a lightweight and stylish. It has sleek retro design which is typically found on Fujifilm high-end mirrorless device. The design makes it easy to use with very intuitive controls, which makes it obvious that the segmentation for this camera is for beginners. Talking about size, X-T100 has dimension 4.8×3.3×1.9 inches. While for the weight, it is about 1 pound, which is equal to 448 grams when the battery and memory card are inside. With this kind of size, Fujifilm X-T100 looks a little bit bigger than X-A5 and X-T20.
From the outside, the camera looks pretty much like X-T20. It has anodized aluminum construction and retro cap on the top side. While at the front side, it looks flat with no protruded grip for holding. Therefore, it’s expected that Fuji will include detachable grip inside the package, which will be very useful for users. The body itself is not weather sealed, so you need to be careful to bring the camera for outdoor shooting.
Display and EVF
Moving to the rear side, you will find electronic viewfinder above the main screen, just like what we see on X-T20. This EVF uses OLED EVF with 2,360K dots resolution and 0.62x magnification, which is equivalent to 35mm. With the addition of eye sensor, the camera will automatically detect whether you use screen finder or viewfinder, then just adjust to it.
Below the EVF, you can find 3-inch touchscreen display with 1.04-million dots resolution. More interestingly, this rear display also has three-way tilting mechanism. Therefore, you can tilt the screen to the side instead of up and down only. This mechanism is way better than X-A5 display which can only be tilted up and down.
Moreover, four-directional buttons are placed next to rear screen. To simplify the buttons arrangement, these buttons also functions as function button. While at the top of the display, there are display/back button, erase button, and Q button. Specifically for the Q button, you can customize it to make quick menu.
Fujifilm X-T100 Specifications
In term of features, it’s all pretty similar to X-A5. The sensory part uses the new 24.2 MP APS-C CMOS non-X-Trans sensor with Bayer Filtration Technology, which was firstly introduced in X-A5. This sensor offers on-sensor phase detection autofocus system to deliver soft and nice image focusing. ISO sensitivity ranges in quite wide range between ISO 200 until ISO 12,800. If it’s not enough, you can still expand the ISO from ISO 100 to ISO 51,200. With all these, Fujifilm X-T100 is able to result impressive image quality with Fujifilm typical skin tone.
Talking further about autofocus system, the focusing system used by X-T100 is hybrid mix of phase and contrast detection autofocus with 91 focus areas. Choosing focus point can be simply done by touching preferred focus area on the rear display. And also, this autofocus also has multiple modes, which are single point autofocus mode, wide tracking mode with 18 usable focus areas, and zone autofocus mode with all 91 focus usable areas.
Performance is pretty good on Fujifilm X-T100. The start-up time is even comparable to the high end X-T2, which is only 0.4 seconds. Surely you won’t miss any moment since you can use the camera quickly after pressing the on/off button. When it comes to shutter speed, this camera also performs quite well with 6 fps burst mode continuous shooting in JPG. Well, it seems to be higher for a camera in its price point. In the power supply sector, the camera is powered with lithium-ion NP-W126S battery. Based on CIPA-rate, this battery could last for about 430 shots in a single charge.
Video Recording
Video recording capability is similar to what we found on X-A5. Yes, the camera offers 4K shooting but only limited to 15 fps. However, quite improvements is made on maximum duration, where in X-A5, the camera has maximum 5 minutes of 4K shooting. While in Fujifilm X-T100, it has increased the maximum duration to be 30 minutes maximum shooting.
When shooting in FHD format, video can be recorded at 60 fps with also 30 minutes maximum. Talking further about 4K, this camera is not only offering 4K video, but it also offers 4K multi focus and 4K burst modes. These modes will allow users to take 8-MP still images at 15 fps, and selecting the focus point after the photos taken.
For the shooting mode, Fujifilm X-T100 has SR+ mode, semi-automatic, and manual shooting mode as well. To add more artistic value on the video, the camera also has advance filters and film simulations. The advance filters that you can choose are Miniature, Toy camera, HDR Art, and many more. While for the film simulation, they are Velvia, Provia, Classic Chrome, Pro Neg Hi, Pro Neg Std, Monochrome, Astia, and Sepia. These are the film simulation that usually found in typical Fujifilm camera. So, for long-term Fuji users, you’ll be very familiar to it.
Connectivity
Advanced connectivity is a major attraction these days. Especially when social media becomes a thing now, people want to share their picture as soon as possible. And for this purposes, Fujifilm X-T100 provides advance wireless connectivity. So, you can share photos or videos taken directly to your smartphone, laptop, or tablet then upload them instantly to social media. The wireless connectivity are Bluetooth v.4.1 or BT LE (Low Energy) and WiFi.
With those, you’ll not only be able to share files, but you’ll be able to remotely control the camera from smartphone, print the images through wireless printer, and synchronized GPS from your smartphone for geotagging. Besides wireless, you can also use wired connections which are Micro Type-D HDMI and Micro-B USB 2.0 ports. As for storage, Fujifilm X-T100 is compatible with any SD cards (UHS-I).
Fuji X-T100 Price and Availability
This camera was just newly announced yesterday, May 24th 2018. It’s very surprising to see the announcement on official Fujifilm Indonesia Instagram account as it’s just a while after the company released duo Fujifilm X-A5 and Fujifilm X-A20. However, this camera has filled the unique segmentation between high end and entry level camera.
As for the price, Fujifilm X-T100 will be offered in around 600 USD for body only, and 700 USD with kit lens, which is Fujinon XC 15-45mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ lens. And for you who are just interested to own it, you gotta be little bit more patient as this device will be available on store at June 18th 2018, and offered in 3 different colors; black, dark silver, and champagne gold.